Please put on your OXYGEN masks...

Hello FAMBAM!

The adventures of Prague... and the scariest flight of my life.

This past weekend I traveled to Prague with my two friends Leonard and Anna Kate (AK).  My roommate Lindsay (LStrand) was on our flight as well, but she was meeting her boyfriendish person in Prague.  Our flight left Barcelona on Thursday evening at 5:15.  Everything was going normal, but then they said please put on your seatbelts we are going to be experiencing some turbulance. So we put on our seatbelts and notice that the plane is nose diving.  We all thought it was weird, especially since we were in the middle of the Swiss Alps and getting close to the tops of mountains.  THEN the oxygen masks pop from the top of the plane and they come on again, "Please put on your oxygen masks." So we put on our oxygen masks...

About 10-15 minutes later they announced that we could take off our oxygen masks.  At this point the whole plane smelled like fire/burning... AND I WAS FREEKING OUT.  They really didn't tell us much for a while, but then they said we were emergency landing in Verona, Italy because we lost pressurization in the plane... so we had to wait for 5 hours for a new plane to be sent to us.  We finally got to Prague at 1:30 am, where we stayed in a MARRIOT (thanks to JJ!).  We went to the Old Town and found a cute little PUB... the Captain's Place.  Then we went to bed and woke up the next day to go sight seeing. 

 Here are some pictures from the Old Town.  There were two churches in this main square, so we walked through those.  There were a ton of little venders in the square as well, so we just kind of walked around the square for the day.  Then we had some hot wine (its like    

apple cider wine) and walked over the the main river to see Saint Charles Bridge.  We walked around that area for a while until me and AK were convinced to go on a boat tour of the city.  It was really cool and we were on a tour with an English speaking guide.  I enjoyed the tour because I learned a lot about the city that I would never have known if we did not take the tour... Leonard didn't want to tour with us so he just wandered.  Here is a picture from our little boat.  

Here is a picture of me and AK walking by the bridge.. the bridge is in the background.

This picture is for you Mom and Daisy May tooo!  There were two golden's on the bridge from Texas, and I seriously cuddled with them and was so happy to be with them!!  They were so soft and loving, and gave me tons of kisses!! It made me so happy :).  That night we just had dinner in the Old Town and went to bed fairly early (2ish)...

The next day (Saturday) we were on a mission to have sausage and chicken skewers (for me, I don't do sausage) then go to the Prague Castle.  We also had a little STARBUCKS treat (Grandpa, I have Barcelona, Paris, and Prague down...)  The castle was really cool.  You couldn't go in it, but you can wander around the general area of it.  Here is a picture of us, looking over the city from the Castle. (Leonard, Me, AK)

 

Here is a picture of us being total Americans, Starbucks in hand, with the guard of the castle.

Here is the three of us in front of the main entrance of the castle.  We got there right in time because we were able to see the changing of the guards... it was interesting but nothing like the castles in London.

Here is a picture of me inside the church of the castle.  Saint Vitus is the name of it.  It was so gorgeous inside, it reminded me a lot of the Notre Dame in Paris.

This is the outside of the Saint Vitus... It was a gorgeous church.  After we looked in the church we found a cafe in the heart of the castle and sat outside and had some treats, it was pretty cool.

Here are some pictures from the top of the castle as well, really pretty views...

The rest of the day we kind of just roamed around.  Prague is a pretty small city so we were able to see all of it in two days.  After the castle we did head over to a famous around called Lenon's Wall.  We had to walk across the bridge of love first, where people put lockets on the fence to lock their love of Prague or a person in.  Here are some pictures of us in front of Lenon's Wall.

On Saturday night we went to a wonderful dinner in a underground cave.  Leonard has a really good traveling book that has been giving us great recommendations on restaurants and things to do everywhere we have gone. Well thats all for Prague!  Last week I went to a Flamenco show in Barcelona with my program... it was interesting, but it wasn't a very good show.  But I got the culture experience of it all. 

One of my good friends Leanne is coming to visit me this weekend in Barcelona for Halloween so that should be a good time!  It will be so nice to see a familiar face from home!  My program is officially half way over, I cannot believe it, the time has just flown by!

Well thats all for now.  I miss you all and love you!! XOXO.

Living the European dream...

HELLO FROM BARCELONA!!

I don't even know where to start, except to say that I am having the time of my life.  Since my last post on the 2nd of October, I have been all over the place!  My program took us to a soccer game on Sunday, October 3rd.  It was a lot of fun, the FCBarcelona played Mallorca.  Unfortunately the game itself was fairly boring, and it ended in a 1-1 tie.  We were in the definition of nose bleed seats, I thought I was going to get sick from being so far away looking down... But all in all it was a really cool experience.  The Spanish people love their soccer games, and are obsessed with the team.  They did chants and whatnot throughout the whole game.  I have some videos I thought Jason would appreciate, but they take forever to upload to the blog... So I will just save them for when I see you all at home!

The top picture is me with my roommate Lindsay (Lstrand).  We bought scarfs to rep BARCA! :)

The second picture is a picture of the stadium.  From our seats you could see over the whole city, even out to the water.  The stadium is very close to the mountain/hill in Barcelona, so it was a pretty view, but a little chilly up there!  I wish Jason was able to go to a game, he would love it!

OK.. NOW ONTO PARIS!

This week was a holiday week here in Barcelona.  We don't have school on Fridays, and we got Monday and Tuesday off this week.  I went to Paris with my friend Leonard, and my roommate Lindsay.  Lindsay stayed with one of her friends from high school, and I stayed in a hostel with Leonard. I was very skeptical on staying in a hostel, but it turned out to be pretty cool.  We were in a room of eight people, all from different parts of the world.  We were there a total of 5 nights, and most other people were there 1-3 nights.  The hostel was really nice with a restaurant, coffee shop, bar, and club all in it.  The front desk staff was very helpful and gave us great recommendations on things to do in Paris.

Leonard and I got to Paris on Thursday night (10/7).  We went up to the Sacre Couer church and wandered around that area for a while.  We found a really cool restraunt on a side street.  Neither of us speak any French, and we went to a totally local restauarant.  We started talking to a French couple next to us in a mixture of Spanish, English, and French.  They ended up ordering both of our dinners, and our wine, since we had no idea what anything on the menu said.  They were very sweet.  I got ham with aggrotant (SP) potatoes, and Leonard had deer stew with potatoes.  Both were amazing, and we shared them since we both really like them.  Here is a picture of the church: 

The next day, Leonard and LStrand went to Normady for the day... They went on a tour that was really expensive.  I decided to stay back and roam Paris.  Betsy my other roommate was on a train to Prague, and had a huge delay, so she was in Paris for the day which turned out great.  We took the Metro to the Louve area and walked down the river all the way to the Eiffel tower.  It was a gorgeous day out... we were both in shorts sweating!     Here are some pictures of us at the Eiffel Tower!

After the Eiffel Tower we went to the Sacre Couer area.  There was a huge wine festival at the top.  We spent the rest of the day socializing, trying wines, cheeses, and all sorts of goodies.  It was so much fun, and I felt like I was on top of the world.  The church over looks basically the whole city.  Throughout the festival there were all sorts of little acts, singers, dancers, etc. that were the definition of being "French."  This was truly one of the best days of my life.  It was so surreally perfect...

The top picture is me trying escargot.  It was really good.  I tried it twice, the first time was better then the second time because the snail was smaller.  The second snail was way too big and too chewy!  I loved the sauce that the snail was in though.  The second picture was by far the best treat I have ever had.  It was a chocolate crepe with fresh raspberries, topped with raspberries and sugar.  Me and Betsy shared it, and I honestly do not think either of us said one word it was so good!  The bottom picture is me by the beautiful view of Paris from Sacre Couer.  Here is another view from Sacre Couer:

On Friday night me and Leonard wandered around the Latin Quarter.  We found a cool lounge and just relaxed there for a while.  On Saturday we slept in until 2:00!  We were both so tired.  Then we were on a mission to find a restaurant that he had gone to as child.  We ended up finding it and having a late lunch there.  It was very good, with a fixed menu.  We got a table that was right on the edge of the cafe so the windows were open and were just enjoying the streets of Paris.  On our walk we ran into this... Here is a picture for all the LIPPS out there: Brasserie LIPP

After lunch we were off to site see.  Our first stop was the Luxembourg Gardens.  I totally didn't think I had ever been to the Lexembourg gardens until we got there.  I remember my dad telling me and Jason to stop complaining and to sit down and relax... "take it all in you guys!"  Funny how things like that will come back to memory!  It was really pretty there, we roamed through the whole garden.Here is a picture of me at the gardens, as well as a picture of a pond type thing in the garden.

Next we were off to see the Notre Dame.  We were able to walk through the whole thing which was very cool.  I remember the outside of the church looking a little different, but the inside was exactly as I remembered.  I also remember taking a picture of every stained glass, statue, painting, etc. the last time I was at the church.  My pictures from inside didn't turn out very well, but hey... I had a lot from my last trip to the Notre Dame, and it hasn't changed one bit.

That night we were able to meet up with my roommate LStrand and some of her friends from highschool.  We all went out to dinner at a restraunt on Overkompf.  The food was seriously AMAZING!  It might be one of the best meals I have ever had in my life.  I had lamb with potatoes.  We had a really funny waiter... he was quit sassy!  But he was fun and made the dinning experience that much better.  After dinner some people got crepes, and we walked around that area for a while.  Half of the peopel were leaving early in the morning so they left early, but the rest of us wandered over to see the Moulin Rouge... (the show was sold out, but we wanted to see the outside).  Me and Leonard ended up going out in that area and having quiet the adventure...  It took us over 2 hours to try to get a cab home, so we ended up waiting up for the Metro!  It was a night to remember... haha.    The picture on the left if my amazing dinner, MOM would have LOVED it.  Below is the group plus the waiter (in white) at dinner.

The next day which was Sunday we slept in and went to go see the Catacombs.  It was a really cool place.  It was kind of erie to think about all the dead bodies that had once been in there.  I had some serious claustrophobic issues down there since the hallways were so narrow.  It was a very interesting experience and something I would recommend others to do.  I cannot imagine how they built these underground halls, and the work that must have gone into them.  Here is a picture of me in front of one of the huge stacks of bones:

On Sunday night me and Leonard went to a great dinner together.  We wined and dined for a while, and then we were off to see the Eiffel Tower at night!  (Here is a picture of Leonard with his chocolate mousse dessert that could feed a small army, and a fruit mousse we ordered as well).  I LOVE the Eiffel Tower.  It is just so gorgeous and sparkly.  We walked around there for about an hour and just enjoyed the scenery.  There were some people playing music and whatnot so it was really fun.

 

Our last day Monday was more laid back.  We went to a flea market for a few hours and just kind of wandered around some side streets.  Then we went back to the Sacre Couer area and we watched the cool outdoors concert on the steps of the church.  The singer was amazing and he sang a bunch of American hits.  We had a nice time listening and having a few beers.  After we ran into some other kids in our prgram (KAPPAS!).  We sat with them for a while and talked.  They all ended up coming back to our hostel and we went out to dinner together.  Since our flight was at 8AM Tuesday morning we were off to bed early!  All in all it was a wonderful trip, good people, great food, and a gorgeous city... what more can a person ask for!

MOM: So far I have tried kid goat, duck, escargot, deer, goose liver, and frog... aren't you proud!?

I don't think I have ever been this happy in my life.  The people here are wonderful and everything just seems perfect.  I haven't really gotten homesick yet, but I miss a few American things such as the english language, magazines/television/movies in english, oatmeal, cream of wheat, good bananas, peanut butter, wheat thin, mommys and daddys, advil liquid gels, zyrtec, and my animals! :)

That is all for now.  I am ready for a nice relaxing weekend in Barcelona!  XOXO.

Barcelona LOVING.

Hi Family.  I know I have been a little MIA this week, but it has definitely been a struggle of a week.  I caught strept throat and have been really sick all week.  But finally I am done with my medicine and feeling well just in time for the weekend.  A lot has happened over the week, including a weekend trip!  So here we go..

Destination: Munich, Germany.

Last Friday, September 24th, me and a crew of people ventured out to Munich for the yearly festival of Oktoberfest.  Since we were late in booking our trip there weren't any hotels availble... so you are looking at my home!  They had a huge camp ground filled with tents.. we stayed in the STOKE section which was designed for college students.  They campsite was basically its own event/party.  The staff was really nice but it just wasn't working for us.  The first day Friday was super warm so it was fine, but it started to get really cold/pour down rain Friday night.  All night my tent leaked, my sleeping bag didn't zip up, and I shivered.  Some of my friends were staying in a Sheraton right next to the event grounds, and we happened to ask if they had any rooms... someone had just canceled!  So we ended up moving to a hotel a LOT closer (we were about 20 km away at the campsite), warmer, and nicer.  Camping was definitely an experience, and it was fun for one night. :)

Off to the festival!  Friday night we were able to get into a tent at Oktoberfest.  For those of you who don't know much about Oktoberfest, I will explain it.  It is basically a huge carnival.  There are about 15 tents for the different beer companies.  Each tent has its own party basically inside, which is like a beer hall.  You stand on the benches of the tables, and sway back and forth screaming German songs (and a LOT of American ones too!)  And saying PROST to everyone, while cheersing.  It is SO much fun, and so cultural.  The men and women come in their typical German outfits, with kids and all.  Saturday day we went to the carnival part of Oktoberfest as well as some of the outdood beer gardens for the different tents.  It was so cold though... I actually thought it might snow.  It stopped raining in the afternoon which was nice so we were able to enjoy the day.  Saturday night (the 25th) a group of us went to downtown Munich to explore and have dinner.  

Unfortunately my camera was stolen on this trip so I don't really have a lot of pictures.  But Sunday the 26th, I woke up really sick.  I slept until 3pm and just knew something was wrong.  My tonsils were huge and I had a fever.  I wanted to spend some quality time in the city and seeing some of the most famous landmarks in the world.  So, I went to Dachua, the concentration camp.  It was so moving, and very interesting.  I know cool is the wrong word, but it was cool because I felt apart of the history, and was able to understand more of the war and put life into perspective.  I went with my friend Jake, and we had the most amazing tour guide.  He made us actually feel something inside of just explain the sites to us.  Sunday night we went to the Hauf Brau House (my dad said I had to go there!), and just walked around it.  Since I wasn't feeling good we went to dinner at a cafe right across from it.  We walked around Munich some more and just ventured through the different streets.  We saw a few churches, as well as their city center.  Munich is gorgeous, and so clean!!  We were back in Barcelona Monday night (27th).  I was so happy to be home, in my bed, with my wonderful roommates.  Since I was SO sick, I actually cried when they opened the door and hugged me.  We are our own little family here in Girona 15.  Monday night was rough, it was my first big break down here... I just wanted my parents! 

Tuesday was an adventure!  I finally got my cell phone as well as a package from my mom of all the things I forgot/miss about home!  But then it was off to the doctors... I was really nervous about it, but it ended up being fine.  The doctor was an older man, and it was a private practice in an apartment.  The business has been passed down through many generations.  He was super nice and caring.  He is recommended through my program and wanted to know all about my family and life in America.  He gave me his personal number in case I needed anything or had any questions and told me he would call my parents if they wanted to talk to him.  He was awesome. Dr. Seval was his name.

Ok.. SO SCHOOOOOOL!  I got a B on my first test! Yipeeee in Media and Politics.  In my communications class we were all assigned a Spanish peer.  We have to meet with them once every 2 weeks.  On Thursday afternoon I met with mine, I have two.  Gabrielle and Joanna.  Gabrielle is 21, and Joanna is almost 19.  They are in college at the University of Barcelona.  We went to lunch, and sat and talked for 3 hours.  They were so nice and so easy to talk to.  We are going to go shopping together, and do some fun activities together.  I had a great time talking with them and learning more about Spain.  Our topic for the week was to discuss education.  I am writing a paper about American's education vs. Spain's education, their similarities as well as differences.

On Thursday night I was invited to go out to dinner with my friend Leonard and his parents.  It was so much fun.  I met them at their hotel, and we had a bottle of wine and tapas in the garden.  Then we went to the rooftop, which was so peaceful, with water, and flowers.  The roof had a 360 degree view of Barcelona, and we watched the sunset.  It was so incredible, we all decided not to take pictures so we could keep that perfectness in our heads.  Then after the tapas, we went to a restaurant that was AMAZING.  It had so much personality, and it is very famous.  All the presidents have been there, as well as celebrities, and what not.  The waiters all wore sailorish outfits too.  I ordered veal with fresh vegetables. Leonard got kid-goat.  I also tried duck, and I loved it.  His parents were so nice, and it was wonderful to spend time with them.  It is exactly what I needed, a little bit of home in a way.

Destination: Dali and Girona.

(Left is the entrance to the museum, and the right is the famous outside of the building.  I am with my two roommates Lindsay and Betsy).

Yesterday, Friday October 1st, I went to the Dali museum as well as Girona for the day with my school. Dali was crazy, as well as interesting.  The things he thought up and saw to be art were very intriguing.  The little town was very cute as well.  Dali loved LIPS, so there were some cool things with lips on them.   (I got my mom and dad gifts!)  Then we took the bus out to Girona.  We walked around the city, the jewish part/midevil section.  Then had gelato in a little square.  It was a long day, but very fun and educational.  Some of the pretties views!

The top is the view from the very top of the cathedral.  The bottom is me with my two roommates Lindsay and Betsy on the bridge looking down most of the city of Girona.  It was such a pretty city.  Below is us in front of the cathedral.  I cropped it because our faces are funny... we were not ready at all to take the picture, but it totally describes us!

Life is good in Barcelona!  I am a little homesick, but I will get over it!  Tomorrow night we are going to see the Barcelona "futball" (soccer) team play against Mallorca.  It should be a good time!   We are going with our whole program.  We have a long weekend this upcoming weekend, so we will be traveling once again.  It is really cheap to travel here, airfare costs nothing.  My roommates mom is coming into town tomorrow morning, and bringing me a new camera!  (I ordered one online and shipped to her house).

Miss you all!  SOMEONE COME VISIT ME! :) XOXO.