españa

I left you after my wonderful visits to Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid. I had every intention of giving you ideas of what my time spent in each city was like...and I guess now that I am enjoying a rather smooth-sailing summer, I have the time, and some more, to continue my blog.

The Gothic Cathedral

Parc Guell

Barcelona was everything and nothing that I expected. A roommate, Melissa, spent the semester there while I was in Rabat and raved the entire time. Her pictures were spectacular and it appeared that she was having the opposite experience that I was having (in the best of ways). We easily navigated the metro system and arrived at our booked-last-minute hostel in the Gothic Quarter of the city. I don't suggest staying there unless you are interested in keeping to yourself, being hushed at night, and eating breakfast before 8AM. Despite our living arrangements, we spent our first day exploring the huge city by ourselves. We walked down to the water, back up some streets, and amazingly found ourselves back at our hostel. We then arranged to meet up with our friend Kamal, who we met over spring break in Agadir, Morocco. He was working with a group called Stoke Travel that has surf and other party locations and stays set up across Europe. He took us to Parc Guell, a phenomenal "garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel" designed by renowned architect Antoni Gaudi.

La Sagrada Familia

I'll make this quicker for you -- can't be too interesting. Our next days in Barcelona were spent visiting la Sagrada Familia, a large Roman Catholic Church also designed by Gaudi. We visited other monuments and buildings unique to Barcelona but were greatly excited to spend a day at the "playa". We enjoyed the sun and the Spanish beauty and even joined the women in toplessness for a bit. Later that night, we went on a booze cruise through Stoke Travel through the Barcelona harbor. It was so fun, I will remember that cruise forever. There were a few different bachelor parties, and other groups of friends and us. There was fun music, an open bar and three hours at our exposure to do with as we pleased.

la Marsella 

Another fun story about Barcelona, my friend Lex and I met a photographer for Rolling Stone. He was quick to be our friend and take us out for an interesting evening. We went to a cool place for tapas, a bar that Ernest Hemingway would frequent for its absinthe, and finally...he encouraged me to get my nose pierced. He said it would compliment my face well and he would like to photograph me if I did and in my whimsical traveler ways, I agreed. Before I knew it, there was a gold hoop through my left nostril and no money out of my pocket. I really loved the look and kept the hoop in for a few days. Out of fear that my mother would disown me, however, I removed the piercing before returning home.

outside the Museo del Prado

Finally we moved on to Madrid, which was my final destination. It was originally Lex's as well but she decided to visit her grandmother in Switzerland. Brennan and Camille had many more plans, including London, Oxford, Wales, Bruges and Amsterdam. At this point, with just four days left in my five months away from the States, I was feeling anxious and uncomfortable. I was by no means ready to go home and put an end to my wonderful experiences abroad. If it had to end a certain way, Madrid was good though because it was lots of fun. We mapped out all the free and student priced hours and got started quickly with seeing the huge city. We visited a botanical garden, the Museo del Prado and the Museo Reina Sofia. We stayed in a great hostel and made friends with some other Americans there, and we also met up with our friend Dylani, who we met at our hostel in Lisbon.

On our last full day we visited an outdoor market where we ate lunch and tasted various tapas and wines. We met four older Spanish men who told us they were business partners in the restaurant industry in Toledo, and they invited us out for lunch. We went to the nicest restaurant in Madrid, and I don't think they were lying. It was so beautiful and the food was incredible. We then went to the most famous bar for drinks and on a drive for other sight-seeing. The whole time we were wondering what their interest in us was, three said they had wives and the other was still looking. We were just having a good time and they were about 20 years our elder. It was a really fun way to spend our last day in Spain, uninhibited by euros and being taken to places by Spanish men who know Madrid.

friends since fes in February

And now, my friends and I are all in our cities, Lex in Philadelphia, Brennan, Camille and myself are actually all in Charleston, although, seeing each other can be much more difficult than it would seem. I miss the excitement of day-to-day travel, of new experiences and unfamiliar cultures, of meeting people who teach me new things and who make my world a little bit bigger. I miss living out of my backpack and showering in hostels, of finding our way back in new cities at night. I miss traveling with three amazing girls who are so different on paper but together we have an incredible time. I had five months of a lifetime and I feel so blessed. What I would do to go back...

Lex, Brennan and myself