Spring Break-12 days, 5 cities, 4 countries, 2 girls, 1 suitcase

Hello!
I am about to head off for a 12 day Spring Break Journey with my roommate Margaret. We are leaving tomorrow evening for Rome! Our schedule goes as thus:
Fly to Rome-Fly to Vienna, Austria- Train to Salzburg Austria-Train to Munich, Germany- Train to Paris-Fly home to Barcelona. I keep telling people its like a "mini-backpacking" trip. It is sure to be a whirlwind! I'm sure I will have lots to post upon my return! Wish us luck!

Hasta Luego,
Langley

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin!

I've been looking forward to this trip since Margaret and I booked it wayy back in December. Growing up St. Patrick's Day always meant it was almost my brothers birthday and it also meant festivities going on in 5 points in Downtown Columbia. I remember my first St. Patrick's Day in 5 points. I was 8 years old. It was a special treat that we got to go down there because it was in celebration of my brother's 10th birthday! Two digits was a big deal back then! It was also my first of many Hootie and the Blowfish concerts. It was extremely crowded and I think my brother climbed on a telephone pole to see the band perform. After the concert, I remember going to my step brother Todd's apartment nearby. I wanted something to drink and I got handed orange juice in a yardstick glass....I remember thinking how strange it was to be drinking orange juice late in the afternoon, but I liked the cup I was drinking out of. Anyway that was my first big St. Patrick's Day celebration with many more in between and finally culminating to the biggest celebration of all in Dublin, Ireland.

St. Patrick's Day past (Joseph's 21st)

Margaret and I landed in Dublin and waited on one of our friends, Jimmy, to meet us. Jimmy is a sophomore at Wofford and he is studying abroad in Germany. We unfortunately missed our free tour that we had planned to go on, but we had done a little research so we knew some of the spots to check out. Thankfully I made a great investment back in Spain and bought an umbrella-despite it being kind of on the pricey side. I think because it doesn't rain much in Barcelona they can get away with charging 10 Euro and up for one. It was pouring while we were sight-seeing but we put on a brave face anyway. We went to this museum called the Book of Kells that has the original copies of the Gospel. It was really cool and we got to go into this library that had books stacked literally from floor to ceiling. You weren't allowed to take pictures, so naturally I tried to, but after a few sneaky attempts and a scolding by the security guard, I decided to give up.

Trinity College

Illegal photo in the Book of Kells

At the Castle-Its called the "Irish Stew" of all European Castles because it is a hodge-podge of architecture

 

We decided to just stay out instead of going back to our hotel. We went to a pub call the Brazen Head which is the oldest pub in Ireland-or Europe, I can't remember, but it was built in the 1100s!!! I drank my first Guinness there which I have to say I actually enjoyed. My Dad had warned my that I might not like it, but I was surprised. It was very different from anything I had ever tasted. I also tried this cider beer, which was also delicious. I have to find a substitute for it in America. Spain is not well-known at all for its beer selection, so it was a nice change up from normally drinking wine.

At the Brazen Head

We went to a few more pubs, including the famous Temple Bar and decided to call it a night. We were planning on getting up really early to get a good viewing spot for the parade, but not before we indulged in some tacky St. Patrick's Day garb...

Antennae and tattoos!

We stayed in a hotel as opposed to a hostel because we waited too long and every hostel was booked. But let me tell you a simple hotel is such a luxury these days. The hostels we've stayed in aren't bad at all, but a down comforter and a fluffy pillow make a huge difference to us budget travelers. We got up early on Saturday and found a great spot to see the parade. The parade's theme was science and questions so there we interesting sections of the parade that interpreted different science questions. There were also lots of marching bands from US high schools and universities. After the parade we decided to just walk around and go from pub to pub. It was a very interesting and fun time. We made friends at every pub we went to and listened to some great traditional Irish music.

At the parade

Parade

Margaret's new friends

 

Cheers!

 

 

All in all we had a very successful and fun weekend. When we got back on the plane Sunday morning you could tell that almost everyone on our plane had quite the weekend as well. There was still evidence of green face paint on some people and I think some people were still in their same outfits  from the night before. We were definitely exhausted after this trip and practically slept all day Sunday. It is so hard to believe that it was our last weekend trip. I'm staying in Barcelona this weekend and then off to Rome on March 28th for our 12 day spring break trip. The days are running out so fast! Including this weekend I only have 3 weekends left in Barcelona!

Hasta Luego!
Langley

Sevilla

This past weekend Margaret, Anita and I traveled to Sevilla in southern Spain. We were told that when people think of Spain, the images they are thinking of originate from Sevilla. Which we understood very soon after arriving. Sevilla is the home of flamenco, bullfighting, whitewashed houses, tapas, cobblestone streets, and leisurely siestas. It was such a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. Friday we flew in and quickly set about exploring the city. It was such a nice day, almost downright hot! As we were walking by the Cathedral in the middle of the town, I was approached by a Spanish woman with an olive branch in her hand. She grabbed my hand and proceeded to read my palm, in Spanish of course. I didn't really know was she was saying, but I caught onto the words love and strong (which see repeated a lot) and just nodded my head and smiled. It wasn't until she abruptly stopped talking and thrust out her hand that I realized I was caught in the most novice tourist trap. I gave the woman a 1 euro coin and she shook her head and said no five! Heck no! Thank goodness Margaret and Anita pushed me along and got me out of my state of shock before that woman started to yell at me.

It's all fun and games until...

View of the river where we ate lunch

After walking around some more, we headed back to the hostel where we sat for hours on our rooftop terrace. It was nice to relax in the sun and chat before it was time to go out for the night. That night we went to a flamenco bar that had a free flamenco show while we were there. It was definitely interesting. The dancer and guitar player would kind of hiss at the audience to be quiet and all that did was cause me to laugh and be louder. I learned that flamenco was all about the sound the dancer was making with her feet along with the Spanish guitar and singer. She sure did move her feet fast!

I think she could have smiled a bit more

Margaret had a friend she  worked with the previous summer studying in Seville. He met up with us at the flamenco show and then took us out to the bars. There was a great bar scene along Calle Betis on the river. We hopped from bar to bar and found a new favorite drink called tinto verano. It is like a red wine spritzer, more refreshing than sangria. I have to learn how to make it for the summer!
Found via Pinterest

Saturday we woke up to another warm and beautiful day. I was so excited to wear a dress without tights or a coat! We checked off more sights on our list and just had a great time getting lost in the Barrio Santa Cruz and taking in all that Sevilla had to offer. We knew that Sevilla was in preparation for all of their spring festivals (Semana Santa, Las Ferras), so there was a lot going on while we were there. As we were walking down the street we heard a marching band playing so naturally we followed them. The band ended up in what looked like a church square off some back alley. We had found a local festival of some sort. There was a stage where different bands took their turn to play and there was beer and tapas for 1 euro! Even though we weren't hungry we had to indulge because it was so cheap and authentic. I loved how we could just assimilate into the crowd and not really get any strange looks for once.

Not the best picture, but you can see the band on the stage

After a day of wandering we decided to go to this park and rest/ take a nap. That is something I have really enjoyed doing while over here in Europe. There is a park right near our apartment in Barcelona and it is perfect to just go lie down on a blanket on a nice day. We did the same thing in Sevilla. Its the perfect ending to a long day of walking. That night we decided to take it easy because we had to get up extremely early (like always) to catch our flight home. We went to a restaurant and got tapas. We have been told that in Barcelona, our tapas aren't authentic because its usually just a piece of bread with a toothpick holding it together with cheese or sausage. Well in Sevilla we ordered three rounds of delicious small portions of Spanish food-no toothpicks or bread! They are just like mini-entrees and it gives you a chance to eat a lot of different things without feeling like you have to be rolled out of the restaurant. Tapas are the way to go in my eyes because I can never make a decision about what I want to eat and I love to try other people's food.

All the colors of the buildings were so bright and cheery.

 Another great weekend of travel. I am really happy that I got to see another part of Spain. Each region is so different from the rest. We don't have class this Friday which means off to Dublin. I'm going to have to pull my coat back out of the closet, but it will be a great weekend! This is our last weekend trip until spring break ahhh!

Hasta Luego,
Langley

Another pretty picture from Sevilla (photo cred: Anita)