Hello everyone!
I have some free time today to tell you all about my recent trips around Spain and to Paris! First, I went to Paris Oct. 14th- 17th and stayed with Evelyn (Sam's friend from home) and her boyfriend Romain. They had a cute apartment in the Saint Marcel area by the river Seine. It was interesting flying to a foreign city by myself and not really knowing how to speak the language. I knew which train/metro lines I needed, to get to her but at first the ticket machine for the RER (French rail system) only took coins. I only had a few bills in my purse, so I walked to this ticket counter that looked pretty much closed except for this one young woman there. I approached her with the little French I know and she helped direct me to the change machine (in English lol) and then helped me get my ticket. Contrary to popular belief, the French people I encountered were nothing but polite. I made it to Ev's apartment within about 50 mins...maybe a bit more since there was a delay caused by the strike.
On Friday, Evelyn showed me around the city and brought me to a few places I hadn't been to prior to this trip. I have been to Paris twice before but with my family when I was only 11 or 12, so it was nice to be able to really appreciate the sights. We headed in the direction of the Pantheon, a beautiful building where a lot of famous French people are buried, but before we got there, we had some lunch. I had such a wonderfully cliche French meal (menu of the day): (french) onion soup, beouf bourguignon (beef stewed in a red wine sauce) and creme brulee for 12 euro...it was delicious. I had forgotten how much I actually liked French food. After our meal we made it over to the Pantheon and took some photos. I saw from two different street views, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, in the distance. Since I there are all these terrorist alerts going on, especially in Paris, I decided not to visit the Tower. I had gone up one of the legs years ago with my family, so I snapped my picture and moved on.
We made our way to the gardens, Jardin du Luxembourg, which was pretty even though the trees had basiscally skipped fall and were pretty bare. We took some pictures by the pond, and of some cute ducks, then headed to Notre Dame. We took the metro just one stop up but that was the worst train/metro experience so far. It was so crowded around 6:30 or so that Evelyn and I could not get on. We had already waited about 10 mins for the train and then had to wait an extra few minutes after we couldn't get on. Craziness....
Once we got to Notre Dame, I think we both took like a million pics of the cathedral lol. I even got to help a Spanish couple take their picture (so refreshing from not being able to speak the French language to jumping right into my Spanish). We found a little garden behind the cathedral and took pictures of the river boats on the Seine. Afterward, we found a little cafe right near Notre Dame and chilled for a bit to wait out the light rain that had descended upon us just as quickly as the darkness of twilight. I think just sitting there with my friend and chatting, just a street away from Notre Dame was perfect...absolutely perfect.
Later that night, we went to Evelyn's friend's (really nice) apartment for a little get together. I met a lot of Americans studying in Paris, a lot of French guys and some girls from Australia. (Australians are everywhere I go here lol, reminds me of you Liz...most of them were born in Melbourne!). It was really fun meeting everyone but after a few hours, we were craving sushi, so we left, but at that time of the morning, nothing was open and it was getting pretty cold. We headed back to her place, had hot lentil soup and watched When in Rome (awful movie haha..but with one really funny quote) with Romain.
The next day, we went to Sacre Coeur, which is a huge white cathedral on top of this huge hill in Northern Paris. It had the most beautiful view of the city but the inside was just as gorgeous. I wish I could have taken pictures but it wasn't allowed....but it is definitely my favorite place in all of Paris now. We went up to the dome and the view got even better, I could see the Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triumph, Notre Dame, and the Pantheon all in one sweeping gaze. Just a priceless moment there. Let me warn you all, climbing those stairs was no joke. The first winding set felt like 20 floors but then it turned into a smaller, more claustrophobic set of stairs lol...Evelyn was not liking that part. The walk though...is totally worth the pain! ;) After visiting the cathedral, we finally got our sushi...it was really good. That was my first bit of sushi in 2 months (made me appreciate Kubo's in a whole new way. Then we just walked around and ended up down the street from the Louve and bumped into Romain on his way home from the appliance store.
That night the three of us went out on the town (lol), I had crepes from a street vendor that were delicious...nutella and banana. Then we walked around and sat at this cafe for a while and then at midnight, went to a free jazz jam session at Duc des Lombards. It was my first real jazz club experience and thankfully the band was really talented, even though some slightly drunk older guy hopped on stage and started to sing with the band. It was hilarious because the drummer (who was intense btw) was a bit upset and asked the guy if he was invited. So all in all, I had a wonderful trip hanging with Ev and Romain and hopefully they'll come visit me in Madrid.
My trip this past weekend was with ISA and we went to Salamanca, El Escorial and Avila (all northwest of Madrid). This was our first big overnight trip with each other as well as the new sections of ISA who joined at the beginning of October. Our first stop was El Escorial, just an hour NW of Madrid. On the way, we saw la Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen), which is this huge controversial memorial to General Franco, the dictator for over 30 years in Spain. He's buried in all his glory on top of a mountain with a huge cross, surrounded by his followers. Sadly, so many Spaniards, had loved ones who disappeared during the civil war and their bodies buried in mass graves somewhere. I think the memorial itself is beautiful but Franco should not be buried there.
Anyway, we made it to El Escorial and visited the church, world famous library and the crypt where all the Spanish royalty is buried. There is a circular room decorated with gold and marble with numerous caskets of the kings and queen mothers of Spain, starting with Emperor Carlos V. There are three coffins that are empty. They are awaiting the remains of the current king Juan Carlos' grandmother and parents. All three are in two locked rooms off of the crypt, rotting away right now...it's kinds gross. There were other tombs for the princes and princesses of Spain but those were in a separate section. I saw the coffin of the princess in Velazquez's Las Meninas (which is in Madrid at the Prado). El Escorial was a very interesting place.
Afterward, we drove to Salamanca. Our hotel was 4 stars, and our room was so comfortable. Daisy and I even had a jacuzzi tub! We went out with friends that night to dance and hang out...it is a college town btw. The University of Salamanca was right down the street from our hotel. The next day we went on a tour of the church of Salamanca...actually it's two churches...a new part and an old Romanesque part. It was really beautiful. Then we headed over to the Universidad Pontificia, learned about its history (Franco used to live there) and saw a wedding! It was perfect because there's this little thing everyone is supposed to do if you go to Salamanca. There is a frog on top of a skull, on the facade of the university. If you see the frog, you will graduate and get married later in life. Sounds good to me lol. We all made sure to find it and take pictures. Later that night Daisy, Judy and I had some Chinese food and some people went out again but I decided to stay in and try out that jacuzzi tub :)
The next day, we headed back in the morning to Madrid, but made a stop in Avila. Avila basically is a walled city, built by the Romans. I have pictures that I'll be putting up soon. I really enjoyed the town but there was a moment of panic at the end. Daisy, Judy and I were having lunch and it was nearing time to meet up with the group to walk to the bus. We asked for the bill, and then we got it, and it was wrong. They had added a bunch of things that weren't ours. We've learned by now that the Spanish servers at restaurants take their sweet time doing anything (they get a full salary, so they don't need tips). At that moment, Judy's roommate Jordan called and said they were at the bus already (it was just 3:05pm, we were supposed to meet at 3) and they were lined up, taking roll, and that we were the only 3 not there. Usuallly, in Spain everyone is 15 mins late for everything...so we were counting on that. We jumped up, made them break our check down quickly and correctly, then bolted. We were huffing a bit because we were running through the city Thankfully, Nuria, one of our program leaders, was at the church waiting for us. She kept saying Tranquila chicas...Be calm...you guys are fine. We thought everyone was on the bus, waiting for us...but when we got there....everyone was outside chilling, some were in the restroom, and others were buying postcards. We panicked for nothing lol. We got on the bus and headed back to Madrid. It was only an hour and a half....it flew by really. This weekend was great though...minus those few hiccups and we really bonded with our "old" ISA crew, while meeting the new crew :)
I'm headed off to Amsterdam tomorrow (Thrusday) night with my friend Cynthia. Some of our friends will be there too, so this will be a fun weekend. And no I'm not going there, to do what some of you think lol. We're going to the Anne Frank house and other cool places...strictly PG haha, well I'm 20 so...PG-13...we'll go with that haha jk. Miss you all and I'll Skype with you soon! The next two months, I'll be chilling in Madrid and exploring some more. I'll keep updating as much as possible.
Besos!
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