I've been putting off writing anything on here since the beginning of this semester. Not entirely sure why, but the more time that passed the more I figured it was too late. Because I've been to more places, and seen some amazing things - Barcelona, Stonehenge, Dublin, and Marrakech. I know that if I tried to write an entry for each location I would get maybe one or two done and then give up out of laziness. I was even bad about writing in my journal, so besides my photographs, there's not a lot else to help me remember my travels - and my memory will most definitely fail me sooner rather than later.
I've decided to stay in London, too. So I have 5 more months of living abroad ahead of me and how can I not write about everything I've seen and will see? So in an effort to get something done I've compose a list of highlights - to make sure I remember and to remind everyone else how MUCH is out there.
Barcelona - really spur of the moment decision I made as soon as I came back from Christmas break. It was January and freezing in London but about 60 degrees in Spain so I sat outside with coffees and my disposable camera and got a strong sense of deja vu that brought me back to last summer. I did a lot of walking around, a lot of sitting by the water. My all time favorite was all the Gaudi architecture. That man was insane, but as creepy as his church looks, his designs are beautiful and so interesting. I loved the church - I studied it about 4 years ago at the end of high school and have been waiting all that time to see it. I spent most of the day there and felt like I was meeting a famous person. If you do go to Barcelona though and have never been, Gaudi's park is way underrated. It wasn't even in my guide book and I only found out about it through this kiwi girl I met in the hostel. It's this really large park with statues of lizards made into mosaics plus Gaudi's old house, and some other buildings that are what I imagine to be Hansel and Gretel's house.
I also took a cooking class and met some fun people - two Americans and an Australian. We learned to make paella and sangria, two recipes I have yet to use but were delicious nonetheless.
Stonehenge - still didn't have my camera so I have no photos :-( Part of me feels this place is overrated. You can't walk among the stones, there was no information anywhere that helped you learn about what you were seeing, and it's much smaller in person. That being said, I went with my class so we had a tour guide and while Stonehenge the tourist destination was badly laid out, Stonehenge the historical landmark really is incredible. The stories behind how it was built and how old it is are inspiring and made me wonder about our modern technology - we can do so many things from fly to watch people on TV but thousands of years ago people, without cranes or trucks lugged tonnes of stone from Wales and France and building an effing sundial (if that's what it really is)! I mean, come on. Moral to the story: go to Stonehenge.
Dublin - Didn't get enough time there. Totally my fault, I didn't want to fly, so I took a bus, two trains, a ferry and another bus for a total of 10 hours traveling. I met the parental units and we saw the obligatory things like St Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness factory, that big park in the middle of the city (forgot the name), etc etc. I definitely would have loved to see more of the city, but to be perfectly honest I thought it a little small. Not that small is bad, but I think I wanted to see IRELAND. Maybe it's a touristy view, but I wanted rolling green hills and leprechauns and redheads named Mary O'Malley. Though we did stay in a little guest house above a pub called O'Neils and had a full Irish breakfast every morning, which was lovely. On the last day the mother and I took a train a little way out of Dublin to Dalkey and Bray - not very exciting places but small towns with castles and such. We rode the train along the water which made me feel as if I'd gotten to see a little of the countryside. But the Irish! Man, they are the best bunch of people I have every met. Everyone from bus drivers to strangers on the street were polite and friendly and smiling away. Not that I could understand a word they were saying, but the Irish accent is very sexy.
Marrakesh - There is too much to say. You have to go, there is nowhere else like it. Strongest memories:
1. My friend Sarah and I were like the pied piper of Moroccan children. As we walked down the narrow red streets we accumulated children from 3 years old to about 18. The children were beautiful, but so so poor and after awhile it was hard to get annoyed when they kept asking for money. They also shouted out swear words and paid us great compliments that at first made me incredibly uncomfortable but at the end of the trip it was (almost) funny. At one point Sarah and I had about 12 kids running after us on a deserted street. I'm not a good enough writer to give you the amazing site that is was so you'll just have to trust me.
2. Moroccan sunsets over the atlas mountains.
3. The call to prayer which echoed over the entire city from the infinite mosques among it.
4. Smoking hashish on the rooftop of our hostel with the amazing people we met there.
5. The souks - I have never been so tempted by jewelry in my life.
6. The souks at night - snake charmers, people with monkeys on their shoulders and about 50 stands selling exactly the same thing - orange juice and couscous - which was all amazingly delicious by the way.
7. Sarah and I were attacked by women with henna. Granted, we were warned, but they're persistent! But once Sarah and I got talking, we found this woman completely covered by her veil to be charming and friendly and brilliant. Totally worth the ridiculous amount of money they tried to charge us.
8. I was detained in customs. 'Nough said.
I've decided to stay in London, too. So I have 5 more months of living abroad ahead of me and how can I not write about everything I've seen and will see? So in an effort to get something done I've compose a list of highlights - to make sure I remember and to remind everyone else how MUCH is out there.
Barcelona - really spur of the moment decision I made as soon as I came back from Christmas break. It was January and freezing in London but about 60 degrees in Spain so I sat outside with coffees and my disposable camera and got a strong sense of deja vu that brought me back to last summer. I did a lot of walking around, a lot of sitting by the water. My all time favorite was all the Gaudi architecture. That man was insane, but as creepy as his church looks, his designs are beautiful and so interesting. I loved the church - I studied it about 4 years ago at the end of high school and have been waiting all that time to see it. I spent most of the day there and felt like I was meeting a famous person. If you do go to Barcelona though and have never been, Gaudi's park is way underrated. It wasn't even in my guide book and I only found out about it through this kiwi girl I met in the hostel. It's this really large park with statues of lizards made into mosaics plus Gaudi's old house, and some other buildings that are what I imagine to be Hansel and Gretel's house.
I also took a cooking class and met some fun people - two Americans and an Australian. We learned to make paella and sangria, two recipes I have yet to use but were delicious nonetheless.
Stonehenge - still didn't have my camera so I have no photos :-( Part of me feels this place is overrated. You can't walk among the stones, there was no information anywhere that helped you learn about what you were seeing, and it's much smaller in person. That being said, I went with my class so we had a tour guide and while Stonehenge the tourist destination was badly laid out, Stonehenge the historical landmark really is incredible. The stories behind how it was built and how old it is are inspiring and made me wonder about our modern technology - we can do so many things from fly to watch people on TV but thousands of years ago people, without cranes or trucks lugged tonnes of stone from Wales and France and building an effing sundial (if that's what it really is)! I mean, come on. Moral to the story: go to Stonehenge.
Dublin - Didn't get enough time there. Totally my fault, I didn't want to fly, so I took a bus, two trains, a ferry and another bus for a total of 10 hours traveling. I met the parental units and we saw the obligatory things like St Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness factory, that big park in the middle of the city (forgot the name), etc etc. I definitely would have loved to see more of the city, but to be perfectly honest I thought it a little small. Not that small is bad, but I think I wanted to see IRELAND. Maybe it's a touristy view, but I wanted rolling green hills and leprechauns and redheads named Mary O'Malley. Though we did stay in a little guest house above a pub called O'Neils and had a full Irish breakfast every morning, which was lovely. On the last day the mother and I took a train a little way out of Dublin to Dalkey and Bray - not very exciting places but small towns with castles and such. We rode the train along the water which made me feel as if I'd gotten to see a little of the countryside. But the Irish! Man, they are the best bunch of people I have every met. Everyone from bus drivers to strangers on the street were polite and friendly and smiling away. Not that I could understand a word they were saying, but the Irish accent is very sexy.
Marrakesh - There is too much to say. You have to go, there is nowhere else like it. Strongest memories:
1. My friend Sarah and I were like the pied piper of Moroccan children. As we walked down the narrow red streets we accumulated children from 3 years old to about 18. The children were beautiful, but so so poor and after awhile it was hard to get annoyed when they kept asking for money. They also shouted out swear words and paid us great compliments that at first made me incredibly uncomfortable but at the end of the trip it was (almost) funny. At one point Sarah and I had about 12 kids running after us on a deserted street. I'm not a good enough writer to give you the amazing site that is was so you'll just have to trust me.
2. Moroccan sunsets over the atlas mountains.
3. The call to prayer which echoed over the entire city from the infinite mosques among it.
4. Smoking hashish on the rooftop of our hostel with the amazing people we met there.
5. The souks - I have never been so tempted by jewelry in my life.
6. The souks at night - snake charmers, people with monkeys on their shoulders and about 50 stands selling exactly the same thing - orange juice and couscous - which was all amazingly delicious by the way.
7. Sarah and I were attacked by women with henna. Granted, we were warned, but they're persistent! But once Sarah and I got talking, we found this woman completely covered by her veil to be charming and friendly and brilliant. Totally worth the ridiculous amount of money they tried to charge us.
8. I was detained in customs. 'Nough said.
2 comments:
I think I just re-lived my junior year abroad experience through your blog. Sorry to be weird and comment here, but found you through Harper's blog post and I wish you all the luck in the world!
thx rfor you sharing~~learn it by heart ........................................
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