Wow. I cannot believe I am writing my last blog post. It is seriously surreal how fast time has flown here; it seems like just yesterday I was writing my first post. Everything that seemed so foreign and different back then now seems so comfortable, normal, and fits my life perfectly. I really cannot put my experience into words. It has been the most life-changing, eye-opening experience I never knew I would go through. I really do not know what to say, I am at a loss for words. I guess I will start by talking about my past two trips: Costa Brava and my roadtrip through southern Spain. I will leave all the sad stuff for the end.
Hoookay, so this past Wednesday and Thursday I organized a trip up Costa Brava with my friends. 7 people came on the trip, and I could not ask for a better group. My friends Sophie, Shirelle, Sean, Elliot, Taylor, adn Chelsea all came. We rented two cars and left Wednesday and started driving up the coast from Barcelona. Our main destination was Cadaqués, a small fishing village about 2 hours north of Barcelona. We first stopped at Cap de Crues, a national park right next to Cadaqués. We arrrived around lunchtime and started hiking in the national park. Cap de Creus was absolutely AMAZING!! It is a peninsula on the coast of Spain. There were all these extreme rock formations surrounding the whole hike. And the coast was SO rocky with huge waves crashing into the land. It was absolutely gorgeous. We got to see all down the coast of Spain and into southern France. We ended up climbing a bunch of rocks and just goofing around, but it was incredibly fun.
Then, we made our way to our hotel room later that afternoon in Cadaqués. We walked around Cadaqués for a while and ate a delicious meal. Cadaqués may be my favorite town I have ever seen. It is incredibly small and not a major tourist attraction, so it was somewhat desolate. It was absolutely gorgeous and on the coast, with the water completely light blue and see-through. It was breathtaking. Later that evening the 7 of us drank some wine and went back to the hotel room, where it seemed like a huge slumber party. The next day, we went swimming off of the cliffs of Cadaqués and hung out on the beaches, until we needed to head back to Barcelona around 3pm.
Early the next morning, I was back at the rental car company for my roadtrip to southern Spain! I literally got just back from this trip, and it may have been my favorite trip of the semester (although it has many amazing trips to compete with). So Friday morning, Nathalie, Dominique, Kim and I left down the coast of Spain, first stop: VALENCIA! We arrived in Valencia early afternoon and quickly started walking around the city. Valencia is absolutely adorable and gorgeous. They have beautiful parks and fountains randomly around the city, and we went to this art center (?). I was really confused with what it was, but it is famous in Valencia. It was basically a huge development that is full of water and they have laser shows and marine shows and fake dinosaurs everywhere. It was really strange (just look at the pictures to see). We then headed to a cathedral with beautiful views of the entire city. We were lost and so we asked this girl, and she was so sweet! She walked us to the cathedral, talking to us the whole time and just wanting to help. She also gave us a recommendation for dinner, which we went to later. But since being here I have noticed how NICE everyone is, if you ask for directions they will stop and help you! This was especially useful on the roads of Spain... I will explain later. But after the cathedral, where supposedly they had the holy grail (?), we went to dinner and had an AMAZING dinner of tapas, paella, and wine.
After dinner we drove about an hour to Alicante and found a spot on the street to sleep! We tried to save money this trip, so sleeping in the car was the #1 option! The only problem was that our car was the size of our Honda (Koala) so it was quite uncomfortable. I slept in the drivers sleep and woke up probably about 1000 times that night to people walking by and either laughing at us or knocking on the window or the garbageman in the morning. And occasionally I would move around and accidentely honk the horn. It was quite an interesting night. The next day we spent walking around Alicante. Alicante is a really cute beach town. After getting lunch in town, we went to the main beach and basically passed out for hours (since we barely got sleep the night before). It was SOOO sunny and the water was so warm!! It was sooo relaxing and so beautiful!! We then took showers under the little feet rinsers at the beach... it was quite a scene. That night we made our way to GRANADA!
Granada is inland in the south of Spain. It may be my favorite city in Spain (besides Barcelona obviously). We arrived Saturday night and met up with our friend from UCSB who is studying in Granada, Bingo. He already had visitors staying at his place but he let us sleep on his terrace (which was a million times better than the car). IT WAS SO HOT IN GRANADA. Like, no joke, you could not move without sweating. So it was actually really nice being able to sleep outside under the stars.
And Granada is amazing because when you order a beer or a drink at a restaurant, they automatically bring you tapas! So we literally spent 4 euros every night on 2 beers, and they would just bring out SO MUCH FOOD to you while you drank your beer. IT WAS AWESOME! The tapas were amazing and they were so much better knowing that they were free! The streets of Granada are also really interesting, it kind of reminded me of Greece (the small, narrow streets). It also has a very big Morrocan/Arabic influence, there were so many vendors on the streets. Also what I liked about Granada was that you could walk everywhere! It is not nearly as big as Barcelona so you literally walk from one side to the other in 10 minutes. Anyways, on the first day we walked around the city and went to a main viewpoint of the city, with the Alhambra in the background. It was so hott so we then went back to our terrace and tanned/passed out it was amazing.
The next day we woke up very early to go to the Alhambra. I read somewhere that "If you haven't seen the Alhambra, you have not lived" and I completely agree. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE. It was SO beautiful and so amazing how they built the whole thing. We spent about 6 hours walking around the Alhambra and absorbing everything it had to offer. It was AMAZING! (Look at the pics for details)
After the Alhambra we made our way back to Alicante in time to go to the beach and tan some more! (The sun does not go down until past 9pm...) We then had an amazing meal, walked along the beach, and then went back to our car to sleep. It had been an exhausting day, so sleeping in the car was not a problem. This morning we left Alicante and got back to Barcelona at 4pm! Oh and it was SO annoying, about 15 minutes outside of Barcelona a little pebble (or something, I didn't even see it) hit our windshield so there was a little crack, and the car rental company told us it would be about 450 euros in damage. We were SOO furious (especially because it happened 15 minutes before our trip ended and it was a friggin pebble, it was in no way our fault). So I talked to my credit card company that I charged the car on and they said that they cover any car rental insurance! So yay I just have to fill out a claim and that is dealt with!
OH MY GOSH driving in Spain is literally insane. First of all, there is a prostitute on the side of the road every 10 minutes (which made the roadtrip very entertaining). Like they are just chilling on a lawnchair on the side of the highway wearning almost nothing, it was ridiculous. Second of all, Spaniards do not believe in speed limits. Like NO ONE (not even the trucks) go the speed limit and they go so fast!!! And there are absolutely no cops on the side of the highway trying to catch people for speeding. It was actually really awesome. Also, they do not follow stoplights they literally go whenever they want. And the million roundabouts are SO confusing. But, we made it out alive with no damage! (besides that friggin pebble)
Ok, well I am about to pass out so maybe I will do a closing post later. Enjoy the pics!! BAHHHHH ONLY 3 MORE DAYS IN BARCELONA!!!!!! I am literally depressed. I can't believe I have to start packing!! Can't I just move here now?!?!! MER I DO NOT WANT TO GO. Okay, well hopefully I will have time in between packing to do a concluding post on my experience abroad. LOVE YOU ALL!
Granada, Spain
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Beginning of the End
Hola tios!
So I am writing this post sitting in my living room, procrastinating studying, and reflecting upon the most amazing weekend in Barcelona I just experienced. Although we are in the middle of finals, we managed to take the weekend off of studying and experience the wonderful areas Barcelona offers.
On Friday we headed to this secluded park on the top of a hill that basically no one has heard of. We hung out in the park all day, barbequed, and played beer pong! (This is the first time in Barcelona that I have played my favorite drinking game ever, my friend's dad sent him red cups from the states!) So that was incredibly fun, and I won as always. I also got to throw around the frisbee a lot with my friend who is on the Ultimate team in Merced and it was overall a very relaxing day with amazing people. The view was also amazing, and there was virtually nobody in the park.
I planned this big day hike on Saturday for everyone. We took a train about an hour south of Barcelona and hiked along a coastal trail on the bluffs of Spain. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It was only about 5 miles, but it was stunning. And the weather was perfect (we had been having June gloom in Barcelona, so some sun felt so nice). There was about 10 of us, so we hiked and picniced until we reached the beaches of Sitges. We arrived at the beaches around 3pm, and immediately got mojitos and layed out on the beach. The water was so warm so we played and splashed in the water and enjoyed the nice weather. My friend and I got to play frisbee again and we were diving in and out of the water in the sand... it was seriously SO MUCH FUN. After hanging out, drinking mojitos, and playing in the sand, we took the train back to Barcelona and arrived around 9, when I immediately passed out from the long day.
On Sunday we had a day packed of events. It was my good friend Justin's last day in Barcelona, so we took advantage of that. My friend Shirelle (Sara knows her from Davis) had a goodbye brunch at her apartment. It was potlach-style so we all brought different items and hung out on her terrace reminiscing on our experience in Barcelona. Afterwards, Justin led us to his favorite place in Barcelona. It is also a really remote area that no one knows about, but has STUNNING views of the city. We brought some bottles of cava to the top and hung out there for a couple hours starring at the beautful city of Barcelona and never wanted to leave. Our experience has flown by, it is hard to imagine that I will be leaving my new home in a couple weeks. After hanging out at the top of the mountain for a while, all of us headed to dinner at this fabulous restaurant. There were about 20 of us at dinner and just the company of all my best friends here made it absolutely amazing. Somehow, after everyone paid their end of the bill, we were 30 euros over the actual amount, so we all got ice cream and hung out in a plaza. I then said goodbye to Justin and headed home :(.
So that was my incredible weekend. It was full of parks, hiking, beaches, friends, views, cava, and Barcelona. It was absolutely wonderful. But now I have an economics test tomorrow and 2 essays to write :(.
I also planned another trip with all my friends (Char I think I have taken over your role and I am officially the planner of all activities amongst my friends). We are road-tripping to Costa Brava (north of Barcelona, south of France) this Wednesday and Thursday. We are leaving Wednesday morning and heading up the coast in two different cars (about 8 people going). Costa Brava is supposed to be the most amazing coast in Spain, with remote and beautiful fishing villages such as Cadaques, Lloret del Mar, Roses, and more. We are playing most of it by ear depending on where people want to go, but we will probably just sleep in the cars or squish everyone into a hotel room. It is going to be an amazing getaway from Barcelona and I have been waiting to see Costa Brava for a long time.
I planned another road trip for immediately after the Costa Brava trip. Since I only have two weeks left, I thought road-tripping through Spain is the best way to spend quality time with my best friends and explore different cities in Spain. Nathalie, Dom, Kim, and I leave Friday morning for our southern-Spain trip. We are driving down the coast and exploring the remote beaches and towns that most people rarely see. We are also exploring well-known areas, such as Valencia, Murcia, Granada (the Alhambra!), Cordoba, etc. We have 4.5 days so we are going to try to squish everything in. We are also on a tight budget so we will probably be either sleeping in the car or camping out on the beaches. Playing it by ear is the best thing to do!
Anyways, I am SOOOOO excited for both my road trips because I will be able to see the true beauty of the Spanish coast. I get back from my second road trip on Tuesday, and I leave Barcelona on Saturday! On that Friday there is a HUGE beach music festival called Sonar, so that will be my last hoo-rah. I am so excited for my last two weeks and excited that I have trips planned to occupy my time and keep my mind off of returning to the US :(.
I will try to update my blog when I return from my road trips but I will be very busy with packing and saying goodbye to my city, so we will see! Now I have to study for my last final :( and then gotta do two more essays then off to explore Spain! Love you all.
xooxo
-Kate
So I am writing this post sitting in my living room, procrastinating studying, and reflecting upon the most amazing weekend in Barcelona I just experienced. Although we are in the middle of finals, we managed to take the weekend off of studying and experience the wonderful areas Barcelona offers.
On Friday we headed to this secluded park on the top of a hill that basically no one has heard of. We hung out in the park all day, barbequed, and played beer pong! (This is the first time in Barcelona that I have played my favorite drinking game ever, my friend's dad sent him red cups from the states!) So that was incredibly fun, and I won as always. I also got to throw around the frisbee a lot with my friend who is on the Ultimate team in Merced and it was overall a very relaxing day with amazing people. The view was also amazing, and there was virtually nobody in the park.
I planned this big day hike on Saturday for everyone. We took a train about an hour south of Barcelona and hiked along a coastal trail on the bluffs of Spain. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It was only about 5 miles, but it was stunning. And the weather was perfect (we had been having June gloom in Barcelona, so some sun felt so nice). There was about 10 of us, so we hiked and picniced until we reached the beaches of Sitges. We arrived at the beaches around 3pm, and immediately got mojitos and layed out on the beach. The water was so warm so we played and splashed in the water and enjoyed the nice weather. My friend and I got to play frisbee again and we were diving in and out of the water in the sand... it was seriously SO MUCH FUN. After hanging out, drinking mojitos, and playing in the sand, we took the train back to Barcelona and arrived around 9, when I immediately passed out from the long day.
On Sunday we had a day packed of events. It was my good friend Justin's last day in Barcelona, so we took advantage of that. My friend Shirelle (Sara knows her from Davis) had a goodbye brunch at her apartment. It was potlach-style so we all brought different items and hung out on her terrace reminiscing on our experience in Barcelona. Afterwards, Justin led us to his favorite place in Barcelona. It is also a really remote area that no one knows about, but has STUNNING views of the city. We brought some bottles of cava to the top and hung out there for a couple hours starring at the beautful city of Barcelona and never wanted to leave. Our experience has flown by, it is hard to imagine that I will be leaving my new home in a couple weeks. After hanging out at the top of the mountain for a while, all of us headed to dinner at this fabulous restaurant. There were about 20 of us at dinner and just the company of all my best friends here made it absolutely amazing. Somehow, after everyone paid their end of the bill, we were 30 euros over the actual amount, so we all got ice cream and hung out in a plaza. I then said goodbye to Justin and headed home :(.
So that was my incredible weekend. It was full of parks, hiking, beaches, friends, views, cava, and Barcelona. It was absolutely wonderful. But now I have an economics test tomorrow and 2 essays to write :(.
I also planned another trip with all my friends (Char I think I have taken over your role and I am officially the planner of all activities amongst my friends). We are road-tripping to Costa Brava (north of Barcelona, south of France) this Wednesday and Thursday. We are leaving Wednesday morning and heading up the coast in two different cars (about 8 people going). Costa Brava is supposed to be the most amazing coast in Spain, with remote and beautiful fishing villages such as Cadaques, Lloret del Mar, Roses, and more. We are playing most of it by ear depending on where people want to go, but we will probably just sleep in the cars or squish everyone into a hotel room. It is going to be an amazing getaway from Barcelona and I have been waiting to see Costa Brava for a long time.
I planned another road trip for immediately after the Costa Brava trip. Since I only have two weeks left, I thought road-tripping through Spain is the best way to spend quality time with my best friends and explore different cities in Spain. Nathalie, Dom, Kim, and I leave Friday morning for our southern-Spain trip. We are driving down the coast and exploring the remote beaches and towns that most people rarely see. We are also exploring well-known areas, such as Valencia, Murcia, Granada (the Alhambra!), Cordoba, etc. We have 4.5 days so we are going to try to squish everything in. We are also on a tight budget so we will probably be either sleeping in the car or camping out on the beaches. Playing it by ear is the best thing to do!
Anyways, I am SOOOOO excited for both my road trips because I will be able to see the true beauty of the Spanish coast. I get back from my second road trip on Tuesday, and I leave Barcelona on Saturday! On that Friday there is a HUGE beach music festival called Sonar, so that will be my last hoo-rah. I am so excited for my last two weeks and excited that I have trips planned to occupy my time and keep my mind off of returning to the US :(.
I will try to update my blog when I return from my road trips but I will be very busy with packing and saying goodbye to my city, so we will see! Now I have to study for my last final :( and then gotta do two more essays then off to explore Spain! Love you all.
xooxo
-Kate
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