CITY #1 - BARCELONA, SPAIN - March 4-7, 2011.
(FRIDAY) The roomies and I boarded our flight from Florence and arrived in Barcelona a few hours later. Flying over the ocean and beach, I got insanely excited for the city. Unfortunately, I was extremely ill with a headcold and the flying didn't help my case. Regardless, we all found our hostel, Kabul's Backpacker Hostel, without any problems and settled in quickly before exploring Barcelona.
First on our agenda? Visiting the Dunkin Donuts right up the street from us. Sadly, however, the iced coffees in Europe aren't nearly as delicious as those in the States. Womp. Next, Barcelona soccer tickets. Check. Then, we all headed to the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc for their infamous daily light's show. We got to the steps just in time and sat down to witness the Epcot-like show. The first show, at 7pm, was Disney themed and fantastic. The next lights show was movie themed, but not quite as good as the previous. Afterwards, the roomies and I walked Las Ramblas, where our hostel was off of, and stopped in the market. Wow! The markets in Barcelona > the markets in Florence. We decided to buy a 3 Liter bottle of Vodka, called GLEN, for the six of us to split for the weekend. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, we made it out to one of Barcelona's finest Flamenco shows. There were 2 dancers and it was actually pretty impressive the various sounds they made with their hands and feet. I enjoyed.
(SATURDAY) We woke up and headed out to the soccer stadium to validate our tickets for that night's game against Zaragoza, another Spanish soccer team. We waited for about two hours until they finally opened, got our tickets, and continued on with our Barth-elona adventures. Next up: Park Guell by Gaudi. We took the metro a few stops over, walked for about twenty minutes and then up a huge hill and bam! There is was. The park was one of my favorite parts about Barcelona. It reminded me of Candyland. It is absolutely fantastic. The weather was beautiful and we spent a decent amount of time walking around, finding the infamous chameleon, and then wandering up to the roof of the park. Yes, I said it - roof. We soaked up the sun and eventually it was time to head out. We stopped at Casa Battló, which is also a house designed by Gaudi. He's awesome. The house was extremely unique and just the outside was impressive enough for us.
We wandered down Passieg de Gracias and peeked in a few stores. The shopping in Barcelona is heavenly! Starving, we settled for some quick Burger King (such Americans, I know). We all raced back to the hostel to freshen up for a fantastic night ahead.
Rachael, Ari, Allie and I found ourselves down to Port Vell for sunset. It is beautiful down by the water. We grabbed some hotdogs and waters and watched the boats during sunset. We took the metro to the soccer stadium, where we met up with Emily, Jess, Amanda, and Annie. My very first soccer game and it was a FC Barcelona Futbol game ... how lucky am I!? The stadium is absolutely incredible - it's HUGE. Of course our tickets were for nosebleed seats, but even so, they were decent seats. We sat next to the opposing team's fans and that made for some interesting and confusing chants. Once or twice, I found myself cheering for the wrong team. Oops! Decked out in my Barcelona jersey, I was proud to sing Spanish cheers which meanings I knew little of. FCBarcelona won the game, 1-0! Of course, that was expected.
Afterwards, we got a little lost in the streets surrounding the stadium and waited for over a half hour in the crowd to get on the metro. Starved, we ate at Via 70, a cute outdoor restaurant on Las Ramblas. We all ordered tapas to share and Ari and I split a mixed paella. It was pretty good!
To end my night, the girls and I all headed down to Barceloneta to experience Europe's very first ice bar, icebarcelona. It literally is a room made completely out of ice, from the chairs to the cups you drink out of. We had to wear huge, silver space jackets to keep warm. After ten minutes, we all were frozen and ducked out to warm up by the fires outside. A very successful Saturday indeed!
(SUNDAY) Left the hostel to witness a marathon happening right on our street. Run! We all walked through the Gothic Quarter, partly by accident looking for the churro place Becca recommended. Eventually, we found it and ate arguably the best churros & chocolate in Barcelona. The place is the definition of a dive eatery - it really was just a hole in the wall. If we weren't looking for it, there's NO way we would've ever noticed it. It was the best find and we all got sick to our stomachs stuffing our faces with sugar.
Afterwards, we walked towards the Cathedral and witnessed a bunch of groups dancing in circles. It reminded me of Leanna's Greek line dancing. It was fantastic to watch. Some people were even dressed up! There was a band playing live music on the steps of the Cathedral too. The sun was shining. It was perfect. We walked inside and mass was just beginning so we listen to it for a bit while we walked around the public areas. For a split second, we thought we were inside La Sagrada Familia, until we realized we were mistaken so off we went!
A short metro ride later, we arrived at the real Sagrada Familia and WOW!! The building by Gaudi (my favorite) is absolutely breathtaking. It looks exactly like the wet-sand castles I used to make at the beach when I was younger. I think I could honestly look at it for hours. We had a quick photoshoot and were on our way. The best kebob later and it was time to get ready for Carnivale!
We all met up with Becca and her friend and caught the train to Sitges, Spain. Sitges is notorious for their Carnivale parades and their homosexual community full of spirit. The train was filled with spectators dressed in the most ridiculous costumes. We all walked down to the beach and waited for the parade to begin. We quickly learned that the parade wouldn't get to our spot for a while and so instead, we all grabbed some pizza and waited. Eventually, we noticed some floats coming our way and grabbed a place along the street to watch.
The parade...how can I explain it? Easily. The parade, for the most part, was composed of men and women, gay and straight, smoking and drinking their way down the street. It was such a sight! The float themes ranged from Alice in Wanderland to Jungle to Ugly Women. It was bizarre but so incredibly wonderful at the same time. We spent the next few hours (what a long parade!) watching and interacting with the dancers. It was a great time. We waited for an hour to catch the train back to Barcelona and by this time is was already 4:30am. We all decided that we might as well just stay up, check out of the hostel at 5:30am, and head to the airport...so we did.
We arrived at the airport completely exhausted and in our crazy outfits. We looked ridiculous. A short ride later and it was layover time in Madrid. After we got our passports stamped (YES!) we took yet another flight to Dublin.
CITY #2 - DUBLIN, IRELAND - March 7-9, 2011.
(MONDAY) So we arrived in Dublin in the afternoon and checked in the Four Courts Hostel, which was located right in the center of Dublin. The staff were so incredibly nice and I would love to go back again. We stayed in a 24-person bedroom, but there were only 10 people in our room (which six were the roomies). As expected, we were starving and we walked over to the Porterhouse for a real Irish dinner.
The Porterhouse was amazing. I got Beef & Ale pot pie with mash...DELICIOUS. We also got some buffalo wings. It was a fantastic dinner. We noticed a guy eating alone and so we ushered him over and he talked with us for a bit.
(TUESDAY) Up bright and early (for us anyways..), we had breakfast at The Queen of Tarts. Of course, the place is known for scones -which I tried and I really want to like but don't - so instead I settled for a breakfast of scrambled eggs and lox. It was delicious. Afterwards, we all walked forever until we reached a different town entirely (it was by accident, kind of) and reached Dublin's prison, Kilmainham Gao. We took a tour of the prison and learned that there's the Old Wing and the New Wing. It was all extremely interesting and creepy in a way. I enjoyed it.
Afterwards, it was time for some Guinness!! We did a self-guided tour through the Guinness Factory, which is incredibly huge! The entire factory is centered around a seven-story glass pint. Crazy! We tasted hops and barley and we even quizzed ourselves. Ari and I could use a little help when it comes to Guinness knowledge. Eventually, the tour ends at the very top of the pint (or the top floor) where you're treated to a complimentary pint of Guinness. You have a 360-degree view of Dublin. Just the view from the top is worth the entrance fee. I had my very first Guinness up there and it wasn't too shabby. It's extremely dark and it's something I could possibly drink every once in a while.
On our walk back, we all were discussing where to grab a quick lunch. A woman on the streets overheard us and cut into our conversation - politely of course - and offered a suggestion for a cafe coming up. It's exactly that reason that I loved Dublin. The city itself is actually grungy and beat, sort of run-down, but the people who live there completely make it worthwhile. The Irish are possibly the nicest, most genuinely friendly people to ever meet. I love it.
After lunch, we split up to do our own things. Rachael, Ari, and I decided to skip the Jameson Whiskey Factory since we don't like whiskey what-so-ever and instead check out the shopping streets. We walked down Henry Street, which is the main street. They had a Forever 21, Top Shop, and a Penney's. How do I describe Penney's? How about the greatest store ever? Where I spent the majority of my money? Where I bought things I didn't need? Yes. All of the above, but I don't regret it! The store is similar to an H&M or Forever 21 but ten times cheaper. Yes...cheaper! It was a great find.
Afterwards, the three of us wandered to the end of Henry Street and found O'Connell Street, which is a main drag in Dublin. Eventually, we all met up and went to dinner at Brazenhead Pub, a block over from our hostel. We got soda bread, spicy "chips", Irish stew (yum!), and of course a Bulmer's cider. I LOVE BULMER'S! After the delicious dinner, we went to Temple Bar area to check out, well, The Temple Bar. As soon as we walked in I knew I loved it. The place was very low-key and a fantastic Irish duo was playing some Mumford and Sons. I was in heaven. There were a few people just dancing on their own and many more just enjoying the scene. With my Bulmer's in hand, so was I. When the bar finally closed, we wandered along the streets and saw some make-shift bands playing in the streets, drawing a crowd and some dancing. Oh how I love Dublin.
(WEDNESDAY) Happy Ash Wednesday! Up early again, Rachael, Ari and I walked over to breakfast at Bewley's, located on Grafton Street. I feasted to an Irish breakfast, which consisted of: potato farl, grilled bacon, sausage, tomato, pudding, mushroom, poached egg, famous home-made relish and toast, plus coffee. SO GOOD. I LOVE FOOD! Afterwards, we walked down Grafton Street towards St. Stephen's Green, which was beautiful. Rachael and I found our claddaugh rings - finally! I love mine.
Next, we walked back up Grafton to Trinity College and hung out with the college kids for awhile. It's a beautiful college. Then, over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral and the park are incredibly beautiful. We walked inside and throughout the cathedral and goofed around a bit (cough cough Ari). Next, we found the Dublin Castle but it didn't even resemble a castle so we didn't think it was worthy to spend money on - and we were right. So instead of touring it, we did a little bit more shopping and ended our busy Dublin tour at the best fish&chips in town - Leo Burddock's. It's a hole-in-the-wall kind of place with crazy Irish people working in there but nonetheless, a great experience. We each got our own fish&chips and let me tell you...they weighed as much as a small infant! There was so much food, but it was so so good!
We met up with the other three roomies, who also got their own fish&chips, and checked out of our wonderful hostel. We rushed to the airport and unfortunately got stuck in the most traffic imaginable (thanks to a Justin Bieber concert, ugh). We made it, got through security, and boarded the plane. Well, some of us. Unfortunately, Allie booked the wrong flight somehow and they wouldn't let her board, even though there were plenty of empty seats. So, Ari, Rachael, and I got on our place and Allie, Emily, and Jess enjoyed another night in Dublin.
CITY #3 - EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - March 9-11, 2011.
(WEDNESDAY) We arrived in Edinburgh at night, although we were missing three of our roomies. We caught the bus into the city, found our hostel - High Street Hostel - and found some food to munch on. It was a rainy night, but already I could tell I loved this quaint town.
(THURSDAY) The three of us woke up early with a full itinerary for the day. Just as we were leaving, Allie, Emily, and Jess arrived from Dublin and they went straight to bed to catch up on sleep. So we headed out to breakfast at Spoon, this cute restaurant down the street. We each got a breakfast sandwich which surprisingly filled us up. Afterwards, while the weather was still cooperating, we visited the Edinburgh Castle.
We walked down the Royal Mile towards the Castle, marveling at the gorgeous Gothic buildings that lined the main road. Of course, as soon as we entered the castle grounds, it started raining. Shortly after, it stopped. There was a rainbow glistening in the sky, which was a magnificent sight to see over the entire city of Edinburgh. The view from the top of the castle was stunning. We could see as far as city's edge and the waters in the distance. Beauty! We wandered through the various museums of the castle, especially the War Memorial and Honors & Crown Jewels. Edinburgh's Honors & Jewels consist of the crown, the scepter, and the sword. While we browsed the gift shop, the sky outside blackened and almost instantly it started hailing. The weather in Scotland is wild! I couldn't believe it. By the time we left the shop, it was sunny outside again. Crazy.
On our way back, we found a ticket office called The Hub, which reminded me of Penn State (ah, I miss the HUB!). It started drizzling - of course - and thankfully we took shelter in St. Giles Cathedral. There was a fantastic organ inside of the church. We took a tour around and then, when it stopped raining, made our way towards New Town. In Edinburgh, the city is split in half - New Town, which is full of shops, and then Old Town, which is where our hostel was (and in my opinion, the more beautiful side).
We stopped in the Mound Museum because we saw it was free and it didn't take us long to realize why. It was the Royal Bank of Scotland's museum. It was all about money, which doesn't really interest me because, well, it's not really interesting. The three of us were easily bored.
The sun was still shining so we made our escape to the Scott Monument. My love! It is this fantastic monument right on the edge between Old and New Town. It's dark and Gothic and wonderful. Afterwards, we decided to have lunch at perhaps one of the greatest eateries in town - The Baked Potato. That's right, my favorite food, in a restaurant. I'm bringing this idea home. The Baked Potato is the greatest place in the world and my baked potato was no exception. There were too many options on the menu so I settled on the classic: potato, cheddar, and sour cream. To my surprise, it was a 1-to-1-to-1 ratio of these ingredients. Heavenly! Some noms later and I was stuffed to the brim.
To work off our lunch, Rachael, Ari and I continued our walk down the Royal Mile. We stopped in the Children's Museum, which is a nostalgic, but somewhat creepy, museum of childhood toys. There were four floors, each with a different theme. Afterwards, we continued down until we reached the Palace at Holyrood. We took an tour through the Palace. It was beautiful inside and listening to the guides definitely helped peak our interests. The Palace is actually still used by the Queen of England for important events, especially during the summer months.
After our fantastic tour, we walked across from the Palace to the Scottish Parliament. We found out it was free to go inside so of course we did! We took a quick look around the education stations and tried to wander further, until a security guard stopped us. He asked if we had tickets for the debate. We said no and he told us they were free. S owe got our tickets and headed up the stairs to sit in on a debate in the Scottish Parliament. It was actually really cool to see the inside of the debate room. My amazement quickly diminished, as I have absolutely no interest in legal affairs. For Rachael's sake, we sat for a few more minutes until we called it a successful day.
The last stop for our busy Thursday? The Elephant House. This small cafe located on George IV Bridge Street is where it's rumored that J.K. Rowling wrote the first few Harry Potters. Apparently, Hogwarts was created from looking at the Edinburgh Castle. Very interesting. Regardless of the validity of the rumor, the three of us warmed up to some Scottish tea. It was nice to just sit and breathe for once during Spring Break.
Afterwards, we went back to the hostel to freshen up. For dinner, we decided to try out a popular Indian restaurant near our hostel. For some reason, the UK is notorious for fabulous Indian cuisine. Anyways, I'd never had Indian before so I was hesitant because I had heard you either love it or hate it. Well, I loved it. We ate at Mother India and our waiter was fantastic. I asked him for the best thing on the menu and he told me a spicy chicken dish. Rachael, Ari, and I shared a few appetizers and naan and then split four dishes. So delicious. I can't wait to make this a habit once we're all back at Penn State. Hello India Pavilion! Anyways, dinner was a huge success and I couldn't have been happier with our day in the 'Burgh.
(FRIDAY) Rachael left us early in the morning to get back to Florence, so it was Ari and me all day. We slept in, which was nice, and then headed out of hte hostel with absolutely no destination in mind. It was stress-free and a nice change of pace from previous days. We walked into New Town and found a recommended cafe for breakfast, Glass & Thompson. I had a ginger cake with rum icing - scrumptious! After an hour-long breakfast, we walked around the neighborhoods in New Town until it starts to rain (what else is new!?). So we rushed into a department store, which actually was a terrific coincidence. The huge department store actually resembles Saks Fifth Avenue. We ventured through the floors, browsed the ritzy clothes, and went up to the top floor - the food floor. There were conveyor belts with chocolates, sushi, and other noms. However, the best find was my toffee waffles! I had them for the first time in Amsterdam and I finally found them again! They were only 1 pound each, so of course I got two.
The sun was finally back out so Ari and I wandered back to the hostel, checked out, and grabbed a quick lunch at The Larder. Don't be alarmed! We didn't eat lard. I got vegetable soup and Ari got scones with clotted cream. We found out that clotted cream is the "in-between" stage, between cream and butter. They stop the process halfway through to produce the smooth, cool clotted cream. It's delicious!
After lunch, we got to the airport and met up with Allie, Emily, and Jess. We waited around for our next flight and bam! We were off to our final destination!
CITY #4 - CHARLEROI/BRUSSELS/HASSELT, BELGIUM - March 11-13, 2011.
(FRIDAY) Our fifth flight of Spring Break and we landed successfully in Charleroi, Belgium. A shuttle ride later and we were inside the gates of our airport hotel. Since we only booked the hotel for three people and we were five, Ari and I were lucky enough to wait outside to get sneaked in. A half hour later and some mild heart attacks, we were all successful inside our tiny room. Too lazy and scared to all go out, Emily, Jack, and Jess spent over 30 Euros on MickeyDs and brought us all home dinner. Sick from junk, we all passed out.
(SATURDAY) Jess, Emily, and Allie were exhausted from their escapades and planned to sleep the day away. Ari and I decided we wanted to see Brussels, so we got ready, packed up, and headed to the airport to catch the shuttle bus to the city. Of course, since Sensation White was that night and we wouldn't be returning to the hotel, we had to wear our white outfits out. We honestly looked like the biggest goons, in our white shorts and matching white sneaks.
We got to Brussels Midi station and felt like we were in the ghetto of Brussels. I ran into my friend Greg from Interlaken (small world!) and we caught up a bit. We got to Brussels Centraal station and off we were, without a map or any plans. It was kind of overwhemling to me, especially being such a Type A person. We decided where to go, initially, but looking into the sky and if we saw a tall building, we'd walk towards it. It worked at first. Then we found a postcard stand and looked on the cards to see what important landmarks Brussels had to offer us. We walked towards the center of Brussels, where we discovered this maginifcent courtyard area with gorgeous Gothic buildings. It was here that I ran into my friend Cameron from Penn State. Brussels, you're great!
After a quick catch-up session, Ari and I wandered to get some food. We settled on a sandwich shop. We ordered fried sausage sandwiches and split an order of Belgian fries, aka fries with mayo, ketchup, and onions. So bad, but so good!
We walked the streets until we found Mannequin Pis, the Little Pee Man. He's so much smaller in person that I'd imagined from the postcard! We walked into a couple more churches, witness some great street musicians, and of course ate chocolate. The best chocolate experience was in our last chocolate shop. We walked in and the woman asked what type of chocolate we were looking for. We had nothing particular in mind so she asked us what type of chocolate we liked and then proceeded to give us free sample tastings. So fabulous! Of course, then I bought a bunch of chocolates.
Happy in our chocolate comas, we caught the train from Brussels to Hasselt, Belgium for the huge phenomenon known as Sensation White. Sensation is the huge rave, where over 40,000 people dress in white and celebrate life. We got the Hasselt around 8pm, got ready in the bathroom, and then waited three hours for the rest of our roommates to meet us.
The group of us took a taxi to the arena and could easily hear the techno music blasting through the walls. Ari and I got our locker and entered possibly the most crazy concert of my life. The sea of people dressed in white wearing orange and green neon gloves loving the music was such a sight! Extremely excited, we pushed our way to the center of the arena and just loved the DJs. The best songs, the craziest dance moves...we had a fantastic time. We even dance battled a few strangers. One proceeded to sneak behind me and pick me up on his shoulders. At first, I thought I was going to get taken away but then I realized he just wanted me to enjoy the music more and so I danced up high! All-in-all, a successful Sensation. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thanks Ari!
We met up with the other around 4:30am and decided it best to leave for the train. We were waiting for the 6am train to arrive and I ran into yet again some more PSU people. I love it. Almost 6am and we noticed crowds of ravers rushing towards another track. Wow, awesome. The train station displayed the wrong track number for our train to Brussels. So we ran for our lives towards the real track and just barely squished into the train. We literally were sardines packed onto the train. For over an hour, no one could move, sit, or breathe. It was extremely uncomfortable but at least we made the train.
However, we missed our connecting train once we got to the Brussels station. We were stranded, with no way to get back to Charleroi (and the airport) except to take taxis. So taxis it was! Allie, Ari, and I were in a taxi and as soon as we started the ride, I knew it was going to take a pretty penny to get to the airport. A 200-Euro taxi ride later, we finally arrived at our hotel, grabbed our bags, and sped off to the airport. Wow, I honestly can't believe we made it! Although the price of the ride sucked, it was better to have at least made our flight home. So through security in our ridiculous white outfits (which the airport staff commented on) and an hour of waiting, we finally were on our sixth and final flight home to my beloved Florence.
We landed in Pisa, waited a half hour for the train, and an hour later were back home. Exhausted and starving from over twenty-four hours without food or sleep, somehow I managed to take an eight hour nap.
-END-
So wow, that was my break. It was: insanity, drama, wonderful, gorgeous, memorable, forgettable, delicious, cold, hot, love, hate...AN EXPERIENCE. That's the best way to sum it up. I loved everything that happened, for better or for worse, and I don't think I could have asked for a better trip. Or could I?
My favorite surprise of the trip was Edinburgh. I loved that town.
To sum up each city:
-Barcelona: beautiful, but crazy
-Dublin: the friendliest but ugliest city of break
-Edinburgh: quaint, gorgeous, & see-able in 1 day
-Charleroi: only known for the airport
-Brussels: a confusing, but charming & fantastic chocolate town
-Hasselt: insanity
...and there you have it. Possibly the longest blog I'll ever write, but there you have it. My spring break in a nutshell. Yes, this is the shortened version!
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