BACK TO THE STATES

So my time abroad is officially over now after just over 4 ½ great months of traveling, meeting people and taking in the European culture. I still cannot believe that I have studied abroad and been able to visit so many countries during my span in Europe. I never thought of studying abroad, and when the opportunity came I had to take it.

I have been incredibly lucky to have this experience with such great people around me. My roommates and friends from Spain were just so welcoming and threw me a great party my last night in Spain. When traveling throughout, I have not ran into any dangerous situations and have met so many people traveling like myself. My family and friends just has always been a phone call away and i have always had a great support system. My classmates from all parts of the world have been great to talk with in Spanish. Our learning process of the Spanish culture and language involved throughout our time together.

Well thank you for taking time to hear about my journeys over these past four in a half months. I hope in some way it has opened your mind up to traveling outside of the US borders. Trust me you learn a lot about yourself and others when traveling through many different cultures. I hope to encourage all my youngers cousin to travel abroad when they attend university.

My main goal now is to keep concentrating on the present and remember the time I enjoyed in Europe. I have been told that the adapting process can be difficult at times, but I look forward to my summer at home and my upcoming year at Springfield. I hope to take what I learned and saw from Europe, and bring it back to my life over here. So everybody, I hope to talk or see you soon. E-mail or call me if you would like to meet up and I wish you all the best.

Czech Republic

I knew I always wanted to make it somehow to Czech Republic and see the buzz around this country between Eastern and Western Europe. So many people have talked about this area, and I understand why. We flew their directly from London and spent around six days in two different locations of the country.

The city of Prague was celebrating its festival of the Spring when we arrived. They had a marathon going on that involved concerts and other sponsored events. We walked along the river and made it across their popular Charles Bridge. We then made it upon the small mountain that has gardens and parks along its ridge. While wandering through this area, we saw great views and stumbled upon the Prague Castle and Cathedral. The cathedral was free so we hit it up and walked the 287 steps to see the view from the top. It was a spectacular view and worth the exercise. Afterwards we walked along the side of the mountains through a beautiful garden area that was worth the price.

We stayed at a great hostel where we found a bunch of friendly Aussies. They were our buddies when it came to night activities of going out for cheap Czech food and beer and then coming back to the hostel for its relaxing lounge area with pool table, couches and computers. The staff was the main reason that we were able to find out next location of Spindleruv Myln. The 2 ½ hour bus ride took us through many small Czech towns and windy roads to enjoy. .

The little town is located up in the mountains along the Polish border and is famous for the snow season. Of course it was not snow season, so we were able to get prices for great accomodatioons. Our apartment was hooked up and we spent our three days adventuring through the town. We hiked into Poland by accident during our long day hike, and enjoyed the organized trail system. I was really impressed with it all, and it was funny to find so many mountain lodges.

We really wanted to go paragliding but the weather never cooperated, so we found other options. We rented a guide and heavy duty scooters that went down the mountain trails at a very fast speed. It was pretty cool, nothing like paragliding but it was funny to see Sam take a spill off the scooter. We also went to the indoor Aqua Park with some great water tubing. It was awesome how fast we went down the slides, and my body ached after wards. Sam and I spent the rest of the time playing cards, ping pong or air hockey in the game room of our hotel. The whole time there was just so relaxing that it felt like a true vacation.

The country just has so much offer and is so cheap, that I would recommend it to everyone. If you like mountains and the outdoors go to this small town, but also in the south they have pretty little fairy tale like villages. Prague is also just an amazing city worth taking the trip for. I am glad that I saved some of the best for the last!

Good Old Oxford

So after my sister left me, my buddy from Silver Bay Sam arrived to do some adventuring through Europe. After some time in Spain in together we went up to England to visit our friend from Silver Bay Tim Grayson. Great Englishmen who lives with his family outside of oxford in a home with many qualities and functions.

So just to describe the set up, here is the lay down. The family has a farm of animals with a cow, chickens and pigs including little piglettes. They treat the animals well and then eventually use them for food. So they will sell home range pork, beef or eggs to the local community. Along with this there old English style home with low ceilings is a bed and breakfast. They drink and brew their own beer along with baking their own bread. His barn was being used by his sister for here annual two week long craft show. His mom and step dad are deeply religious and have taken their time opening up their home to people who just want a good conversation. So there were just constantly people at the home helping out with everything, and you never went hungry.

Sam and I could not have asked for more, and were able to help out by chopping wood the first morning. Timmy then took us into Oxford for a good old fashioned pub crawl where we enjoyed some great local beer. We loved seeing this culture of Oxford and viewing some of the Universities’ buildings. Honestly we spent more time in the pub due to the inclement weather and our true intentions. We just had a great time with the family and it was difficult saying our good byes when we left for London.

In London, we stayed at a gigantic hostel and went into the city to view the sites. I had already been there but it was the first time for Sam. We strolled along Hyde Park and checked out the Buckingham’s Palace and Parliament until the rain got very strong. I was able to reconnect with a friend from high school, and we met in a pub along the river. It was great renewing our past and talking about our experiences abroad. Once we finished dinner, we just walked along the beautiful Thames River and eventually took the Tube back.

Unfortunately we only had a night in London, but I was not disappointed to leave the Pound currency! We had a great time though in England with friends from our past and meeting many of the nice people in Tim’s home. I could see myself having a small farm now, but I wont jump to any serious measures yet. It could be an idea for retirement.

Morocco

So I can officially say that I have been to Africa! (WOO HOO as my Danish friend Signe would say) So Kerry(sister) and I did our best to seeing the best of the country and also adapt to its many interesting pastimes. As a foreigner, it is interesting to see the Muslim influence in all of the cities and towns with Minarets popping up everywhere.

We flew into Casablanca and took the train to Fes on a Friday just before holiday. It was tremendously packed and a bit uncomfortable, but we loved the ride for one reason. We got to meet and interact with many Moroccans. One man told us about his family near Rabat, and how he is the quality manager for a Nike factory. We then showed other Moroccans the art of SUDUKO and gave them some cookies. So after almost around 10 hours of traveling we finally made it into Fes.

I first off paid way too much for my TAXI by screwing up the currency system of Dirhams. So the driver probably was able to pay bills for the next few months after our drive to the medina. We spent our two days in the Old Town part of the city which contains the Medina. So basically this part has a bunch of alley ways with a variety of different type of people. No matter what you cannot get lost because they have many signs posted for tourists. We saw some of the best crafts you could imagine from Morocco, there were museums and sadly it was difficult to see some of the poverty. We realized we had to adjust to the poverty and the bargaining system of paying for things. We enjoyed the city but were ready to go onto Rabat, so we grabbed the train.

The city of Rabat is the capitol of the country and is much different than Fes. It is evident that there is a large wealth gap in Morocco, and the people of Rabat have the most money. As a result, it was difficult to watch how there were Moroccans with government jobs eating at expensive restaurants. While at the same time, the majority of the population weekly lives off the price of their meal. The city is also on the ocean so it was nice to walk along the beach and watch surfers ride the wave. There is also a very famous Mosque in Rabat, it is part of the three sisters of Minarets. Remember though that only Muslims are allowed to go into Mosques due to religious order. The three sisters are in Rabat, Marrakesh and Seville (Al-Andalus before Christian takeover). We enjoyed our one day there, but were very excited for our voyage down south to Marrakesh.

So Marrakesh basically has just been built for tourism with grand parks, gardens, alleys of craft shops and museums. We spent three nights in an amazing Riad in one these side alleys, and could not believe our accommodation. It was basically like sleeping over the house of a wealthy person, and is perfect for romantic trips for couples. I don’t think that my sister and I fitted this category but we still enjoyed it. We spent our meals in the famous plaza area which was an experience of a life time. There are booths of Moroccan Orange Juice vendors trying to sell you their home made squeezed product. There are also many booths for outdoor sit down dinner areas with picnic tables. Basically you just order and watch them cook it in front of you. These vendors have great ways of trying to get you to eat at their booth. During the night time there are story and fortune tellers along with people walking around with monkeys. If your lucky you shall see snakes coming out of baskets, that is always a good time. We of course enjoyed the city but were even more excited for our trip to the Desert.

For three days and two nights we spent our time driving to the desert and then enjoying its attractions. So we of course slept out there in either our tent or out along the dunes if you liked. We got a great camel ride through the desert and the Kasbah of Mohammad. Before the Israel movement, there was a large amount of Jews in Morocco and they lived in areas called Kasbahs. There are no longer any Jews but it is still interesting to walk through these parts of the cities.

We then took a 4x4 and drove into the desert. One of our stops included a holy Oasis that has a little community along it. It was just a peaceful creek that was nice to walk along. Afterwards though we went to the Sand Dunes, and basically just hiked around. Kerry and I rocked the Sand Dunes and then I went for the bigger one. Once I got to the top, I enjoyed the view of the Sunset and rolled down the dune with an Aussie. It was pretty awesome but I definitely just had sand all over me afterwards. Hey it was worth the story right! But the tour was great and we eat some great Tanji and Kous Kous. Tanji is basically just a bunch of vegetables cooked and made into a teepee type structure. Then in the middle of the structure is either typically chicken or camal if you are lucky.

Our eight days in Morocco were great brother and sister bonding time to say the least. We of course expanded our horizons by seeing a new culture and learned a lot. We are happy that we went but not sure if we would go again. I would recommend going there with another person and talk to me before you go!

Amsterdam Visit



The weekend after my Spring Break, I headed up to this more famous and popular city of Europe. My Silver Bay friend Elizabeth and I stayed in a nice bed and breakfast along the packed streets of people and café shops. I would have to say that after my weekend there, I could understand why it is a must see when it comes to touring around Europe. The city is constructed like no other with canals running in half circles.

The first day I spent on my own and decided to see the city by bike and try to maneuver myself around the busy streets of bicycles. It was awesome to bike again and of course the city has such a great bicycle friendly system, and I felt like one of the locals. I would just have to say that it is cool seeing highly powerful business people biking themselves to work. What are BMWs for!

But on Saturday, Elizabeth and I checked out some museums and the English style park of the city. It was interesting to see the art that came out of its promising times of colonization. Then you know of course the Heineken Museum in the typical spot for the American tourists. We enjoyed some history along with out 3 ½ half pints included in our ticket.

The restaurants were all so nice, and I have to say that we went to the right place for our Saturday night. We of course walked around forever until we finally made a decision to eat somewhere. We used our tour books and got a great price for some vegetarian curry in a cute hole in the wall type of place. We then went to the super market and bought some red wine along with chocolate of course. We basically just chilled out along a canal having great conversations.

I would recommend you all to check out the city even though it is expensive. It is really just different from all the other capitols that occupy Europe. The laid back attitude with consideration for the environment, helped me understand why so many people rave about the city.

Barcelona Parte Cinco

The next and last stop of our trip included the beautiful city of Barcelona, which is definitely one of the major cities in Spain. We were lucky enough to get a free place to stay from my old friend from the CCY-YMCA Justin Davidson! AKA the man when it comes to speaking Spanish!

We walked around throughout the majority of the city, checking out some must see parts of the city. First off, the beach was killer but still a little too cold to jump in. Once again, it was cold for the typical season of Spain during this time of the year. We walked through its main park, the famous gypsie haven of Las Ramblas and checked out two great Tapas locations. Some of the best tapas that I have ever had, but a little too expensive. I certainly spent the money that I saved from not having to pay for a crib.

We did check out a lot of architecture from the famous Gaudi. His architecture reminded me of Candy Land, and I loved it. He designed many places in the city like Park Huell, two apartment and last but not least Sangreeda de Familia. Yes, the Catholic Church let this guy design one of their Cathedrals. I have a new found respect for Catholicism for letting him design a church because it was one of the most interesting I have ever seen! The Park also was very cool and it originally was built to be a residential area for Barcelona. The project fall through after they ran out of money and Gaudi got hit by a trolley.

I unfortunately only had two days in the city, and I think I could have spent almost a week there without getting bored. It has everything with great parks, great football team, great beaches and great architecture. Check it out if you can, and believe me the Tapas are worth their price. If you want a cheap meal, Doner Kebab always treats the body well or Maoz if you want Falaffel!

ANDORRA Parte Cuatro

The country of Andorra was certainly different from every other American enjoying their Spring Break in Europe. I was not able to meet one American there, only Brits and more Brits especially in the skiing cities. The country only has 66,000 people with it being stuck in the valleys and mountains of the Pyrenees. The majority of the people we met do not live in the country and are only working there for the season.

It was great though with our first night in the small town of Arinsal that was just north east of the capital Andorra La Velle. The hotel was a great price and with it came a great breakfast, gigantic rooms, good television and a gigantic bath tub! We spent our time there by walking up some mountain trails and just walking up a random road through the mountain. It was a little scary and the best had to be when we saw lightning randomly. We then saw it again, and it decided that it might be a good idea to book it down the mountain. It was quite funny!

The next day we headed over to the western side of the country into the skiing town of Pas de La Casa. The trip took a whopping 45 minutes for a bus across the country. The city is a want to be Aspen but just a little smaller. Here are the great highlights of our visit in this town. First off, our 25 Euro room that we randomly found from some guy we met on the bus to Andorra. Second off, snowshoeing through the mountains of Andorra/France and I realized how out of shape I am! Third off, the crazy night including an awesome conversation we had with this a Brit about traveling and life. We have to save the best for last with this one … We all did our own crazy walk from Andorra into France during a snow storm.

Andorra definitely treated us well, and we had to leave it on a good note with some cultural food from Andorra. So we went to the Spanish chain food TELEPIZZA! Seriously though you should visit this beautiful intimate city with skiing in the winter or hiking/backpacking in the summer!

San Sebastian Party Tres

Well our time in San Sebastian was surely a grand time. If you are not aware of the cities location, it is along of the Bay of Biscay in the Basque Country. It has one of the best and most beautiful beaches when it comes to cities in Europe. I would have jumped in but it was a little too cold for my liking. I still can say that this city has some other great things going on it.

It has two great mountains to climb to catch a great view of the ocean and this small coastal city. One of them had a great tower on the top that was at one time used to by the British for protection of the sea in the later 1700s. We of course had to walk all the way up to it, so it took some extra time to make it up there. The views from the windy road along the cliffs were awesome, and of course there were no other people doing it. So therefore it has to be even cooler. The area though ended up being an amusement center that runs during the peak tourist season, it was quite funny. The next mountain had a gigantic Jesus Christ on top of it. It was easy to see during all times of the day, so we rocked that baby. We spent a lot of our two days there just walking along the beach or the roads along its coast.

The city is also famous for smaller tapas that are called pintxos, we hit those up a couple times. The seafood was much better than what we get in good old Madrid, so I definitely enjoyed that key factor. The weather was quite rainy so we checked out the cities Aquarium and we took our siesta watching the gigantic fish tank.

The city had one of my more favorite hostels of all the cities that I have visited. Very comfortable beds, outgoing guests, the guys family was visiting him and free eggs at any time of the day. I basically felt like I was sleeping over this guys apartment, that is what a hostel should be baby! When I open up my bed and breakfast, I will be gunning for what this guy offered.

Even though the weather was grey, I still loved this beautiful Basque country. The prices were lower due to the fact that it was not tourist season, but I recommend spending the extra money!

Semana Santa - 1st Stop Burgos

In order to be different from all the other Spring Breakers in Alcala, my buddy Dan and I decided to visit northern spain. Where the weather was sure to be a bit more cold with a bit more rain, but the Basque Country is why we had to go.

We kicked off the adventure in the northern city of Burgos in Castille y Leon. The city was a bit smaller but had a great Calle Mayor (Main Street) with a small stream running through it. We were the only ones in our pension, and I did not come in contact with any other english speaking people. We had some great highlights though from this one day in the city.

First off they were having a great celebration for the famous Christian warrior El Cid. This involved fireworks, religious celebration and along with that decoration of his burial site in the Cathedral. The Cathedral is famously known for its Gothic appeal, and I received a great self guided tour of the structure built on a hill.

The bartenders were also awesome too! We were able to spark up spanish conversation with these two female bartenders, but we did say we were from Canada. By far the most friendly bartenders though of the whole trip, with a bar that offered great Eastern European bottle necks. Along with that, we walked our way into a local bar with live music from a local band. It was the only live music of the whole trip ... the night in burgos might have been our best nightlife for the trip.

We also had a great time strolling along the small stream throughout the city. During our walk, we were confronted by a Moroccan lady who spoke little spanish. She offered marriage to me, but I had to decline the offer. It was a confidence booster for me. We also found an awesome play ground on top of a hill, that entertained us for a good hour.

Stay tuned to the next blog for our Semana Santa week ....

Touring Around Southern Spain

My parents were able to make it to Spain for two weeks to visit me and tour around spain with a rented car. We had a blast their second weekend by touring around the southern autonomy of Andalucia. Here is a little background of the autonomy: it has beaches, mountains, farms and many booming cities like sevilla and granada. Along with that it has popular beach cities like malaga, cadiz and the straight of gibraltar even too.

We started off though in Granada, and they absolutely loved the Alhambra and the whole vibe of the city. They were happy to see me though with my spanish speaking skills, because they were having a difficult time.

So we drove souther towards the meditterean saturday morning and stopped in the beach town of Salobrena. We just took a nice stroll along the beach and then made our way west towards a smaller beach La Herrededura. We were able to get some great info from the tourist guide. So we headed up to this light tower on top of cliff, where we found a great trail along the cliff. Breathtaking views of the coast and also saw a little beach away from all the action. We drove through some dangerous curvy roads to go their for lunch. We came to find out it was a nudist beach, so it was funny to eat lunch with my parents while seeing beach nudists.

Once we drove through Nerja, we decided to go north a bit in the back roads of andalucia to find antequerra. They had a great national park there with some hiking trails. El Torcal was a beautiful little area in the middle of nowhere. We got to receive most of our exercise through this 1.5 hour walking through areas of beautiful rock formation and visits from mountain goats. The real interesting part came with trying to find our hotel that night in the small city of ardales.

It took us a good 3 hours through the dark in windy roads that were not on the map to finally find our hotel in a small andalucian village. It was a good brumbaugh family road trip that was reminded me of the Griswald family during their movies. We woke up though to the rooster roosting and sheep herding the next morning. My favorite part though had to be how there were "Man Bar's" opened on Sunday mornings with man drinking etc. So much for Sunday being a holiday day!

After buyin a Roasted Chicken, we took off for Ronda. This city is famous for its small canyon that rips through the middle part of the town. Along with this canyon, much of the city was along a cliff offering some great views. We walked around and then decided to move on to see some Roman ruins. The place was closed but we climbed over the fence because it looked as if there was no one in site. It is always interesting seeing 2000 year old figures, it puts you back into your place of realizing how small you are.

We left there for Cadiz, which is famous beach it as I mentioned before. The road trip there was simple and involved little map reading difficulties. There was a motorcycle rally going on in our highway that involved more than 1000 of them driving past us. The city is a port city for the Atlantic, where Columbus started off his sails for the land of the Americas. We walked throughout the city, including a light tower/castle that jutted into the ocean. It was awesomely beautiful, and the seafood was great!

Surprisingly somehow my parents survived their two weeks in Spain. The language barrier killed them at times along with knowing what to order at restaurantes. They did do a great job in visiting the famous and lesser knowns parts of spain by renting a car. So if my parents can survive spain, than dont be afraid of coming out here from the States!

Seville

Well I kicked off my weekend by doing what everyone would want to do on a sunny day. Sit in a bus for 7.5 hours, so I could visit the beautiful city of Seville. The bus was packed both ways to Seville, and as a result very uncomfortable. Once we got there though, we realized it was worth the trip.

We stayed at the Oasis Backpacker’s Hostel and it was the best decision we made the whole weekend. The place had great character with a roof top terrace, awesome people and a good location. You can even cook yourself a great meal with its fully equipped kitchen.

One of my favorite parts of the city was the Guadalquivir River. It is the only river in Spain where boats can use on a daily basis. It was beautiful to walk along on Saturday with the sun out. There were tons of people just relaxing on the river side, my friends and I had to do the same. I know that everyone in the US is a little jealous when I say that.

This city just has great architecture all around it. The best way to describe it is bright, and it is nice to see in Spain. Usually things are darker here, so I enjoyed the change of scenery.

The highest building in the smaller city is the Bell Tower of the Cathedral, and it is not even that high. It was fun running up to the top Rocky style. I also enjoyed the cities’ many plazas, older style buildings and their park rocked the house. My friend and I had to rent a bike to see it all!

Of course I was able to see some flamenco while I was in the flamenco capitol of the world. The hostel and my friend showed me to a great free flamenco bar, where we enjoyed some drinks. You got to try the Agua de Seville, which is all I have to say. It was a great environment for flamenco, and I spent two of my three nights there.


This city goes down as one of my favorites once again. Is it bad if every city I go to is my favorite? The river and bright colors give the city a great vibe. I recommend you all to put this on your itinerary if you plan to visit Spain.

Granada

This past weekend I was able to visit the beautiful city of Granada in the southern part of France. It has a rich history with a significant Muslim influence. It was my first time in the state of Andalucia which takes up a majority of the southern coast of Spain. I will be going back next weekend for Seville, and I had a great time in Granada.

The first night, my friends and I were able to find a great affordable Chinese restaurant. I was surprised to find decent Chinese food in Spain, but it is possible. After our dinner, we boys went adventuring through parts of Granada. We just walked up a road and it brought us to an awesome fountain. There were a bunch of younger people drinking their typical calimocha (red wine and coca cola) with random dogs just running around. We ended up being there for a good hour, and then left for the first mountain we could find.

Walking up through random streets ended up working out, and we found this great open area with a view of the city. We enjoyed the view, tried to see free flamenco but were not allowed in. So we decided to walk through random areas again, and we found some interesting sites like a bunch of guys carrying a huge bed frame. We figured it had to be some ritual thing, and it was interesting to walk past. We ended our adventure once we got a little scared of our location, and it was easy to get back to the hotel.

Saturday was our only full day in Granada, but it rocked! We spent our morning and early afternoon at the famous Alhambra. The Alhambra was built by the Muslims on the top of a mountain overlooking the city. It includes a beautiful palace, gardens, entertainment areas, fortress and other small buildings in a fortified wall. Its architecture is unlike any other in the world, and I would recommend you all to see it. Remember to make reservations, and for an extra perk, it is a making a run for being voted as one of the wonders of the world.

After our tour, we split off from the group to adventure and find a good cheap place to eat. We found a great falafel and pita restaurant, and chilled out next to a fountain while we enjoyed our food. We ended up finding another area to relax next to the river (more like a stream), and we got out the Frisbee. We spent a good two hours listening to street musicians, throwing the Frisbee or making fun of each other while enjoying the weather. My friend Mark ended up falling in love with an Australian street musician, and bought her CD; we tourists are so easy to fool.

We then walked up through the streets into the Albaicin neighborhood of the city. We heard about this great view point where the gypsies and younger crowd enjoy their Saturday afternoons. We ended up finding the spot and spent another two hours in the area. We once again enjoyed the street musicians, the crafts being sold by gypsies, the great view of the Alhambra and talking to other English/Spanish speaking people. My friend Dan kicked a Spaniard’s ass in chess.

We left to find the best view of the sun setting in Granada, and were once again successful. We ended up in one of the highest spots of the city, and enjoyed the sunset listening to the techno music of other Spaniards. It was pretty awesome and while walking back down into the city, we found the coolest thing ever!

Just like the 60s and 70s in America, there are Spaniards that have built homes in the caves of the mountain. It was amazing to see how they managed to create homes out of complete junk, but it was a beautiful art. The word on the street though is that the mayor wants to build a hotel and kick out all these cave people! It is sad to hear but the town is trying to make the most money possible out of tourism.

After this great adventure, we back down into Albaicin and enjoyed the vibe of the city. We walked for a good hour or two throughout the city until finding a good spot for the dinner. It was an all you can eat buffet with a great selection of veggies for my friend. We ended up spending three hours laughing and making fun of each other. We of course got our moneys worth of the 10 euro we paid for the buffet.

We had to leave for the airport by noon on Sunday and of course we did not wake up until the latest time possible. But we did have a lot of time at the airport, so we started a great game of ultimate Frisbee. My team lost unfortunately but it was all in good fun … it always a tie at the YMCA! It was not actually inside the airport but in a grassy area outside. It was by far the best way to end our trip!

If you are ever in Spain, you need to visit this beautiful city! You can find cheap flights through Vueling or Ryan Air, and there is a 3 Euro shuttle into the city. Know your hotel name because that is the only way to know where your bus stop is! I will have pictures up more into the week, but look for my blog after my adventure into Seville!

Paris



So I adventured into the city of love this past weekend. No not Las Vegas, but Paris! It was my first trip alone on this trip, and even better I was sick for half of the adventure. I had a monster headache and a stomach that you could not tame; it almost prevented me from getting on the flight. But, almost is only important in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I was lucky enough to spend my Wednesday night slash Thursday morning in the luxurious Barajas Madrid Airport. I was surprised how many other people had the same problem with the metro not running from two to six in the morning. The place had a good crowd!

My first night I spent at the Caulaincourt Hostel and some other Americans/Aussies invited me to journey Paris with them. We walked to the Eiffel Tower from a far off metro stop and I could not believe the beauty of Paris. The Seine River has amazing buildings along it, the streets having great avenues and it is so easy to just walk all day in the city. Two girls got me to see a Cabaret the first night, and even with a headache I enjoyed it!

I was able to meet up with up two friends from Silver Bay who actually live right outside of Paris. I could not believe how kind they were to me! Sophie and Audrey walked me all throughout the city during my three days visiting. They even offered me housing with free phone calls to the US for my final two nights. I felt like I was staying at the Hotel de Ville in Paris. Because of these two girls, I felt like I was living in France and I loved it all.

We were able to see the Arc De Triomphe, the Pantheon, Montmartre (artist district), outside of the Louvre Museum, the bridges of Paris, L’Obelisque(supposedly start of the most beautiful avenue in the world), the Bastille, many gardens/parks and I went on my own side trip to the cemetery of Pere Lachaise. This is a burial ground with many famous figures and my personal favorites were Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. There are more places I saw but I just don’t know their name, I just remember their beauty. My passion for walking around cities was perfect for Paris!

My last day, we met up with another Silver Bay friend, Alice, who took us through the Jewish neighborhood of Paris. It was great just to see all the architecture, the falafel restaurants and the different crowds in these neighborhoods. It was very popular and we were able to spend our Saturday night enjoying French crepes at Alice’s beautiful apartment. It was a great way to end my three day adventure in Paris: wine, crepes and good friends.

I learned a lot from traveling alone to France, and I want to share a few of them. Do not let illnesses keep you from traveling because they will go away eventually. You will always find a friend while traveling alone in a hostel. There are too many gypsies and beggars from Eastern Europe in France. Fourth off, I learned how interesting a Cabaret can be.

Enjoy these pictures and thank you to my Silver Bay friends for making this trip amazing!

One Month In

So it has been just more than a month over here in Spain for me, and I am still adjusting to life over here. It is different, but you know I just got to get used to it. I am certainly having a good time over here though ..

I am still trying to meet as many people as possible. I do have some core friends who are in my classes, but I am trying to meet more you know. The unfortunate part is that it is very difficult to make friends with Spaniards. In fact, the only spaniards I get to know are either my roommates or my friends roommates. Also, most Spaniards are still studying for their exams right now, and are not out as much. You can sense that a lot of the international students cling together. At the same time, spaniards may be less willing to talk to Americans at times. I am still making friends with as many people as possible, and experiencing other cultures.

I was able to have an amazing dinner with some Chinese students last Friday. I never had better Chinese food in my life, and the food was not what I expected. None of my meal would be served in an American Chinese Restaurante. They are either not as popular in the US or just typical in the US. I think it is the second one, because the Chinese restaurantes realized that they needed to adapt their food for Americans. Plus Americans like fried food more, and I did not have any fried Chinese food. It was realy nice to experience another culture, and my family would have been proud of my chop stick skills.

I am still traveling around as much as possible, when it comes to visiting cities and other countries. This upcoming weekend I will be in Paris, and I am still trying to make plans for Spring Break. I know that the weekend after Paris, there is a strong possibility that I will take a weekend off of traveling. That weekend is the festival of Carnaval, so you never know though. I am no longer uncomfortable about traveling in Spain, but going to a country where I speak none of their language scares me. Hopefully my Silver Bay friends in Paris will help me out this upcoming weekend.

I still though am not officially cultured into the Spain lifestyle. I am doing very well, I have started to drink coffee after classes with students while eating tapas. I walk around the streets of Alcala and visit local markets for foods, but the language is still coming. I make dinner and lunch with my roomates often, and that is my favorite part of the day. I try to cook as much as possible, so people please send me recipes if you have any. I am now only watching movies in Spanish, but I do need the subtitles. It is dificult to take in the accent at times. When I watch the spanish tv, I still am working to understand what is going on. They certainly watch just as much tv as americans over here, but their prgrams are a bit more liberal and free for network television.

well adios all, and I hope you all enjoy some more pictures from my second voyage through toledo. By the way, I thought the super bowl could have been better. It still was worth being up to 6 am in the morning because of my trip into madrid for the game.