Frühlingsfest: Disneyland for Adults

After my 10-day spring break, I actually needed a break! I spent the following weekend in Barcelona. I used my time to explore the wonderful city I’ve been so lucky to live in these past four months. As hard as it is for me to admit this, my semester in Barcelona is basically over. Because my program is coming to an immediate hault, I wanted my last weekend abroad (with all my friends) to be the best yet. Unlike most of my trips this semester, where I toured cities to see historic sites and soak up different cultures, this past weekend was solely devoted to drinking and enjoying time with all my friends before we leave Europe and disperse amongst various states all over the country. With that in mind, this past weekend I celebrated FRÜHLINGSFEST -- referred to as Springfest by most Americans -- in Munich, Germany.

1 Litre of Beer, Please.

For those who have never heard of Frühlingsfest (it’s okay – most haven’t): imagine OKTOBERFEST, then shrink it. Like its fall counterpart, Frühlingsfest is a weekend devoted to endless beer drinking and having a good time. And that we did! I traveled to Munich with my usual traveling buddy, Shannon, and then we met up with friends from other cities in Europe. We arrived Thursday night...starving. We planned to grab dinner at AUGISTINER KELLER, but because it was later than we expected, we instead ate a pretzel (or two) and drank a few beers.



Friday, Shannon and I met up with friends who were also in Munich for the festival. We started our day at AUGUSTINER-BRÄUSTUBEN, a well-known beer hall. Once here the beer drinking began. I usually stuck to wheat beer the whole weekend, but because Munich is known for the RADLER, a beer-based drink mixed with lemonade, I had to try it. Not my favorite, a little too sweet, but something I’m glad I can say I tried. After this beer hall, we made our way on over to THERESIENWEISE , the official, open grounds where both, Oktoberfest and Frühlingfest, take place. As we arrived, I began looking around; it reminded me so much of a county fair. Hotdog vendors were scattered around, thee was cotton candy, a ferris wheel, and tons of more rides! The major difference between most county fairs and this festival though was the two massive beer tents situated on the grounds. We finally made it over to the first tent, HIPPODROM; it’s not one of the bigger beer halls, but it’s a popular one among the international crowd who invade the festival. The day flew by! When it was over, we we’re ready to do it all over again on Saturday. 

Enjoying ourselves at Frühlingsfest

On Saturday, we tried to explore Munich a little bit. We decided to grab lunch at the infamous HOFBRÄUHAUS, one of Munich’s oldest beer halls. We ate more pretzels and I even ate a Brautworst! This is huge – because I don’t eat meat! I thought, “When in Munich,” and knew I had to try one. It wasn’t bad, but I still prefer not to eat meat. After lunch and a few beers, we headed over to the festival, this time hitting up the Augustiner Brau München tent. This tent was filled to the brim with people and beer! When we were done with the tent, we decided to check out some of the rides in the festival. Saturday went by so fast, but was such a fun day! Needless to say, it was an amazing last weekend abroad!

Shannon, Me, and Alex in Munich

If I didn't have a few (read: 3) finals, tomorrow, I'd post much more! I'll be posting in the next day or two because my program is ending this Thursday and will finally be returning to the good ole' US of A!




Prost (means cheers!)

Spring Break Part 2: Croatia

For the second part of my spring break, my friends and I headed down to the beautiful country of Croatia. We left Prague Thursday night and traveled all night and even into late Friday morning. After an uncomfortable 13 hour bus ride, we finally made it to our destination: the beautiful coast of SPLIT, Croatia. Even though we were all exhausted from the long bus ride, we knew we couldn’t sleep because we were only in this city for 4 days. We began our adventure by walking around the quaint town. We stumbled upon a few open markets, where we all were able to find some souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. After we wandered for a few hours, we had to take a quick nap if we were going to make it out that night. That night there the program we were with offered us a pub-crawl. We thought it would be fun, so we decided to do it. To start the crawl off, the first bar offered an open-bar for the first hour and a half! My friends and I used this to our advantage…maybe a little too much? We then checked out 3 more bars after that one. After a lot of dancing and drinking, we called it a night.

Island hopping through Croatia

On Saturday, Jamie, Shannon, and I went island hopping. When we signed up for this we thought it was a great idea. We imagined a booze-cruise with nice, warm weather. What we got was cold and dark weather, on the verge of a storm. The boat ride was still fun though. We stopped at two incredibly small islands, one being the island of Brac; both looked as if they were ghost towns. There wasn’t much to do, so instead we used our free time to take pictures of each other. After we returned from island hopping, we were absolutely starving so we headed over to FIFE, a local favorite. This restaurant focuses on fresh ingredients prepared simply and traditionally and for a good price! We shared many different plates, including a calamari, gnocchi, & risotto (which tasted more like paella). In the middle of our meal the weather took a turn for the worst – it began storming! Most of the time weather is never an issue for me; but as we ate dinner outside only protected by a thin tarp, the rain began to cause a lot of frustration. Not only were we getting wet, our food was too. It was not the best meal, but it was for sure one of the funniest. After dinner, at what we referred to as the RAINFOREST CAFÉ, we ran home and cuddled in our beds.

Beautiful coast of Makarska

Shannon and I in Makarska

In a religious country, such as Croatia, there is nothing to do on Easter Sunday because everything is closed. Knowing this, Shannon and I booked a day trip to MOSTAR, Bosnia and Herzevgovina. Though not one of the more visited cities in Eastern Europe, we liked the idea of adding another country to our expanding lists. Because Mostar is about 3-4 hours away from Split, we made a quick stop in MAKARSKA, Croatia. As we arrived to this little beach city, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun shined bright. Like Split, the town was pretty dead because of Easter, but it was still a beautiful place to make a pit stop.

We left Makarska and headed towards Mostar, a city filled to the brim with historic importance. In 1991, Bosnia and Herzevgovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in the CROAT-BOSNIAK WAR that lasted from 1992-1994. Today the town is divided between Croats, who dominate the western bank, and Bosnian Muslims, concentrated on the eastern side. As we drove into Mostar, the most noticeable monument in the town was clearly the OLD BRIDGE, also known as Stari Most from which Mostar got its name. This bridge is one of the most famous victims of the war and claimed 100,000 lives. The bridge was built in the 16th-century by the Ottoman Empire. The 100-ft bridge arced between the two halves of Mostar for 427 years, became a symbol of the town and represented centuries of mostly peaceful co-existence between the Croats, Muslims, Serbs and other communities that lived there. The bridge survived wars, earthquakes and floods and outlived the Ottoman and Austro- Hungarian empires and communist Yugoslavia. However it could not withstand the attacks by ethnic-Croat forces who wanted to dominate parts of Bosnia and were willing to ethnically cleanse the region of Muslims and Serbs to achieve their goals. At first when we arrived to Mostar it was pouring rain. No one in the group was prepared, so the first thing we did once in this city was run to find a restaurant. About an hour into our lunch the sun decided to come out. Though it was still windy, the fact that we were dry was a huge deal. As I walked through the streets, buying souvenirs and gifts, part of the town began to remind me more and more of Marrakesh. This is probably because of the large Muslim population that still occupies part of Mostar.

Annie and I at Krka Falls

Shannon and I were exhausted from such a long day and fell asleep the second our heads hit the pillow. On Monday we left Split early to spend a few hours at the KRKA NATIONAL PARK, a park created to protect the Krka River. One of the main attractions at this park is SKRADINSKI BUK, the most widely visited series of waterfalls in Croatia. This massive, natural waterfall flows through the park and is unbelievable. We left Krka in the mid-afternoon and headed back to Prague on another 14-hour bus ride. We arrived in Prague around 3 in the morning, giving us enough time to sleep for a few hours before our flight at 11 am.

Overall (other than the weather) I had an amazing spring break, but I was so ready to get back to Barcelona. I missed having my own space and I missed the weather. I didn’t realize how tired I would be from the endless traveling, but once I returned on Tuesday I slept the entire day, through the night. That following weekend is one of the only weekends I decided not to travel and I’m so happy I didn’t! I explored Barcelona and enjoyed a quiet weekend. This past weekend was my last weekend abroad, so I decided to end it with one last hoorah. Look out for my next post and see where I traveled!

Ciao.

Spring Break Part 1: Prague

I spent the first half of my spring break visiting the capital of the Czech Republic: PRAGUE. I spent a total of five nights and five days there. At first when I told people how long I would be spending there, most made faces and said, more or less the same thing: "What the heck are you going to do in Prague for that long?" I never knew how to answer, because in all honesty, I really didn't know much about Prague. Previous study abroad students told me that if I visit one city this semester I must make that city Prague. Other than hearing how amazing this city actually was, Shannon and I arrived not knowing what to expect. Fortunately, Shannon has a good friend (Adam) studying in Prague, who not only let us stay with him until Tuesday, but also was our very own personal tour guide. He took us all over; showed us yummy places to eat, how to use the metro and tram system, and tons of important monuments we probably would have never seen on our own.

Shannon and I in Prague

We arrived in Prague on Saturday afternoon and shortly after met up with Adam. He lives in a really central location, very close to most things. He took us over to Old Town Square, where we planned to take a few pictures, until it started pouring rain. As the rain quickly turned to hail, the three of us took refuge in James Dean, a cute little diner that certainly seemed out-of-place in Prague. Once the rain died down a little, we headed over to U MEDVIDKU, a 550-year-old beer hall and restaurant, that serves it's infamous X Beer 33. A darker, yet sweet brew that has an alcohol content of 12.6%, making it the strongest brew in the Czech Republic! It was way to sweet for me, but there were plenty of other beers for me to enjoy. After dinner and a few beers, we prepared for our first night out in Prague. Adam took us to the club, CHAPEAU ROUGE, where we danced and drank all night. Later in the night, Shannon and I took our very first ABSINTHE shot, which may or may not have been one of our better ideas.

at the Lennon Wall

Sunday we woke up early (read:10 am) to prepare for a day filled with lots of walking and tourist attractions. We grabbed breakfast at Prague's well-known bagel shop, BOHEMIA BAGEL. Bagels are my ultimate hangover food, not to mention I hadn't had one since being abroad. Needless to say, this was the perfect breakfast. We left breakfast and walked over CHARLES BRIDGE, a historic bridge in Prague, that lead us to the LENNON WALL. Since the 80’s, this wall has become a tribute to John Lennon, filled with Lennon-inspired graffiti and lyrics from Beatles songs. Right around the corner is a gate that overlooks the canal; the gate is filled with 100’s of locks. Couples leave these "love locks" as a way to symbolize their everlasting love (a little cheesy if you ask me). As we walked back to take a nap, we tried some traditional hot wine. It tastes more like apple cider, than actual wine, but it was a yummy treat that kept us warm until we made it back to the apartment. We took a much-needed nap and then headed out for the night. Sunday nights aren’t big in Prague, so we kept it more casual and just went to a few bars. We started at SHADOW BAR and then made our way to U SUDU. U Sudu was one of my favorite bars – it seemed like a more local hangout and just had a really cool atmosphere.

Babies at Zizkov Tower

We started Monday off with lunch at this really yummy thai restaurant called YAM YAM . It’s located literally right off the metro stop, VYSEHRAD. After some amazing pad thai, we explored Vysehrad, a castle that is said to be the original settlement of Prauge. In this area, the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is situated, as well as the Vysehrad Cemetery, which contains the remains of many famous people from Czech history. Later this day, we went and saw the ZIZKOV TV TOWER, made famous by the crawling baby sculptures created by artist David Cerny. We intended to go up to the top of this tower, but it was actually closed so instead we stared at the babies crawling up the tower. Monday night my roommates were finally in Prague so we all got together, grabbed dinner, then headed out for another crazy night in Prague. We started of at the Roxy then made our way to another bar. It was yet, another, very successful night out in Prague.

Enjoying a night out in Prague!

Adam left for his spring break Tuesday, leaving Shannon and I alone to explore the rest of Prague. We used a lot of Tuesday to plan out our Wednesday and Thursday adventures. We also walked around Old Town Square, where we tasted some traditional Czech pastries. While walking around we happened to stumble upon WOW, a little Boba stand, situated in an underground tunnel. Shannon and I both love Boba, so this find literally made our day! For dinner, we went back to the thai restaurant, but this time we brought our friends to it. They loved it, just like we had!

Wednesday my roommates, Shannon, and I took a day trip with Sandeman’s New Europe tour company to the small city of Terezin, about 45 minutes outside of Prague. This city is home to a concentration camp, where Hitler and the Nazi’s occupied during World War II. We spent the entire day here. It was incredibly interesting, especially because I had never heard or known anything about Terezin until this tour. (See the next post to learn more about my day at Terezin).

View from Petrin Hill

Thursday was our last and final day in Prague. We started our day with a trip on the funicular that took us to the top of PETRIN HILL. This hill is in the center of Prague and home to the lookout tower (something that resembles the Eiffel Tower). Shannon and I climbed to the top of this tower and were able to see all off Prague. The view was beautiful! After Petrin hill, we intended to tour Prague castle with the same tour company that took us to Terezin, but once we met up with the group it was pouring rain. Now usually I’d be able to suck it up when it comes to rain, but unfortunately we were traveling on a 13-hour bus ride to Croatia in about 5 hours, with no change of clothes. Neither Shannon nor I could fathom sitting on a bus for that long and that wet. Instead we grabbed lunch and did a little souvenir shopping. That night we boarded a bus to take us to Croatia! 

Spring Break 2012

I've been back from spring break for a week! I had a blast exploring different parts of Europe, but I'm so happy and glad to be back "home." I had been traveling nonstop since I left the previous Saturday. Traveling as much as I did truly took a toll on my body. I was extremely exhausted and literally slept for 48 hours.

To begin, let me tell you where I actually was! My adventures began in the Czech Republic. I spent Saturday to Thursday exploring the city of Prague. Thursday night my friends and I boarded a 14 hour bus that lead us to the coast of Croatia. We spent Friday to Monday in Split, Croatia, with a minor detour to Mostar, Bosnia. For my blog, I'm going to split my spring break into two posts. One talking about Prague and the other talking about Croatia.


Enjoy!

This is a map of where I traveled during Spring Break. The pink stars show the cities I traveled too! The arrows represent travel by airplane, while a pair of paw prints denote 2.3 hours of travel -- by bus! 

Dublin for St. Patrick's Day

Since the beginning of my study abroad experience, I knew I had to take advantage of traveling around Europe. Everything is (relatively) close and much cheaper than if I were coming from the states. Because of this, I instantly knew I had to travel to Dublin, Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s day!

My friends and I arrived in Dublin, Ireland late Thursday night. We stayed at the Generator Hostel, directly next store to the Jameson Distillery. Exhausted from traveling, we grabbed a bite to eat and called it a night. Friday we began our day on a walking tour around the city, but then it began to rain. In Dublin, they refer to this as “Irish mist.” To my roommate and I, it was just an excuse to go inside and drink a beer. We spent about an hour or two drinking at the the infamous Temple Bar Pub. A few friends and I then went to grab lunch. We had walked by a restaurant earlier that looked good so we decided to check that out. It was called CrackBirdand served all types of chicken (perfect for me–a vegetarian). I managed though. I ate a wrap with hummus and couscous…it was so good! After lunch, the group headed over to tour the Guinness Brewery. The tour of Guinness was different than the one through Heineken. I’ve never been a big Guinness beer drinker, but for the short amount of time I was in Dublin, I was quickly converted. That night, my friends and I stumbled upon Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a restaurant specializing in, what else, burgers! Fortunately, they offered many options for non-burger eaters like myself. After an amazing dinner, we bar hopped through the Temple Bar District. We wanted to have a relatively mellow night so we could prepare for the next day.

Saturday we woke up extremely early to quickly prepare for the upcoming day. We were out the door around 9 am and ready to start the day. At around noon, we crowded around the main street of town to watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade. After our cameras were filled with parade pictures, we were ready to celebrate. Our day was filled with green Guinness, jäger shots, and so many laughs! It was such a fun day. Long, but extremely fun and well worth the trip. Since we had been up all day drinking, we were tired to say the least. We were back at the hostel around 11 pm and called it a night. Sunday morning we headed back to Barcelona!

I loved visiting Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day, but I really hope I can go back — there’s still so much I want to see there.  A few weekends ago I visited Valencia and last week I was on spring break. My friends and I started our week in Prague and then we made our way down to Croatia. I'll post these trips soon. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter/Passover.

Ciao.

Guest Blogger: Chloe Rome's Week in Barca

This is a post from my sister, Chloe. She really wanted to write a post about her week in Spain...so I let her! I've been meaning to post it. Hope you enjoy! 

First of all, hellooo to all you lovely people who follow AJ's blog. I finally convinced her to let me guest blog about my visit to Barcelona so sit back, relax, and enjoy. AJ already filled you in on our wondrous trip to Amsterdam, but it was amazing. The city was nothing like I expected it to be; I had high expectations and they were definitely met. But enough about that. Let’s talk about Barcelona. I have been to Spain before: my Sophomore year I went on a trip with my Spanish class all over the south of Spain and also to Madrid. I thought I knew what to expect, but Barcelona was nothing like I thought it was going to be: it was better!

After we got back from Amsterdam we checked into our hotel and were all way too tired to do much that night. Kermit and I had gone straight to Amsterdam from a sleepless flight, and Alison (AJ’s amiga from UGA) had also just gotten into Spain.  For dinner, we went to a charming little restaurant close to AJ’s apartment: La Turca.  There are pictures of food on the outside, as well as strings of flashing lights covering the windows.  I mean, who doesn’t love a place where you can order a falafel, pizza, and noodles?  As we ate, AJ explained that in her neighborhood, Sagrada Familia, there aren’t many good places to eat.  La Sagrada Familia is one of the oldest neighborhoods and isn’t the hip and happening place like other areas of Barcelona.  But she does live a block away from Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, one of the coolest and most beautiful basilicas I have ever seen. And, AJ being AJ, had a thorough itinerary planned for us for the week.  At first I thought it was her OCD-like tendencies shining through, but as the week progressed I was so thankful for her extensive planning.  The only reason I think we were able to be so efficient with our time was because of AJ.  I definitely think if she had let us figure out our days on our own we may have been sitting there, with blank stares, going “soooooo, what do you wana do today?” for hours.

The next day was our first full day in Barcelona.  Alison, Kermit, and I ventured out to La Rambla, a street filled with tiny kiosks, restaurants, and stores that is a must-see when visiting Barcelona.  We just wandered down the long street and accidentally ended up in La Bouqueria, a popular outdoor market that has everything from cow tongues to fresh juices.  We then met AJ for lunch at this awesome Mexican restaurant, La Rosa Negra.  I got some delicious sangria and ceviche, while Kermit, Alison, and AJ got drunk off mojitos and margaritas. I clearly did that all wrong.  After lunch, AJ had to go back to class and we wandered over to the Arc de Triomf.  It’s a beautiful arch that sits at the enrance to a park.  We mozied down and eventually decided to lie down on a grassy knoll.  We took a little nap, surrounded by what we can only assume to be drug dealers and Spanish couples participating in excessive PDA.  We finally managed to get up and meet AJ.  We headed to Parc Güell, designed by Gaudi and breathtakingly beautiful.  It was one of my favorite places.  We got there a little before sunset and the orange glow coupled with the unique structures of Gaudi made for an amazing view.

The gang enjoying Parc Güell

We then went to this awesome burger bar called Kiosko Burger.  You basically build your own burger; it was so delicious!  We then went back to prepare for Nasty Monday's at Sala Apolo, a club type thingy that to be honest I still don’t completely understand.  At the last minute we decided to forgo Nasty Monday and go to Loco Lunes at the club Otto Zuttz.  We danced. We drank. We made some new friends. And then all of a sudden it was 5am and I needed my bed.  

I don’t know how AJ does it, because when I woke up at 11:45 the next morning it felt like the hand of God had slapped me.  We were suppose to meet Alison at 12 to head over to La Sagrada Familia, but we were moving a bit slow that morning.  We finally left the hotel and made it to La Sagrada Familia.  La Sagrada Familia is Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece.  He started building it in the late 1800’s but he died in 1926 before he could finish it.  At the time of his death it was only about a quarter complete.  Since then, work has been continued on the basilica with the goal of finishing it in 2026, the centennial anniversary of Gaudi’s death.  My first impression of the basilica up close was: this is insane. Like seriously, this thing towers over the entire city and is so intricately designed that you have a hard time processing it all, but then I went inside. *Suggestions to those who plan on visiting: do not tour la sagrada familia when you are hungover.* The moment I stepped inside and looked up, I swear I started tripping and even contemplated throwing up.  But I didn’t want to be that girl who threw up in Barcelona’s most prized basilica, so I pushed through.  The inside of the basilica was nothing like I had ever seen before.  All the columns were constructed differently with a myriad of colors; it was like I was in an enchanted forest.  Even though every time I looked up my depth perception was compromised, it was still breathtaking none the less.  

After my near death experience at the basilica, we headed over to meet AJ to get brunch at this place called Milk.  This was one of my favorite places to eat in Barcelona (I went there a total of 3 times in 6 days). It's an Irish owned restaurant in el Born (my favorite neighborhood) and offers a “recovery brunch”, which is definitely what I needed.  AJ, Kermit, and Alison sipped on bloody mary’s and mimosas while I tried to come back to life and keep some food down.  Thankfully I started feeling like a normal person again and we ventured out into El Born to do some shopping and exploring.  El Born is a neighborhood filled with small boutiques, hip restaurants, and other hole-in-the walls.  It’s a bit edgy and I loved it.  We went to this shoe shop that makes its own espadrilles and slip on shoes. Naturally we all got a pair. AJ also took us to this awesome bookstore that had over 8,000 books and me, being the book nerd that I am, had so much fun wandering around the store.  After our afternoon in El Born, we went home for a siesta and then headed out to dinner.  The tapas place we originally planned on going to was closed, but we stumbled upon this AMAZING pizza place called Pizza del Born.  From the outside it just looks like this small pizzeria, but 3 slices and an empanada later, I wanted to move-in and never leave.  Our parents had said this was one of their favorites while they were here, and obviously if it has the blessing of Jeff and Adriana you know it’s good.  AJ was already planning her trip back here for another empanada. Still tired from the night before, we headed back to AJ’s apartment and just chilled for a bit.

Feeling a bit bold, we woke up a little earlier on Wednesday (read: 11:00) and headed to Casa Batillo, an apartment designed by Gaudi on the famous street Passeig de Gracia.  It hard not to spot it as your walking down a street filled with designer stores and upscale hotels and then you see a house with skull like balconies and Gaudi’s signature designs.  The house is about 6 stories and each level is as trippy as the next.  My favorite part was the roof, with yet another spectacular view of the city.  After our tour, we walked about 10 minutes to Gaudi’s other apartment (located on the same street) and just viewed it from the outside.  We then met AJ for some paella on the beach. They served us a huge pan of paella, bottles of wine, and complimentary shots of peach and apple flavored liquor.  We were all feeling very good afterwards and headed back for a much needed siesta.  Later that night the 4 of us went to a bar called Pipperments, known for its excessively large drinks that range from 1 liter servings up to 13 liters.  Because we are stupid and let AJ order for us, we got a 13 liter drink of vodka lemonade. For the 4 of us. I’m not that good at math, but I’m pretty sure that’s about 3 liters a person.  As we tackled our drink, AJ became friends with the owner Jaime. He took waay to many pictures of us, and I am expecting to be their new website cover photo any day now.  Fast forward to closing time, everyone has left, except the 4 idiot American girls who are trying to finish the biggest drink ever created.  The bartenders even gave us to-go cups. But no, we manage to leave the bar successful.

13 liters. And counting.

The next day, AJ left for Dublin and Alison went home, leaving me and Kermit alone in Barcelona.  We went to this tapas place called Cerveceria Catalana. Kermit’s friend Amber had recommended it to us as the best place in the city for tapas.  It had delicious tapas and we had no trouble ordering because everything spoke to us.  Too bad we were so full after lunch that we had to waddle home and sleep it off.  That night we went to the bar L’Ovella Negra (the black sheep) for pitchers of Sangria.  This was definitely one of my favorite bars.  It was basically a cave with a tavern inside.  It was mostly locals and you could get a pitcher of sangria for a very good price.  We made the mistake of sharing a table with some over-friendly guys from Venezuela, who took a liking to Kermit and I.  I got to practice my Spanish, while Kermit got to practice slapping their hands away from her butt.  

Friday we went back to Milk for their recovery brunch.  It’s just too good.  We then headed back over to La Rambla to do some last minute souvenir shopping.  Later we went and bought some snacks from the store and headed to Mont Juic, known for the best view of the city.  We took the gondola up to the top and sat and watched the sunset over the city, while enjoying cheesy bread and avocado.

The next day was St. Patrick’s day and we were ready. Oh were we ready.  We headed back to Milk to get some food in our stomachs before the drinking began.  We spent the day at an Irish bar called Dunnes that we passed earlier that week.  They were streaming the rugby 6 nations games and what better way to celebrate then with drinking Guinness and watching rugby?  We got there fairly early and were able to snag a table in view of the screen.  5 hours later, we are still there and ready for some food.  We grabbed Wok to Walk, asian stir-fry, and head back to AJ’s apartment.  We had an early flight the next morning and had to leave for the airport in a few hours.  We decided not to push our luck and resisted the urge to go back to the bar.  Is this what growing up feels like?

Overall, it was an amazing spring break.  I had so much fun and am so glad that I was able to visit AJ.  THANKS AGAIN FOR AN AWESOME WEEK. You da best, Chloe

Sisters in Barca!

Sorry that was long...Chloe had a lot to say! As for me, I had great trips to Dublin and Valencia which will both be blogged about very soon. I'm officially on La Semana Santa (aka Spring Break) until April 11! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter/Passover.

Ciao.

Rome Sisters Take on Amsterdam

Chloe and Kermit landed in Barcelona Friday morning around 9 am. They had plenty of time to come back to my apartment drop and drop off their belongings before our flight to Amsterdam. That would have been the ideal situation. Of course, the airline screwed up and put their bags on the flight after theirs. They didn't get their bags until 12 and got to my apartment at 12:45. We planned to leave around 1. It was a very stressful start to the weekend, but it all worked out and all 5 of us (myself, Chloe, Hannah, Kermit & Shannon) made it to the airport on time. We landed in Amsterdam around 4pm that afternoon. Cold and exhausted, all we wanted to do was find our hostel. We stayed at the Flying Pig Hostel Uptown, which is a very popular youth hostel in Amsterdam and one I would definitely recommend! My only complaint: the excessive amounts of stairs. Our room was on the top floor and they don't have any elevators. I wish I had pictures because these stairs were so steep. Other than that, the hostel was fun. It had a great atmosphere and really cool vibe.

The group in Amsterdam!

After we climbed what felt like Mt. Everest we decided to head back down, grab a beer and figure out dinner plans. We headed out to Barney's, a restaurant and coffee shop Kermit & Chloe's friend recommended. We grabbed a cab, showed him the address and were on our way. Everything was going well until after we paid and didn't see the restaurant anywhere. Long story short: The street the taxi took us to was the wrong one. He took us to Hammerstraat and we needed to go to Haarlemmerstraat. This instantly became an on-going joke all weekend. Since we never found Barney's, we instead grabbed dinner around our hostel and visited the coffeeshop, The Dolphins. In case you don't know, going to a coffeeshop in the Netherlands doesn't mean grabbing a cup of coffee. Instead, coffeeshops are known for their cannabis (i.e. weed) because it is legal to sell here. Visiting a coffeeshop was a strange experience, but really fun at the same time. We bought a few things and then headed back to the hostel because Chloe (of course) was "randomly" carded. She didn't have her ID, so the woman working made Chloe, the oldest person in our group, wait outside. Don't worry though, Kermit and Shannon went with her so she wasn't alone.

From Andersen to Amsterdam!

Saturday was a jam packed day. We started our day by visiting the Anne Frank Museum. Since I hadn't read  The Diary of Anne Frank since elementary school I really didn't know how much I remembered or what to expect. Once we began to walk through, it all came right back. In her diary, Anne describes everything spot on: the bookcase, the secret annex, her family, everything. I think this experience touches so many people because after reading her diary you feel connected to this young girl. As if you have some personal connection to her. I'm really glad we had the opportunity to visit this museum. It represents such an important part of history and seems like a small way we were able to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.

Sisterly love in front of IAMSTERDAM

After the museum, we needed a little pick-me-up. We grabbed beer & pancakes, which are really more like crepes. We then headed to Amensia, a coffeeshop Hannah's friend recommend to us. I liked this one much more. It had a cool interior and the guy working was extremely helpful and very patient with us. We left Amnesia and headed to see the I AMSTERDAM sign.

Wandered for a little bit, but we managed to find it. Many pictures later, we walked over to Heineken. Here we did the Heineken Experience, which basically is a tour of the Heineken brewery, showing you everything you need to know about Heineken. It was really cheesy, but the two beers included at the end were a nice touch. By the end of the day we were all exhausted. We got a fast dinner and all passed out. We headed back to Barcelona that next morning to meet up with Alison who visited for her spring break!

Ciao.

Visitors in Spain!

After a crazy weekend in the south of France, I returned to Barcelona exhausted and hoping to rest…but that was not an option. Early Monday morning, Hannah, my little sister, arrived in Barcelona to spend her spring break with me! Even though we bump heads a little bit, it was so much fun having her out in Spain. It was a little difficult at times because I would have class some days, but we made it work.

I took her to all my favorite food places, and even some I had never been, but have wanted to try.  We found this local Thai restaurant, called Bangkok Café, literally in god knows where, but it was amazing and so yummy! This past summer she traveled through out Spain with my parents, so she had done most of the touristy things already. Fortunately there were one or two things she had not done. We explored the different areas of Barcelona, like the Gothic quarters and El Born. Monday night I took her to Gaudi’s famous Parc Güell at sunset. The park is situated on a hill that overlooks the entire city. At sunset, the colors glow and light up the city. I’ve been a few times before, but it was a lot more fun getting to do it with Hannah!

That night I took Hannah out for Barcelona’s infamous “Loco Lunes” at Otto Zuts. Wednesday night we went to see Nicky Romero play at the club, Bling Bling. This was my first time at this club and loved it! Thursday night we headed to the club Opium Mar, which is right on the beach. Needless to say, we had a very successful week filled with eating, drinking and dancing. Time flew by and next thing I knew it was already Friday and my other sister, Chloe, and her best friend Megan (a.k.a Kermit) had landed in Barcelona for their spring break.  Before their Barcelona adventures could begin, we were first headed to Amsterdam. That’s right. All three sisters (plus Shannon and Kermit) traveled to Amsterdam and had an unforgettable time! (Amsterdam definitely deserves it’s own post and that will be up later today!) We came back from Amsterdam early Sunday morning because Alison, my best friend from UGA, was visiting for her spring break! Hannah left early Monday morning and it was sad to see her go. We had the best time and I’m so glad she came out to visit! For my next week filled with visitors, Chloe really wanted to “guest blog” and write the post about their week out here so that will be up later today!

I’m blogging like a mad woman trying to catch you all up on my life! I promise during this last month I’ll be sure to keep up with posts.


Ciao for now.

French Riviera: Celebrating Carnival One Last Time

During the first weekend of March, my friends and I bussed 6 hours up to the French Riviera in order to celebrate carnival one last time. We got into Nice early Friday morning. After a much needed nap my friends and I were ready to explore the city. We went on a three hour walking tour of the city. The city is absolutely beautiful. I loved the atmosphere–extremely laid back and easy going. After our tour, we grabbed lunch and some gelato! Then headed on a 30 minute bus ride over to Monaco. Once in Monaco, we walked around and explored the area. We saw the infamous Monte Carlo Casino and then headed back to Nice. 

Saturday morning we walked over to this beautiful waterfall. It was near a park on a hill that overlooked the beach and the city. The view was amazing. It looked like something out of a movie. That afternoon carnival activities began. My friends and I went and watched the flower parade, which reminded me a lot of the Rose Day parade. Each float was intricately made with flowers. The theme of carnival this year was the King of Sport, a reference to the 2012 London Olympics. Because of this, the floats and people in the parade resembled different sports as a way to unify and pay tribute to all the competitions and competitors of the upcoming year! That night there was another celebration — the parade of lights. The float’s in this parade were massive and went through the main streets of Nice. Everyone lined the streets, dressed up as if it were Halloween and partied the night! My friend, Dani, and I both wore neon colored wigs. Even though we looked ridiculous, we had a very fun night!

Wigging out at carnival!

That Sunday we left Nice and headed toward the little beach town of Eze. Once here, we took a tour of Fragonard, a perfumery that still makes their scents through the original process. We spent about an hour or two here, smelling all types of perfumes and colognes. After we grabbed lunch and then headed back to Barcelona!

I've been so busy lately, but I'm going to post soon all about my trips to Amsterdam and Dublin, as well as some adventures I've had through Barcelona!

Ciao.