Good morning everyone! Wow its been awhile since I have wrote... Sorry the end of the semester always brings my lazy side out ;) Well i have a lot to catch you guys up on.. The last time I wrote that weekend I was on my way to Paris with my provider (API). Yes if you do the math that was the weekend that the attacks happen. I was not going to be able to wrote a blog on that weekend right now. I will need to sit done and truly take my time to write my exact feelings and be able to describe my experience clearly. Yes it has been about 3 weeks since everything happen but the feelings truly never go away.. Once I get back to America and see my family I will sit down and write a blog on my weekend in Paris. But for the following weekends... I had so much fun!!
Even though we were all extremely nervous to travel after the experience we all just went through. A few of my friends opted to cancel their trip but my friends Allie and Karlyn and I decided to not let one incident affect the rest of our short time in Europe. I am so beyond happy we decided to persevere and venture to London.. somewhere I have been so excited to visit from the beginning. We left Friday morning and got to Stansted airport where we took a Terravision bus to London! I was exhausted (per usual) so I napped at the beginning until the bus driver slammed on his breaks causing me to smash into the seat in front of me.... I was awake now!! I got to see the first sets of houses in London and man did they remind me of America.. but with a mix of Germany lol. I was loving the city already (from a bus LOL). I couldn't wait to get of the bus and explore!!! We finally arrived and even though it had been a long day of traveling we were ready to explore this beautiful city! We found our extremely awesome and well situated hostel.. We were all starving so we stopped at a pub that my friend Karlyn had found great reviews for! It was my first time having sour cream since being in Europe ( you don't realize how much you cherish such random foods until you can't have them for 3 months). My friends tried getting beers but you need your ID's not copies of your passports ( everyone in London is strict with carding and no one believed we were old enough to drink). We finished an amazing and filling dinner and it was still really early so we decided to take a trip to Platform 9 3/4 ( if your like my boyfriend and don't know what that is; it's the platform in Harry Potter that they jump through the wall). It was so unexpectedly placed in the middle of the King's Cross Train Station. There was a line to take pictures. We finally had our turn and went into the gift shop to see our pictures and we each bought one for a cheap price. We had so much fun surfing the gift shop, but I would have to say Karlyn definately enjoyed it most, spending 32 pounds on a scarf.. in her words "I've always dreamed of this." For those of you that don't know the conversion rate.... 32 pounds is 48.24 American Dollars.. I mean we all spend 48 dollars on a scarf right? haha I am just kidding! Karlyn most definitely needed that scarf! It fit her very well and she is making great use of it! When then decided to walk around the area with "The Eye" (they had Christmas lights and skating; so cute), "Big Ben" (so beautiful at night) and walked a bridge at night over looking that beautiful part of London. We stopped back at the same pub for a beer, with ID's in hand. The night day we decided to see as much as possible. We went to the changing of the guards at the castle (it is definitely something awesome I am so glad I get to say I experienced), we saw "The Eye", "Big Ben" and other beautiful architecture in the daylight. The cold and wind was so strong that we decided to take a break in the nearest tea shop (We all ended up loving it-- London is most defiantly known for their Tea. OMG. I am still in love with it, I messaged the company but they don't ship internationally :( but that just means I'll have to take another trip to London!!) We decided we were ready to take on the extremely cold weather, I first stopped at the closet shop and bought a warm/ very touristy British hat. We just got lost and walked into this "Festival of some sort" it was so awesome!! I could have spent all day there! We walked the entire street and it only got better and better! I didn't want to leave! I got an amazing aranchini with spinach and cheese! We finally made it to the "London Bridge!!" IT was so beautiful we were so cold at that point; we took pictures and finally found a place to eat some dinner and drink some beer! The next day it was back to Barcelona! I had such an amazing weekend with my friends in such a beautiful city!!
This past weekend my friend from home, Paige; who is studying abroad in Seville (southern Spain) came up!! It was so nice to see someone from home! I had a great time exploring more of Barcelona with her and her friends that came up! Paige and I had bought tickets to the FCB game on Saturday! We had such a great time! I loved our seats and Barcelona is so nasty that watching them was so exciting!! I loved seeing how just one sport can bring all of Barcelona together! (Paige speaks fluent Spanish so I finally got to speak to some locals). Paige was a little tad bit hungover Friday ;) so we called it an early night and prepared ourselves for Saturday night! We went to Otto Zuttz, a cub I had never been to before but I loved the club! They have two floors and each floor is different music! I loved the music on the second floor and stayed there almost all night! We got home the following morning and Paige had to meet her friend in Plaza Catalunya in an hour ( it takes a half hour to get there from my place)... I am very glad she somehow made her way there and back to Seville safely!! Now this weekend I am off to my final trip of this semester!! I leave Thurrsday for Vienna and Prague!!! This is such an exciting time because it will be all decorated for Christmas and have amazing Christmas markets but I also get to see some of my dads heritage! I am so excited for this weekend!!
WOW! BTW today is the first day of December!! Many times throughout this semester I never thought I'd make it this far!! I am so beyond proud of myself for sticking it out because I am having the time of my life! I am loving all the amazing experiences I am getting to have and all the amazing people I am getting to meet!
Before I know it.. in 15 short days I will be back in America with my amazing family!! Only thing in between me and my family is this horrifying thing called finals!! Man I hate finals, but I know they will go by fast!! Today I have my last Spanish class!!! AHHH then just two days of finals for that class! It's crazy to see how much I have improved in my Spanish (seeing how I came into this process knowing none).
I will attach some pictures but that is all for now!! I promise I will try my hardest to blog about this weekend when I get back!! But stupid finals might get in the way :(((
With much love, Brye :))