Thursday, Oct. 27- We took a bus from Galway to Dublin in the afternoon and flew from there to BARCELONA! Besides about 2945281 annoying high schoolers on a field trip, the flight was good. We landed in Barcelona pretty late (they're 1 hour ahead of Ireland/ 7 hours ahead of home, plus day light savings time on Saturday) took the bus to the main city center, and then got on the metro to take us by our hostel. The metro was quite an experience. My friend Karen slipped on the stairs and took a little fall. As we were helping her a group of about 5 people swarmed her and tried to help her up and call an ambulance. She was totally fine and while at first I thought these strangers were all just being friendly, they wouldn't back off. We finally got them to go away but apparently one of them had tried to get into my friend's purse during all the commotion. Luckily nothing happened but it was scary! As soon as we got to the hostel the woman working informed us to be careful at night around the metro- she described our incident to a tee! From then on we were all super careful with our belongings/selves. I had head pick-pocketing was a problem but there's nothing like experiencing it first hand! We got some amazing kabobs (basically every day we were there), and then crashed for the night. I had two roommates the first night- one from Australia and one from New Zealand- both very nice!
Friday, Oct. 28- We tried to go on a free tour in the morning but when we got there they were already gone, so instead we made up our own tour! I liked this better anyway because we had no set schedule and were able to go wherever we wanted. Las Ramblas is the main street in Barcelona that has tons of shops and little stands so we did a little bit of the touristy thing there. Next we went to Mercat de la Boqueria, which is a huge market with all kinds of fruit, vegetables, etc. If I lived in Barcelona I think I would literally go there every day. Some other things we saw were: Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia, Arc de Triomf, Ciutadella Cascades, Barcelona Zoo, THE BEACH, and the marina. We had tapas for lunch, which are basically these sides that you buy a lot of and share. Sooo good! After some more walking around and exploring we went back to the hostel and got ready to go on a pub crawl the hostel hosted. It was fun getting to meet different people from all over the world and see some of the nightlife. We didn't stay out too late since we were all EXHAUSTED. This night I had 4 French roommates who were journalists in town for a concert for some famous Europe band I've never heard of. They had sooooo many questions for me about the US, Ireland, student teaching, and why in the world I would decide the day before to go on a huge trip haha pretty sure they think all Americans are nuts now. =)
Saturday, Oct. 29- Attempt #2 of the free walking tour was thankfully a success this day! We were in a group of 20ish people and basically just followed Tour Guide Debbie all over the city. The tour was focused on Antoni Gaudí, a Spanish architect who left a major impact on Barcelona. We got to see so much in just one day (check the FB pictures I added for names and places). As the sun was starting to go down we took a cruise tour, which was fun but FREEZING. From there we went and saw the Fountain Show. An early bedtime was a necessity since we had to wake up at the crack of dawn for our flight.
Sunday, Oct. 30- We had to leave our hostel by 5am to get to the airport and be ready to go for our flight to PARIS! This flight was not so great for me- I was/kinda still am recovering from a month+ long cold and my ears hurt SO bad. I didn't get full hearing back for at least a day after this. However, nothing could ruin Paris for me! It was exactly what I had pictured in my mind. As we walked around the streets by our hostel there was someone playing an accordion and people all around us eating baguettes. So french! Since we would be leaving early in the morning for DISNELAND PARIS, we decided to buy all of our tour tickets right away. After that we walked around and saw the Basilique du Sacre, ate crepes for dinner, and hit the sack pretty early so we could be ready to go the next day. (Traveling is exhausting!)
Monday, Oct. 31- One thing I was a little sad about being away from home was missing Halloween with my family and friends. However, I think going to Disneyland made up for that! For those of you who don't know (which should be no one) I am obsessed with all things Disney. This was a dream come true! One day may not have been long enough, but then again I don't think a month would be long enough for this girl! We had a blast going on rides, taking jumping pictures in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, eating at Pizza Planet, and being kids again. All 4 of us bought Minnie Mouse ears so we could have a Halloween costume. Halloween night we went on a pub crawl around Paris that took us to 4 bars and a VIP only club. Halloween 2011 was definitely a success!
Tuesday, Nov. 1- Sleeping in this day may not have been the most productive thing, but it was totally worth it! After eating at Planet Hollywood we began our tour on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. Loved being able to sit on the roof of the bus and see so much of the city. We went to Notre Dame, saw a lot of other touristy things, and...ate crepes again! When in Paris, right? All the walking we did made up for it. I had a few different roommates throughout the Paris trip- some from the US, one from Toronto, and one from another part of France. Staying in hostels wasn't too bad. Since I booked so last minute I wasn't able to stay in the same room as my friends for the first 2 places, but it was exciting getting to meet so many people.
Wednesday, Nov. 2- Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and Eiffel Tower? Yes please! This may have been my favorite day of the whole trip. I've dreamed of seeing these things all my life and it was perfect. I mean, jumping pics in front of the Eiffel Tower??? Ahhhh! =) Great great last day in Paris. The stupid airport didn't give me a stamp in my passport for Paris so I definitely have to go back. Who wants to join me??
Thursday, Nov. 3- We took a train from Paris to Amsterdam. I bonded with the guy sitting next to me and slept for most of it so it went by pretty quickly. Amsterdam was...different! Staying in the red light district was a little bit of a culture shock. I had heard that people smoked pot everywhere and prostitution was legal, but it was weird actually seeing it. It really isn't all bad though- Amsterdam's a very beautiful place. I love the fact that there's probably more canals than roads and that every person that lives there has a bike. We probably almost died 80 times because of crazy people on bikes! The first day I got to hang out with Obama, Justin Bieber, and more at Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I had never been to one and it was pretty neat. That night we went on an impromptu pub crawl. VERY fun night!
Friday, Nov. 4- Clearly we were all missing Ireland so we had breakfast in an Irish pub to get our fix. After that we started our canal tour and saw Ann Frank's house (sad but good to see- it was a lot bigger than I had expected), the Van Gogh Museum (no Starry Night-my fave- =( it's in NY right now), and went to an ice bar..so cool (literally)!
Saturday, Nov. 5- We took a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the Heineken brewery, China Town, a shopping market, and lots more. An early bed time again for our trip back home in the morning. Luckily we were all in the same room at this hostel. We had some other roommates that were pretty strange. Hostels are cheap and convenient but you definitely get to experience some interesting people!
Sunday, Nov. 6- Took the train to the airport, flew to Dublin, then took the bus back home to Galway. I didn't know how exhausted I was until I walked into my apartment. Slept like a rock that night and back to school to teach my kiddos bright and early the next morning! I was sad our trip was over but Having Ireland to go home made it better. (Have I mentioned I love it here??)
Sorry the details seemed to get less and less as I went through the days. I feel like I'm writing a novel though and don't want to bore people. But I had the time of my life! Soooo glad I went =) The internet in my apartment is ridiculously slow (it took almost a week to add just 1 album to Facebook!) but hopefully I'll have all of my pictures up soon!
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