Me amo Barcelona!

So I spent last weekend in Barcelona and it was definitely my favorite weekend so far!!! I went with my friend from Brighton, we got there Thursday night and hung out with some people that we met at the hostel and then saw the city on Friday and Saturday. Our hostel was so nice, and it wasn't sketchy at all to sleep in a room with a lot of people. Everyone that we met was so nice!!! We saw the FC Barcelona Stadium, the Olympic Stadium, went shopping in Las Ramblas, went to a Spanish market, sat on the beach, and saw all of the sights of the city!
On Saturday night we had a traditional Spanish meal of paella, which is some type of rice and we had seafood in ours with sangria to drink. It was so delicious, and I can't wait until the next time I am in Spain to have it again!





I had such a good time in Spain, and I am starting to get sad about coming home for good! I am ready to come home for a break and see everyone, but I am starting to get sad that I will not be coming back for more of this experience. Part of me wishes that I had stayed a whole year, but I probably would get homesick if I decided to do that, and I would be broke. I have met so many cool people, and I think that everyone should have this experience! I have been so lucky to be able to travel to all kinds of places, and now I don't want to stop traveling! I know that I will be back to Europe, but I will never get the experience of being a student in Europe again.

On Saturday I am going to Oxford and staying the night there, and then Sunday night my flatmates are throwing me a going away party! They are staying until the end of the English semester, which goes until February, but I am leaving early so I can start school at Clarkson in January.

I only have a few more posts left about my experience abroad. I will definitely make the most of my last few couple weeks here!

Leprechauns & Rainbows

So, my trip to Ireland actually turned into quite the interesting journey. I went with one of my friends that I met here, and we ended up missing our flight there because we didn't read the small print on our boarding passes and didn't realize we needed to get our passports checked somewhere before we went through security. So because of this we had to find a different way to get to Ireland and went by train and ferry. We took a train from London to Birmingham, spent the night in the Birmingham Airport, took a 4 hour train to Wales, and then took a ferry from Wales to Dublin (3 hours later because our first ferry was canceled due to terrible weather). We got in a whole day later than we were originally supposed to, so we only got to see Dublin in a day. We still got to see a lot, but it would have been nice to not have to rush and enjoy the city more. Dublin was really pretty, and all of the Irish people were really nice!
We went on a bus tour on Sunday and saw all of the major sights. Of course we went to the guinness factory which was pretty cool. I learned how guinness is made and at the end of the tour you get a pint of guinness in the galaxy bar which has an awesome view of the city.

There was even a rainbow that day, which I thought was sweet because when you think of Ireland you think of pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. :)

I went to a place called Kilmainham Jail, which used to hold some Irish war heroes. I got a tour of the jail including the cells, and where executions took place. The picture is me in a jail cell. I actually met some girls who were studying abroad in Spain and go to Plattsburgh State - small world!

That night we went to the Temple Bar and had a pint of guinness and listened to some traditional Irish Music to get a feel of the whole Irish culture. The picture is of me and my friend outside the bar.



Despite the problems with getting to Dublin, it was still a lot of fun. Everything was really expensive there, but I think I read that Ireland is the second most expensive country in the world, next to Finland, so that explains why. On Thursday I fly out for Barcelona to spend the weekend there. The weather is suppose to be warmer than the UK so I am hoping for that! I will be missing Thanksgiving with my family, but I think Barcelona will make up for this - I will have to have a turkey sandwich or something on Thursday!

I'll let you know how Spain is, Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Smugglers & Castles

So, this week I was on reading week, which means I didn't have any classes and instead am suppose to get caught up/ahead on work. I did some homework, and did a lot of relaxing. :) I went shopping in London on Thursday, and although I don't have any pictures, it was so beautiful because all of the Christmas lights are up all over the city. It was so cool, and I am so lucky I got to see the city like that! I didn't buy very many things, only a few Christmas gifts, but it was nice to get out of Brighton for the day. London is only about an hour away by train so it is really convenient to catch a train there.

Today, I went on a fieldtrip to Bodiam Castle and Rye. Bodiam castle is an old medieval castle that was built in 1385!!! It was like a castle from a fairytale with a moat and everything. We got to walk around inside of it and up the steep staircases that lead to rooms that look out above the castle. It was really cool.


After Bodiam Castle, we walked around the town of Rye, which is an old smuggling town. In Rye, there is a street called Mermaid Street which is part of the original Rye from many, many years ago. It was so windy, cold and rainy everywhere today, so I had some hot soup in a cafe to warm up. After that, we headed back to Brighton.

So this week wasn't as exciting as most weeks but next week I am going to be leaving for Dublin, Ireland on Friday and heading back to Brighton on Monday! I can't wait! I have heard that Ireland is beautiful, and I recently watched the movie PS. I love You, which some parts of the movie take place in Ireland, so that made me even more excited. My time here is going by so fast, but I am sure I will be back to Europe someday to see everything that I miss in this trip! :)

The City of Romance

So, I had another very busy week in Europe! On Wednesday I saw a 3OH!3 show, which is band that is pretty popular in the US. They sing the song Don’t Trust Me, that is played on the radio a lot. It wasn’t the best performance that I have ever seen, but it was worth 10 pounds to see them.

On November 5th of every year, England celebrates a holiday called Guy Fawkes Day. On November 5, 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Parliament building, but was caught before it could happen. Today, when England celebrates Guy Fawkes Day they have massive bonfires, and huge parades with people dressed in scary costumes holding torches. They also have a fireworks display after the parade is over. I thought that the holiday was really dangerous, there was fire everywhere and pretty scary! I don’t think that it would ever be legal in the US! If you look at the picture, you can see what I mean by it being scary!

Then, on Friday I departed very early for a weekend trip to Paris! Paris was such a nice city, and is definitely my favorite city so far! I went on a boat cruise on Friday night and saw all of the sights, which was pretty cool. The next day I went to the top of the Eiffel tower and saw an amazing view of Paris! The weather was pretty crisp, but it didn’t rain so we had a really good view. After this I saw the louvre, Moulin Rouge, went into the Cathedral of Notre Dame – which was gorgeous, and saw the Arc de Triomphe with the tomb of the unknown soldier. On Sunday I went to the Palace of Versailles and walked around the Versailles Garden.

After this I came home and was able to skype with my family, my boyfriend and his family, and my friends. This week I have Reading Week, which means I don’t have any classes and am suppose to catch up on work. I actually have a few papers that are due at the end of the semester, so I am going to get ahead on them. I am also going Christmas shopping in London on Thursday, and have a trip to Rye and Bodium Castle on Saturday.

That is all for now, I hope all is well in the US!

Football, Prague, and Stonehenge!

I have had a very exciting 2 weeks with trips to London to see a football game, a few days spent in the Czech Republic to visit Prague, Halloween, and a day trip to visit Stonehenge, Bath and Salisbury Cathedral. On top of all of that, I also had to attend classes. So 2 Saturdays ago, my friend and I took a trip to London. It only takes an hour to get to London by train, so it is really not too far away. We walked around, went to Harrods, which is a really expensive store - we saw a cake that cost the equivalent of over $6000. The main reason we went to London was to see Tottenham play Stoke City in football (soccer). I wanted to see a real European football game while I was studying abroad, and this was a Premier League (I guess it is the best league, with teams like Manchester United and Arsenal in it) game, so it was really awesome! We had second row seats and were so close to the players!

Last Wednesday, I went on a trip to Prague! It was a pretty last minute decision, but I am so glad I went! I had heard that Prague was the most beautiful city in Europe, and it was really pretty. While in Prague I went on a tour and saw all of the major attractions, as well as the old Jewish part of Prague which contained a few synagogues, a museum and a cemetary where 12 layers of people were buried! We also visited the castle of Prague, and while on the tour saw places such as where James Bond jumped from the roof in the movie Casino Royale. Overall, Prague was a really nice city, and I hope to go back someday!

The day after Halloween, I went on a day trip to see Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury Cathedral. They were all amazing sights, but Stonehenge was probably my favorite. It is crazy that no one knows why the stones are there, or how they got there. The stones were carried from miles and miles away and they weigh over 40 tons! Salisbury Cathedral was a really nice cathedral, but they were doing construction on the outside so that kind of ruined the beauty of it. Bath was a very pretty city, and at this time of year, it was even nicer. Brighton's trees don't compare to how the North Country looks at this time of year, but in Bath the leaves were prettier and the whole area was very peaceful and not as crowded as Brighton.

Next week I am going to a concert, and then partaking in festivies for Guy Fawkes Day, which I will explain in my next post! I am also leaving for the weekend to go to Paris on Friday, so a lot of excitement ahead! :)