Venice, For The Win

VENICE IS THE COOLEST CITY IN EUROPE. There. I said it. By far the most unique city I have ever been to, I fell in love with Venice last weekend. Why, you ask? Because it is literally a city on water; there are no cars, your only means of transportation are boats or gondolas. Not only is Venice unique, but it is also beautiful. Canals run through every street and bridges are your walkways. We spent our first day just walking around and exploring, making our way to the main Plaza called Piazza San Marco and also took a walk along the port. For both lunch and dinner, we stopped at 2 random places we stumbled upon and hoped for the best. That’s the amazing thing about Italy – no matter where you eat, you are almost guaranteed to have an amazing, Italian meal. Being with some of my best friends, amazing food and sites, Venice became one of my favorite cities as soon as I stepped off the train and onto a boat to get to my hotel.

We spent our second day in Venice exploring the 3 islands that surround the main town and learning about what each island has to offer. The first island houses a glass making factory, where we watched glass being made into various objects such as horses and vases. The second island was centered around silk, where we watched women sewing clothing items and gowns. This island was my favorite of the three, as the land was lined with beautifully painted houses of various different pastel colors; no boring white houses here, but purple, red, blue, and any other color under the moon. On the third island we explored a church and a vineyard, but it was not the most scenic of the three. After the tour, we couldn’t resist the temptation to take a cliche gondola ride through the canals. It was an amazing day to be in Venice – we could not have gotten any more lucky with the weather! After an amazing 2 days, I had to say a say goodbye to one of my favorite city’s of abroad (however, I like to think of it as more of a see you later).

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Florence

DAY 1: Despite being such a small city, our time spent in Florence was definitely filled with endless activities. Our first stop on our own little walking tour was the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The bridge crosses the Arno River and is noted for its beautiful jewelry shops along the sidewalks of the bridge. After snapping a few pictures and checking out some of the shops, we made our way across the bridge to the famous Venchi gelato shop. I never understood the hype of the Florence gelato and how it could be that much better than gelato in other cities, but after eating my gelato from Venchi, I realized I was highly mistaken. My mixture of dark chocolate and cappuccino gelato definitely lived up it’s Florence reputation – so much so that I had to go back for a second round! After stuffing our faces with gelato, we made our way to the famous Duomo cathedral. This beautiful, gothic styled cathedral can be seen from almost any vantage point throughout Florence, as it is one of Italy’s largest churches. Although we had hoped to climb the stairs of the Duomo and explore the interior, the lines for entrance were miles long! Despite not being able to enter, seeing the decorative exterior was interesting enough. For dinner, we went to La Giostra and had what I would like to call, one of the best meals of my life. We started off with a platter of tapas along with some delicious burrata and pan, and for my main dish I had chicken stuffed with cheese and vegetables – everything was unreal. Although a little pricey, the experience was definitely worth it.

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DAY 2: After visiting most of the important sites on day 1, we spent a lot of our second day in Florence relaxing in the Boboli Gardens. Known for their collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, the gardens are a lovely, wide open field with places for visitors to relax and lay in the grass. There is also a beautiful view of Florence when you reach the top peak of the garden, which overlooks the entire city. We spent most of our day sitting in the grass and talking for hours and hours. It was a beautiful day out, and the perfect day to relax. After, we made our way to the leather market to make a few purchases. One of our friends who is abroad in Florence took us to her friend Massimo’s store, where we got some great leather jackets and bags. For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Osteria Santa Spirito for yet another amazing meal. I ordered the truffled gnocchi – aka heaven in a bowl. Safe to say, I gained about 20 pounds in Florence, but it was definitely well worth it.

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The Fairytale City

My weekend in the capital of the Czech Republic was magical – no, literally. With huge castles, bridges over strips of water, and old-fashioned street vendors all around, the city of Prague makes you feel like you have entered some sort of fairytale story. What makes the city even better is that all of the important landmarks and tourist attractions are within walking distance – we explored more of what Prague has to offer in just a day. We started off our day by crossing the Charles Bridge; an historic bridge built under Kind Charles IV that is decorated by a continuous alley of gothic-styles statues on each side. After crossing the Bridge filled with live music, caricaturists, and street vendors, we made our way towards the John Lennon Wall. Along our journey, we passed a smaller, Prague version of the Paris “Lock Bridge” as well as some interesting statues of giant babies. We had a little too much fun taking pictures with these odd statues….no surprise there.

After taking a few laps around, we finally found the Lennon Wall…underwhelming to say the least. In every city, there always seems to be a wall with graffiti on it that has some significance to an historical moment in the city. We learned that the Lennon Wall was used for people to express their feelings and emotions during the time of Lennons assassination, however, the things we saw on the wall today were definitely nothing inspirational. Although it may have been important at one point in time, we felt a little ridiculous after running around Prague to see a wall filled with graffiti that is smaller than a Billboard. We found the quote below to be the most inspiring of all:

“99 problems but a bitch ain’t one”

Last, but certainly not least, we took a stroll around Old Town Square. Found in the Old Town quarter this square was my favorite part of Prague. Here we saw beautiful buildings and churches that reminded you of castles and made you feel like you were in the middle-ages. There were show performances, bubble blowing, food vendors, and people dancing all around. It was a beautiful, sunny day, which I’ve heard is very rare, but Barcelona seemed to bring out the heat. My friends and I spent hours trying new food, dancing with street performers, and exploring all of the beautiful buildings. I never really understood what Prague was before my visit; I always wondered “why would people ever go abroad to Prague? I don’t understand what it has to offer?” Well, after this weekend, I definitely understand it now. Not only is the city so unique, but there is also great night-life in store. We went to two clubs: Lucerna and Mecca. Lucerna was my favorite – they played 80’s and 90’s music all night long! I definitely loved Prague, and I can honestly say it is the only other city so far that I could have imagined myself studying abroad in if I was not in Barcelona (and that means a lot). 

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Willkommen in Deutschland

My weekend in Berlin, Germany was very eye opening. With so many memorials and historical sites, it was kind of overwhelming to be in the country where the Holocaust originated. Most of the memorials that have been created to commemorate the Jews who died in the Holocaust were more abstract and metaphorical than just a statue with some sort of tangible meeting. For instance, there is an exhibit at the Jewish Museum called The Garden of Exile. This “garden” is made up of 49 concrete pillars that stand on slightly sloped square plot. When you walk through the garden, you actually start to feel dizzy and light headed, as the goal of the exhibit is to make you feel a sense of instability. The way one feels when they walk through the garden is supposed to represent a similar experience to the Jews who were driven out of Germany: lost and without orientation. Many of the other memorials we visited, such as the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Memorial to the Burning Book, used a similar emotional tactic in order to try and help visitors understand the pain and suffering that was experienced by the Jews. Photos of some of these exhibits can be found below:

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Along with these sites, we also visited the beautiful murals on the Berlin wall and tried some German curryworst (can’t say I was the biggest fan of the curryworst, but the fries that came along with it were lovely). Later that night, we enjoyed an authentic, German dinner at a beer hall called Hofbraeuhaus. The restaurant is meant to be a similar version to a celebration held in Munich called Oktoberfest, with staff dressed in lederhosen, people standing on tables, and gigantic pitchers of beer. The atmosphere of the restaurant was through the roof, and since I was not abroad first semester, it was fun to get a small taste of what the Oktoberfest celebrations were like. The culture in Germany was very different, to say the least, but the sites I visited were certainly an experience I will never forget.

The City of Love

What’s better than 1 Valentine? 8 Valentines (monogamy is lame anyway…) This year, I got to spend my Valentines weekend with some of my best friends in the beautiful city of Paris. My friend, Evan, who is studying abroad in Paris this semester, walked us around to all of the must-see spots of the city. We started our first day by eating falafel in the Jewish corner, then spent the rest of the day walking to different landmarks such as the Notre Dame and the Louvre. Along our walk, we were surrounded by large, beautiful buildings plated in gold – a very different style from any of the Gaudi buildings we have here in Barcelona. For a quick break, we stopped at the famous Angelina Teamroom for some delicious chocolate. The hot chocolate really lived up to its standard: a pure, thick hot chocolate that tasted as if bars of chocolate melted straight into my cup. The next day, we continued our tour and spent most of our day by the Lock Bridge as well as the Eiffel Tower. No boyfriend to share a lock with on the bridge? Not a problem – I had my friend Rory for that. With a great travel crew to share the experience with, Paris became one of favorite weekend trips so far.Could I imagine studying abroad there? Probably not (they don’t have Opium in Paris…), but I would definitely love to come back and revisit some of these amazing sites. But for now, bonjour, Paris.

“N” in Amsterdam

Although the city of Amsterdam may be small, it definitely has a lot to offer. In one short weekend, we managed to pack in a visit to Anne Frank’s house, the Heineken factory, the Van Gogh museum, and the Red Light District, just to name a few. But of course, I have to mention our ever so predictable visit to the “I Amsterdam” letters. Every year, American students study abroad and every single one of those students travel to Amsterdam and take pictures with THE letters. When it was my turn for the visit, I found the experience was well…not exactly euphoric. First off, whats a girl to do when the letter of your first name (or even last name) is not even in the phrase “I Amsterdam”? Was I supposed to just take a random picture with a large “S” for no apparent reason? Additionally, the place was FLOODED with tourists who were climbing everywhere to get a picture on these letters. So just as a warning to students traveling abroad in years to come – im sorry to break it to ya, but the hype is certainly not real.

But if I’m going to talk about my trip to Amsterdam, I have to talk about the food. This city REALLY knows how to cater to their “audience”. I mean, really. I can easily say I came back to Barcelona 15 pounds heavier, yet without the slightest morsel of regret. I consumed the most amazing pancakes, waffles, cheese, chocolate and french fries this world has to offer. Check out the picture’s below for details and be careful not to drool…

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Skiing the Swiss Alps

Last weekend, I fell in love with Switzerland. Being raised in a family that has had me skiing since the age of 5, the Swiss Alps were my personal version of nirvana. After starting the day off by skiing with a few of my friends, I quickly realized that I needed to branch off if I wanted to get past the bunny slope (sorry guys). So for the next 3 hours I went off into the Swiss Alps with just me, myself, and I. I was a little nervous at first to be skiing alone on unfamiliar terrain, but the never-ending runs covered in powder were a quick distraction. It felt amazing to be by myself and for some reason, at the end of the day, I felt like I had accomplished something (seriously though, can I put “independent woman successfully ski’s the Swiss Alps solo” on my resume?).  The views were unlike anything I could ever see in the States and honestly, showing you the pictures below is really the only way to describe it. I’ve already convinced my parents that we desperately need to come back here, so for now, see you later Switz.