ckell040

[ckell040]

Barcelona: Day 4

The last day in Barcelona. Part of me was ready to leave, but there was still so much more I wanted to do. I ended up waking up much later than I had hoped, but I was just in time to make it to the beach with most of the group.

We were there for a few hours, enjoying the warm sun and cold water. While sunbathing, what appeared to be a homeless man on some sort of drug passed by, muttering about how he "shouldn't be ashamed of his hunger because of a bitch like you." I felt bad for the guy, I would have bought him a meal so he wouldn't have to dig in the trash, but at the same time, probably not the best idea to converse with a drugged up stranger in a foreign country.

After the beach, we headed back to the hostel. The group had plans for dinner later that night, so I had a few hours to myself. I (eventually) found a game store that I had been wanting to visit in my off time. I assumed that it was a card/tabletop gaming store, but it was purely video games. Which is great, except for region locking, so I wouldn't even be able to play any of them. While trying to find the nearest metro stop, I stumbled across two more nerdy stores, but fortunately for both my wallet and suitcase, there was nothing that I truly needed.

I made it back to the hostel JUST in time to leave for dinner. After a lot of walking, we made it to a seafood restaurant. Fortunately, they had steak - and a delicious steak at that. Still had some funds for dessert, so I got what I believe was the Chocolate Handkerchief (according to the Google translated English menu). All in all, it was a delicious final meal. More walking to get back, and we all packed up and checked out for our early flight back home.

Overall, I would say that it was a great trip. There were still so many things I didn't get to do, but even without a planned itinerary I know that I wouldn’t have been able to see everything that I had wanted to see. These cities are so full of unique opportunities that I don’t have in America, and I can’t wait for the day that I get to come back and experience even more of it.

[ckell040]

Barcelona: Day 3

The morning began with Parc Guell. I wandered around the park with Corbin and Andrea. Seeing Gaudi’s lizard was pretty sweet, and I managed to get a nice side picture of it without any people in it, which I consider to be a bit of an accomplishment.

As we still had a good bit of time left before the whole group met back up, the three of us chilled on some benches in the shade with a few others. I was a bit bummed at having to sit and wait for a while, but pigeon with one toe on one leg and a stump for the other made the wait a little more enjoyable. We decided to name him Nubby, and despite his handicap he seemed to be getting around pretty well.

Our next big excursion was the La Sagrada Familia. I was surprised to see that it was much smaller than I had expected, but it was still beautiful. I absolutely loved how the light filtered through the stained glass windows, giving the interior a slightly colorful look. There really wasn’t much to do here other than admire the architecture, although I finally found a gift for my mom - a vase with a design based on the stained glass. I was glad to get that crossed off my list.

That evening, Andrea and I went back to the Gothic Quarter to walk around and hit up any stores that we had missed before. Walking past all of the gelato stands can be super difficult when you have a major sweet tooth like I do, and on top of that they had all sorts of other sweets like crepes, churros, and waffles covered in chocolate. We ultimately settled on gelato from the farmers market.

We started to head back to the hostel at this point, but not before stopping at a store where I bought a new septum ring and took a picture with a hookah that was taller than me. I really wanted to get back because I and a few others had planned to go barhopping with the hostel staff. The opportunity was open the previous nights as well, but we all agreed that it wouldn’t be smart to go barhopping if you have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn.

We set off at 11, and made it to a bar near the beach. I ended up having a Bloody Mary and a shot of Malibu. I didn’t even get tipsy, but this ultimately worked out well. Jake wanted to go back to the hostel at this point, but came back to the bar because the metro had closed when he got there. I was honestly glad about this, because after he left I was a bit worried about him travelling alone to get back; I wouldn’t want anyone in our group to navigate public transportation in a foreign country at 1 in the morning. I opted to go back with him, which yet again worked out because he didn’t have any cash for the bus fares, and I had more than enough.

The bus rides back was long, but finally we made it in one piece back to the hostel around 2:20. I crawled in my bed, more than ready to pass out; although it was a fun experience, I realized that barhopping just isn’t for me.

[ckell040]

Barcelona: Day 1 + 2

More waiting, traveling, and walking to get to the hostel in Barcelona. It didn’t take long for me to consider this hostel to be my favorite of the three. Part of it was the awesome staff, part of it was the 1 euro beer (which was surprisingly delicious for a cheap beer!). The whole group went to the gothic quarter to spend the evening shopping around. There were so many places and things to see, there was no way I would have been able to get to everything. The farmers market was amazing as well - so many foreign fruits that I wanted to try and an olive buffet that my dad would gladly buy out, just to name two.

We met back up with the group, and then came one of my favorite parts of Barcelona - feeding the pigeons. I have always loved birds, but there’s just something about the dopey aesthetic of pigeons that I just love. The 2 euros I spend on bird seed was totally worth it. At first I kept my hand near the ground so they could eat, but when they started flying up to land on my arm, I was hooked.

After the pigeons had their food, we headed back to the hostel for dinner. While it wasn’t really my favorite meal, I thought that it was amazing that the hostel provided free dinners for their patrons. They really make you feel at home, and I wished that the other two we stayed at had given me the same feeling.

The next morning was the Montserrat. I spent most of the hour+ long metro ride napping, and I’m pretty sure almost everyone else did too. However, once we got on the last train up the mountain, I couldn’t sleep through that. Seeing the beautiful views made me miss my years of summer camp in the mountains. Our tickets granted us entrance to the museum, but sadly the train ride to go further up the mountain cost extra, and I wasn’t sure if I would even have time to do it. After a buffet lunch with the group (my lunch was mostly the desserts, they were too tasty to pass up), we rushed to the chapel to catch the boys’ choir. It was super crowded, which really made it hard to appreciate it. It only lasted a few minutes until the church service began, so we took that as our cue to head back to the train.

When we got back from the Montserrat, I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the hostel. A break from the action was nice, but at the same time, I could - and should - have used this time to experience more of Barcelona. I guess this just gives me an excuse to go back to Spain in the future!

[ckell040]

Florence: Day 1, 2, + 3

We woke up early to make it to the train. I was excited to finally have the chance to ride a train, although the death of my 3DS charger made the train ride a bit less enjoyable than I had hoped. So much for foreign streetpasses.

Upon arrival, we waited a long ass time to get our Firenze cards, then walked a good 20 minutes-ish to get to the hostel. After getting situated, we split up to shop around. We were led to believe that most shops closed up early on the weekends, so we convinced Dr. Gorman to let us shop around for the day and move the scheduled activities to tomorrow. I found a pretty sweet record store where I had hoped to find a gift for my brother, but I didn’t love him enough to justify the prices. Luckily, he understood.

The next morning, we woke up for the Uffizi gallery. Other than The Birth of Venus, nothing stood out to me. While I can appreciate art museums for the historical and cultural value, they just aren’t for me. I enjoy seeing the ‘famous’ pieces, but other than that, I don’t really get much out of them.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Florence. While I’m normally not the type to wander around on my own, especially in a foreign city, I felt strangely comfortable doing so. If I had gotten lost by any chance, I knew that I just had to find the river; from there, I could get back to the hostel.

The last day in Florence began with the Galleria Accademia. Seeing the statue of David in person was pretty fantastic. There was a music section as well, featuring a Stradivarius violin. Those two pieces were by far my favorite parts of the museum. After that, a handful of us went to another museum across the river. Fortunately, entrance was free with our Firenze cards. Again, nothing really stood out to me at this museum (unless the stray kitty counts).

Next was the Santa Croce. Seeing all of the graves was both beautiful and unsettling. Part of me felt that I was being disrespectful by walking all over them, but sometimes it just couldn’t be helped. Galileo and Michelangelo were buried here, so that definitely made the trip worth it.

With the last day coming to a close, I met up with Wyatt, Jeremy, and Adam at a tattoo shop to get Wyatt’s bee tattoo. I had wanted to get a tattoo in Europe as well, but at the same time I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of caring for it while abroad. The tattoo came out wonderfully, I met the shop’s snake named Omar, and we set off for some dinner - tex mex. Because even though we’re in a foreign country, we had to see how their tex mex compares to American tex mex. I must say, they did a fantastic job.

While we ate, we talked with a pretty cool girl named Josee who was in Europe for a babysitting job. I couldn’t really pass up an opportunity to converse with someone in English that wasn’t a part of my group.

We ended the night at the hookah bar next door to the tex mex place. I had never tried a hookah before, so I was definitely intrigued. The four of us agreed on a coconut and mint flavor mix, which ended up being pretty good. We couldn’t finish it though, and decided to peace out for the night so we could get some good rest for our plane ride to Barcelona.

[ckell040]

Rome: Day 2 + 3

We woke up early (too early to catch the 7:30 - 10 breakfast at the hostel) and headed straight for the Vatican. Once again, we saw Donald Trump - the second time in less than 24 hours.

Then came time for the Vatican. After exploring the museum (which included the surprisingly underwhelming Sistine Chapel), we were able to go into the building itself. The interior was beautiful, but a few of us wanted to go up to the dome. Ultimately, Jeremy and I were the only ones who ended up getting to the very top (which was around 500 steps; Jeremy counted). The view was fantastic. After the Vatican, we had some free time, which included a return to the Trevi Fountain and some gelato.

The next morning, we headed for the Borghese Gallery. Beautiful art, but it did nothing for me. As we waited for the rest of the group to finish, a few of us began to wander around the park nearby. Corbin, Jeremy, Adam and I stumbled across a show jumping competition. Definitely fun to sit and watch for a while, and it made me miss riding.

Later that day, it was time for the Colosseum - part of the reason why I went on this trip. Sadly, 30 minutes is NOT enough to appreciate the monument. I was the last to meet back up with the group, which didn't surprise me. No one else seemed as interested. We almost skipped the forum, but I demanded that we still go, and fortunately a few other people wanted to see it as well. I still only saw a fraction of what I had hoped for, but I plan to return in the future to truly appreciate the rich history of the city.

That night, we enjoyed a bottle of Scotch that Corbin bought. Feeling a nice buzz from that, I returned to the Colosseum with Wyatt, Patrick, and Cristin. We weren't able to go inside, but seeing it at night was definitely worth it. I had hoped to keep up with the animal statistics, but there were just too many dogs to count. Not that I’m complaining!

[ckell040]

Rome: Day 1

Lying in a hostel bed, exhausted after exploring Rome for the first time, is a situation I've dreamed of finding myself in. After taking 6 years of Latin, I fell in love with Rome.

I left Baton Rouge around 8 AM on May 21st, got to Atlanta that evening, and headed over to the airport the next morning. Many hours of waiting and one Q'doba lunch later, I'm on a huge plane, ready to cross the ocean. Two hours in, I was met with my Q'doba lunch once again, so most of the remainder of the flight was spent sleeping. Probably going to eat something a bit easier on the flight home. We finally got to Rome around 11ish on the 23rd. After getting situated at the hostel, we went to the Pantheon.

As amazing as it was, I was a bit disappointed. The architecture was beautiful, but I wish it hadn't been converted to a church. I am not affiliated with any branch of Christianity, but have huge interest in Roman mythology, so I wish those aspects could have been preserved.

It was now lunch time, and since we were all pretty hangry, we decided to make the Pantheon visit a short one. I ended up at a nearby Italian joint with Corbin and Andrea, and ate the entirety of my first authentic Italian pizza. It was a prosciutto e funghi, basically cheese pizza with ham and mushrooms. Corbin ordered some red wine as well, the most of which was consumed by me. Although I'm not usually a fan of red wine, it was pretty tasty.

After paying (and making unsuccessful attempts at interacting with pigeons) the three of us went to the Lindt store right next to the restaurant where we got some gelato. I don't know exactly what flavor I got, but it was delicious. I could easily spend all my money on Lindt truffles.

One group picture later, we all headed to the fountain I can't remember the name of. At that point, we were all pretty tired, so the journey back to the hostel began. We had decided to take a nearby metro; we ultimately did not, but getting waved at by the one and only orange overlord Donald Trump made the trek worth it. I did not see him myself, but I can't say I'm disappointed about that. I thought I had gotten away from him.

We finally returned to the hostel after a long walk, and I was almost ready to pass out. Tomorrow we see the good shit and the whole reason I wanted to go on this trip. Now it's time for sleep since my roommates have all checked out for the day.

Animal stats: 15 dogs, 2 horses, 1 cat. I pet one of the horses, but I think he tried to nip at me so that was a bust. I'd be annoyed to if I had to pull humans around in a carriage and search for tiny bits of grass between cobblestones. I don't blame you, buddy.