It's finally that day. I'm down to less than 24 hours in Bilbao and Europe too. I'm packed for the most part and I think I should be able to make it home with all of my things. Keep your fingers crossed, though because it's going to be close.
I leave at 6:45 in the morning from the Bilbao airport and thank God my host family is driving me. Most kids have to take the bus or a taxi. I know I wouldn't be able to handle the bus with 3 suitcases! From Bilbao I fly to Brussels and from Brussels to Chicago. I believe we land in Chicago around 1 in the afternoon and then we have a 7 hour layover before I get to come back to Nebraska. If I did the math right (which I'm sure I didn't) it will be around 25 hours of traveling before the drive back to Broken Bow.
For my last blog entry, I thought I would share some of the lessons I've learned over the past 4 and a half months.
1. Some people just weren't created to backpack through Europe. I am one of these people and I am perfectly happy checking my suitcase so I can travel more comfortably.
2. There may be a word for "excuse me" in Spanish, but it isn't a part of daily vocabulary-- Which is fine because I love knocking old people over.
3. There are other people in the world besides my mother that appreciate my sense of humor. This week I was voted "Funniest Girl" in our CIDE Superlatives.
4. Driving lanes and speed limits are just suggestions. It's a miracle I've survived European roads, but I still have one more car trip.
5. Also just a suggestion-- Customer Service. If I was that rude my own mother would fire me!
6. But if you ask people for help in the streets, especially in Spain, everyone is more than happy to help you and they appreciate that you are learning their language.
7. If you want to learn funny or naughty words, the best place to look is to the 10-year-olds who think you must be famous since you are American.
8. People from other countries hate it when we call ourselves Americans. Did you know we aren't the only country on the American continent?
9. There is absolutely no reason why you need to buy a completely new European wardrobe. But if you do and have the ability to get it all home, more power to you.
10. Do Not-- I repeat, DO NOT under any circumstances help friends with money emergencies unless they have done a full psych evaluation beforehand.
Thank you so much for reading along with me on my journey. It meant so much knowing I had a full support system back at home (and knowing that people actually took the time to read these).
Next stop- America!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
San Sebastian and More
So I realized it's been over a week since I've blogged so I guess I should fill everyone in. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited that this is probably my second to last blog. I hate it!!
Last Friday I visited San Sebastian with my friends Mackenzie and Elizabeth. San Sebastian is about an hour and a half bus ride from Bilbao and is in the neighboring providence of Gipuzkoa which is also in Basque Country. This city is beautiful. It's right on the coast and has a huge beach. The beach itself isn't particularly pretty but it looks out onto island cities.
When we got there, we decided to take the long way to the beach by following the river. San Sebastian has another Deusto Campus (where I go to school) that's way prettier! The walk was beautiful and the town is full of old, intricately detailed bridges. When we got to the beach, we started our day by going pintxo hopping. Pintxos are like mini appetizers and it's traditional for the Basque people to go from pintxo bar to pintxo bar to try a little bit of everything. San Sebastian is known to have the best pintxos in the world and the definitely lived up to their reputation. My favorite that I had was bread covered in a spicy tuna and cheese. It was the first time in Spain that I had something that I could actually consider spicy!
We spent most of the rest of the day sitting on the beach. It was too cold and rainy to swim but we sat on the beach, drew in the sand, and walked until there wasn't any beach left. For as little as we did, it was probably the most fun part about the day. The rest of the day consisted of walking through the town looking around before our bus left for the day. Of course, in true Emily/Mackenzie traveling style, we had to run to the bus stop because we went to the wrong place and were about to miss our bus. But don't worry, we made it home.
That Sunday, I went on another hike with my family in the mountains my Pelentzia beach. It wasn't as hard of a hike as the last one, but it was hot! As always, I ended up making friends with kids half my age. They heard the word American and knew that I had to know someone famous. The entire downhill hike was spent saying things in English so they could put their lessons to the test. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, the kids' mom asked Isabel if she could take me home with her and where to get one of me. I'm pretty sure I just recruited a new host family for the program.
The rest of the week was really slow. I spent most of it putting off writing one of my last essays. It rained the whole week too which made it go extremely slow. Last night I got to "attend" Jack's graduation ceremony via Skype. I couldn't really see or hear anything so that was great. I'm so glad I got to see and talk to everyone at the reception. I can't wait to come home and see everyone. 5 days left in Bilbao!!
Last Friday I visited San Sebastian with my friends Mackenzie and Elizabeth. San Sebastian is about an hour and a half bus ride from Bilbao and is in the neighboring providence of Gipuzkoa which is also in Basque Country. This city is beautiful. It's right on the coast and has a huge beach. The beach itself isn't particularly pretty but it looks out onto island cities.
When we got there, we decided to take the long way to the beach by following the river. San Sebastian has another Deusto Campus (where I go to school) that's way prettier! The walk was beautiful and the town is full of old, intricately detailed bridges. When we got to the beach, we started our day by going pintxo hopping. Pintxos are like mini appetizers and it's traditional for the Basque people to go from pintxo bar to pintxo bar to try a little bit of everything. San Sebastian is known to have the best pintxos in the world and the definitely lived up to their reputation. My favorite that I had was bread covered in a spicy tuna and cheese. It was the first time in Spain that I had something that I could actually consider spicy!
We spent most of the rest of the day sitting on the beach. It was too cold and rainy to swim but we sat on the beach, drew in the sand, and walked until there wasn't any beach left. For as little as we did, it was probably the most fun part about the day. The rest of the day consisted of walking through the town looking around before our bus left for the day. Of course, in true Emily/Mackenzie traveling style, we had to run to the bus stop because we went to the wrong place and were about to miss our bus. But don't worry, we made it home.
That Sunday, I went on another hike with my family in the mountains my Pelentzia beach. It wasn't as hard of a hike as the last one, but it was hot! As always, I ended up making friends with kids half my age. They heard the word American and knew that I had to know someone famous. The entire downhill hike was spent saying things in English so they could put their lessons to the test. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, the kids' mom asked Isabel if she could take me home with her and where to get one of me. I'm pretty sure I just recruited a new host family for the program.
The rest of the week was really slow. I spent most of it putting off writing one of my last essays. It rained the whole week too which made it go extremely slow. Last night I got to "attend" Jack's graduation ceremony via Skype. I couldn't really see or hear anything so that was great. I'm so glad I got to see and talk to everyone at the reception. I can't wait to come home and see everyone. 5 days left in Bilbao!!
Thursday, May 2, 2013
San Juan de Gatxugalatxe
The day finally came! I finally got to visit the site in Europe that I had been anticipating most. And it was right in my backyard!
We didn't have class today for Spanish Labor Day. I went with a group of friends this morning to San Juan de Gatxugalatxe which is an old monastery between the towns Bakio and Bermeo which are both in Bizkaia. It was about a 45 minute bus ride to Bakio to get to the starting point to get to the starting point.
We had to hike 3 miles to the starting point of the hike to San Juan by following the highway up a mountain. I won't forget to mention that this is a steep highway without shoulder to walk on.
The day was way better than we had expected. It was 60 degrees in the early morning and we had all packed coats and I had a backpack full of extra clothes in case it rained. We never ended up needing any of that. The walk up the mountain was beautiful and you could tell that this is a wealthier area to live in compared to the other parts of the country we had driven through in the past. All of the houses were huge. Along the walk there was tons of wildlife, or almost wildlife. Cows, sheep, roosters, dogs...everything that was normal for me. We did see a wild hog at one point but that was nothing compared to the lizards crawling around everywhere! I didn't even know before yesterday that there were lizards in Spain. You could hear them the entire hike lurking through the tall grass.
It took about an hour and a half to walk up the mountain and arrive at the beginning of our actual hike. The first part was downhill through rocks and dirt and the second part was up over 300 stairs to get to the church. There was hand railing most of the way but you didn't want to put your hand down on it because there were lizards everywhere. The hike wasn't half bad, and we ended up at the top in less than a half hour.
The view from the top of the hike was amazing. Indescribable actually. The best part of the view was the stairs that we had just climbed. The monastery wasn't anything special. The view from the monastery is the real attraction. We had lunch at the top and then headed back down.
We hiked back down the mountain which took a lot less time. We still had an hour before the bus would return to take us back to Bilbao so we sat at the beach for awhile. It had gotten cold by this point but there were still surfers out in the water. At the beach I had ran into Naia, the girl I tutor and her family. How weird to see someone you know when you visit a new town in a foreign country! I slept the entire bus ride home and then most of the afternoon after this trip.
We didn't have class today for Spanish Labor Day. I went with a group of friends this morning to San Juan de Gatxugalatxe which is an old monastery between the towns Bakio and Bermeo which are both in Bizkaia. It was about a 45 minute bus ride to Bakio to get to the starting point to get to the starting point.
We had to hike 3 miles to the starting point of the hike to San Juan by following the highway up a mountain. I won't forget to mention that this is a steep highway without shoulder to walk on.
The day was way better than we had expected. It was 60 degrees in the early morning and we had all packed coats and I had a backpack full of extra clothes in case it rained. We never ended up needing any of that. The walk up the mountain was beautiful and you could tell that this is a wealthier area to live in compared to the other parts of the country we had driven through in the past. All of the houses were huge. Along the walk there was tons of wildlife, or almost wildlife. Cows, sheep, roosters, dogs...everything that was normal for me. We did see a wild hog at one point but that was nothing compared to the lizards crawling around everywhere! I didn't even know before yesterday that there were lizards in Spain. You could hear them the entire hike lurking through the tall grass.
It took about an hour and a half to walk up the mountain and arrive at the beginning of our actual hike. The first part was downhill through rocks and dirt and the second part was up over 300 stairs to get to the church. There was hand railing most of the way but you didn't want to put your hand down on it because there were lizards everywhere. The hike wasn't half bad, and we ended up at the top in less than a half hour.
The view from the top of the hike was amazing. Indescribable actually. The best part of the view was the stairs that we had just climbed. The monastery wasn't anything special. The view from the monastery is the real attraction. We had lunch at the top and then headed back down.
We hiked back down the mountain which took a lot less time. We still had an hour before the bus would return to take us back to Bilbao so we sat at the beach for awhile. It had gotten cold by this point but there were still surfers out in the water. At the beach I had ran into Naia, the girl I tutor and her family. How weird to see someone you know when you visit a new town in a foreign country! I slept the entire bus ride home and then most of the afternoon after this trip.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
A Day in Lekeitio
I've been pretty horrible about getting out and actually doing things lately. The weather went back to crap, particularly when I leave my room until the time I decide to go back home. We can't even plan on beach weather for at least another week.
Yesterday Isabel and Perico took me on a road trip to Lekeitio which was about an hour and a half away from Bilbao. It used to be an old fishing village, but through the years it has become a vacation town for the people living in the cities. Martin says it's because it is home to the most beautiful beach in the world. Since I haven't seen many beaches I would have to agree with him, but it is a pretty cool place. The beach wasn't particularly big but off about 100 yards from the beach there is a small island which is pretty cute. Isabel said that during the summer on low tide the kids can walk over to the island and they play there all day. Now i just want to go back there in the summer and walk to the island.
It stopped raining just long enough for us to walk on the beach for awhile. Isabel probably thought I was incredibly sheltered when I got excited over finding a seashell on the beach. At least she helped me find more. Apparently when Perico was really young, the Queen of Belgium spent her summer in Lekeitio and had a spot reserved on the beach for an entire summer right by Perico's family. Apparently she even stuck her hand in Perico's sister's mouth to pull out a bee.
After the beach we went to take a quick break at Isabel's family's vacation apartment. It was more like a giant house and I had to follow Isabel around so I didn't get lost. We finished the day by walking through the pouring rain to see more of the town. It was a pretty nice day, overall. I'm sure it would have been a ton nicer without all the rain.
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This week we don't have class on Wednesday because it is Spanish Worker's Day, so pretty much Labor Day. This would be exciting if it wasn't going to be raining all day. The only things open are the metros and the bars.
Yesterday Isabel and Perico took me on a road trip to Lekeitio which was about an hour and a half away from Bilbao. It used to be an old fishing village, but through the years it has become a vacation town for the people living in the cities. Martin says it's because it is home to the most beautiful beach in the world. Since I haven't seen many beaches I would have to agree with him, but it is a pretty cool place. The beach wasn't particularly big but off about 100 yards from the beach there is a small island which is pretty cute. Isabel said that during the summer on low tide the kids can walk over to the island and they play there all day. Now i just want to go back there in the summer and walk to the island.
It stopped raining just long enough for us to walk on the beach for awhile. Isabel probably thought I was incredibly sheltered when I got excited over finding a seashell on the beach. At least she helped me find more. Apparently when Perico was really young, the Queen of Belgium spent her summer in Lekeitio and had a spot reserved on the beach for an entire summer right by Perico's family. Apparently she even stuck her hand in Perico's sister's mouth to pull out a bee.
After the beach we went to take a quick break at Isabel's family's vacation apartment. It was more like a giant house and I had to follow Isabel around so I didn't get lost. We finished the day by walking through the pouring rain to see more of the town. It was a pretty nice day, overall. I'm sure it would have been a ton nicer without all the rain.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Dublin
So I am back from a longish weekend in Dublin, Ireland and it was definitely worth skipping class for. Not that I like those classes anyway..
A group of 6 other girls and I left Thursday mid-afternoon to catch a bus to our flight out of Santander. We flew to Dublin around 6:30 and sat on the plane by a local from Northern Ireland who had tons to tell us about Ireland. He even told us what not to say to stay out of trouble since there is still a lot of turmoil between the Irish and Northern Irish.
Our hostel was so easy to find! Probably because it was right in the middle of everything!! We were so lucky to be paying so little to be right next to everything. The staff was beyond awesome at helping us with even the stupidest little questions. They even let us move beds so we could sleep by the plug-ins to charge our phones even though they have a strict no moving rule.
The first day we started out bright and early with a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher which are on the opposite side of Ireland. We drove through the countryside and stopped occasionally at old castles and churches. We learned the ABC's of Ireland (Another Bloody Church, Another Bloody Castle, and Another Bloody Cliff). We listened to traditional Irish music the entire 4 hour ride there which normally would have made me wish for death, but it actually helped me get in the spirit.
Our first big stop was at the Mini Cliffs. The land was so rugged here that it was crazy hard to walk out to the actual cliffs. There was a lot of hopping from rock to rock. The cliffs weren't terribly high. 50 feet would be my best guess. Probably more though. The waves crashed like crazy so it was a sure death if you fell. The tour guide made me stop running once. Not sure why :p After we visited the Mini Cliffs we ate lunch and headed to the Cliffs of Moher.
The Cliffs of Moher was absolutely incredible. The cliffs were triple or even quadruple the size of the Mini Cliffs and went on for as far as you could see. The majority of the land surrounding the cliffs were was walled off because it's such a popular suicide spot. There were still search boats in the water looking for the most recent suicide. There is a section that isn't walled off and that is exactly where we hurried off to. You had to be very careful, though, because the land surrounding the cliffs was all grass that was wet underneath. The wind was pretty crazy too and could be enough to through you off the cliff if you were close enough to the edge. There were signs everywhere giving you a number to call if you wanted to hurt yourself and needed help. Our tour guide said that in the summer months there are volunteers that go around talking to all of the tourists making sure they aren't depressed. I'm sure if someone was trying to evaluate me, it would be enough for me to throw them off the cliff.
We finished the tour in a small town an hour or so away from the cliffs. There is a river that runs through that sometimes has dolphins. We unfortunately didn't get to see any. We then drove the remaining 2 hours home and were very thankful for regular paved roads since the majority of the journey to the cliffs was bumpier than a gravel road. That night we went out and checked out Dublin's famous Temple Bar scene and hung out at a few different pubs.
The next day we were able to sleep in a bit and we went on a guided walking tour through the city. It was great because we got to hear the history that went with the buildings that we were seeing. It lasted way longer than necessary though and I was so glad when we were done with the tour to have lunch. After lunch we visited the Guinness Factory tour and got to see what all goes down there. We got to do a taste test and practice pouring our own. The tour itself was pretty expensive but I justified it because we got about 6 euros worth of free beer along the way.
That night we were so tired that we barely made it out of bed to eat dinner. We might as well have skipped it. The "best fish and chips place in Dublin" that our hostel suggested was nasty. It had no flavor, just grease. We didn't even contemplate going out that night. Our shuttle to the airport was going to leave at 7:30 am anyway and we couldn't even stay awake long enough to get ready. We barely woke up the next day either and someone else's alarm finally woke us up with 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave.
I absolutely loved Ireland and would definitely go back if I had more time. The people there are amazing. You don't have to ask for directions. If they see you are lost they will do anything they can to help you. They start conversations, offer to take your picture, you name it. And their accents are awesome!
Only 24 days left in Europe!!
A group of 6 other girls and I left Thursday mid-afternoon to catch a bus to our flight out of Santander. We flew to Dublin around 6:30 and sat on the plane by a local from Northern Ireland who had tons to tell us about Ireland. He even told us what not to say to stay out of trouble since there is still a lot of turmoil between the Irish and Northern Irish.
Our hostel was so easy to find! Probably because it was right in the middle of everything!! We were so lucky to be paying so little to be right next to everything. The staff was beyond awesome at helping us with even the stupidest little questions. They even let us move beds so we could sleep by the plug-ins to charge our phones even though they have a strict no moving rule.
The first day we started out bright and early with a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher which are on the opposite side of Ireland. We drove through the countryside and stopped occasionally at old castles and churches. We learned the ABC's of Ireland (Another Bloody Church, Another Bloody Castle, and Another Bloody Cliff). We listened to traditional Irish music the entire 4 hour ride there which normally would have made me wish for death, but it actually helped me get in the spirit.
Our first big stop was at the Mini Cliffs. The land was so rugged here that it was crazy hard to walk out to the actual cliffs. There was a lot of hopping from rock to rock. The cliffs weren't terribly high. 50 feet would be my best guess. Probably more though. The waves crashed like crazy so it was a sure death if you fell. The tour guide made me stop running once. Not sure why :p After we visited the Mini Cliffs we ate lunch and headed to the Cliffs of Moher.
The Cliffs of Moher was absolutely incredible. The cliffs were triple or even quadruple the size of the Mini Cliffs and went on for as far as you could see. The majority of the land surrounding the cliffs were was walled off because it's such a popular suicide spot. There were still search boats in the water looking for the most recent suicide. There is a section that isn't walled off and that is exactly where we hurried off to. You had to be very careful, though, because the land surrounding the cliffs was all grass that was wet underneath. The wind was pretty crazy too and could be enough to through you off the cliff if you were close enough to the edge. There were signs everywhere giving you a number to call if you wanted to hurt yourself and needed help. Our tour guide said that in the summer months there are volunteers that go around talking to all of the tourists making sure they aren't depressed. I'm sure if someone was trying to evaluate me, it would be enough for me to throw them off the cliff.
We finished the tour in a small town an hour or so away from the cliffs. There is a river that runs through that sometimes has dolphins. We unfortunately didn't get to see any. We then drove the remaining 2 hours home and were very thankful for regular paved roads since the majority of the journey to the cliffs was bumpier than a gravel road. That night we went out and checked out Dublin's famous Temple Bar scene and hung out at a few different pubs.
The next day we were able to sleep in a bit and we went on a guided walking tour through the city. It was great because we got to hear the history that went with the buildings that we were seeing. It lasted way longer than necessary though and I was so glad when we were done with the tour to have lunch. After lunch we visited the Guinness Factory tour and got to see what all goes down there. We got to do a taste test and practice pouring our own. The tour itself was pretty expensive but I justified it because we got about 6 euros worth of free beer along the way.
That night we were so tired that we barely made it out of bed to eat dinner. We might as well have skipped it. The "best fish and chips place in Dublin" that our hostel suggested was nasty. It had no flavor, just grease. We didn't even contemplate going out that night. Our shuttle to the airport was going to leave at 7:30 am anyway and we couldn't even stay awake long enough to get ready. We barely woke up the next day either and someone else's alarm finally woke us up with 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave.
I absolutely loved Ireland and would definitely go back if I had more time. The people there are amazing. You don't have to ask for directions. If they see you are lost they will do anything they can to help you. They start conversations, offer to take your picture, you name it. And their accents are awesome!
Only 24 days left in Europe!!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Beautiful Week in Bilbao
So we've been experiencing highs in the 80's all week, so that's been nice :))) In honor of the sun finally shining, I spent my Sunday at the beach! We went to Sopelana which is about a half hour metro ride from my house in Getxo. It's absolutely beautiful there. Before I had visited I wanted to plan a trip to one of the Spanish islands, but now I'm saving my money and going to the beach in Bilbao every chance I get.
Just so you all know, Sopelana is a nude beach. This is one of those things that you know you will run into when you go to Europe, but you forget until you see the boobs staring you right in the face.
I turned in my first major Spanish paper this week and I'm sure it caused more stress than it was worth. My guess is the teacher won't even read it since there are 30 kids in our class and the papers are all around 5 pages. But I guess whatever!
Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend in Dublin. I'm not sure of much that's going on over the weekend. It's more of a spur of the moment trip for me and my friends have done most of the planning. I know on Friday we will be going to see the famous cliffs and countryside in a tour. At some point during the week we will be touring the Guinness factory. Should be a fun weekend!
Just so you all know, Sopelana is a nude beach. This is one of those things that you know you will run into when you go to Europe, but you forget until you see the boobs staring you right in the face.
I turned in my first major Spanish paper this week and I'm sure it caused more stress than it was worth. My guess is the teacher won't even read it since there are 30 kids in our class and the papers are all around 5 pages. But I guess whatever!
Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend in Dublin. I'm not sure of much that's going on over the weekend. It's more of a spur of the moment trip for me and my friends have done most of the planning. I know on Friday we will be going to see the famous cliffs and countryside in a tour. At some point during the week we will be touring the Guinness factory. Should be a fun weekend!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
The Rest of Spring Break
I've been pretty lazy about writing my blog lately with all of my homework and naps. My mom said yesterday that she was ready to read about herself and I needed to hop to finishing my blog and only to say nice things about her so I will give that a try.
I only had a day and a half in Prague. To actually see the city, I definitely needed more, but I was so happy to be able to leave when I did. Prague is known for its incredible castles and cathedrals which make a fantastic view for the entire city. It's a small city compared to all the other main attractions in Europe. Most people get around by taking the tram instead of the metro, which I never once (technically) paid for... the city was backwards about some things...
The sites definitely were beautiful; the cathedral was probably the prettiest I've seen in all of Europe. And there were tons of great things to see. It would have been wonderful if it hadn't been so cold. At one point to escape the cold my friends Tyler, Alexa, Kassi, and I visited the Mid-evil Torture Museum just to warm up. I learned too much. Also that day outside one of the cathedrals, we saw two girls in the biggest most ornate ball gowns we'd ever seen. They were being photographed with the city skyline in the background and there was a crowd gathered around to watch. We stopped and watched for a bit too and found out that they were 15 years old and their families had flown them to Prague from Mexico for their quinceneras. We took their pictures too :)
My least favorite part about Prague was without a doubt the people. The best way I could come up with to describe it is that the city and everything inside of it is stuck in the Cold War. The non-touristy buildings were crappy and falling apart and very dark looking, but not as dark looking as the people. It was like they didn't want the tourists in the city, especially if they spoke English and they would not make it easy for you if you did speak English. Let's just say I felt very uncomfortable the majority of the time and was very happy to be leaving.
By far the best part of the trip was the food. I ate hotwings in the hostel but that was nothing compared to the food in Prague. I couldn't tell you what I ate or even spell it, but I was in heaven for the 2 dinners I ate in Prague. Everyone else who visited the city for Spring Break said the same. They are also known for their cheap beers in Prague. Though they cost 35 crowns (Czech money) it came out to be a little over a dollar in American money :) Beer is definitely cheaper than water.
The biggest snag in that part of the trip came when I tried to leave the city. I had plans to fly back to Bilbao by myself and so I took off for the metro to the airport. It isn't necessary to show a ticket to get on the metro and you can get through the gates without even paying. This had been what I did all weekend, but this time it didn't work out. There were ticket guards waiting at the entrance to the train and they were randomly asking people to show their tickets. I knew right away that me traveling with a suitcase, I would be racially profiled. They asked for my ticket and I played dumb until they started speaking English. I pretended to look for the ticket that I knew I didn't have and finally I said that I would just have to go buy another. But the guard wouldn't accept that. She said I would have to pay 800 crowns or be arrested. I had spent all of my money before arriving at the metro so I tried to explain to the lady that I would have to go to an ATM. Her lack of English was frustrating. Finally she said that I would just have to go to an ATM (oh, really?). I was going to try to run from there but she followed me to the ATM. Luckily it was only 40 US dollars that I had to pay which probably would have been close to what I would have paid for an all day transport pass for the 2 days. I'm just happy I'm not in Czech prison.
From there I spent a day laid over in Milan where it was too rainy to go out and see anything, so I stayed in the airport until my plane left for Bilbao. The next morning I went with my host family to a small town outside of Bayona, France to stay in their friends' vacation house. It was a calm 3 days without wifi which I somehow survived.
We returned to Bilbao on Sunday with just enough time for me to eat and pick my family up from the airport. They got in at 5 and I took them straight to our hotel, which was by far the nicest place we've ever been allowed to stay in.
We had dinner with my host family the first night which went much better than expected. My family loves them and my host family speaks much better English than they let on. My family even enjoyed the food besides Jake who was still suffering from a bad experience at an airport restaurant.
We left the next morning at 8 am for Barcelona which meant we were up by 3 am. Waking up at 3 am was a common theme for the week. It was a little tough to find the hotel that first day and we knew right away why. It was in the middle of Sketchville, complete with the prostitutes to greet us at the door. And of course this was the first hotel in the history of the world that refused to let anyone check in a minute before the scheduled time. So no rest for us, we had to start on the city right away.
It was rainy and a bit nasty outside and we couldn't find a city map or anything (and of course I forgot that there is an app for that). We spent the day exploring La Rambla, the main tourist street in Barcelona. It actually completely sucked. We aren't souvenir people and all of the real stores were closed because it was the last day of the Easter holiday. Every restaurant we went to was a fight so we didn't get a lot done and everyone was exhausted. Finally we decided to go back to the hotel an hour early and see if the room was ready. We should have known it wouldn't be. So we pretty much slept on tables for an hour before the lady let us into our rooms. We napped for quite awhile after that.
The next day we had an equally early flight to Paris but it was definitely worth it. We got to see nearly everything that first day. We somehow managed to convince Jake to go up on the Eiffel Tower which was more difficult than it sounds. We were sad though because the top deck of the tower was closed to the public. We still enjoyed our view. When we got down, everything was surrounded by military men with gigantic guns and a crazy amount of cops. We kept running into them and decided it was probably smart to get out of the area. It didn't work. They were all over town. We later found out that there had been a terrorist threat a few days earlier which would probably explain all of the guns.
Our second day in Paris we went through Notre Dame Cathedral and my parents put a lock on the Lover's Bridge (which was gross). We finished the day "at the museums" before we had to pack up and head back to the airport to catch our flight back to Barcelona.
Our second day in Barcelona was much better. We got away from the touristy street and went to see the real attractions. Sagrada Familia was incredible like I had thought it would be but by the time we got to Park Guell it was pouring and everyone was tired. We voted that instead of staying in our nasty hotel one more night that we would spend the night in the airport since we had an early flight back to Bilbao. The sleeping thing worked out great.... Jackson and I watched ladies clean the bathroom and walked around a bit. That was the extent of our sleep. Lucky for us, the actual nice hotel in Bilbao let us into our room right away so we could sleep all morning.
Of course Bilbao was ready to welcome my family with its usual weather. We broke 3 umbrellas that first day in Bilbao. That really ruins plans when all of the attractions are outdoors. We went and saw the Guggenheim and my University and shopped at the mall. The next day it rained even more. That turned into a mostly napping and shopping day even though we did get to go look at Casco Viejo. We were invited to another supper at my house that night. I also took Jackson out for his first bar experience. We were up by 5 the next morning to get the family back to the airport.
I only had a day and a half in Prague. To actually see the city, I definitely needed more, but I was so happy to be able to leave when I did. Prague is known for its incredible castles and cathedrals which make a fantastic view for the entire city. It's a small city compared to all the other main attractions in Europe. Most people get around by taking the tram instead of the metro, which I never once (technically) paid for... the city was backwards about some things...
The sites definitely were beautiful; the cathedral was probably the prettiest I've seen in all of Europe. And there were tons of great things to see. It would have been wonderful if it hadn't been so cold. At one point to escape the cold my friends Tyler, Alexa, Kassi, and I visited the Mid-evil Torture Museum just to warm up. I learned too much. Also that day outside one of the cathedrals, we saw two girls in the biggest most ornate ball gowns we'd ever seen. They were being photographed with the city skyline in the background and there was a crowd gathered around to watch. We stopped and watched for a bit too and found out that they were 15 years old and their families had flown them to Prague from Mexico for their quinceneras. We took their pictures too :)
My least favorite part about Prague was without a doubt the people. The best way I could come up with to describe it is that the city and everything inside of it is stuck in the Cold War. The non-touristy buildings were crappy and falling apart and very dark looking, but not as dark looking as the people. It was like they didn't want the tourists in the city, especially if they spoke English and they would not make it easy for you if you did speak English. Let's just say I felt very uncomfortable the majority of the time and was very happy to be leaving.
By far the best part of the trip was the food. I ate hotwings in the hostel but that was nothing compared to the food in Prague. I couldn't tell you what I ate or even spell it, but I was in heaven for the 2 dinners I ate in Prague. Everyone else who visited the city for Spring Break said the same. They are also known for their cheap beers in Prague. Though they cost 35 crowns (Czech money) it came out to be a little over a dollar in American money :) Beer is definitely cheaper than water.
The biggest snag in that part of the trip came when I tried to leave the city. I had plans to fly back to Bilbao by myself and so I took off for the metro to the airport. It isn't necessary to show a ticket to get on the metro and you can get through the gates without even paying. This had been what I did all weekend, but this time it didn't work out. There were ticket guards waiting at the entrance to the train and they were randomly asking people to show their tickets. I knew right away that me traveling with a suitcase, I would be racially profiled. They asked for my ticket and I played dumb until they started speaking English. I pretended to look for the ticket that I knew I didn't have and finally I said that I would just have to go buy another. But the guard wouldn't accept that. She said I would have to pay 800 crowns or be arrested. I had spent all of my money before arriving at the metro so I tried to explain to the lady that I would have to go to an ATM. Her lack of English was frustrating. Finally she said that I would just have to go to an ATM (oh, really?). I was going to try to run from there but she followed me to the ATM. Luckily it was only 40 US dollars that I had to pay which probably would have been close to what I would have paid for an all day transport pass for the 2 days. I'm just happy I'm not in Czech prison.
From there I spent a day laid over in Milan where it was too rainy to go out and see anything, so I stayed in the airport until my plane left for Bilbao. The next morning I went with my host family to a small town outside of Bayona, France to stay in their friends' vacation house. It was a calm 3 days without wifi which I somehow survived.
We returned to Bilbao on Sunday with just enough time for me to eat and pick my family up from the airport. They got in at 5 and I took them straight to our hotel, which was by far the nicest place we've ever been allowed to stay in.
We had dinner with my host family the first night which went much better than expected. My family loves them and my host family speaks much better English than they let on. My family even enjoyed the food besides Jake who was still suffering from a bad experience at an airport restaurant.
We left the next morning at 8 am for Barcelona which meant we were up by 3 am. Waking up at 3 am was a common theme for the week. It was a little tough to find the hotel that first day and we knew right away why. It was in the middle of Sketchville, complete with the prostitutes to greet us at the door. And of course this was the first hotel in the history of the world that refused to let anyone check in a minute before the scheduled time. So no rest for us, we had to start on the city right away.
It was rainy and a bit nasty outside and we couldn't find a city map or anything (and of course I forgot that there is an app for that). We spent the day exploring La Rambla, the main tourist street in Barcelona. It actually completely sucked. We aren't souvenir people and all of the real stores were closed because it was the last day of the Easter holiday. Every restaurant we went to was a fight so we didn't get a lot done and everyone was exhausted. Finally we decided to go back to the hotel an hour early and see if the room was ready. We should have known it wouldn't be. So we pretty much slept on tables for an hour before the lady let us into our rooms. We napped for quite awhile after that.
The next day we had an equally early flight to Paris but it was definitely worth it. We got to see nearly everything that first day. We somehow managed to convince Jake to go up on the Eiffel Tower which was more difficult than it sounds. We were sad though because the top deck of the tower was closed to the public. We still enjoyed our view. When we got down, everything was surrounded by military men with gigantic guns and a crazy amount of cops. We kept running into them and decided it was probably smart to get out of the area. It didn't work. They were all over town. We later found out that there had been a terrorist threat a few days earlier which would probably explain all of the guns.
Our second day in Paris we went through Notre Dame Cathedral and my parents put a lock on the Lover's Bridge (which was gross). We finished the day "at the museums" before we had to pack up and head back to the airport to catch our flight back to Barcelona.
Our second day in Barcelona was much better. We got away from the touristy street and went to see the real attractions. Sagrada Familia was incredible like I had thought it would be but by the time we got to Park Guell it was pouring and everyone was tired. We voted that instead of staying in our nasty hotel one more night that we would spend the night in the airport since we had an early flight back to Bilbao. The sleeping thing worked out great.... Jackson and I watched ladies clean the bathroom and walked around a bit. That was the extent of our sleep. Lucky for us, the actual nice hotel in Bilbao let us into our room right away so we could sleep all morning.
Of course Bilbao was ready to welcome my family with its usual weather. We broke 3 umbrellas that first day in Bilbao. That really ruins plans when all of the attractions are outdoors. We went and saw the Guggenheim and my University and shopped at the mall. The next day it rained even more. That turned into a mostly napping and shopping day even though we did get to go look at Casco Viejo. We were invited to another supper at my house that night. I also took Jackson out for his first bar experience. We were up by 5 the next morning to get the family back to the airport.
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