Belated Barcelona post

I was just going back through my blog and realized I never put up pictures from my time in Barcelona. Of course, those who know what happened to me (I had my purse stolen, including my camera...) might understand this, but it's about time I put something up. My friend Supraja was also there and took these pictures (I had disposable cameras, which should have some additional pictures, come to think of it...). So, here's the view from Katherine's place (where we were staying):
And I was staying like 5 feet from the Boquería (the most incredible market I've ever been to):

We were starved for bagels (Paris has none, I swear), so for 3 euro, we got bagels with cream cheese:After our first chocolate and churro dessert, me and Supraja have decided to form a religion based on their fattening goodness:


No trip to Barcelona would be complete without some Gaudi buildings, so here's one we happened upon:
Next was the Gaudi Park, which is the trippiest park you'll ever go to. I felt like I was in the Hansel and Gretel fairytale:



Those Barcelonans really know their chocolate! We had to stop by the chocolate museum, which was filled with statues made of chocolate of various things, like famous Barcelona buildings and Disney characters:



We found our way to the water and walked along the boardwalk:


And then we headed to Portugal... (to be continued)

Aussieland

Sorry it's been a while. For those of you who don't know, after returning home for all of two weeks, I visited Tom in the land down under. Australia was amazing and I recommend anyone going if they've got the time (and probably the resources...) to really appreciate it. My journey started after over 20 hours in transit in Sydney. This is me waiting for a bus, which is not only on the wrong side of the street, but I have to hail because otherwise they won't stop. And things only got stranger...


Next, the airline lost my luggage (great for 2 weeks in a foreign country), so I went shopping. Considering it rained for most of the rest of the time I was there, I had plenty of time for that. So, I had to get a pretty new dress for the opera! Here's a picture of me and Tom all dressed up for the Sydney Opera House (we heard the Sydney orchestra playing Beethoven):

Then, since there was pretty bad weather for that whole week, the next time we really took pictures was the one beautiful day, when we took the Manly fairy. We got some great views of Sydney Harbor:





Then, there was Manly Beach which, despite being a bit chilly was beautiful. We even got to see a few surfers.

After Manly, we did the walk from Bondi to Tom's beach, Coogee. It was quite the hike, but we made it. Here are some pictures from the view between the two:

Then, finally, we went to the Blue Mountains for our last day in Sydney. They really are beautiful, and here are some pictures so you can see how beautiful they were too.



To be continued in Cairns in my next post...

Disneyland (pronounced Dis-nay-lahnd)

Here's another small picture update. During the second part of spring break, I went to Disneyland Paris with a few friends. If anyone has been to Disneyworld or Disneyland in Florida or California, those have nothing on this Disney park. There are actual rollercoasters (both Indiana Jones and Space Mountain have loops) and on top of that the animatronics speak French! Of course C3PO was a little hard to understand and I didn't get everything at the Haunted Mansion, but it was amazing nonetheless. So, without further ado, here are some pictures from that day. The first is me and my friend Lauren S in front of a sign that says "la ou les reves deviennent realite", which means roughly "where dreams come true":


Next is me after a makeover in the Pirates of the Caribbean giftshop:

Spring break and my "dossiers"

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I got back from spring break about 2 weeks ago, but I have been writing final papers like mad. I am right now in the middle of a 5-page "dossier" on the new 24-hour French news network, France24, and finished another on the train terminals of Paris on Sunday. I'll post again when I get a chance, but here's two pictures for now of my spring break (where I went to Barcelona, Porto, and Lisbon). It's me looking out onto Porto from the top of the Torre dos Clerigos:

And another one just for good measure of me at the Oceanarium in Lisbon:

Normandy

We went to Normandy this weekend (well, two days and one night) and saw pretty much everything related to D-Day as possible. So, although most of the history went straight over my head, I still enjoyed myself. Of course, it wasn't encouraging when I woke up on the way over and it was snowing... But when the teacher explained that we went through Bayeux on the way over, I almost jumped out of my seat (it's the resting place of the Bayeux tapestry, one of the most important pieces in English history, of the Norman conquest of 1066, around the same time Old English disappeared from the records). Anyway, here's that snow:


Next we went to Arromanches, where the Allied forces built an artificial port following the D-Day disembarkment (Debarquement in French):

Here's some of my friends enjoying their crepes on the way back to the bus (from the left, Lisa, Supraja, and Lauren S):


Here's me and Lauren S at the American cemetery in Normandy for the Americans killed as a result of D-Day:


Next is the "palate cleanser" from our French meal. It's ice cream floating in a very strong brandy popular in Normandy between courses of very long meals:

Finally, we arrive at Mont St. Michel, one of the most beautiful sights you'll see in France. If you get the chance to go, please do. It's on an island surrounded by the English Channel, where tides change dramatically (8 meters), and quicksand, which a couple kids on our trip decided to go running in. It might be hard to get to, but it's an amazing place:


And finally, our tourguide of the abby on the mountain. He was very interesting and engaging, and I found myself hanging onto every word despite the fact it was all in French. We even learned that the word "bibliotheque " (library) came about because the first places where students were taught were in monestaries and the root is the same as "bible". The Sorbonne, arguably the most famous university in France, actually came from "soeur bonne", which means "good sister" or "good nun", another link to the abby.


That was the end of our trip, and the end of my important pictures thus far. This Thursday I am off to Barcelona for a week, followed by Porto and Lisbon in Portugal, and Amsterdam the following week (where I'll be on the look out for the famed 3-wheeled cars). A bientot!

Whitney's trip!

Here is finally Whitney's trip to Paris. Unfortunately, she got sick starting the first day, but here's some pictures of the stuff we managed to do.

First, this is the Musee de l'Homme, an anthropological museum at Trocadero, which has one of the nicest views of the Eiffel Tower in all of Paris. So, here's Whitney taking a break inside the museum in front of the Tour d'Eiffel:

Next is the Salon de l'Agriculture. It is a huge thing in Paris, even the politicians attend it. When we were there Segolene Royal, one of the candidates for the elections in a few days, was there with her entourage. Here's a girl riding one of the ponies at the Salon (unfortunately we were a little too old to do the same):


Here is the Musee du Vin, which is right in my backyard. We learned the history of wine in the Passy area (my area) and in France in general. The tour ended with a glass of wine in their restaurant:

This is the basque restaurant we went to, Au Dernier Metro. Delicious food:


Next is Whitney and the Tour d'Eiffel again. This was at the end of our boat ride on the Seine, and the end of Whitney's trip in Paris.

My parents' trip to Paris

Here are some pictures and stories of what I've done in the past week. My parents were in town, and not only did we do all new things in Paris (which is a feat considering they'd been here many times before), but we accidently stumbled onto a movie set! We were walking near the restaurant on the outskirts of the Palais Royal garden when we saw people in 30's clothes and movie equipment everywhere. If you can recognize any of the French actors, please tell me, I'd love to know who they are:
Next is a picture of my parents on the metro. They embraced my ideal form of transportation in Paris, and so here is a picture of them in a metro car at the Tuileries station:
Then we went to the Opera Garnier for a ballet based off of a Proust novel. I went in search of the secret passages below the building a la Phantom, but a nice usher informed me that sadly there was no lake. But I swear this had to be part of it once:
We also had apertifs with my French host and her family. Here's a picture of my mom talking with her daughter Pauline and her other daughter Marie's husband:

Well, those were the highlights, but there was a ton more that we did, including walking through some covered passages, visiting the Marais (the jewish quarter, French for "swamp") for my parents' first time, and paying a visit to la Bastille. More pictures to come soon!