I've had the time of my life..

Hola a todos!

This post is a few weeks late, but better late than never, I guess! I returned back to America on December 18th, just beating that snowstorm that trapped many of my friends in Europe until Christmas, or even after Christmas for a few.

Initially, being home was quite strange. I no longer had to communicate in Spanish, which was a little weird and things in America, as we know, are quite speedier than in Spain. From time to time, I still manage to fit a siesta into my day--what would be a complete day without a siesta? My Mom has yet to serve me four salchichas on a plate or in a sandwich, which I am very pleased about. To be honest, I don't think I want to see another salchicha for quite some time. Although I liked Spanish food, nothing can beat my mama's home-cooked meals. I was offered to go to a seafood restaurant to celebrate my 21st birthday with my family, but declined. Fish was starting to grow on me, but maybe not enough to voluntarily eat it!

So, as you can probably tell, I'm not missing Spanish food too much, but there are many things I do miss. My host family, I think, went above and beyond their duties to keep me a very content girl while abroad. They were four of the most caring people I have ever met. They welcomed me into their home with open arms, and really gave a new meaning to "our home, is your home." Many students had a lot of trouble with their host families, but I think I had the best experience a study abroad student could ever ask for. I looked forward to lunch with my entire host family and dinner when it was just Juani and I. I'd hear many stories, receive their input about world events, hear about how Betis did in their futbol games, and even learned a few jokes. Some of my favorite times were when Juani would start pulling photo albums out from her wedding, daughters' baptisms, and festivals that go on in Sevilla. Whenever she did that, I knew she was willing and open to share her life with me as if I was a part of their family, and I was very touched by this.

As I mentioned before and in past blogs, one of my favorite days out of the week was Sunday when I was able to attend church with Juani. We'd walk over together and have a nice chat along the way, and then we were both able to enjoy mass together. After church she'd let me know that she prayed for my entire family, and at our last mass that we went to together, she said the only thing she asks of me when I go is to pray for her, and she will do the same. The church we attended every Sunday was almost like home to me. By the end of my semester abroad, many members of the congregation, including the priest, knew me by name which was pretty cool! Throughout my four months abroad I definitely went through some times of sadness with my grandmother passing away and my brother being deployed in Afghanistan, but knowing that I had a smiling host family to wake up to every morning and a church right down the street was enough to get me through.

I also made some phenomenal friends and had the opportunity to spend a great deal of my time with my best friend, Dana, that I went to Miss Hall's with. As I've told a lot of people since being back, Dana and I hadn't seen each other since graduation in 2008, but from the first moment we saw each other on the UPO campus, it was as if we had never been apart, and that is what a true friendship is. Through my blog, you heard a lot about traveling with Sam and Sydney--which was always entertaining and I miss both of them very much! You also heard a little bit about Kaitlyn who never failed to make me laugh. And perhaps I mentioned a little bit about Erik, who I go to Bryant with--we had never been too close at Bryant, but now I consider him to be a really great friend. Although I met a lot of other students abroad, I believe that the friendships I made with these people will be the one's that are able to last a lifetime.

For those of you that have followed my blog since day one, you know I traveled A LOT. If I can remember them all, the list goes a little something like this--Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, Cadiz, Morocco, Cordoba, Portugal, Paris, and Rome. Traveling was absolutely invigorating. Over four months, I was able to experience several different cultures and see how the rest of the world lived outside the walls of the United States. A quote that I liked about traveling says, "And there's more to this brave adventure than you'd ever believe." It's true that I was completely terrified about being abroad for four months, but as you can see, I adjusted quite well and was jet-setting all over Europe and I even went to Africa.

But, you see, there's even more than just learning about cultures, tasting delicious food, and experiencing a whole new way of life when you travel. What's that you ask? You discover who you are and also learn things that you've never ever realized about yourself before. With this study abroad experience, I know I have grown in leaps and bounds. It takes a brave person to be plopped down in a foreign country where no one can speak your language and then you must adjust to a whole different life, and I rose to the challenge. I learned that if I had only spoken up in Sra. Wilsons' class, that I would have realized that I could speak Spanish really well, but I never had much confidence :P I knew I had the knowledge, I just didn't know how to apply it. Of course, living in Spain forced me to speak the language all the time and I have much more confidence in my abilities to not only speak Spanish, but also to read and write it as well.

If I had one wish for all of my blog readers, and all my friends out there, it would be for each and every one of you to have the opportunity to see what's out there. My parents could never stress to me enough that there is so much more that lies beyond the walls of Pittsfield or Boston or New England--we have a whole country to explore. But in the grand scheme of things, there's a whole world out there with so much to offer. At the young age of twenty-one, I have had the opportunity to already visit a lot of the world. In addition to my recent travels, I can never forget that I was in China just a year ago. All of these opportunities were made possible because my brother and I were blessed with two of the most amazing parents. Although our parents may not have had the opportunities that my brother and I have today, they have made many sacrifices and have worked so hard to make sure that we take full advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. So, Mom and Dad, thank you for everything you have done for me from encouraging me to go to Miss Hall's, taking me all over to visit colleges to make sure I found the perfect fit, giving me the opportunity to go to China, supporting this semester abroad, but most of all, seeing that I have huge dreams and making them come true. You two are truly the best.

So, sadly, I believe this ends my blog--at least for now! In a few short weeks I'll be finding myself back in Rhode Island starting spring semester of my JUNIOR year. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. I want to thank you all for taking time out of your days to read my blog--I hope I not only provided some great reading material, but also some great pictures as well. It has been an absolute pleasure sharing my experience with you! Until next time..

Love and Prayers. Hasta luego!

Besos,
Lindsay

I left my heart in Rome

Ciao!

As many of you know, I traveled to Rome this past week from Wednesday to Sunday. I have been quite busy, so I haven’t had the time to get a blog up here, but I finally got around to it and I am so excited to share the stories of my trip with you.

On Wednesday, Dana and I departed from the Seville airport in the afternoon and we were on our way to Rome. Our plane ride was a lot different from any other plane ride we had taken in that the crowd on the plane seemed like they thought they were at a party or something. The bunch was very rowdy, loud, and talkative. People were climbing on seats to get their bags out of the overhead compartments and it was very chaotic! Needless to say, I was very excited when the plane landed and I was able to get away from the loud crew and have some peace and quiet!

When we arrived, we took a taxi to our hotel which was about 20-25 minutes away from the airport, so we assumed it’d be at least 40€. Turns out our taxi driver “wasn’t exactly sure” where our hotel was and inevitably ended up “getting lost” in the little side streets that surrounded our hotel. The reason why I put these quotation marks is because we’re pretty much convinced that the taxi cab driver took advantage of the fact that we were two clueless Americans who had no idea where we were. So, the taxi ride ended up costing 50€, which wasn’t that bad, but it would have been 40€ if he didn’t end up “getting lost”!!!

After checking into our hotel, our next hurdle to cross was trying to figure out how to work our shower. Dana and I were convinced that we tried every single way possible to turn the shower on, but we just couldn’t get it to work. We ended up venturing downstairs to the reception desk (because our room phone was broken!) to speak with the man at the desk. I’m pretty sure he thought we were absolutely nuts, but he explained we must “pull and push”.. whatever that means. We went back upstairs, and sure enough, with a little bit of pulling and pushing we had a working shower. What do ya know!

The next morning Dana’s friend Dwayne arrived a bit before noontime, and once he arrived it was off to begin our first day of exploring Rome! Our first stop was the Colosseum. The Colosseum is in the center of Rome and was the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire, and is considered to be one of the greatest works of Roman architecture (I believe it!) The Colosseum was used in the past for gladiator contests, public spectacles, re-enactments of famous battles, etc. The structure is just absolutely breathtaking to look at, and it was so interesting to be standing there being aware of all of the events that took place in the Colosseum thousands of years ago. So much history!

Inside of the Colosseum

Me at the Colosseum! It was raining :(

Isn't it beautiful!?

Next to the Colosseum was the Roman Forum. It was used by the Romans in the past as a center of political and social activity. Additionally, the Forum served as a marketplace of Rome and also the business district and civic center. Down the road, it was expanded to include various temples, a senate house, and law courts. When the Roman Empire ended up falling, the Roman Forum fell right along with it—buried and forgotten. It was definitely a very interesting site to see, and you could have explored the area for days if one had time, but we only had four days, so after exploring for about an hour or so, it was time to move on. 

Excavations of the Roman Forum

Me at the Roman Forum!

While at the Roman Forum, we heard what sounded like some sort of parade and saw a lot of people in the streets heading towards the Colosseum. Being my naïve self, I encouraged Dana and Dwayne to walk a bit faster so we could see the “parade.” What I thought was a parade was actually a strike/protest of 2,000 students that ended up taking over the Colosseum (good thing we got in there when we did). It was actually pretty interesting to see. Apparently they were striking about the cost of tuition increasing. We knew things were getting a little out of hand when about 50 police cars/vans/trucks showed up to the scene and riot police came pouring out. We decided to get out of the area as quickly as possible and went to find some lunch. 

RIOT POLICE

Students on a balcony of the Colosseum

For lunch we ended up eating at a restaurant nearby the Colosseum. This began the chain of delicious food that I would consume throughout the entire weekend. We decided we’d all get fairly large meals as that day was Thanksgiving, and as much as we searched, no one was serving turkey dinner. I ended up getting lasagna, Dana got some pizza, and Dwayne had pasta with various types of fish in it (mussels, shrimp, scallops, etc). We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals—Italian food in Italy, can’t get any better than that!

Our next stop was the Basilica di San Clemente. This stop was highly recommended by our travel planner, Carrie Holland, who had just visited the Basilica when she went to Rome in the beginning of November. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings. Beneath the present building that was built in 1100, one can find excavations of earlier churches from the 4^th and 1^st centuries. Centuries of Christian faith, art, and history can be found all throughout this entire building. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take pictures here, but I did buy a few postcards for those of you who are interested in seeing what this looks like. It is most definitely a sight to behold.

Basilica di S. Clemente

Front of the Basilica

After visiting the Basilica, we hopped on the metro to the Trevi Fountain stop. We walked through some side streets for what felt like an eternity, but soon enough we heard the flow of water and saw a giant mass of people who were gathering around the fountain to take pictures and make some wishes. Apparently, you’re supposed to stand with your back to the fountain and put your coin in your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder and make a wish! A bit tricky, but we were able to handle it and I made sure I made a great wish. The fountain was beautiful to see at nighttime, but we all agreed that we would like to come back and see it during the day, and don’t worry, WE DID!

Dana and I in front of the Trevi Fountain

So gorgeous!

We walked the streets of Rome for awhile that evening and did some souvenir shopping and some gelato eating. We thought the gelato we got was excellent, but little did we know, there was better to come in the following days! After awhile, we decided to head back to the hotel and relax after a long day of touring around Rome. Dana and I headed out to the grocery store where we purchased nutella, crackers, and red wine for our “dessert” for Thanksgiving. It was all very delicious!

The next morning we headed out fairly early for our scheduled tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. I was so glad that we decided to get the tour of the museum; otherwise we would have just been looking at art and would have never known what exactly we were looking at. The art in the museum was absolutely beautiful and I was so impressed! One of the cool things about the museum is that all the ceilings are actually flat, but the painters who painted the ceilings were actually able to make it seem as if the ceiling was rounded—somewhat of an optical illusion, one could say. I could go on and on about all the artwork found in the museum, but my favorite part of the museum, which won’t come as a shock to many, was the Sistine Chapel. Entering the Sistine Chapel gave me goose bumps and the fresco paintings done by Michelangelo were breath-taking. And to believe that the ceiling of the Chapel was painted in only four years and the Last Judgment over the main altar was painted in six years. Absolutely unbelievable and one of the most beautiful places my eyes have ever seen. 

One of the painted fresco ceilings that was flat, but appears to be round

At the Vatican Museum

Our next stop was St. Peter’s Square to see St. Peter’s Basilica. Just standing in the square gave me such a great feeling, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that I’d see the Pope, but didn’t end up having any luck with that. The Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, and is able to hold up to 600,000 people. The architecture is stunning and the frescoes and statues all throughout the basilica were just so beautiful. Within the Basilica was a room specifically where people were able to go and reflect and pray. I decided to go in, and was so glad that I did. The room had a beautiful gold altar with a gold tabernacle placed in the center of it. I kneeled in awe at the beauty of the room for awhile and then said some prayers. 

Dwayne, Dana, and I in St. Peter's Square

Once we exited the main part of the Basilica, we discovered that below the Basilica is the burial site for ninety-one Popes—the most recent interment was Pope John Paul II. We were able to go down into this area where all the tombs were, and I was able to pray before Pope John Paul’s tomb. I believe it was one of the most moving events of my life as I stood and prayed with the handful of people around me and saw the vast amount of flowers and letters scattered all around his tomb. It is evident that Pope John Paul was loved by all, and his name is just as prominent now as it was back when he was alive. Having the opportunity to visit the Vatican was by far one of the greatest moments of my life, and as you can probably tell, this was by far my favorite place to see in all of Rome. A couple additional fun facts: the Vatican is actually the smallest COUNTRY in the world and we have also had 265 Popes!

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

After visiting the Vatican, we grabbed yet another delicious lunch—this time I branched out to trying some ravioli’s and boy were they good--homemade, too! Once we were done with lunch we decided to walk around and see where our feet led us. We ended up coming upon St. Angel Castle. The castle was an old fortress during the medieval times. It was a beautiful castle to see from the outside, and we really wanted to go inside, but we would have had to pay an arm and a leg to do so!

St. Angel Castle

 Afterwards, we decided to cross a random bridge to the other side of the river and ended up at Piazza Navona (yet another site recommended by Carrie). We explored around here for awhile and went into some various different buildings. After awhile we came upon a gelato shop called “Frigidarium” (I have their business card for those of you who plan to travel to Rome and would like to eat some of the best gelato you will ever have in your life). As I am thinking about this gelato shop, my mouth is currently watering. ANYWAYS, the girl working at the gelato place was fantastic and let us try various types of gelato to make sure we picked the one we would like the most. Once I found my winner, I was given a cup of gelato with a cookie sticking out the side and whipped cream piled on top. I had never pictured a gelato to look like that, but I accepted it and ate it anyways. Let me tell you that it might have been one of the most delicious frozen treats I have ever eaten in my almost twenty-one years of life, and Dana and Dwayne felt the same way. After this, we were very content with the day and topping it off with gelato, so we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. 

Me and my delicious gelato!

Here's the place--remember to go visit if you ever go to Rome!

The next day we left the hotel at about eleven and decided we would see where the day took us. We ended up at a very nice Italian restaurant for lunch that was near the Trevi Fountain. I had some rigatoni with delicious sauce, cheese, and tiny bits of bacon in it. AND for an appetizer, bruschetta (queue the mouth-watering once again). This was the most delicious meal I had in Rome for sure.

Rigatoni

Bruschetta

So, like I said, we ended up returning to the Trevi Fountain during the daytime—a few less tourists were there, but I didn’t think it was as beautiful as it was at night time all lit-up. Our day also led us to the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Campo di Fiori, and Piazza Navona (again!). I’m sure you can all guess why we went back to the Piazza Navona. Yes, that’s right, we ate more gelato! I’m pretty sure if we could have boxed up the gelato and brought it back to Spain, we would have. Anyways, our adventure around Rome that day took us down some of most lovely streets I have ever seen with such beautiful, rustic buildings. That evening, we also ended up getting cappuccino, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, it was AWESOME. I did just as Carrie told me, one pack of sugar and it was perfect! 

Inside the Pantheon

Streets of Rome :)

Piazza Navona

Such a beautiful view

That about covers my trip, everyone. As you can see, I had a very enjoyable time. I can easily say that this was my favorite city to visit all throughout my study abroad experience. I loved everything about the city from the streets to the people and from the food to the gelato. I’ve already decided that my next language to conquer will be Italian and then in the future I plan to move there and live happily ever after. I think it’d be great to see other parts of Italy like Florence, Venice, and Milan. Perhaps, then, I will not be in love with just a city, but actually the whole country of Italy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time spent with family. I really missed not being at home for Thanksgiving, but I think I was very content with where I found myself for the holiday. I can’t believe I only have a couple more weeks to go! I am so anxious to get home and see my family and friends—it is going to be a wonderful holiday season! Love and prayers to all. Hasta luego!

Besos,
Lindsay

How do you like your heat in your homes?

Hola a todos!

I am currently sitting in my room with many layers on and a blanket wrapped around me. Yes, that's right, it is freezing in my house. Spaniards do not have central heating, so we just use blankets and layers of clothing to keep warm. And I'm being completely serious. As the days continue on, it becomes colder and colder--I'm banking on getting a space heater soon, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. My senora has been nice to supply me with what is now five blankets on my bed, and also gave me a fleece jacket.. to wear to bed. I feel as though there is no happy-medium here in Seville. It's either scorching hot or freezing cold--at least inside our houses. Despite the temperature, I am still loving it here.

Over the weekend I went to El Pedroso, which is about 1.5 hours north of Seville. I went here with my Ecology class and my Ecology teacher. Our attendance on the trip was worth 10% of our grade, so it was pretty important that we went. I was excited to go to the "country side" and the minuscule hills reminded  me of home, although they pale in comparison to the Berkshire Hills. The land on the way up to the mountains in very fertile as it is part of the Guadalquivir Valley. The soil here is like the color of clay, but I guess it's pretty top-notch soil. Many orange trees grow around this area too, I was hoping I could pick a few oranges, but I guess they were off limits. Also on the way we saw some Iberian pigs--our professor pointed out that they were small and dark--just like Spaniards. We also saw the spot where Seville gets all their bulls from for the bullfights--I wish I could have let them out and let them run free and escape from someday being fought in a bullfight :(

Before we started up the mountain on our hike, we stopped at a small bar/cafe area and had some breakfast. Breakfast here, for Spaniards, basically consists of bread and olive oil. This place, though, offered a few more additions including butter, butter and pig meat, and some sort of deer liver spread. I tried the latter of the two, and afterwards, decided I'd stick with strawberry jelly. For those of you who once thought I was not an adventurous eater, think again. When was the last time you spread some deer liver on a piece of toast? HAHA!

After breakfast, it was off to climb some mountains. The hike was pretty low-key, except in some areas where we found ourselves climbing large, loose rocks on what looked to be about a 70 degree slope--AWESOME! We stopped for quite some time to do some rock climbing and eat lunch. It was really nice to be surrounded by nature for the day, and escape the busy city life. I was glad that Mom sent me my old sneakers from home, as they're caked with that red clay/mud I was telling you about earlier. Once we descended the mountain, we hopped back on the bus and went to see a waterfall. Two guys in my group were crazy enough to strip down to their boxers and go swimming for about a minute. The water was probably zero degrees, so I'd say these fellows were a little crazy, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Waterfall

Beautiful!!

Such a lovely view!

I just thought this tree was cool!

That's about all for this weekend. I only have three days of classes this week, then it's off on another journey! ;) I'm assuming you're all getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am upset that I will miss my very favorite holiday of the year, but am patiently waiting to be back home in December for Christmas and be with the three people that mean the most to me--Mom, Dad, and Sam. Of course the grandparents will be with us in spirit. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and enjoys the company of their family and friends on a day where we give thanks to God for our families and friends and for the countless blessings that he has given to each and every one of us.

Love and prayers. Hasta luego!

Besos,
Lindsay

This past week :)

Hola a todos!

Well, here I am again at the start of another school week. I'll actually have a "full" week this week with four days of school. HOW EXCITING! Somedays I feel like I'm out of school more than I'm in! Things have been going well here--I just can't believe how quickly the time is going by. Before I know it I'll be on a plane back to America!

This past Friday I went on a field trip to a city called Carmona for my history class--it was extra credit, and I'm all about the extra credit, so I decided I would go. The city was just about a 1/2 hour outside of Seville and is home to a fascinating Archaeological Complex. This complex consists of a collection of pre-Roman tumulus burials, an extensive monumental sector of one of the town's Roman necropolises, and an amphitheatre. The discovery process of the necropolis began with a movement in Carmona society that was centered around an English archaeologist Jorge Bonsor. Jorge introduced this area into the most prestigious national and international archaelogical circles. This process was culminated in 1885 when the site was opened to the public.

Tomb of Servilia

This tomb of two families

Circular Mausoleum

After we visited the Archaeological Complex, we then went to what is known at the "Puerta de Sevilla" (of the door of Sevilla). This means that on one side of the wall was Carmona, and on the other side, is the road leading to Sevilla. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the tour guide was saying about this place because I couldn't hear her too well, but it was cool to see! I'll do some research on this place when I get a moment and I'll get back to you. What was nice about the building is that you could climb up what is known as the Terraza de la Torre del Oro, which gave you a stunning view of the entire city. Here are some pictures for you!

The view is even more stunning with me in the picture ;) ha!

Beautiful!

On Saturday I went out to lunch with my friend Kaitlyn from West Virginia. She is such a sweetheart and I love spending time with her--the girl is too funny! Anyways, we went to an English Pub (go figure, we love our American food) and we both got a giant plate of nachos and at every last one. Nothing like tortilla chips with oodles of cheese, onions, peppers, guacamole, tomatoes, and chicken on top. DELISH! Then Kaitlyn persuaded me to do a little bit of shopping with her. I bought a few things, and helped her buy a few cute outfits for her trip to Venice this week. She's meeting up with her boyfriend, and she's so excited!

The rest of my weekend was spent in my home, and I can honestly tell you that I enjoyed every moment of it. I ended up writing a couple of essays that are due at the end of the semester, so I can get ahead of the game. I have countless projects, papers, and exams to take before I get to leave! I also spent a lot of time talking to Juani--I enjoy her company very much. I was trying to explain a peanut butter (mantequilla de cacahueta) and jelly (marmalada) sandwich to her, but I don't think she completely understood. Also, as I think I've mentioned before, Manolo watches/listens to every soccer game that is ever broadcasted. Last night he had watched two games and was on to his third (Barcelona) at around 10PM. I asked him if I could join him and he was so excited! I think that him explaining the rules to me in Spanish was slightly easier to understand than being explained the rules in English, but to be honest, I still don't understand the rules of the game. All I know is that "fuera de juego" means out of bounds.. or maybe offsides? HA! To further explain how intense of a soccer fan Manolo is--he'll even take a radio in with him into the shower so he won't miss any of the game! Now that's a soccer fan if I've ever seen one.

That's about all for this weekend! I also got to church with Juani today, which was lovely as always. I now have a book to follow along with the prayers in the mass which is very exciting! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and I wish you all a wonderful week to come. Love and prayers! Hasta luego :)

Besos,
Lindsay

Paris, France

Hola a todos!

I just made it back from Paris last night at about midnight. What a trip! I am very tired, but I really had a great time.

To begin with, my trip started off with a 4:45AM taxi ride to the bus stop to get on the bus to the airport. RISE AND SHINE! Everything went fine with that, but it was just a little too early to be awake! Our plane was right on-time leaving out of Seville and the flight was about two hours long. When we arrived at the airport, we took a bus to our hotel. We weren’t able to check in until 4PM, so we were pretty much homeless for the next four hours or so. Five of my friends and I went exploring in the area around the hotel and found a phenomenal bakery shop that had APPLE PIE, yes, APPLE PIE. Although it wasn’t heated and didn’t have ice cream/whipped cream on the top of it—it honestly made me the happiest girl alive! My lunch consisted of a delicious salad with a large piece of bread with hot goat cheese on top of it. I had never tried goat cheese before, but let me tell you, it might be one of my favorite cheeses now—aside from Swiss.

After roaming around for awhile, we went back to the hotel to check-in. We had about thirty minutes to get ourselves situated in our rooms and then we went on a walking tour of Paris that ended at the Louvre. The walking tour was beautiful and the weather actually complied with us for that evening, although it was a bit on the chilly side. Once we arrived at the Louvre, we waited for our tour guide, and then it was off to explore the ten mile gallery. The Musee du Louvre is one of the greatest art collections ever in the world and houses a collection that spans every corner of the globe and every era of human history. Two of the most famous pieces in the Louvre include the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Additionally, you can also find Winged Victory here as well—the headless statue discovered at Samothrace and dating from about 200 BC. An interesting story about the painting of Mona Lisa--it was stolen in 1913, apparently someone was able to sneak it out of the museum by draping a jacket over it. They found the painting in Italy and the painting in the Louvre is now covered by a protective glass. The collection of art was just absolutely phenomenal. We spent about two hours in the museum, and it wasn’t nearly enough time, but it was great to see some of the most famous pieces in the museum. I think you’d have to spend days in there in order to appreciate and see everything that the museum has to offer. Once we left the Louvre, we headed back towards the hotel and picked up some snacks at the grocery store on the way. None of us were in the mood for a big dinner because we were so exhausted. We watched television for awhile and then it was off to bed to get some rest for another day of touring Paris. 

Mona Lisa

A university in Paris

The Louvre

Venus de Milo

Winged Victory

I would call Saturday a confusing day. First, the whole group met in the lobby for a bus tour of Paris. It was a good thing we were in the bus because it was raining cats and dogs. We stopped periodically to get out of the bus and take a few pictures, but most of my pictures actually came from INSIDE the bus. Some of the things we passed by on this tour included Les Invalides, Champs de Mars, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, Arc of Triumph, City Hall, the Louvre, and Champs Elysees Avenue. We ended our bus tour at the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was absolutely amazing to be able to see this Cathedral. Notre Dame was built in the 12^th century and is the heart of Paris and even of the country itself—distances from the city to all parts of France are calculated from a spot at the far end of the Place du Parvis, in front of the cathedral, where a circular bronze plaque marks Kilometre Zero. The cathedral is representative of the gothic style that you will see in many Cathedrals all around Europe. I could have stayed in the Cathedral all day if I could have, but there was a lot more of Paris to see and a small amount of time to do it. After visiting Notre Dame, I headed to the Musee du Cluny which is a Medieval Art Museum. Why would I go to a Medieval Art museum you ask? Well, I’m in a Medieval History of Spain class at my school and my professor told my classmates that if we visited this museum we’d get extra credit. I’m all about the extra credit, so of course I went. In this museum is a specific, well-known collection of tapestries called “The Lady and the Unicorn.”These tapestries are remarkable because of their beauty, bright colors, and their unusual iconography, and because the six pieces have always remained together. The tapestries of The Lady with the Unicorn series are unquestionably the most famous exhibit in the museum and entered its collections in 1882. 

Notre Dame Cathedral

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower

Beautiful stained-glass window in the Cathedral

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry

 After I went to the museum, I then met back up with Alicia and the two other girls in her program at Subway for lunch. YES! There was a Subway in Paris. Although it wasn’t quite the same and I had a lot of trouble ordering a 6-inch turkey grinder, I was pretty content. We then had a plan to go visit the Picasso Museum which was quite the walk from where we were, but we decided to do it anyways.. in the pouring rain. Once we got to the museum, we found out that it was closed for restoration until Spring 2011. What luck, huh? Since we were so disappointed, we decided to treat ourselves to a Starbucks hot chocolate. I got mine with caramel, and boy was it good. I would highly recommend it to any hot chocolate fans out there. We then decided that we would go to Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise—which the world’s most visited cemetery. Among the million people buried here are people like Oscar Wilde, Proust, and Jim Morrison. I felt kind of weird visiting a cemetery and taking pictures of people’s graves, but I think I was more interested in the fall foliage as you will see in my pictures. We ended up getting to the cemetery about 45 minutes before it closed, so we didn’t have much time to walk around and see everything we wanted to see. By the end of the day, we felt rather defeated between the weather, the cold, the lack of accuracy on our maps, and getting lost on the metro. We then treated ourselves to a huge three course meal at a restaurant nearby the hotel—I had salad with goat cheese (go figure), steak, and chocolate mousse. It was a delicious meal and I was so excited that I actually got to eat steak! Something else I haven’t had in months either. 

Lovely fall foliage in the Cemetery

Giant graves!

 The next day, Sydney and I headed to the Eiffel Tower to check it out during the day time. We had seen it from our bus tour the previous day, but we didn’t actually get to stand right up close to it. So we were able to on that day. I was just absolutely amazed by the structure of the tower—it looks a lot smaller on TV, folks. We took some pictures, and then headed back to Notre Dame to meet up with some of our friends to go to the Palace of Versailles which was about a 45 minute train ride from Paris. In French, it is known as the Chateau de Versailles and when it was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, which is some twenty kilometers southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1668, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. This palace is like a city in itself—it was HUGE. I have to say, though, that my favorite part was the gardens. The land surrounding the palace was full of beautiful fall foliage and from the gardens, you could see a wonderful view of the city surrounding the Palace. Inside the palace, we were able to see the Queen and King’s quarters, the House of Mirrors, and various other chapels within the Palace. Besides the Eiffel Tower, this was one of my most favorite places to visit in Paris. Make sure if you’re ever planning a visit to Paris to schedule a trip to Versailles—it is a site that cannot be missed! 

Eiffel Tower during the day with Sydney

The ladies outside of the Palace of Versailles--Check out that foliage :D

One of the Chapels inside the Palace

When we arrived back in Paris, Sam, Sydney, and I got some dinner at a Gyro place (greek food). It was easily the largest gyro I had ever consumed and I think it was the best gyro I had ever consumed. After that, I purchased some souvenirs and then it was off to the Eiffel Tower to take the elevator to the top. Of course this is France’s largest tourist attraction, so the line was pretty lengthy, but it moved along quickly. I think over the years I may have acquired Mom’s fear of heights because as we were going up in the elevator I was holding on for dear life onto the bar that surrounded the elevator. The elevator was also surrounded by windows, so I made sure not to look out until I was at the very top. Now let me tell you, the Eiffel Tower looks a lot smaller when you’re standing underneath it, but when you’re at the top you realize that you were wrong!!! It took me a few minutes to calm my nerves and then I peered over the edge and the cars below basically looked like ants! The visibility wasn’t that great and it was also quite cold up there, so we didn’t stay up at the very top for too long. We took the elevator down to the second platform and this was a lot better—partly because it was closer to the ground and partly because the visibility was so much better! The view from the Tower is just breath-taking and I loved every single moment of it. When we FINALLY reached the ground again, we remembered that the Eiffel Tower “sparkles” every hour on the hour, so we were able to catch that and it was so cool! I have a video of it, hopefully I can upload that on Facebook so everyone can see what I’m talking about. 

Delicious Gyro

Eiffel Tower at Night

View from the TOP

The three of us at the top

 Our last day in Paris was yet another rainy and freezing day. Alicia and I decided to go to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur—or a basilica. We didn’t realize that the basilica was basically on top of a very large hill, so our whole walk to the basilica was basically uphill from right when we got out of the metro to the entrance of the basilica. Not to mention there was basically a monsoon going through Paris at the time we were trying to walk up there. The view from the top of the hill, though, was absolutely stunning. It’s a whole different view from the top of the Eiffel Tower, obviously, but I think the views were equally as amazing. Alicia and I showed up at the basilica just in time for the 11:15AM mass. I can now say I’ve gone to mass in three different languages, which I think is pretty awesome. There were many groups of nuns present at this mass and also TONS of tourists and locals. It was a lovely mass, and I was so glad we were able to be there for it. The rest of the day consisted of eating crepes with nutella and almonds and killing time until it was time for us to depart for the airport. 

Basilica

Alicia and I with our DELICIOUS crepes

From reading this blog, I’m sure you can tell I ate well and also that some of my withdrawals from American food were satisfied during this trip with hot chocolate, Subway, and steak. The food in France was honestly some of the best food I’ve ever had and for those of you who haven’t been able to dig your teeth into a crepe—I suggest you do someday very soon. Paris is bursting at the seams with history and beautiful architecture and I was so glad I was able to see this country and witness yet another culture in action. Although maybe not as warm as Seville, I still liked Paris a lot and I would definitely consider taking another trip there someday in the future—there is just so much to see!

By going to another country that speaks a different language, I have no realized that Spanish is basically drilled into my head. I found many times that while I was ordering food, or attempting to ask someone a question, I was doing it in Spanish. As many of you know, “yes” in French is “oui” (pronounced we) and it never failed that instead of saying oui I would always say “si.” So, for those of you back in America who are anxiously awaiting my arrival back home—please bear with me when I start to speak Spanish to you without even noticing!

Since I arrived home so late last night, I haven’t even seen my family yet. They should be home soon for lunch and I am excited to tell them about my trip! I hope you all enjoyed this blog and if you have any questions about any of the history, etc.—feel free to ask. I assumed this blog would be pretty lengthy, so I tried to keep the history of the different places that I visited to a limit! I hope everyone is having a great week and I will write again soon! Love and prayers! Hasta luego!

Besos,

Lindsay