Andorra... its a country!

Last weekend I traveled to Andorra. It is a extremely small country sandwiched between France and Spain. It is 3 hours from Barcelona and is an absolute beauty. The second you cross the boarder it is just like being in a mini Switzerland. The Pyrenees Mountains are endless. The main city, La Vella, is sunk down within the valley of surrounding mountains. Now how I got to Andorra is a little bit different than the rest of my trips. I had marked Feb 19th-22nd as my ski weekend, only problem was no one else could go. That put me in a tight spot because I waited till that week to book in hopes I could convince someone. Luckily a friend told me about a organization that led student excursions Andorra called Flippa. So with one day left I signed up and met the group at Plaza Caytaluna at 7 Friday afternoon. I met the group leader named Sebastian, a 27 year old surfer from Chilie, and get on the bus. The ride there was interesting. I was surrounded by 23 people that I had no idea where they were from or if I was going to be able to communicate with anyone for the whole weekend. Fortunately after we checked into the hotel we meet at a club for some drinks and discovered that the 8 people there all were speaking English. It included 2 girls from Brazil, 3 guys from Chilie, 2 from Poland, and a girl from Argentina. We had a good great time and I knew this was going to be an awesome trip from that point. Next Day was full of warm ski weather. The conditions were good but the mountain wasn’t to large so I was able to cover most of it. The views at this place were absolutely incredible, so it was a great location. I stuck with my new Polish buddy Peter how boarded at a similar speed and level as myself so we stuck several good runs. After skiing the town had a small carnival parade with several tractors pulling trailers of dancing kids throwing confetti so it was a good laugh. We rounded up everyone from the trip and went to a discotheque were I danced like a 13 year old girl at year birthday party. This trip was incredible because of the international people I was able to meet. I wouldn’t have changed anything about it. I think its great to travel alone sometimes because it takes you out of your comfort zone and it allows me to be the outgoing person I like to be.

I head to Rome today. I’m going to miss saying things like that when I move back home.

60 & Sunny. It never stops.

Barca Feb 17th
Had a a good all around day. Felt similar to an average day I used to have at Clemson. Had class till 12. Came home made a good lunch, packed a bag and headed to the beach. I went on a run down the coast about as far as I could go. I went through some odd areas but one of the coolest things I saw was a Porsche photo shoot going on under this cabana thing for there new 4 door model. Pretty cool to see but I will be really excited if I find them on the Internet as press release photos. At the peak of my run I stopped read a book about Italy for a bit before turning back. This run reinforced my theory about accomplishing something different. I have been running lately but it hasn’t given me the same sensation as I used to get at Clemson where I usually ran to the river or biked the trails. Running on the coast, something I may have done once, rejuvenated my need to do something physical and exciting aver few days, Its still strange to me that I can access the beach in a short 25 minute metro ride. On the way back I met with Marc who lives right on the coast so I met with him and we went to Slumdog Millionaire, which is a new Bollywood movie. It was a very well written movie. The scenes had a different progression than usual that differentiated it from many others. I strongly recommend it.

Other than that I am starting to do some studying, its hard to do large amounts when I haven’t been in school for about a year and everyday here is 60 with clear skies. I don’t get Internet anywhere, not even school because me computer is getting discriminated on. I will be connected for a few days before it decides it doesn’t want to work anymore, so it appears I can only be on a net work for some time before I am banned forever. From now on my Internet time will be very limited ☹ guess it’s a good thing. Watching Internet TV has been my way to relax though.

Grow, live & love what you do

This weekend was an interesting weekend to review. I learned a lot about how certain people bring out social potential. Last couple of nights I have gone out I have commented on my dislike for the clubs on certain nights. I found myself in a similar situation on Saturday night where I felt the mood was dull and that nothing to interesting was going to take place. I realized this when a girl looked at me and said “are you ok?” At that moment I realized I need to get out seek my adventure elsewhere. I wondered out of the club were I ran into another group of familiar faces, we ventured off to port Olympia bars where I had one of my best nights here in Barcelona. Dancing, cutting up, not caring who saw us. The pictures we took were hilarious and what I learned out of that is how crucial my company is to bring out the best.

I also was able to see Benjamin Button. I had heard negative reviews from my friends so I immediately knew I would really enjoy it. I would say that it was the most engaging movie experience I have ever had. It all started with the European movie theater. Brett and me were shocked to find that we were assigned seats. The place was full and the ceiling was low. So before the movie even started we were having an experience. What was amazing about the movie was I felt totally involved, taken away from where I was and into the life of Benjamin. This had a lot to do with the length and detail for small events. Aside from that the story was bizarre but easy to relate to. Death and happiness. These crucial experiences in our lives. Truly a great movie I was sad when it ended.

Furthermore this week should be basic, I am doing schoolwork, getting ready for mid terms next week and looking forward to skiing in Andorra this weekend.

Mount Tibidabo

After class George and I ventured to the top of Tibidabo Mountain that overlooks all of Barcelona. I have been meaning to do this for weeks as from almost anywhere in the city you can see the monastery at the peak. So after class we took the FGC to the base and simply began to hike up the side where we stumbled upon hiking and mountain bike trails. This was about the greatest news I have discovered yet. Since I have moved here I have seen some impressive mountain bikes and had been wondering where they were all going. With this news I am definitely buying a bike (I am looking at one tomorrow). So up we went. The trail was steep, rugged and worn. The feeling of being on a trail again consumed me and for a moment as I almost forget that I was surrounded by a city until I turned around and was confronted with a spectacular view of the city and sea. With every few feet George and I looked back to see the spectacular view as every step we obtained a better vantage point. The hike is short lived and only lasts about thirty minutes until you are dumped onto a street at the peak. Now what is strange about the summit is that there is a monastery surrounded by a junky amusement park. This dampens the view in my opinion however we enjoyed it for some time before catching the small metro bus back down into the city.

Make the most of each moment.

We comfortably woke on Sunday with no particular goals in mind. Our flight was at 4:15 that gave us plenty of time to pace ourselves and get ready for departure. We all checked out of your lovely hotel de Maine and ventured to yet another fantastic meal consisting of a sugar crepe, blended juice drink and café. Yes, I now love coffee. The cafés here are very different from the states and I think they are just terrific. When we were all done it was about 1pm and most of the group was just going to check into the flight online and take it easy till then. Me on the other hand, impatient and fidgety was still ready to explore. Everyone was going on about how content they where that we were able to see everything we wanted. I on the other hand felt that my trip was lacking something. So in desperation I informed Willie that I was going to see one more sight on the map. For us it is easy to continue our travels because we are not hindered by roller travel bags since we have large backpacking bags that comfortably fit for more excursions. So looking at the map we picked one location that we neglected to see since it was bit more north than the rest but put us in a good location to head to the airport after. So with little thought we parted the rest and headed up the metro to our destination of Montmartre. We hurried out of the metro up the street to be confronted by a massive staircase. Immediately I knew we were about to see something spectacular. We flew up the staircase and were confronted with a spectacular view of the entire city. An endless skyline of historic buildings. We walked further to find a wider set of stairs in front with many people reflecting on the city listening to live music and enjoying the view. After a few minutes, as we were pressured for time, we strolled through the wonderful monastery at the peak, then around the side of the building to view the other side of the city. I was now fully content that we made use of every minute and that I was able to view the city from this perspective when we stumbled upon a wonderful street art gallery. This absolutely set me over the top. It was exactly the side of Paris that I was hunting for. The small plaza was littered with small simple artists with wonderfully detailed and vibrant paintings. I wish I had just a bit more to spend because I really wanted to purchase one but had no idea where I would put it or how I would get it home undamaged. So I took plenty of photographs to remember it ;)

Heres to Bicnics on Cold days. Paris Saturday Feb 7th.

Saturday was a terribly frigid day. But that did not stop us from conquering our goals one bit. We started the day with our first crepe sold right off the street, my preferred way to experience a local delicacy, and headed off to the Jardin des Tulleries. This is a gorgeous open grassy park……. during the summer, currently it is pretty desolate especially on a overcast day. But what was neat is that you can see straight down to the Concorde tower and the arc de Triomphe so it was pretty impressive. After about 15 minutes we got so cold we had to retreat back into the Louve and to do that we had to walk the ridiculous length of the building. There is no way to describe how massive it is unless you see it yourself.
With out-door activities at the bottom of our desired to do list we headed to the infamous Notre Dame. With no hunchbacks in sight it was still certainly an extravangate pleasure to see but what we enjoyed the most was the Le Quartier Latin to the side with small boutiques and restaurants lining the streets. However we left that area without our desired quiche delight that we were hunting for.
The next stop was to Les Deux Magots. A famous restaurant with hot chocolate that even Samantha Brown from the travel channel says is a most have of Paris. I honestly cant describe how incredible it is, but the closest description would be that it is the best chocolate you’ve ever had melted down into your glass. So thick and rich it was just what we needed to warm up on this cold snowy and wet day. With a little ease dropping Katie was able to her our American neighbor mention the location of our next desired location Rue Cler. This market street is one of the back door streets that I read about in my Rick Steve’s book given to me by Mrs Dow. And I am so glad I read this section on Paris because this is most certainly a location I was in search for. Rue Cler is a very small market street not burdened by tourists that result in façade for a true French market. There we were able to find the wonderful array of quiche we seeked as well as cheese, wine, breads and delightful deserts all for a great price. Was just a spectacular back road market that I suggest to any traveler. We bought several items for our planned bicnic dinner (Bed+Picnic=Bicnic) so around 8 pm we finally took a break and enjoyed our discovered delights of brie, salmon, sun dried tomatoes and wine in our hotel room till 930pm. At ten we finished off our day with a city boat tour giving us the ability to see all the great sites over again beautifully lit up.
I want to thank my parents (& my pay checks from BMW) for the opportunity to tour Europe. I am working hard to get the most out of my trip, not just through traveling but learning from the experiences that I am enduring.

Tour Hard! Tourist mode assumed

With an early night on Thursday we started fresh and early for our slammed packed day of vigorous tourism. The day was sunny and beautiful as we started at the Arc De Tromphe The sheer size of the arch was fantastic but the greatest phenomenon was the 8 roads that all converge at the round about surrounding the arch. It is the only roundabout in France that the autos in the roundabout yield to cars entering. Very nerve racking for a first timer I would assume. At that point we ventured down Avenue Des Champs Elysees that is lined with high profile stores such as Louie Vuitton, Mercedes, Rolex. At the end of window-shopping paradise we stopped and gazed at a wonderful golden building. After a few minutes we realized it had a welcome public sign (that’s what we assumed it said) and decided to walk on in where we found nautical items from a French cruise line that were soon to be auctioned off. A spontaneous and interesting find.From there we continued our journey down the road, past two massive buildings Grand Palais and Petit Palais, over the Alexandre III bridge where we caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel tower and stopped for a photo shoot. We went just a bit further to Musee de L’Armee and into the metro to catch our tour of the catacombs.

The catacombs are underground graves where 6 million bodies are buried.After the tour we bounced back onto the metro and to the landmark of the city, the Eiffel tower. We were ecstatic about capturing an obsessive amount of pictures, which we did (500+). We ran into a couple American girls from London who knew one of our friends and were kind enough to take pictures of us all together. The pictures we took are most certainly ones that we will all have for the rest of our lives as we reflection our travels. The Eiffel deserves all the fame that it receives.

With all the time and fun we had there our day was far from over. Yes, this post is still just on Friday’s events. We bought some chocolate at a nice store near the tower and made our way to the Louve. Lucky for us on Friday at 6pm till close entrance is free for students under 26! To anyone that has not been It is impossible to explain the size of the Louve. It was explained to us that you could go everyday for a week and still not enter every room. We saw what we could in 2.5 hours, took a picture of the mona lisa saw some Egyptian artifacts. Took the pictures for you mom!
We then ventured to another fantastic dinner followed by an attempt at a boat tour which we missed but were able to see the Eiffel tower lit up, then we closed with a couple bars before the metro closed. Solid full first day.