¡Bienvenidos a Madrid!

Bright and early we are up and out on our first trip from London that involves flying! From St. Pancras train station to Gatwick airport to aeropuerto Barajas-Madrid, we made it to Madrid in style, just in time for the mid-day heat! Upon arrival, we checked into Hostel Juarez which has a strikingly similar name to Hotel Jerry, our home in Paris the previous week. We were confused at first as to why the "hostel" was so nice until Ray informed us that hotel in Spanish is hostel. After dropping off our bags we were off to a delicious Spanish buffet. Throughout the trip, we have eaten at some buffets in the past since it's convenient for feeding a large group, but this one takes the cake- literally. It was so tasty and everyone was able to find something they enjoyed. After refueling from our early morning travels, we toured the central areas of Madrid which were conveniently located in relation to our hotel. So the list goes- La Puerta del Sol, La Plaza Mayor, Los Jardines de Sabatini, y El Palacio Real de Madrid. El Palacio Real (The Royal Palace) is the largest active palace in the entire world and was absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed the gardens surrounding the palace and the beautiful views of Madrid from the palace stairs!

 The girls with the symbol of Madrid in La Puerta del Sol

Laura, me, Mary Frances, and Jenny in front of El Palacio Real de Madrid

A very special statue I snapped a picture with was Queen Isabel II of Spain, which I've posted below.  She was the only regnant Queen of Spain in modern times and her rein was so controversial because the Carlists refused to recognize a woman as the ruler. In 1868, she was exiled, as a result of the Glorious Revolution in Spain that ushered the First Spanish Republic into power.  Her exile helped cause the Franco-Prussian War as Napoleon III could not accept the possibility that a German prince may replace Isabel in the dynasty of Spanish Bourbons.  Two years later, Isabel stepped down from the throne in favor of her son taking the throne.  Making a long history lesson short, Queen Isabel II was an admirable female ruler who put her country before herself and is a role model to me and all women striving to succeed in a male dominated society, culture, or occupation. Change has to start somewhere, so why not with you?  Girl power.

Home Sweet London

While Paris was a phenomenal experience, I was extremely excited to be back here in London. It really is starting to feel like home. We had a chill weekend as we winded down from all the festivities in Paris. On Friday, we shopped at Camden Market and Oxford Circus then hit the town in the evening- late night Chicken Stop run included. On Saturday, we walked around the Russel Square market and then me and Jenny literally ran into the British Museum. We were simply walking where the wind took us and the next thing we knew, we were at the steps of the museum. The museum was featuring a Picasso exhibit, which was amazing. We tour the Picasso pieces in addition to an Egyptian mummification exhibit. While we were on our way out, I heard someone say "Let's stop at the Rosetta Stone next" and we literally stopped in our tracks and did an immediate 180 turn. We almost left without seeing the Rosetta Stone! It was so incredible. The etchings on it were so delicate and intricate. I was very impressed and simply dazzled to see it in person.




The museum was enormous- I could have stayed for hours. We opted for a low key evening just hanging in our dorms, working on homework and reflecting on Paris. On Sunday, I ran for the first time this entire trip and boy, was that a challenge. I jogged the streets of Islington and then had lunch with Mary Frances in the cafe in our building. Running in a city is much different than running in my neighborhood. The crosswalks, stop lights, and car fumes are going to take some getting used to. In the evening, our entire group had a picnic dinner at a beautiful park that over looked the London skyline. From our blanket, we could see the London Eye, Parliament, and the Shard just to name a few monuments. As a group, we debriefed from Paris and got prepared for Madrid all while munching on delicious meat and cheese spreads and sipping on white wine. Why can't all classes be this perfect?

So next stop, Madrid! I hope I make Allison and Kelsey proud with my Spanish skills! Time to find my lightest clothes and get packing for Spain where the forecast for the week is hot, hotter, and scorching. Here we come SPAIN!!

Postcard from Paris

Postcard from Paris by The Band Perry

Well, now I can say that I've seen the real thing.  Paris was postcard perfect.  I loved the sights just as much as I loved our down time.  I went into Paris kind of blind since it was the first of our five excursions from London.  I will be honest in saying that I could have been more prepared for the differences between Paris and London like how Americans are treated, how to tackle the language barrier, and how to handle the persistent beggers and homeless people.  I learned a lot about the French and immigration issues surrounding France.  Isn't neat that Paris was out classroom for the week??  I am excited to travel to Madrid on Monday and continue broadening my European perspective!

 Au revoir Paris!!

Time to head back home to London!!

Paris in a Day

On your mark, get set, GO!  After eating a delightful almond croissant and cafe olay from the bakery, we were off to our packed day of sightseeing through Paris.  First stop- Notre Dame de Paris.  Although we didn't run into Quasimoto or Esmerelda, Notre Dame was simply magical.  The stained glass windows were tied with the beautiful arched ceilings as my favorite part of of the church.

 I loved this stained glass window!

 Inside Notre Dame

 Outside of Notre Dame

Next stop-  I had never heard of this church before arriving but once I saw it, I was in awe.  Sacra Couer sits at the very top of a hill (more like small mountain) and once you get to the top, you can see the Paris skyline all the way to the horizon.  The church is in the Momantra area, which has a cute, artsy market where artists were painting and selling their work right then and there.  For lunch, me and Laura did the local thing and ate cheese on a baguette in the open park area below the church.  It was delicious, and I felt so Parisian.

 

Sacre Couer

Outside of Sacre Couer

After lunch, we took the metro to the see the Arc de Triomphe.  The monument was very powerful as it honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.  Names of generals and places of French victories are inscribed on the inner and outer walls of the arch and there is a tomb of an unknown soldier buried beneath the arch.  The monument was very touching and incredibly beautiful to see in person.

Arc de Triomphe

 Being the arc

Since the arch is in a very central shopping location, our leader gave us some free time to shop around and chill.  We certainly did more shopping than chilling but I'm not complaining.  Seeing the Paris fashion was very cool and made me feel like I need to get with the program on how to dress like a trendy European.

We met back with the group at the US Embassy where we had a meeting with their outreach coordinator and immigration specialist.  The meeting was extremely informative, and I learned a lot about the embassy's purpose in different countries.  It was also nice to be around people who spoke English!

Continuing to push through the day at full speed, our next destination was the Louvre.  The Louvre was amazing since it is a historic monument and art museum all-in-one.  I adored roaming the exhibits, totally mesmerized by the ancient and contemporary art.  We visited the Mona Lisa and other famous works in the Louvre like Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory.  It was an awesome and extensive museum but I need about four more days in there to see and read everything I wanted to!

She looked right at my camera!

 Living works of art

Venus de Milo

Still no signs of stopping on this whirlwind of a day!  From the Louvre we had a classy dinner on the patio of a restaurant by Notre Dame.  I learned that smoked salmon is not my favorite but the dish looked picture perfect-

Food may be my favorite thing to take pictures of

After dinner we grabbed some bottles of wine and ventured out to see the Eiffel at night one last time.  It starts to sparkle at 11:45 and only shimmers for 15 minutes so we made sure not to miss a second.  Watching the tower glitter in the night was a gorgeous ending to our eventful day.

 

Me and Jenny waiting for the tower to sparkle! 

 The Eiffel Tower blinged out

Great day with great friends!

Crepes and Croissants

Each morning in Paris, we grabbed breakfast at the cutest bakeries with the greatest pastries I have ever tasted.  My absolute favorite treat was the apricot croissant.  I wanted to buy three dozen and take them home with me.  They were to die for.  My other favorite food in Paris were the baguettes.  Every corner we turned, someone was walking around with a two foot baguette, just casually nibbling the bread. These are my kind of people.

Following closely with stereotypes of French cuisine, crepes were all the rage.  We found our favorite creperie in the Latin Quarter of Paris and I had the toughest time deciding which one to get.  Peanut butter?  White chocolate?  Honey and butter??  I decided on banana, butter, and sugar and it was so yummy.  Reminded me of banana pancakes since crepes are basically very thin pancakes with fillings.  I liked it but not as much as my croissant!

Jenny and I with our crepes!!

Gardens of Versailles

Louis XIII had it right when he was building his palace in Versailles.  The bigger the better.  Then again, he had all of the money in France so why not build an entire fairytale land to live in?  Unfortunately, the line to tour the inside of the palace was a four hour wait, so we opted to just tour the gardens.  Essentially, we explored the palace's backyard for seven hours and still did not see everything we could have!  It was the most extravagant garden I had ever seen.

Look how far the gardens stretch!!

 

Me and Jenny outside of the palace

    

Who wouldn't want to live here??

 I loved these flowers!

Later that evening, we went on a dinner cruise down the Seine.  The food was delicious and to top it all off, we saw the Eiffel Tower at night!

xoxo from Paris

French 101

Off to Paris and so happy to be awake at 6AM!

My knowledge of French goes about as far as singing Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast, and let me tell you, that does not suffice in Paris.  Although the areas of Paris that catered to tourists generally spoke English, I noted my personal ethnocentrism as I assumed everyone would understand me.  After learning some greetings and useful terms from Kara and Mac, I was able to order food at a restaurant we visited before heading to see the Eiffel Tower.  There was an egg on top of my steak, which was just the kick-off to my odd food experience in Paris.

Steak Tartare

And this is a large coffee.  The French have a much better grasp of portion control.

The Eiffel Tower was just as beautiful as it is in pictures except so much more massive.  We climbed as far as they allow tourists to go- 670 steps up and 670 steps down.  Needless to say, I will never look at a step class the same again.  The sore calves were absolutely worth the breathtaking view from the three levels of the tower.  Peering over the city really made me realize how small I am and how big the world is.  It was a humbling experience.