i've seen london, i've seen france..

no mom, i haven't seen any underpants.. :)


Now with less than 2 months left of my study abroad experience I can cross off the city I was most excited about, LONDON! Loved, loved, LOVED London. Must go back, numerous times. But before I discuss London, I must finish Spainnnn!

BARCELONA

I never imagined I'd make it down to Spain this round of being abroad, but I'm a luck girl. Barcelona was simply amazingggg. Every where you looked there was something beautiful. But, being in a group of just girls is not exactly the safest in Spain. Luckily, we made it with all our belongings and just gained a few lame attempts of being hit on. Somehow we did this without speaking the language! They don't primarily speak Spanish in Barcelona, they speak Catalan. Weird, I know. But when you were able to speak Spanish, you did it with a lisp.. as in Bar-th-elona. Thanks high school Spanish, you helped so much.. NOT.

Our first site in Barcelona was Park Güell. It was a truly beautiful place. A sort of outdoor modern art exhibit designed by Antoni Gaudi. Being a fan of more historical and traditional art, I'd never heard of Park Güell or Gaudi but it was an amazing place. You see Gaudi's works allllll over Barcelona, no joke. We spent a few hours exploring the many oddities all over Park Güell and enjoying the magnificent views from the park.

The Sagrada Familia. One giant, thrown together, modern art basilica. I have seen my fair share of cathedrals, basilicas and abbeys at this point but NOTHING compares to the Sagrada Familia, nothing. Another "quirky" design by Gaudi, it's been under construction for the past 100 years & it's projected finish year is 2020.. I mean really, chop chop! As stated earlier, I'm not big on modern, but I was still amazed and stunned. Everyone needs to pay a visit, srsly. My pictures do NO justice.

The.Most.Traumatizing.Meal.Of.My.Life. Not jokinggggg. Seafood Paella, they aren't joking about the seafood part. ew ew ew ew. It still makes me sick to think about it. They literally boil some clams, shrimp and some other sea creature & then plop them down WHOLE on some rice. ugh. Really guys, ew.

My life, what a tough one. I get to be in these amazing places seeing amazing things and I'll never forget to count my blessings. But, nothing has made me appreciate home more than being abroad. 

LONDON

Oh, London. It was the one and only place I've been sad to leave. I was obsessed with London, I NEED to live there one day. We'll see.. :)

Can't get much more London than Westminster Abbey. THE site of the Royal Wedding, where everything royal related occurs, and where just about every person you've ever heard about is buried, but really. Couldn't take pictures inside, sad day I know, but the outside is just as amazing.

It's the Londonnnn crew. We had an amazing, sleepless, hysterical time. This photo was taken outside of The British Museum by a friendly photography man, thanksss for not running off with my camera. :) Inside the museum I got to see basically EVERYTHING I learned about in art history, ha.

AHHHHHHHHH! PLATFORM 9 & 3/4. Oh how I love me some Harry Potter. But, not as exciting as I needed it to be.. hey, at least I got to see it. Unfortunately, Kings Cross was under construction.. Oh well, another reason to go back to London. :)

Oh hiiiiiii Queen. It's Buckingham Palace! I got to be present for the Changing of the Guard, really not that cool but I get to say I was there. HA. My obsession with royalty is now about 10x worse after walking in all these places that they have, not healthy. 

St. Paul's Cathedral. Personally, I liked it better than Westminster. We didn't get to go inside, but something about it just clicked with me. That is why I don't mind Will & Kate taking Westminster, Harry and I can just marry here. :) Speaking of marriage in St Paul's, this is where Diana & Charles were married.

Since I am such a fatty, my blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't include a picture of food from everyyy single place I've been. This meal is SO brit. A pastry thingy with veggies, gravy and yorkshire pudding. Like I said, BRITISH. It was absolutely delicious. I put on about 10 pounds and clogged an artery or two by eating it.

I'm having such an amazing time abroad. I leave for Portugal Thursday and that's where I'll be spending Easter break, nbd. After that, I'll be hitting up beautiful Scotland.. now that it's kinda warm and a tiny bit sunny. :) BUT in one month and 18 days I'll be in AMERICA. Way too beyond excited to come home. To prove it, I made a list of some things I miss the most..

tea.driving.ranchbythebottle.japanese.khakishorts.sundresses.sunshine.southernaccents.
americanaccents.easterntime.mtde.myblackberry.fastfood.flipflops.burnett's.sandals.sushi.mexicanfood. barefootmascato.myotherclothes.texting.television.and all you crazy, wonderful, amazing people.


And I think of more every minute. See you in no time! :)




Lots of Love

spring break in spain

Okay, okay, okay. I've had two papers and a test that I've been working on foreverrrr. But, as of thirty minutes ago, ALL DONE! :):):) Now I should be packing for London but since Teresa and Drew kindly pointed out, I haven't blogged in years. Promise, maybe, to get better? 

Since my last blogged I've knocked two places off my extensive must see list & visited a place I had no clue existed. I had a very interesting weekend in Paris about three weeks ago. It was.. kinda traumatizing. But of course it was PARIS, so it was amazing. It is a truly great story though and a trip I will never ever forget. And then for spring break, España! I got to spend a whole 8 days in Spain, 3 in Palma de Mallorca and 5 in Barcelona! Oh my life. :)

PARIS

Paris seems like yearssss ago. It was such an old and beautiful city. Exactly what I expected it to be, including the super rude French people. Two days were no where near enough time to explore all there is in Paris, but I fit a lot in. Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre and so much more that you don't even realize is there. BUT one day I must go back with more money and more time. Not to mention someone to make out with.. that is ALL those people do! One of my "favorite" parts of the trip was being on the metro with a couple kissing in my face.. I could have joined. NOT OKAY.

Although I must, must go back, Paris was not a city I fell in love with. I loved the history and the beauty, but I'm good with a little vacation to go back. I will not be a long term resident of Paris.

PALMA DE MALLORCA

I have no clue what the proper name to address this place is but I will hereby be referring to it as Palma. It's an island off the coast of Spain, close to Barcelona. It was simply BEAUTIFUL. A perfect place to start a spring break in the sun. Now, I absolutely adore Scotland.. but it was time to lay on a beach. And that is what we did, lay on the beach all morning and site see all afternoon. Perfect system. And at night..

we were very tired, a little burnt, and a forty of beer cost 1.10 euro. So what did we do.. lay in bed, drink our very cheap beer and watch Lord of the Rings. THAT is what I call a vacation. Seriously, nothing exciting or out of the ordinary occurred in Palma and I LOVED it. 

  

Honorable mention to one of the funnier moments goes toooo.. THE AMERICAN COUNTRY. Yes, The American Country. On the last night we decided to get Tex-Mex at the most American restaurant on the dang island and is was DELICIOUS. Highlight of my night, they had an NC license plate. Can't wait to see those everywhere again. :)

BARCELONA

Okay.. I don't time for Barcelona.. I really MUST go pack. Next week I have nooo papers or test or ANYTHING to do. So, I'll blog about Barcelona and London, PROMISE.

ps this wil have grammar errors and misspelling all over, sorry 'bout it. i'm rushed! :)

lots of love!