It's (NOT) always sunny in Sevilla...

It is ANOTHER rainy day in Sevilla, and let me tell you, I've got myself appropriately armed. 3 hour naps, skipping class and listening to the beautiful souls of Bon Iver, The Tender Fruit, and Sufjan Stevens. Until our 2-week long bout of rain a few weeks ago, I had no idea how miserable it was going to be (I'll even admit it might top rainy days in Chapel Hill). When it rains here in Sevilla, I am forced to walk everywhere, and because supposedly Spaniards don't wear rain boots (not true), my feet are always soaked. Having to pay for a bus system that doesn't stop super close to my house is quite the nuisance (especially when I can't find the route to the uni) and riding my bike is just plain miserable. Additionally, I've already lost one umbrella to the elements, granted it was only 2 euro; however, it is just a continuation of my tendency to go through umbrellas at an unfortunately fast pace. But I think the major problem with rainy days here, is that I am further encouraged to just sit on my bed. and not do anything1 I think one of the things I miss most is having somewhere to go to other than my room. At UNC, when it would rain, I would sometimes go sit in a cafe and just pass the time away--here it is not as easy, seeing that the cafe WiFi is hit or miss and cafes are pretty expensive...it's not like we have a union or gym we can go chill in. And also, the home is strictly that--the home. It is private and kept for the family, therefore there's no way you can pass the time with your friends. And I've decided that rainy days here ultimately create just the tiniest bit of homesickness, welling up inside of me.

Yet despite this soaking spring, there are hints of warmth and future sunshine teasing us every once in a while (INCLUDING THIS AFTERNOON, figures that the sun would come out as soon as I started this post). A few days last week, it almost reached 80 degrees! A stark contrast, especially considering the terrible weather that NC is going through right now. And the temperature here is only going to climb--it has been rumored to reach over 100 degrees by mid-summer! Yet I am still excited--summer has always been my favorite season and getting the opportunity to bask in the Sevilla sun is quite enticing. Also I am continuing my saga of trips, with Valencia, Lagos, and Galicia all looming on the horizon!

So although the rain seems to get me down here in Sevilla, I've got a lot to look forward. I think as we've traversed the half point of the semester, the combination of the rain, the growing old of FRIED food and the longing for some of North Cakalacky's comforts makes for a slight desire to rush forward to June. I am sure that this weekend's solo journey to Valencia will help to change my perspective and give me a renewed perspective. After all, I'm positive exactly where I am supposed to be at this moment, rain or shine.

From the mountains of Madrid or from the coast of Barcelona...

I'm still behind on blog posts...so technically these trips are from March. But true to the Bob Dylan song from which this blog post steals its title, I did indeed travel to Barcelona and Madrid, two very distinct and thriving cities (and the largest) in Spain. We'll begin with Barcelona...

After another Ryanair flight adventure and a severely delayed train, I finally arrived in downtown Barca around 4:30 pm. Since our group was split between two hostels and two different flights, we spent the majority of Friday evening just trying to get checked in and then grab some dinner. And my dinner I must say was fabulous! A goat cheese spinach salad with a honey dressing...nom nom nom. Considering that I usually only eat fried food, the meal was quite the treat. Friday night was a bit of an early night, as to prepared to traverse the entirety of Barcelona on Saturday.

The next morning we began. First with a trip to the Plaza de Espanya (notice the crazy Catalan spelling), then Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell, then to La Boqueria, Columbus Monument and the port and finally to the Picasso museum and the beach! When I said we traversed the city, I wasn't kidding! For me, the Sagrada Familia y La Boqueria market were two of my favorite sites--the architecture of the Sagrada Familia is unmatched and unlike any other cathedral in the world, it is simply mesmerizing! I think I could stare up at those towers forever.

And La Boqueria was like a dream come true! As we walked into the famous covered market, my mouth watered at every stall. Finally, a 1/4 kilo of gouda, a baguette, some strawberries + mangos, a strawberry coconut smoothie and a few pieces of white chocolate later, and I had a FANTASTIC lunch! I think that if I lived in Barcelona, I would spend a majority of my money at this wonderful market.

The Picasso museum was also an incredible experience, especially because I am love the artist's work. It was set up in chronological order and the opportunity to see work spanning the artist's entire life was such a neat experience; seeing his renditions of Velazquez's Las Meninas were definitely the crowning moment of the visit to the mueseum.

To complete our time in Barcelona, we went to Marsella Bar Saturday night, per suggestion by fellow Dive writer Jonathan, for some mean and green absinthe. It was a really unique experience, as the bar is almost 200 years old and was the stomping grounds of some really famous folk. Pouring our water over our sugar cubes into the absinthe proved to be a bit of learning experience to say the least, but at least most of us achieved the green hue typical of the spirit. It was the perfect end to a long day of city seeing.

Sagrada Familia

Mediterranean Sea

La Boqueria

Parc Güell

Gaudi's Casa Mila

Next up, Madrid! Madrid was a great trip in the fact that I got to visit some friends as well as relax a little while seeing all of the city's major sites! One of my co-workers from Skyline this past summer, Jessica Alcorn, lives in Madrid teaching English with two roommates (all of who graduated from UNC--go Heels!), and I got the chance to stay with them for three days (even though I only saw Jess for a little bit due to a frisbee tourney--but then I got to sleep in her bed :)) In fact, her roommate Tory had the same home stay as I do now when she studied in Sevilla a few years ago, so it was quite fun talking about our crazy experiences.

To get to Madrid, I decided to take the bus, a six-hour venture I conquered alone. But let me tell you, I quite enjoyed the lack of company and the lovely scenery--it actually gave me a good amount of time to kind of think out a lot of things. When I finally arrived around 8:45 pm Thursday night, Tory met me at the bus station and we went straight to some delicious tapas! Jamón Iberico, queso de oveja (goat cheese) y huevos con patatas fritas (eggs over-easy on french fries!) were a great start to Madrid! Over the course of Friday and Saturday, I went to all the typical places--El Mercado San Miguel, La Reina Sofia, El Prado, El Palacio, Parque de Buen Retiro y many more. I did a lot of it by myself (since Tory had already been many times, I don't blame her) but I actually ran into my friends Will and Christina and we met up to go to the Prado and then a delicious Italian dinner! And to end my trip to Madrid, I went out Saturday night to celebrate Tory's birthday with several of her friends. We ended up staying out all night and were actually still awake for Daylight Savings Time, which totally threw off my schedule, but allowed me to have the experience of riding the Madrid metro as soon as it opened (6 am). Despite the immense lack of sleep, I had another 6 hour bus ride back to Sevilla to catch up on my sleep.

My trip to Spain's capital was great, especially since it was my first time back since the airport (which doesn't really count since I was only there for about an hour), and I must say that Madrid would be a great city to live in--I can see why my friends have stayed for two years! It is a big city, yet retains a truly Spanish feel, something that Barcelona sometimes lacked. Also, I never felt rushed in Madrid, despite its huge size. Although I pretty much conquered most of the city in my trip, I hope to go back (not including my plane ride back to the states) and explore a little bit more.

Joan Miró

Palacio Nacional

Picasso's Guernica

Plaza Mayor

Parque del Buen Retiro

Paris, je t'aime.

L'amoureuse de Paris. Lover of Paris.

Although it has been a week since my adventure, after my Parisian weekend, I am most certainly deeply in love with this city. As I listened to a on-repeat soundtrack of Phoenix and "Where Do You Go to my, Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt, I whizzed through the streets of Paris for a weekend and loved every moment. My return to the City of Light will hopefully be sooner rather than later. Here's an explanation of my two Parisian nights that left me ultimately entranced.

1. My wonderful Parisian hosts! In order to save money, I've taken up CouchSurfing through out Europe as much as I can. And Paris was my first stop! I arranged to meet up with my hosts Caroline and Vincent in their neighborhood, Parmentier, Friday afternoon. While the friends I traveled with from Spain to Beauvais, and then into the city, went off to check into their hostel, I went on my way to navigating the Paris metro and meeting my hosts! And my first experience with the Paris Metro was also fantastic--it is overall an incredibly easy system to use and very well marked, which made getting around throughout the weekend incredibly easy! When I finally got to my destination after a few transfers and a few butterflies, I found Caro and we immediately walked into a French bakery before trekking home! What an appropriate introduction it was, indeed! The neighborhood where they live was quite lively and fun, as Caro told me, it is full of all kinds of bars and restaurants perfect for nightlife! And they live very close to the cemetery Pére Lachaise, which I will get to. Caro speaks excellent English which was great since I forgotten almost all of my basic French (yes after a few months...I'm embarrassed). Vincent knows a little but it was neat to hear them converse in French because it is such a beautiful language. They live in a very small flat, literally the size of my dorm room at UNC, yet have everything they need--kitchen, table, TV, washer, and a bathroom! So my two nights turned into what we joked was a "sleepover," since I was sleeping right next to them! But this is the Paris life--expensive, expensive, EXPENSIVE. In addition to the wonderful conversation and time spent getting to know Caro and Vincent (they are genuinely AWESOME, adventurous individuals, so fun to talk to!), they also gave me a great taste of French food culture--by providing me dinner both nights and a breakfast! DELICIOUS. We had crepes with ham and cheese, bread with paté and rilletes, gourmet and fantastic cheese, as well as raclette! Let's not forget the delicious wine, either! Breakfast was a handful of the best croissants I've ever tasted, it was truly a pleasure to have them offer me all the food and introduce me to fantasticly French meals! On top of all this, they even showed me around the city, including driving me around to see all the famous monuments at night--it was absolutely gorgeous and probably my favorite part of the whole trip! I honestly could not have asked for better hosts and it is without a doubt that Caro and Vincent MADE my Paris trip. Absolutely made it!

2. Living the Dream. One of the most unreal aspects of being in Paris--I'll admit, it is about to get super cliche, was seeing all of the things I've heard about and only imagined seeing in real life. The Louvre, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel and Jardin du Luxembourg were just as incredible in real life as the movies. Seeing the Mona Lisa and The Wedding at Cana were surreal. You know, they really paint a fantastic image of the city in all those movies and such, for me it was completely accurate. I met up with the other girls and we spent the whole day touring all around the city, and finished things off with a fantastic lunch of one of my favorite, totally French foods--quiche Lorraine. Considering I paid a pretty penny for it, I was happy to find it to be flawless like the rest of the French cuisine. Finally getting to see the Tour Eiffel in person and completing the iconic jumping pictures could not have been better either! After Paris, I'm definitely convinced that sometimes it is okay to be a complete tourist.

3. The Parisian way of Life. It is damn expensive, granted, but there is something about the way of life and the opportunities that lie in Paris that completely charmed me. On my final night, Caro and Vincent took me to a beautiful park, le Parc des Buttes Chaumont, and we arrived just in time to see the beautiful sunset over the entire city of Paris, and Montmarte towering in the distance. And that's when I knew I had no choice but to return to this incredible city. On Sunday morning, I even finished my trip with a trip to Pére Lachaise, on a quest to find the beloved grave of Jim Morrison. Though I was unsuccessful because I did not want to miss my bus to the airport, the serene atmosphere and eerily gorgeousness of the cemetery was a perfect way to end the trip. I've always been a fan of cemeteries and enjoy venturing in them, for historical and also aesthetic purposes--they truly are fascinating! And now I have Pére Lachaise to add to my list.

Paris was a wonderful 43 hours. Between the melt-in-your mouth croissants, to the gorgeous parks and yet simply the city's fierce attitude, I want to truly live it. After my short trip to Paris, I almost didn't want to return to Spain, but just for a little while ;) As I continue my semester in Europe, I don't have time for another trip back (alas!), but I just know that it will always be Paris that I want to go back to...

Au revoir, Paris et jusqu'à la prochaine fois!

(side note: I plan to find a way to continue my learning of French, going to France proved to be more than enough of an impetus)

Under the Moroccan Sun

As I continue my months of exploration and travel, I went on my first trip outside of Spain to MOROCCO!

It was quite the experience to get the opportunity to tour three Moroccan cities in 2 1/2 days, especially when the country's culture is so different from anyone I've ever experienced. We tried our hand at carpet bargaining, camel riding, market navigating and eating a variety of delicious and unique Moroccan foods.

I've pretty much grown up in a very traditional culture at home in the States and having the opportunity to experience a culture that is richly based in Islam and that speaks and writes a completely different language, Arabic, was a wonderful change of pace. Although the country is still developing and occasionally there were questionable things that we came across, I was intrigued by Morocco and wish I had a little more time to explore. To the Moroccans, it was quite obvious that our HUGE group was American and tourists, but I wonder how cool it could have been to immerse ourselves a little more in the culture. Perhaps, I'll get the chance to return. And maybe I'll stop by a little place called Rick's Cafe this next time too...

In terms of the other details from the trip, I am still a firm believer that sometimes, photos just articulate better than words, so enjoy these snapshots of my time under the Moroccan sun.

Chefchaouen

Tanger

Tétouan

Cave of Hercules

Continents traveled to: THREE and counting