March 7- Day trip to Segovia
Postivies of our day trip:
1. We had AMAZING weather! I didn't wear a coat for the first time on a trip! Woohoo!
2. I literally loved this city because of the views! My friends are still giving me crap because of how much I said that I loved the city... It was such a cute, quaint city with mountains on one side and green fields on the other. Such amazing views! Especially from the top of the castle that I decided I am now moving in to.
Not sure if this is a positive or negative... we tried the typical food of Segovia: cochinillo or baby pig. We got two sides of a pig complete with two legs, two feet, and one tail. It was actually pretty good but a weird experience eating the meat right off of the pig.
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| Princess poses in front of our castle |
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| In front of the Aqueducts of Segovia- made by the Romans over 2,000 years ago and so amazing |
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| Emily with the tail of the baby pig... |
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| With our typical dessert of Segovia: ponche segoviano |
The best parts of San Sebastian:
1. The beauty of the city! We did quite a bit of hiking and the views of the ocean are amazing! The beach was amazing especially with the views of the hills and mountings in the back.
2. A friend of a friend studying abroad in San Sebastian was willing to show us around and we got to meet some of the people that he goes to school in San Sebastian with. I met people from all over the world in one night and while I love being at SLU Madrid with my friends, I felt a little bit of regret from attending an American university with mostly other Americans when I could be somewhere else meeting people from all over the world.
The worst part of the weekend= the weather! It was rainy and windy every day. I got really frustrated with my umbrella at multiple points because the beach was so windy. We did get some better weather when we went hiking on Saturday morning, though, and had some amazing views from the mountain of the city and ocean.
March 19- Off to Paris
Best things of Paris:
1. The Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Saint Chapel and all of the other touristy things that ended up feeling less touristy than I expected and I ended up loving it all! I think I have more pictures of the Eiffel Tower than anything else in my life. I always kind of thought the Eiffel Tower was overrated until I actually saw it.
2. The food: macaroons, croque-monsieur, crepes, wine, lots of cheese, escargot... do I need to say more?
3. The Mona Lisa! So many people talked down the Mona Lisa to me before I went... saying how pathetic, small, and underwhelming that it was so I went to the Louvre expecting nothing, and was actually really moved by the painting! It was amazing seeing such a well-known painting
The worst parts:
1. Not having enough time to do everything we wanted! We spent three full days in Paris and could have spent weeks more! I guess I'll just have to go back to see everything that I missed.
2. I was not properly dressed for the freezing weather... oops.
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| Hall of Mirrors in Versailles |
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| Throwing up the Mike in St. Michael's square in Paris |
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| Love lock bridge |
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| Notre Dame |
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| Being hunchbacks in front of Notre Dame |
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| Saint Chapel= AMAZING. |
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| Selfie with crepes in front of the Eiffel Tower! So Paris. |
March 28--> The beginning of Spring Break! Which was tiring and the complete opposite of a typical spring break experience with the unfortunate weather that we received... but it was such an amazing experience! I traveled with 4 other girls and we hit up 5 cities in 9 days!
First stop= Munich
Best part:
We got really lucky and went to a beer garden one of the nights in Munich that happened to be having a festival! Everyone was dressed in their German outfits and there was amazing music and we danced on the tables! Also the best beer and some of the best food that I've had all of semester! It was definitely a lot more food than we get in restaurants in Spain... We had some great schnitzel and spaetzel!
The saddest part... We visited Dachau concentration camp which was incredible in the way that it moved me but so so hard to experience. After walking through the museum, I was emotionally drained and had to just sit down in silence for a while. I can't explain the experience but it was worth it to see.
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| Schnitzel with spaetzel and a liter of beer |
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| My new Brazilian friends from the beer garden |
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| "May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men." |
Salzburg
My favorite parts:
1. As touristy as it was, we went on the Sound of Music tour and absolutely loved it! We were singing the songs all day long and ended up filming ourselves reenacting some of the scenes... We got a lot of stares and weird looks but we enjoyed it... haha
2. The views of the mountains behind Salzburg are amazing! I wish we would have had more time and better weather to have been able to hike through the mountains!
Worst part... the weather was freezing and we had a lot of rain!
Reenactment Number 1... sorry for all of the cheesiness but actually I'm not that sorry
Number 2- Our version of leaping
Number 3... I think we got the most weird looks here as we were hopping up and down the stairs
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| The beautiful city from above with the mountains in the background |
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| It was so windy on top of the mountain in the fortress that we were leaning back into it and not fallen over! |
City #3= Halstatt
We did a quick day trip to Halstatt, a small town in Austria in the middle of a ring of mountains. The only bad thing was the snow... but it ended up begin a blessing in disguise because even though we were cold and our feet were a little wet, we warmed up quite a bit from the hike up the mountain and the snow made for incredible views. The best parts of Halstatt were the amazing views! A small city in the middle of a ring of mountains with a lake with swans and snow-covered everything... these pictures cannot do it justice but here are some anyway...
Here are some views of the city below first:
Here are some of the views after we hiked up 9 switch backs to the top of the mountain: (hiking down was the best part of course though because we kept falling on our butts and had to take some baby steps down)
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City #4- I returned the the homeland: Prague, Czech Republic! The only thing that I didn't like about it was the weather (too cold) and not having enough time... kind of a reoccurring theme. Here's the endless list of things that I loved:
1. The astronomical clock- kinda overrated but still kinda cool!
2. The city and churches all have some great legends and stores! Too long to write here but look up about the hanging arm in the church...
3. The John Lennon wall... so obsessed! It was just so colorful with so many great quotes... <3
4. The Easter markets! We were there on Holy Thursday and Good Friday so the main square was filled with booths with trinkets and amazing food! We had a lot of fun there and ate our weight in Czech food. Their fair food is so much better than ours!
And last but not least... Berlin where we spent Easter!
Our visit to Berlin was all about the Nazis and communism. Everywhere in Berlin are reminders of their past. It was impressive how much they emphasize their past to learn from it, but I also think they need something new that shows their future and willingness to move on. We went on a walking tour in the city and I was shocked that every single thing we visited had to do with the Nazis or communists in the city. That being said... we had a great Easter! We went to an english mass with a mostly African population so the music was pretty great! And we went to some more Easter fairs!
The Berlin Wall:
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| These bears are all over Berlin |
Sorry that was really long! It was supposed to be way shorter but 8 cities is a lot... but if you made it this far I'm impressed and flattered! :) Now only 50 days until I'm back home! 5 more weeks of school and then 2 of traveling and then I'm done! That is crazy to me! I need to fit in all of the rest of my adventures into 50 days... This past month has been amazing though so totally worth all of it!
