Woop Woop

I got my train tickets for Amsterdam today!!! That's all...

My Last Week in Pictures

Alice Chez Laduree: Alice in Wonderland themed tea parlor at Galeries Lafayette..unfortunately it had closed down the week before



Funday Friday: Diet Cokes in Front of the Louvre



Diana's Birthday: Going out at St Michel
Started at a super nice bar where all the waiters wore masquerade masks...then left after finding that the people next to us were drinking 80 euro champagne. Went back to the pub from St Patricks Day...more baby guinesses




Walk Home by the Seine- only picture not ruined by Alex's brother trying to jump in front



Breakfast at America: so excited to see a toaster!
We met a British guy while waiting on line who just came back from America and missed breakfast food after only one week. He asked us to explain what a sloppy joe was, which is surprisingly very difficult to do.



Food babies...followed by a coma soon after



We managed to wake up after that meal and go out to a club Le Cab Saturday night near the Louvre



A fish tank at the club!!



Our Night in a Nutshell...



Going out to Diana's Birthday...again
I get a phone call on my way home Monday night from Gulfem telling me to get off the metro and come celebrate Diana's real birthday (as opposed to the fake birthday we celebrated all weekend). We then meet a group of guys from South America (Venezuela I think) studying in Germany. One of them has a rat tail and asks me what I think of it. Normally I would grab a pair of scissors and immediately cut it off, but instead I told him I thought it was cool. I probably socially ruined that kid for life.
One of them looks about 17 and thinks he has a shot with Diana. We all get slightly worried that she might be too tipsy to realize this, so we intervene and go home. We are relieved to hear that she wanted to leave as well. The next day, we all skype each other and watch as she takes the last of her 21 shots over the course of two days. Possibly the longest birthday celebration ever.



Preparing for the Night with French friends! Well most of us just met them, but the blonde guy and I got into a heated debate about movies from the 90's. He insists that Free Willy was "un homosexuel" while I say that it was one of the greatest movies of our time. He also thinks AirBud was one of his favorite childhood movies, so I have some doubts about his taste. Julien, on the left, used to go to UVA and is a friend of Gulfems. I think these are his coworkers. The girl in the middle is an urban planner and really funny.



Can't remember if this was before or after we rediscovered the song "You're so Vain"



Electronica Club: yes that is some random guy making out on the side of the picture
It was so crowded you couldn't move.



The End...vacation is over. I just realized I have four research papers due at the end of the month. Except, Evie is coming to visit me tomorrow. I also just realized that I don't have access to the uva library database system here, so googlescholar is my new best friend. Should be some interesting papers...

Where Am I?

I was just trying to walk to the library, and I couldn't get through the hallway due to crowds and crowds of people. I look over and there is a marching band in the middle of the common area. There are also girls in yellow skirts and black tank tops with pom poms just dancing around (not like a dance team dancing, more like how you dance in your room with Spice Girls blasting from your boombox in your underwear...not that I would know). Apparently it is immigration week, so the little show was to celebrate immigration to France maybe? If they really want to celebrate, maybe they should start by talking to us and trying to make friends with the exchange students. But I guess no matter which part of the world you live in, girls with pom poms always win.

I just looked down at my cheese sandwich and got nervous that it was moldy. But then I realized that there is blue cheese on it...so I guess it's still moldy but at least I don't have to go chug an orangina to cleanse my system.

Yesterday was beautiful, so I decided to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg. I got really lost, and accidentally ended up on the seine. Then I started walking aimlessly and found a bridge that leads to a little cement island in the middle of the river. I sat out on the end of the little island with my feet dangling over the water and did my homework while watching the boats go by. For the first time, I got to wave at the tour boats. This was kinda cool considering two months ago I was the one on the boat. Then the couple next to me started hardcore making out, and I decided it was time to go.

I blasted Snow Patrol on my ipod and made my way back home so I could buy tickets for Spring Break. We got our tickets for Copenhagen, Italy, and Istanbul. It's such a relief to know that everything is settled and we're actually going!

Eating Our Way Through Valencia- Pictures Included!

So we take the train into Valencia from Barcelona, and the weather here is even more beautiful. For some reason the streets are filthy though, and there are workers with brooms cleaning up beer cans and other trash from the sidewalks. Theresa, who studied there last summer, assures us that this is a little bit unusual and she's never seen Valencia like this before. After we put our stuff down at the hostel, we are all starving and decide to go get lunch. We stopped by some little pizza cafe which we did not choose very well because after 5 minutes we were in the shade and all freezing cold.

After some pizza and fanta, we decide to go to the church and climb up the stairs to see the view of the city. We were all blissfully happy for the next two hours as we enjoyed the sunlight and took pictures beneath the bell. At one point, the bell rang as we were standing under it for a picture which left us partially deaf for the next few minutes. This also meant it was time for another jumping picture, so we all posed under the bell as Theresa said "I feel like I'm taking a backstreet boys album cover."



We then climbed back down the narrow staircase and got gelato from Theresa's favorite ice cream stand. They even had donut flavor, which was a little too bizarre for our tastes. I got turron and ferraro roche, which was amazing. I told you, we ate our way through Spain.




That night we met up with Javier, one of Theresa's friends from last summer who lives in Valencia. On our way to meet him, Diana and I begin dancing in the courtyard near a fountain because we collectively decide that this would be a great place for a recital. Once we meet Javier, he took us to an international club (because we get free drink passes) where creepy Americans started talking to Diana and Kendall. Then we decided to leave and go somewhere a little more laid back. Javie takes us to a small little bar and orders us a pitcher of wine. Except, this is some special type of pitcher and he tries to explain it to Theresa as a bong. We all thing he's talking about a bong you smoke from, but he's trying to say it is like a beer bong. Anyway, we get it filled with white wine from nearby and apparently for this wine you are supposed to pour the wine straight from the pitcher to your mouth and then pass it on. Kendall hesitates to try it and after we chant her name and start a slow clap she gives it a try, only to completely miss her mouth. We are then determined to find these pitchers and start this tradition at UVA.

Day 2 is, once again, all about food. We wake up and go get churros con chocolate. Then we go to the market to find beautiful fresh strawberries. After that we are told to go to the streets at 2pm to see the fireworks. Apparently, every day for three weeks before this holiday in Valencia, they set off fireworks and everyone stops what they are doing to come drink beers and watch in the streets. All of the traffic is cut off, and there are men in ties with their cervezas just waiting for the show to begin (this explains the mess we saw the day before on the sidewalks). It is so loud, the city literally sounds like it is being bombed. It is unreal how many people just leave whatever they are doing to come see it. We wanted to drink beer while we watched but the chocolate from breakfast was just too much.



Theresa then goes to meet up with her host mom for lunch, while we go to lunch at a beautiful little cafe/chocolate shop. I'm pretty sure we went shopping after lunch (I'm writing this post based on my pictures), and once we see Theresa again it starts pouring. We go into a covered market to get out of the rain and then eat orxatas (pronounced horchata). We get very excited about this drink for three reasons.
1. it is a traditionally drink from Valencia...not something you would find other places
2. we will take any excuse to eat
3. it is the name of a Vampire Weekend song
The drink is made from some sort of nut that you soak for a while. I don't really care what it is, it is super refreshing and at this point I will take anything that doesn't involve chocolate.



We go back to the hostel to pass out for a little while and get ready for dinner (yes writing about this much food it making my stomach hurt). We have made reservations at a restaurant nearby for paella. They served us a huge batch of seafood paella in a very large pan. It took us about 20 minutes to down the whole thing and lick the bowl. After dinner we went to watch flamenco at a bar. Apparently it was a Kama Sutra bar with pictured tiles on the walls. We each got a glass of Sangria and waited for the show to begin. First a guitarist, a drummer, and two men singing performed. After a few songs, it was time for the dancer to come out. Out comes the largest male flamenco dancer I have ever seen. The whole thing was a little strange because he was doing womanly dances (lifting up his shirt so we could see his potbelly) and dancing on his toes. He was a great dancer, no disrespect intended, but it was just unusual. Then his friends came on the stage and started just improvising some flamenco. One guy was wearing athletic pants and his pants kept falling down as he was dancing. He was amazing though, and danced some more manly moves than his friend. The girl on stage was wearing overalls. I'm so excited they're coming back. Stephen Eure once made fun of me in 9th grade for wearing overalls to school. Apparently I was just a trendsetter.

"Virginia is the state of love man"

St Patricks day in Paris...

No one wears green. The pubs are packed with Americans and sleezy Europeans trying to pick up Americans. But they do make cute little shots called "Baby Guinesses" with Kahlua and Baileys. Without a doubt, the best part of the night is when Shania Twain's "I Feel Like a Woman" comes on the sound system.

On the way home, some guy hears Gulfem and I speaking English and we get the oh so familiar question "wait, where are you guys from!" We're not in the mood to do this conversation over again so we don't answer, but this guy isn't giving up so fast. He looks at me and goes "what? you think I'm just another thug?" I get defensive and answer, "wait wait wait you don't know me!" We then come to find out that he went to high school about an hour out of Richmond. When he finds out we go to school in Virginia, he replies in perfect English "Virginia is the state of love man" then gives us a red rose and and shouts something in perfect French to his friends and goes to join them.

After a bit of a rough week, we all decide to go to Les Printemps for tea. They have set up a small Laduree tea room decorated like Alice and Wonderland. Of course when we show up, the room has already been shut down and we have to setting for mediocre Italian food. Diana decides this is because she walked under a ladder a week ago. Gulfem doesn't believe me when I tell her that "periwinkle" is a real word. At the end of the meal, the waiter comes up to us and tells us that he is lonely and him and his friend work all the time and they need women or something to that extent. He then starts yelling to the other waiter that he has a table full of students and makes some joke about us all leaving the restaurant together. I mean, the guy doesn't even offer us free wine or dessert. Clearly the man has zero lady skills.

On the walk to the metro, Sarah and I try to figure out what I'm going to write for my French fairy tale due in roughly two hours. We settle on something that's the little mermaid, the 13th year, and environmental activism all thrown into one. And now while I'm supposed to be editing this mess of an essay that I wrote in the wee hours of the morning, I am blog posting and checking up Spain pictures on facebook.

Starting today, I'm going to do more things you can only do in Paris. For example, after class I'm going to Musee D'Orsay to hang out...or something. There have been talks about going to Disneyland Paris tomorrow and clubbing for Diana's birthday on Saturday. Eventually I'll write about the rest of Spain.

Winter Break in Espagne Part 1- "We Yoke Here!"

So now that Steven has left, and my mom and sister are back in the states, my once crowded apartment is seeming quite spacious. I have pages of stories from their visits, but I believe I should first start with my travels in Spain two weeks ago.


Barcelona:
Before even leaving Barcelona, our adventures begin. Apparently there are strikes at the airport, so Diana and I are the only ones to keep our original flight time. Poor Gulfem has gotten her ticket delayed to the next day by herself and has no choice but to join us on Saturday. Once we get over that ordeal, Diana and I leave at 4am for Barcelona.

We arrive at Barcelona and manage to figure out the pretty simple train system to get to Richa's place (trust me, it is quite an accomplishment for the two most directionally challenged people in Paris). We first notice the palm trees and 60 degree weather. The buildings are beautiful, and in Spain people wear colors!

We begin at the Boqueria, a massive covered market. Diana and I decide to split some fresh calamari which the vendor dips in the fryer for 20 seconds before serving us. We decide to get fresh fruit trays for dessert with melons, strawberries, coconut, kiwi, and some random fruit that is pink with black seeds (we were most excited about trying this one, but it was surprisingly tasteless). The rest of the fruit was so sweet and fresh. The melon didn't taste anything like the stuff you can get in the states. We took the others back to this same market the next day for fresh fruit smoothies.

We then decide to go to the water and sit on the dock. Richa and Diana try to haggle with a man selling sunglasses. Suddenly the man sees the police coming and he pulls the strings on his blanket and starts walking. Clearly the smart thing to do is follow the sketchy sunglasses man who is motioning us to follow him while fleeing from the police. So we do it. At some point we realize that we are surrounded by about 25 men with blankets filled with fake goods. At this point, our common sense kicks in and we decide this is, in fact, a bad idea. On our walk home, we stumble upon a strike in front of some very important government building and decide to take pictures unsure of what it is about. All we know is that they are wearing neon jackets and look very angry!

After showers and some frozen pizzas, we "pre-drink" (as the canadians say) and go out to a club. The bouncer asks me if my name is "Vir-chinia" and I respond "no, it's Rebecca." He then tells me that "it is a yoke. we joke here!" This is now our new line in Paris. Richa's roommates over the past few weeks have become friends with a club promoter, Kike, who spoils us with champagne and pineapple vodkas all night. The best part of the club is the girls bathroom who has a separate D.J.

The next day, we meet up with the rest of our group. We go to tapas and eat patatas bravas, which begins our detailed analysis of this dish at each restaurant we go to. We also get to go to a Barcelona football game. The stadium is massive, and we have the best seats in the house. We are so high up, that we can see EVERYTHING! We were a bit late, so we decide to sprint through the parking lot to get to our seats. Barcelona is playing Malaga, and it is a really close game. Of course, Barcelona wins at the end with the help of our man Messi, and everyone, even the old Spanish men in the audience, are waving flags/scarves and cheering. Diana and I then go back to the hostel and pass out from total exhaustion.

The next day we go to Sagrada Familia. We want to take the elevator up to see the top of the building and the view of Barcelona but it is broken. I suggest that perhaps it is because "the building is under construction." Theresa then explains to me that the building has been under construction for 150 years and is based on the plans of a famous dead architecht Gaudi. All of the designs are inspired by nature, and the building is unreal. There are beautiful modern stained glass windows, and mosaic ceilings. It is expected to be finished in 2050, so we all make a pact to come back on our own one day to see it once it is done.

Our best meal is at Taller Tapas our last night, where Diana and I eat the best shrimp we have ever had in our entire lives. They put the shrimp in oil with fresh garlic cloves, and while it seems to be an instant heart attack, the shrimp just melt in our mouth. Diana and I cheers more with our shrimp than with the Sangria. Then, we all eat the fruit left at the bottom of the pitcher while our waitress gives us funny looks.