that I should take every day as a blessing. Instead of worrying about school, midterms, travel plans, friends, trips, nights out, and homework…..I should be thankful for what I have. I was incredibly touched by the happenings of today. The body of a 22 year old San Diego State student, Austin Bice, was discovered in a river in Madrid today. He was missing since Feb 26. I guess it hits so close to home because his situation is like mine, like all of my friends over here studying abroad… A young kid who came to Spain to study, travel, and absorb the culture. It could have been any of us. And with all the nonsense that happened in Madrid, that happened in Cadiz, that happens here in Seville….It makes you wonder. I hope that no signs of foul play come up in Austin’s case, that in fact it was truely just an accident. My prayers go out to Austin Bice and his family.
Was it the luck of the Irish? I honestly don’t know…but it seems like everything went right this weekend. Everything fell into place. Over 4 days I covered a lot of ground Dublin Paris and Normandy Beach….and I regret none if it. I am aiming to cover every detail of my weekend….I understand this is a blog but its also a tool for me to be able to look back and remember what happened. So if you find it boring and long winded…sorry. Don’t read it :]
Day 1: Dublin
Thursday started off really early. I left the house at 545 am to catch the buss to the airport. I had about only 4 hours of sleep so it was very fun. The first two flights went well…Ryanair both times. As ryanair is a lowcost airline you have to walk out to the plane, which made it my first time doing that. My friend Pat was actually on the same flight and we didn’t know it till we were in line. He was heading to Dublin as well so it was nice to have a travel companion. Both flights…Seville to Barcelona and Barcelona to Dublin had very hard landings. Like holly hell I think the tires popped. Other than that everything was peachy. I actually had more legroom than I did on my previous vueling flights. I got into Dublin and had a bit of time to walk around before katrinas bus came in from limerick. It was so nice to hear people speaking English…it was actually even a bit weird. I would start of speaking Spanish at travel spots before realizing people spoke English. dumb. Anyways Katrina’s bus came in and we decided it was time to go to the Guinness factory. However we decided it was more applicable to walk around the real Guinness factory first trying to find the door…which is strange because they don’t have one. However when we found the Guinness Storehouse….where they actually have a tour entrance. The tour was pretty cool…it showed all the steps to making beer and at the end we got a “free” pint of Guinness in the Gravity bar. I don’t think you can get a much fresher pint than that…and the Gravity bar sits on top of the building and you get an amazing view of Ireland and Dublin….all the way from the sea to the rolling hills. Pretty cool.
We had no idea where to get dinner so we asked the info desk at Guinness. They told us to walk to a place down the road next to the Castle. I obviously can’t remember the name of it but we got the menu of the day. Which essentially picking three courses and paying a flat price. I got the most wonderful beer and fisherman’s pie. Which is essentially a bunch of fish in a cream sauce covered in potatoes. It was INCREDIBLY good. Like to die for so good. Katrina got Guinness pie, which was essentially the best pot roast I have ever tasted. And the ice cream afterwards was just as good. I was in food heaven. Afterwards we went to the temple bar area to get some drinks. An incredible nice hostel owner let us leave our bags for free! WE went to THE temple bar and got drinks and listened to traditional Irish singing. I don’t know how to explain it but it was really good. We moved on to another bar where they were playing more modern music…as where the whole bar was singing Wonderwall. There were also Irish people falling drunkenly over each other. Imagine that. I felt like I was living in a stereotype. Finally we went to a bar near our buss stop….where they were playing traditional Irish music and dancing. I could compare it to clogging but you have to see it to appreciate it. I also had some Jameson and Irish coffee. Ive decided that I really like Jameson. But ive always known that. The originally plan was to get pretty wasted and then sleep in the airport…you know to make it easier to sleep. Wellll I was so full that I just managed to get tipsy and bloated. Awesome. Luckily when we got to the airport in Dublin later that night there was a 24h McDonalds and starbucks. Katrina and I picked a prime bench table area to sleep in and did our best. The lights went off at 2 am and came back on at four. Needless to say I will never ever sleep in an airport. I was uncomfy and had indigestion all night. Probably managed around 3 hours of sleep total. Then it was off to Paris on our 650 Am flight
Day 2. Paris and then Bayeux
The flight over to Paris was great. Since the wonderful stewardess on the Air lingus flight noticed that I was not comfortable in my seat she allowed Katrina and I to move up the exit row….more legroom. Hell yea. I was so excited I couldn’t even stand it. I was told by Katrina that I fell asleep even before the plane took off. I really don’t remember landing either. Charles de Gaulle airport is HUGE. Three terminals laid out in the most confusing design ever. I speak zero French as well. So that didn’t help. We made our way to the Louvre museum, which is one of the most incredible places I have ever been in. The architecture of the building is gorgeous and of course the artwork inside is amazing. We probably spend three or four hours in only one wing. There are four wings. There is no possible way a person could see every single thing in the museum. We hit the big three, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Michelangelo’s Dying Slave. We also so tons of paintings and statues and artwork. I wish we had more time to explore, but we had more of Paris to cover. Off to the Eiffel tower….which let me tell you looks much bigger when you are at the base of it. It is a fascinating example of incredible architecture. We took an elevator to the middle section and got some of the most fantastic views of the city….the top part being closed. We were told by some people that they have been closing it more randomly now due to terrorist threats and the like. It was totally worth the 30-minute wait to get to the middle. We stayed up there for a long time and finally headed down…..unsure what we were going to do for dinner. As by a stroke of luck, Katrina recognized some friends from her school in Ireland on a tour. The tour leader invited us to come to dinner with them. As it turns out he had this little restaurant booked….Phillips place. Where Philip was the one and only person working there. He goes out and buys the ingredients daily and makes everything himself. The dining room probably holds 20 people max….with a view right into the kitchen. He was an incredibly characteristic man and the food was even better. I had escargot for an appetizer, duck and potatoes for the main, and chocolate cake for dessert. Everything was just amazing….impossible to put into words. I felt like we got the “French” experience by luck. I talked to the tour guide, Andy, for a long time. His father is Rick Steves, a travel guide who has his own show on the travel channel and makes recommendations for travelers. Well Andy is doing the same thing, except leading tours for college kids. He just started last year and from what ive heard everybody enjoys his tours. He goes to cities, does “research” and then plans out tours for college age students. He has an incredible thing going for him, as he graduated Notre Dame two years ago. He is doing what he loves and making money doing it….and for that I truly respect him. After the wonderful surprise dinner (all of it only cost 18 Euros), we made our way to the train station to go to Bayeux, where we were going to see Normandy beach. We made it to the train station and began our wait. And that’s where il leave this story for now…
However I am too tired to tell the rest. Another blog post will come tomorrow or the next day.
Hasta Luego
I am not much of a religious person as those who know me well, but sometimes life strikes me just right, as it did this afternoon. I was sitting on my porch after a long run through the most beautiful city in southern Spain. As I was cooling off and watching the sun set I had a bit of a realization. I am so incredibly blessed to live the life I am living. My family, my house, my friends at home and my friends ive made here. Being able to study abroad in Spain as well as meet and interact with so many wonderful people has made such a fantastic impact on my life….and ive only been here a month. Whoever the higher being may be, I thank them for giving me the life I am living.
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Hands down this weekend was the most ridiculous weekend I have ever had in my life. And I only went out one night. There were tons of problems and I spent way too much money but I literally wouldn’t have it any other way. This will be a memorable birthday for sure. Best friends and the best memories make it that way. I will try to tell the most accurate story but I will leave out some details. It’s probably better that way. Barcelona is a special place
Soooo Jared and I wake up really early. I cant remember the last time ive been up at 630 am. Probably has something to do with my sedentary lifestyle. Anyways we get to the taxi stop airport etx on time. Everything is great and peachy. We get in line to board the flight and I get up to the front. I hand them my copy of my passport and drivers licenses. Low and behold I have to have my real passport to fly. I panic and start-speaking English…thank goodness the lady did to. She mad some calls and looked at some stuff on the computer. And the verdict is…. I can’t fly. I have to have my real passport. Which is back in my house.
FUCK.
Well this was great I was going to have a shitty bday weekend. So I pout all the way back through the Seville terminal and then have a realization….let me see if I can change my ticket to a later flight. Of course I can…for 85 Euros. Stupid low-cost airlines. Well I don’t want to lose out on any of the fun so I do it. 42 euro cab ride later im back at the airport for my 11oclock flight to Barcelona. Thank goodness. Nothing like pisssing away 165 dollars before your birthday. I guess everybody makes mistakes everything went well for the rest of the morning. Except my stomach felt weird. Must have been the café con leche and Pepsi I had for breakfast.
We get to Chandlers friends apartment….Mo who goes to Fairfield university with her. Which I don’t know if she will read this or any of her roommates will… but once again THANK YOU SO MUCH for letting us crash. They were the most gracious hosts I think ive ever encountered. I would just die if I lived that lifestyle haha. Mo is arguably one of the nicest people I have ever met…I can see why her and chandler are friends. Anyways we decide to walk and explore Barcelona. We walk down Las Ramblas, which is a huge main touristy street. There are tons of street performers shops stores and the best smelling pastries I have ever smelled. We stop to go into this open-air market and is has every type of food under the sun. Tons of fruit and veggies fresh meat and the freshest seafood ive ever seen. There was also a weird meat section. Cow snout, cow tongue, brains and a whole goat head…deskinned and still with eyes. It was nice. Jared and I decided to get ice cream. Big mistake. We also walked down to the water. Gorgeous
We headed back and I still feel shitty. I was being a debbbie downer at the end of our explorations and I was sitting down everywhere and complaining and sweaty. Not much out of the ordianly but I didn’t realize it at the time that I felt super weak. I immediately fell asleep on the couch before we went out to dinner. We found this super nice restaurant and we looked super underdressed. We are obviously foreigners because we don’t speak the native language of Barcelona….Catalan. It sounds like French and Spanish had a baby. And then that baby had a speech defect. Its incredibly had to understand. People still speak Spanish but they just look down upon it. But anyways off that tangent we get pizza for dinner. I decide after I order than I can’t stand feeling like shit anymore and head to the bathroom. I quietly kneel before the porcelain throne and proceed to throw up more violently then I have every thrown up before. It was horrible. But I felt sooooo much better afterwards it was ridiculous. All I needed all day was to drink. Jared also go sick later in the night. We thing it might have been the combination of the dinner we had the night before and the ice cream. I still feel kinda shitty and I know I have a fever so I make the wise move to go out. I decide to get a hostel but our host mo refuses and makes me sleep in her bed. Which im slightly weirded out by sleeping in other peoples beds. It seems strange to me. But I was too sick to argue to much. I felt bad that she went to sleep in another apartment but I felt much more rested in the morning and ready to go. So I missed my flight pissed away money had a great day in Barcelona puked my ass off and didn’t go out. A great first day before my birthday
Oh almost forgot I came out in the morning to the living room. There are about three homemade smoking contraptions…not for tobacco of course. And a pile of hair. Apparently Mo’s roommates came back with some friends quite intoxicated and they decided that one of the kids needed a haircut. So he got one. But it looked like the scene after a huge party. Crazy
The next day we go to Sangrada Famila…after a shitton of walking. Previous readers of this blog know how I feel about walking. But we saw a ton of cool stuff on our walk so I wasn’t that pissed. Anyways this is Gaudi’s masterpiece and is one of the coolest churches ive ever seen. Look it up on Wikipedia if you don’t know about it. Its been in permant construction since 1882. No one architect has been alive along enough to see the project get finished. We also saw parque guell, another guadi masterpiece. It has views over the whole city
Oh and after my puking day I decided that the best thing I should eat is a kabob. Actually two chicken kabobs. For lunch and dinner. Hahaha. It was cheap and good I had no choice.
Anyways its time to go out and I can tell its going to be a shitshow of a night. Barkas, one of the other roommates, no idea of im spelling her name right, decided that since its my birthday I need to do a birthday shot with everybody who does a shot. Of course they don’t have actually shot glasses. But they do have a jar. Your not real till you do oversized shots out of a jar. A lot of them
And now is where I start leaving details out. Half because I would like to protect myself and others, and half because some details are blurry. You know how it is.
We go to the first bar. Free beer for me. And a flaming shot from the bar owner. Awesome. Next bar….some sort of vodka drink pitcher thing and French fries. These bars close and its time to head to Razzmatazz. Boy were we in for surprise
This is a five story club, which every dance floor having a theme. I only made it to like three and I got lost with Mo on a halfway all Spanish club. It was absolutely incredible….the music was intense and there was just dancing everywhere. There were tons of bars and jared and kory kept me with drinks in had. I will return the favor my friends. Dancing on platforms hanging of the railings and drinking drinks. It was an unforgettable experience. We are still dancing the night away and the lights come on…apparently the club closed. I looked at my watch and it was 6 am. Wooops. I don’t know what it is about Spain…at 3 am im about to die at home. But all of us wanted to continue to stay and the club. But it was closed and we got home at 645. And I didn’t go to bed till 745. The floor never slept so comfortably for me.
That’s the gist of the story. Im sure I forgot some. It was an incredible weekend and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So thank you Kory Chandler Jared Sharod Tyler and most especially Mo and her wonderful roommates. They made it half the experience it was and were incredibly gracious and great hosts
So Cheers to them. After two decades of life im pretty happy with where im at. I live with few regrets. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look foreword to the future and whatever it throws at me.
Viva Espana
So it has been a while since i have posted. But i have been very busy as of late so i will try to sum it all up as best as i can. But i always leave details out but im sure you guys will get the point.
The last few days have been a bit of a blur….and not becayse of the alcohol. School full time has started and i have acutall homework…. a paper is due on monday. I switched out of my crap ass class from 4 to 650 on thursdays so now i dont have to be in a three hour poli sci class. I switched to a much better econ/poli of the EU….still late in the day but I like the schedule much better. I have also discovered a new found love for coffee. Which is acutually called cafe con leche…which is basically a shot of express in milk. Its really good and had me wide awake in my first period…which is at the early time of 12 in the afternoon. Which leads me to another thought…no matter how much sleep i get im always tired. Its rediculous. Even if i get 10 hours of sleep…im still tired. I guess politics dont excite me that much.
Im so incredibly blessed to have the friends that ive made here. Its rediculous how close i feel to these people…its like ive known them for years. I guess its the common bond of all going through the experience of being in a completely different new place with no friends at all. I honestly feel like i could count on any of these people for anything. I couldnt have asked for a better set of roomates. Everybody gets along and I cant ever stop laughing. I have a special respect for my roomate justin. He does what he wants says what he wants and doesnt give a shit what people thing. As he would say…ya boy does what he does. I highly respect the fact that he is completely who he is. He doesnt let anybody change his mind and doesnt let my wisecraks and insults gets to him. But overall….these will be some of the best friends i could have. I love my friends at home and at school equally as much. So thank you Justin Jared Travis George Kevin Eddy David Kory Tally Chandler Kara Lilly Erika Alex Lea and everbody else that i have forgotten for being there for me. I couldnt have asked for anything better.
But enought with that bit of sentimental nonsense. as for my activities.. I went to the Real Madrid vs Sevilla game. Which was the best soccer game i have ever been to. The crowd was intense. Ive never experieced anything like that before. The singing the drunkeness the whole crowd yelling at the ref. They take their soccer seriously. And i dont care what you thing Christiano Rhonoldo is an amazing soccer player. We also went to Grenada..which if you look at the pictures is just gorgeous. The alhmabra….which is one of the most visted tourist attractions in all of europe…was amazing. I cant even begin to describe how cool it was to see this place. Someones damn house palace castling thing overlooking all of grenada. With Christian and Moorish influnces. wow
On an interesting note, and a note that im sure my parents dont necessarily want to hear but i think i share it anyways…my tolerance for alcohol has gone through the roof. Its absurd the amount that i drink and dont feel completely inebriated. I know this makes me sound like an alchoholic but im most definitly not. I dont have to drink to have fun. Ive always know that. But in spain its the custom to drink….all the time. Spanish culture doesnt respect public drunkeness however. But im going to try to cut back on my drinking….which consequently means spending less money. Which is great because…..
I BOOKED MY FIRST TRIP. Im going from sevilla to barcelona…layover in barceolona…barceolona to dublin Ireland…all day in dublin… Guiness factory all day and then out at night…then a 650 am flight to paris. yes as in that paris. Then all day in paris…then a train to bayoux…night in bayoux then normandy/omaha beach tour. This has always been one of my dreams is to go there. I have such a high respect for the men and women that serve our country…those in the past and those today. Including those who serve at home. So being able to pay my respect to those men who gave up their lives that day….that will make the whole trip for me. It honestly will. Then back to paris for a day and night and then rolling out of paris late sunday night. this is all in five days with the lovely miss Katrina Buckner, one of my good friends from USC Who says that two 20 something year olds cant make intracate plans. Well we did. and im so excited i cant stand it.
However it is now 4 in the morning here. no matter what i cant seem to get to bed early in spain. Must be somehing with the sedentary lifestyle. My familys grown children had a picknick party drinkfest from 12 in the afternoon till at least 1030 tonight when we left to go out. It was rediculous. I love spain and I love the culture. Im slowly pushing myself to speak more and step out into that uncomfortable zone. However its sleep time now… i do need to remeber that i am watching the superbowl tommorow. and its starts at 130 am our time. school on monday should be fun. thank goodness for late classes.
Thanks for reading the rambles. Im sure il post tommorow. I always have so much to say but i forget to write it down. More to come.
also if you ever have the chance to a huge hotdog with egg cheese onions lettuce carrots patatas corn burger sauce ketchup and mayonaise….do it. It will be the best 5 euro sandwhich you have. The garbage truck sandwhich is what i like to call it. Thank you perrito especial for making my night.
So last night I woke up in the middle of the night to see justin having an argument with his closet. Sitting up fully in his bed, talking to his closet. It was absolutly priceless. I really really wish i would have woken myself up to listen to what he was arguing about but i just told him to go to sleep and i fell back asleep. I didnt remember this happeneing till later today. Made my day. well i guess night.
Bufonda in spanish means scarf. and it has become my new word of choice as of late. Those little bastards have become so necessarry because it has been freezing in spain. I have become to realized that I suck at spainsh. I dont push myself enough into the uncomfortable zone and try to learn. I am slowly working on it and i am pushing myself to learn new words and talk spanish among my American friends. But here is a recap of the last couple of days. I really stink at doing this everyday. woops
Club Buddah.
Oh hell. Hands down this was the most fun I have had since ive been in spain. It is probably a bit of a touristy nightclub, or discotecha as they say in spanish. But it has four floors of dancing…and those of you who know me well once i get a bit of drink in my system…i love to dance. and think i can dance well. Anwways we did botellion at teh toro de oro…a monument down by the river. We searched forever looking for the club. However we finally found it and bought chandler some birthday shots….21st for her! so after a “few” shots of tequila it was time to dance. Il spear you the details but there are some unflatering pictures floating around….mostly showing me looking like a jumped into a swimming pool….it was just sweat. oh welllll. We left around 4am because i was about 15 minutes from passing out due to lack of water and that my legs were super sore and felt like jelly. How low can you go
Friday was the hungover bussride to grenada. Well i wasnt hungover but others were very much so. Grenada is the most georgous city in the world I think. So dam Scenic. I have 1 bazillion dumb photos to put up after this post so you guys can check out my facebook and see whats up. We went to a flamenco show, ate some tapas, has some beers, and went to alhambra, which is my favorite historical place so far. you can see all of the city from its highest point. it was a beautiful mansion for a king and queen. I slept the whole bussride home. excellent
Saturday night we decided to go to calle Alfalfa… a strip of bars about 45 mins away from us. figures. good thing my legs arnt sore. anyways we had huge mojitos and some aqua de Seville…which is basically a big pitcher full of shots. we had a grand ol time and I made some closer friends in the process.
I am really beginning to enjoy the spanish lifestyle. Instead of drinking heavily, id almost rather prefer to grab some beers and tapas with friends and talk and hang out. Maybe its a sign of age oh well
I experience my first bit of sadness the other day. I just hate the fact that i cant have friends over to hang out. I have to go 45 minutes across town or go out to a bar. hanging and drinking is fun but i dont like doing it all the time. People cant come over and just wathch a movie or hang out. I love the death out my roomates but we dont do much when we are home. We sit burried in our laptops….interesting because thats what im doing now. oh well. I have so much more fun when im around friends and doing something. But we finally have some travel plans in the works so i fell better and am no longer in a “funk” as i called it. Im better when i have stuff to do and not sit idly with my thumb up my ass, as my father would put it.
Trying to make travel plans with a group of friends and slow ass internet it really difficult. but i have some plans in the works so i feel good about it. Im gonna work hard tommorwo to get stuff in the works. But right now i need to get off this comptuer. I was incredible productive tonight…probably the first time since ive been in spain. weird
Il put my travel plans up when they are solid. ideas now are lagos portugal, itally, paris and countryside, ireland, amsteramn and anywhere else i can afford and book
peaceee
So right now I am writing thing in a Microsoft word document because the Internet is down. Imagine that. I should actually feel privileged that I have Internet because some of my friends don’t. Currently im so tired of walking….anywhere. I just walked my friend lea home because she lives away from us and didn’t have anybody to walk her home. I have the latest class tomorrow so that job came back to me. I don’t mind walking people home but after I walked her home…about 20 mins…. I had to come back to my original spot and then walk another thirty minutes home. Its absolutely ridiculous that there is no bars or nightlife around where we life…but I suppose that could be a good thing. We will find some bars close anyways. Any way we look at it it’s a 45-minute walk home. Honestly im wearing my shoes out. Anyway not much to report today…school starts tomorrow and I have a legit schedule. Il post that up here later im too tired to go get it tho. Dollar sangria night is a joke however….no alcohol and a ton of cinnamon… which my buddy says is an aphrodisiac and makes girls horny. Seems unrealistic to me nor did I notice any affects from anything. But that’s not the point. The point is I hate walking so much. I know its good for me. But hell. It sucks
Some other thoughts ive written down and want to share
1. the other night I found a shank…. A legit like homemade shank. Prison style. Il post a pic maybe. Don’t judge me. I just found it
2. People here LOVE McDonalds. Its always soooo crowded. And there are no obese people here. The menu is better too
3. A women…full grown woman came up to me in a bar the other night and said “muy guapo” which means very handsome….and kissed me on both cheeks. This is Spanish custom if you know somebody or are greeting or meeting a friend. But she did this in passing. It came out of nowhere and definitely freaked me out. I was stone cold sober too. Really weird. I guess that’s just how it is.
4. We fulfill every American stereotype when we go out….drunk loud obnoxious inconsiderate rude etc etc. I hate it so much as Jared will tell you. It just sucks. I guess I will get over it our go out in smaller less American groups
5. My feet are tired. I hate walking all day long. Oh well. Its 315 am and school starts tomorrow. Bedtime
