Paris

Three weekends ago (the first weekend in November), I went to Paris. I was very, very excited, although I really didn't much about any monuments in Paris before I went except for Versailles. It was the first time I traveled to a country where neither Spanish or English are widely spoken, which was a very weird experience for me.

Our flight to Paris went from Granada to Madrid to Paris. Once again, we had way too much time in the Granada airport because security is a joke and it takes five seconds to walk to the gates, of only which two actually function. Our flights were fine getting into Paris. Long story short, Sophie and I were staying in a different hostel than Renee, Chelsea, and Mary so we split up at our respective Metro stops and went to check into the hostel. It took about two hours to get from the airport to Aloha Hostel so I was definitely ready to be done traveling by the time we got there!

We checked in and found our room at the hostel very easily. The wasn't the best one I've stayed at it, but it could have been worse. We had all decided that after we checked into the hostels, we would meet up for dinner. The only means of communication we had, other than my international phone and Renee's American phone which are both expensive, required wifi so when Sophie and I were done checking in, we hung out in the lobby to get in touch with everyone else.

Apparently disaster had struck during our check in process because Sophie had frantic messages from everyone saying that their hotel was absolutely disgusting and that they didn't feel safe staying there. They were all crying and freaking out about what they were going to do. Sophie and I tried to help them find somewhere to stay, but they weren't really listening to us so we realized there was nothing to do and went to eat dinner. We found this delicious Italian restaurant and ate pizza for dinner. Once we were back in the hostel, we checked in with everyone and they told us that Chelsea's mom ended up pulling a lot of strings (everything was pretty much booked for the night) to get them a room for the weekend in a hotel. Sophie and I found the hotel so we could check in with them in person, but everyone was so exhausted that after a while we went back to our hostel and called it a night.

We woke up early on Friday to go see the Eiffel Tower in all its glory. I don't know statistics about it or anything, but I'm guessing that a TON of people go there every year. In case anyone was curious, it is named after the engineer who designed and built the tower, Gustave Eiffel and was created in 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. To be honest, I didn't really care whether or not I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower because even though it is a great view, the most iconic part of Paris is the Eiffel Tower, which I wouldn't be able to see because I was in it. Nevertheless, we waited in line forever to get our tickets and go to the top. By the time we actually got there, my feet and hands were so numb that all I wanted to do was run right back down, which we basically did because it was SO windy. About five minutes after we left the very top, they had to shut it down due to the wind and rain.

I actually got really lucky with my timing in Paris because the United Buddy Bears exhibition happens to be there this year. The United Buddy Bears is a huge collection of life-size bear sculptures that represent different countries all around the world, although only ones that are acknowledged by the United Nations. There are over 140 bears and each one was painted by an artist selected from that country. The Buddy Bears were founded in Berlin in 2001 and became so popular that they began a world tour in 2002. Every year they're moved to a different country to be put on exhibition. The whole idea behind the Buddy Bears is to promote tolerance, understanding, and peace amongst nations. Here's me with the Spain bear.

After spending the morning in the Eiffel Tower area, we made our way over to the Arc de Triomphe at the western end of Champs-Élysées. The arch is actually located in the middle of a huge roundabout so getting there was kind an adventure. As intellectual college students, we decided to make a run for it through four or five lanes of traffic to get the island that is the arch. Of course when we got there, we realized that there's an underground walkway that's just as effective and significantly less dangerous. Nonetheless, we got there and it was certainly worth it! Designed in 1806, the arch serves as a memorial to honor those who died in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. It actually has the names of all the French victories and generals inscribed on the walls. Under the arch is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

Because the Arc is at the end of Avenue de Champs-Élysées, it was the perfect place to begin wandering down the avenue. It was so cool to wander around because there were tons of people and so many different things to look. At first, I mostly just saw rows and rows of designer stores. There were huge lines everywhere from Abercombie & Fitch to Louis Vuitton to the Ferrari store. After a while, we reached the part where all the museums are. We didn't go inside any of them, but they were beautiful to look at. We even had to take shelter in part of one of them because the rain had gotten so bad.

After Champs-Élysées, we made our way over to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The line was insanely long to get in (pretty much the theme of the weekend) but even just the outside was worth the trip. It's a very beautiful gothic cathedral and one of the most famous in the world. Of course, it reminded me of the Disney movie - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - which is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Here's Notre Dame.

We decided to just wander around the Notre Dame area for a while and ended up getting a snack in a little cafe. I'm obsessed with crepes so I took the opportunity to order hot chocolate and a sugar and butter crepe. I dipped my crepe in the hot chocolate which was a genius idea if I do say so myself. After that, we went back to our hostels for some down time before dinner.

Friday was actually Chelsea's birthday so we decided to find a nice restaurant to celebrate. The one we planned on going to (Sophie found it online) was actually closed but we found another one close by. The waiters were very patient as we painstakingly tried to decipher the menu and the food turned out delicious. We surprised Chelsea with dessert and sang Happy Birthday to her.

Afterwards, we went to Moulin Rouge to see what the area was like. We didn't actually go to a show in Moulin Rouge because the tickets are sold out months in advance and are quite expensive. One of the guys on the CEA staff, Jorge, told us before we left to watch out for the hookers (it was very funny in his Spanish accent). Although I don't think I actually saw any hookers, I understand why he warned us.   We ended up going into a few bars close to Moulin Rouge and everyone I was with did an Absynth shot, which is a ridiculously strong alcohol that is illegal in the US. I did not participate in the shots but I tried a sip and felt like I was going to vomit. The whole area wasn't really my scene so I was very thankful when everyone was tired and ready to call it a night.

On Saturday, we woke up early yet again to go to the Palace of Versailles, the royal palace of France. Even though I was exhausted, I was SO excited to finally see Versailles in person after having discussed it in school many times over the years. Versailles isn't actually in the city of Paris so it took a pretty long Metro ride to get there. I would do it again ten times over though because Versailles is more amazing in person than pictures can ever try to capture. We all got in for free with our student visas and basically spent the morning and early afternoon trying to see as much as we possibly could. We toured the chateau, which is the main building of the palace, and wandered around the perfectly manicured gardens. My favorite part was actually Marie Antoinette's estate, called Hameau de la Reine, towards the northern end of the grounds. It was built for her in 1783 as a rustic retreat of the chateau but it actually served as a fully functioning farm.

This is all five of us in front of Versailles. From left to right: Mary, Chelsea, Sophie, me, Renee.

This is the Hall of Mirrors, one of the most famous rooms in the chateau. 

 Hameau de la Reine, where Marie Antoinette went to escape the limitations of the palace.

After touring the wonder that is Versailles, we made our way over to Salon du Chocolat Paris, also known as the chocolate festival of Paris. I felt like I had died and gone to chocolate heaven. The second you walk in, the smell of sugary sweetness overpowers anything. There were chocolate fountains, chocolate sculptures, and even a chocolate fashion show. Everything looked beautiful and absolutely delicious! The first thing I ate was a chocolate éclair, which I had never tried before and am now a big fan. I also got a chocolate macaroon and lots of random samples. Sophie and I split this chocolate bar with fresh raspberries in it. I also got this fluffy thing that was homemade marshmallow on the inside and milk and white chocolate swirl on the outside. Needless to say, we were all completely sick (and very content) by the time we left.

Sophie and I both really wanted to see Sacre-Cour Basilica, yet another Roman Catholic church, so that's where we headed next. Mary and I had to stop to use the bathroom on the way and I have never felt so incompetent. It was some sort of automated public restroom in the street that somehow cleans itself (kind of). Getting it open was a big accomplishment but getting the door to close was even harder. A lot of laughter and about fifteen minutes later, we figured out how it worked and moved on to find the church. We had to walk up a very steep incline to get to the church from the Metro station, but I've basically been preparing for that all semester since I walk fifty minutes uphill three days a week to get to class. The church, which is located on the highest point in the city, was beautiful, and the area around it was so cute that we stayed there to eat dinner. I ordered a typical French cuisine called croque-madam, which is basically a a ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top, and it was really good! Here's Sacre-Cour at night.

Once we left Sacre Cour, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it in all of its nighttime glory. Of course I've seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night, but I was unaware of the fact that every hour, it sparkles. The normal lights are beautiful but when it starts sparkling the tower is just mesmerizing. It actually started sparkling as we were getting off the Metro but I wanted to see it sparkle again from a good vantage point. At the time, we didn't know how often it happened so we waited and waited until finally we realized it was only every hour. By that point, we were pretty committed so I insisted that we stay. Even though it was freezing outside, I could have watched it all night!

The next day was Sunday, our day of departure, but our flight wasn't until 6pm so we had plenty of time to see a little more of Paris before going back to Spain. The plan was to go to the Louvre and see what we wanted. Jorge's advice concerning the Louvre was "run" which is probably the only way you could see a decent portion of it. Unfortunately, by the time Sophie and I got there, the line was so long that it was wrapping around all sorts of places and would have taken two hours to get through. Mary, Chelsea, and Renee had gotten in line about ten minutes earlier so they had a good spot and stayed while Sophie and I went searching for something else to do.

We ended up stumbling upon Musée d'Orsay, a former railway station turned museum that houses mostly French art from 1848 to 1915. The museum is best known for its extensive impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. There was a temporary exhibition there on Impressionism and Fashion which was really cool and included everything from paintings to design sketches to clothing. In the museum itself, I saw works by Edouard Manet, Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Jean-Francois Millet, Henri de Toulousse-Lautrec, and more. My personal favorites were Van Gough and Monet, but honestly everything was beautiful. It was so cool being able to see the brush strokes and true colors of the paintings. I liked that I was able to see pretty much the entire museum whereas if I'd gone to the Louvre, I would have seen almost nothing.

Sophie and I ate lunch at the museum restaurant and then wandered around the area for a while. We found this bridge called Pont des Arts where people go and put locks on the sides, similar to the one I saw in Dublin. This one had a lot more locks than the one in Dublin though!

We then walked over towards the Champs-Élysées area and found the Obélisque de Louxor.

After that, we found a little cafe and got chocolate eclairs as our last hoorah to Paris before heading back to the hostel to get our stuff and go to the airport. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and our flight went fine. We didn't get into Granada until late but Chelsea and I did homework on the plane so it made me feel a little more confident that I would be able to get all my work done before class the next day. All in all, I felt like I saw a lot of Paris and absolutely loved every inch of it!

Sevilla and Cordoba

Two weekends ago, I went on an overnight trip with my program to Sevilla and Córdoba. Sevilla is the capital of Andalucia as well as the fourth largest city in Spain. Córdoba is a much smaller city but has a very rich cultural history.

We went to Sevilla first and the bus ride only took about three hours. When we arrived, we went straight to our first tour. We began at Reales Alcázares, which is the royal palace in Seville that started out as a Moorish fort. It's the oldest royal palace in Europe that's still in use. Because of its Moorish influences, the palace reminded me a lot of the Alhambra.

After the tour of Reales Alcázares, we went to Seville Cathedral, which in Spanish is called Catedral de Santa María de la Sede. It's the largest Gothic cathedral and third largest church in the entire world. A lot of famous figures are buried there, including Christopher Columbus and some of the most important kings in Spanish history like Ferdinand III of Castille. The church is gigantic and beautiful, but since I've seen a lot of Gothic cathedrals already, the only thing that made this one extra special was its size. Here's the cathedral. It's so big that it doesn't all fit into one photo, but this was my best attempt.

Below is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. The story behind his remains is ridiculously complicated. According to our tour guide, they started out in a monastery in Valladolid, Spain, where Columbus died. After about forty years, they were transferred to the Dominican Republic. A Few hundred years later, France took over Spain (then known as Hispaniola) and moved the remains to Havana, Cuba. When Cuba gained its independence around 1900, what was left of the remains were moved to Seville where they still are today. The four figures holding up the box where the remains are actually stored represent the four kingdoms of Spain during Columbus' life - Castille, Aragon, Navara, and Leon. 

My favorite part of the cathedral was the tower. It was about thirty five stories high and you walk up a never ending ramp to get to the top. The reason it's a ramp instead of stairs is because people used to ride their horses up there, which worked out better for me since 35 stories of ramps is a little more manageable. Here's the view of Sevilla from the tower. 

After we were done wandering around the cathedral, we had some free time to walk around the Santa Cruz quarter and eat lunch. It was fun wandering through the shops and all of the little alleys, but everything looks very similar so it's really easy to get lost! Córdoba is better known for its confusing alleyways, but I made sure to be extra aware of my surroundings in Sevilla too. 

The next thing on the itinerary was Plaza de España which is located in Parque de María Luisa. It was built in 1928 for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition World's Fair. The whole area was absolutely gorgeous. You can't see in these pictures, but along the building there are little tiled alcoves representing each of the fifty provinces of Spain.

We had some free time to explore Plaza de España, but after a while there wasn't much else to do there so we went over to this festival we found on the way to the plaza. It was the Festival de las Naciones (Festival of the Nations), which basically consisted of little booths with food and trinkets from various countries around the world. It was really cute and I ended up buying a scarf from one of the booths. 

After that we all went to the hotel, checked in, and ate dinner. I had a cold and wasn't feeling well at all so I didn't want to participate in any night activities. I walked around the neighborhood of our hotel for a little while but there wasn't much there. I went back to my room, put my pajamas on, watched TV, and went to sleep.

That night was daylight savings, which is a week earlier in Europe for some reason. I'm not quite sure what happened, but all of our alarm clocks were messed up so we woke up an hour late. My roommates were freaking out which was super funny but we had plenty of time to get downstairs before check out so I wasn't concerned. It took about two hours to drive from Sevilla to Córdoba. You can't drive in the old part of the city because the streets are so narrow so we had to get off of our bus outside the city and walk in on this bridge.

We got to see the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, known as the Juderia, which was really fun for me because there's not much Jewish life in Spain these days. Jews don't live there anymore, but in its hay day Córdoba was known for its tolerance amongst the three main religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity). We toured La Sinagoga de Córdoba but it literally took two seconds because it's about the same size as my bedroom.

Another popular attraction in Córdoba is Calleja de las Flores which just translates to the flower alley. It's very pretty and has the traditional flower pots on the wall. The reason people started putting flower pots on the outside of the buildings in Spain is because the walls would crack pretty frequently. Instead of fixing the entire wall, they just put flower pots over them to hide the problem and make the building prettier at the same time.

The last thing we did in Córdoba was visit La Mezquita de Córdoba, which is considered one of the biggest monuments in Islamic architecture. It was built in 600 and is famous for its big red arches as well as the giant cathedral that was built smack dab in the middle during the reconquest in 1236. Our tour guide pointed out that when you walk into the mosque, you feel at home but not overwhelmed, whereas all the cathedrals we saw were built to intimidate whoever walks inside them. 

You can see in the picture below the transition from the mosque to the cathedral. It's very clear where the mosque ends and the cathedral starts since the styles are so dramatically different. Because of how the cathedral was built into the mosque, the structures can't survive without each other. The building is still considered a cathedral even though it's called the Mosque of Córdoba so Muslims aren't technically allowed to pray there, which in recent years has been quite controversial.

My weekend in Sevilla and Córdoba was a bit of a blur because it went by so quickly, but I really enjoyed getting to see some of the buildings I've studied for years in my history classes!