Paris, Day Two: Arch de Triomph, Eiffel Tower, and the Lourve

The next morning Tyler and I woke up around 12 pm when he got a phone call from Samantha, who was going to be meeting us and staying with us at the hotel. I booked the hotel for two people and there were only two tiny beds, but to save money we decided all three us could rough it for two nights. Samantha said she was taking the metro and would be at the hotel in 30 minutes. Tyler and I got dressed and decided to go get breakfast/lunch while we waited for her to get here. There was a bread place/bakery across the street that I had read about in all the reviews of the hotel as being really good so we went there. I got this baguette, which was the size of my forearm, for only 4.50 euros. Pretty good for Paris. 

First French baugette, so good. there are breads and baugettes all over Paris.

 By the time we got our food and started eating it it had already been over and hour and Samantha told us she was only 30 minutes away an hour ago. Tyler tried to call Samantha again but his phone wasn't working and mine unfortunately wasn't working either so we were a little bit worried. We knew finding the hotel would be difficult but we had hoped it was going to be easier for her because she was finding it during the day. After we both ate we walked back to the hotel and much to our relief she had just got there. She was flustered and trying to check in but she forgot my last name. I was a little worried she might do that because I knew we were over-booking our room with people and that was kind of illegal so I thought we might get in trouble or be forced to buy another room.
When Samantha was checking in the receptionist said "there are already two people in this room so you can't sleep here" and in my mind I'm like "oh shit. were in trouble." but then Samantha was like "well can I just sleep on the floor? I don't mind." and the receptionist just laughed at her. Then luckily for us again, the receptionist was very nice and said to us in a whisper "I dont care if you all three sleep in the room, just go up there quickly and don't tell anyone". That was such a relief for me because I already felt bad booking the hotel in a really hard to find area and then making Samantha travel the metro to get here and then walk for over an hour to find the place; I would have felt so awful if she couldn't stay with us.
    After she got settled and ate we decided to finally go out and explore Paris. We had a map from the hotel and I suggested we went to the Arch de Triomph first just because it is one of the those uniquely Parisian things in every Paris movie and kind of cool.

Here is a pic of us by the Arch de Triomph

Ceiling at the Arch de Triomph

French Independence

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

After that we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. That was a mistake. Samantha and I were both struggling. She was tired from the long morning walk to the hotel and I was tired from yesterday, walking back and forth from school twice, walking to and thru the airport, and walking around all night trying to find a non-existent McDonald's. When we finally did see it, it was amazing. It was so huge and lovely. Not quite the color I expected, it was more coppery but I thought it would be goldish.

First sighting of the Eiffel Tower

 Gorgeous Panoramic of Paris, we got so lucky being in Paris on a perfect fall day

Samantha and I both had our hearts set on going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Tyler didn't really care to, but when we saw the line we decided it would be better to go the next day. After that we got some drinks somewhere just to rest our feet and then took a metro to the Louvre which was stunning from the inside and out. It is in its own little Plaza which itself is a lovely building and then the glass pyramid that you always see with the Lourve is also really pretty. All the architecture on the inside is amazing too. Of course our first stop when we got in there was the Mona Lisa, the main attraction of the Louvre, though it is filled with countless masterpieces.

The Lourve

Me outside the Lourve

Mona, as you can see below, was surprisingly tiny and covered with what I'm sure is bulletproof glass. It had a huge crowd around it. It was cool to see but not my favorite thing in the Lourve. Apparently it is only so famous because it has been stolen so many times.

 Saw the Mona Lisa, it was suprisingly tiny

Loved this painting. Lady Liberty Leading the People, probably the most famous painting about the French Revolution, a symbol of patriotism for France

The Lourve had amazing artwork and it was soo HUGE! We had asked a guy earlier that day about it and he told us we needed a whole day there and I can see why. We got there around 8pm but probably left at 9:30ish because the Lourve is free for students from 6 to 10 pm on fridays, which was amazing because it has to be one of the, if not THE best art museum in the world. I feel like I will have to go back there again at somepoint in my life and re-explore it all.
After the Lourve we were all tired so we decided to go back to the hotel. We ordered dinner from the front desk and it wasn't that great but we only paid about 5 euros a piece for it so we couldn't expect much.
We tried to go out that night and find a bar by where we were but we failed. There were no bars in the area that we could find and no bars that any of the parisians we asked knew of. There were bars in Central Paris, but our bus station closed at 10:30 and it was already after 12 so we didn't know how we got back. All of us were also really tired and Samantha and I could barely walk because our feet hurt so bad. Tyler was unaffected by all of the day's walking. We decided we would plan ahead and definitely go out the next night.

Paris, day one: Traveling to Paris

This weekend (Thursday night thru Sunday) I went to Paris, France for the first time ever. Tyler and I got to our hotel first on thursday night and Samantha would be coming on Friday because she booked a flight with a different airline. Our flight came in at 10ish and we had no idea how to get to the hotel. We tried to get a metro ticket, but when we got to the metro station at the airport they kept making announcements about the metro closing soon and we were nervous and didn’t want to get trapped somewhere so we ended up just taking a taxi. In retrospect I’m really glad we did because even if we did take the metro it was very dark and our taxi driver even had a hard time finding the hotel.

            I booked the hotel and I had read that it was in a new area but it had really good reviews and was relatively inexpensive so I thought it should be fine (it ended up being a really nice place and our room came with dishes, a dishwasher, a stove and a microwave plus a heated towel rack and had lovely receptionists’ at the front desk but it proved to be very difficult to get there for both Tyler and I and Samantha). When we got to the hotel it was close to 11 pm and Tyler and I were both so hungry. We had gone straight to the airport from school and neither of us had really eaten dinner. We were hoping we could find something by the hotel so we asked the receptionist. He told us he could order us food but we were told him that was ok, because we thought it might be easier to just go out and get something. We ended up wandering to this bar 3 or 4 blocks from our hotel and asked some locals if they knew where a McDonald’s was. They pointed down the street to the right and said it was just passed three round-about. About two miles and at least an hour of walking later, we found no McDonald’s and were still very hungry and I was pretty maxed out on walking and limping badly.

By now it was about 12:45/1amish and we had walked back to the direction of the hotel. We decided to walk in the opposite direction just to see if we went the wrong way and sure enough, there was a freaking McDonald’s like 4 blocks in the opposite direction from our hotel. We were both so mad, and it was closed so we were depressed. We then just walked back to the hotel told the receptionist our story and he asked us again if we wanted to order food from this company. The first time when we said no we were just confused because we though he said it closed at 11pm and it was just after 11 when we first got there. The receptionist clarified though and said that this company would deliver until 3 am right to the hotel. So we were both kicking our selves for not doing that right off the bat. We ordered food right then and there and he said it would take about 30 minutes and he would call our room when it got here.

So we went up to the room, changed, watched T.V. and got settled and waited for 45/50 mins. It would about 2 am when we decided to go back down there and figure out what was going on. Before we got down there Tyler and I both agreed that if it wasn’t coming we would just go to bed hungry. We were both more tired than hungry anyways so we didn’t want to stay up any later just to eat. The receptionist said he’d call again for us and the food place said our food would arrive in another 15 minutes if we still wanted it and we told him it was ok.

We were starting to walk towards the elevator to just go upstairs and back to bed when the front desk receptionist stopped us and told us to wait and he went to a little room on the side. Tyler and I were both very confused but we waited. When he came back he had a plastic bag and said there were croissants from tomorrow’s breakfast and his own cheeseburger that we could have to eat because he felt bad for us. It was so nice we were both embarrassed. We told him we would be ok without food tonight and that he could keep it, even though it was the nicest gesture, but he insisted so we took it. That was my first experience with french people and he was so nice. The sterotype of them being mean, which I was warned of by many people, turned out not to be true.

plates

mini dish washer in our hotel room

mini fridge

electric kettle and some cafe

Rainy Weekend in Barcelona: First Independent Travel Trip

This past weekend we went to Barcelona. We left early on Friday morning and came back late Saturday night, so it was a short weekend but it ended up working out better that way. Friday we had a 9:50 am flight but I woke up at 5 am to get ready and then catch the metro because it was going to be on strike that day. The metro has been on strike a lot lately because Madrid and Spain’s economy are so bad and our host mom told us they drastically cut the pay of metro workers recently. The days when the metro is on strike the metro either doesn’t run for certain hours of the day (usually 6 to 10 am and 6 to 10 pm, the most necessary time to take the metro to get to work and school, therefore making the best political statement) or it runs very limitedly (every 30 minutes instead of every 5 minutes or less).

Luckily for us, the metro was running from 6 am to 8 am that day but only every 30 minutes. The metro opens everyday at 6 am so I decided I didn’t want to push my luck and I got on the first train of the day and it wasn’t anymore crowded than usual. I had to make a connection at the same stop as my friend Samantha so we met at that station. That next train was unbelievably packed. We were slammed in the train for 5 stops, which seemed like an eternity. Whenever the metro turned I was afraid someone would fall over and then everyone would be down. I also saw a lady who looked like she was going to hurl, maybe due to claustrophobia or the fact that it was so hot and smelled like BO.

In any event I think we were very relieved once we got to our destination of the airport and off the smelly, crowded metro. Once we made it to the airport everything was easy. Security took no time at all and none of us had any problems. It seemed a lot less strict than security in the U.S.

Our flight was pretty short and easy. It was my first experience with RyanAir, the super cheap airline, and it was ok. They try and sell you things the entire flight and nothing is free. They don’t give you complimentary drinks or anything but the flight was like 40 euros round-trip so I can’t complain.

Since we took RyanAir it flew into GIRONA, not BARCELONA so we had to take a bus from Girona to Barcelona. It was really easy but just slightly annoying to not have a direct flight. A lot of low cost airlines don’t fly you into the right airport but since none of us had ever traveled before we did not know that. Its all part of the experience I guess.

Once we got to Barcelona we were all slightly disappointed by the weather; it was overcast and drizzling. Little did we know that would end up being the far better day of the two days we spent there. We got kebabs at some place near the bus station and then found our hostel. The group I went with was pretty big, I think there were 11 of us total, which, in my opinion, ended up being too many people. This was my first independent travel trip so I didn’t really know what I liked but after this I think its just a lot easier to go in a smaller group.

I thought our hostel was very nice for the price (only 16 euros a night!). They had free breakfast, free Internet access, a terrace with a beautiful view of Barca, laundry (for a fee), a swimming pool and workout room. It was also my first hostel experience and I liked it. It was like being in a dorm and it seemed like everyone staying there was college-aged. I met a lot of new people in the elevators and in the common room. 

View from our hostel terrace, the bullet shaped building was iridescent 

More views from our hostel

Hostel terrace

After getting settled we were all a little restless to go do things since we were only staying in barca for such a short time. Syd and I, being art history buffs (We are also in art history together at SLU Madrid), decided we really wanted to go to La Sagrada Familia, this really awesome church in Barcelona. Everyone else in the group was not really keen on going because they were sick of seeing churches but we both were dying to go and we assured them that it would be worth their while.

When we got just to the outside of it everyone stopped complaining because they saw how magnificent it was. It was by far the most amazing thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It gave me shivers it was so beautiful and I’m quite confident there is no other church like it in the world. The detail work on the inside and out is amazing

Me outside la Sagrada Familia, its still being completed, it was started in the 1890's but due to Civil War within Spain, World Wars and Guadi's sudden death at an early age (he was run over by a bus) it is still be completed today

Tyler in awe

The way the building was designed it is sopposed to look like a forest

Stained Glass in La Sagrada Familia

The ceilings are even beautiful

Me and Samantha inside La Sagrada Familia

Altar piece

Art History Buffs

Some goregous carvings in the outside of the building, the entire outside of the building is this detailed.

After La Sagrada Famalia I really wanted to see Park Guell, also designed by Gaudi and full of his sculptures. It ended up being really far away and involving a crazy steep hill climb but we made it. And it was beautiful too. Nothing compared to La Sagrada Familia but still colorful and lovely. Some of Guadi’s houses were over there too.

Finally we all decided we wanted dinner so we went to Las Rambas, the main street and shopping area of Barca and got dinner. Everyone was pretty tired and our group kind of split up again after that. I was pretty much maxed out on walking by that point, we had probably walked at least 5 miles that day, and I wanted to just go back to the hostel and rest. 

Park Guell, Guadi's Park in Barcelona

 view of Barcelona from Park Guell

Me on a Bench in Park Guell, it was rainy

The Whole Gang (Marshall, Tyler, Me, Samantha, Ahmed, Syd, Florian and Jenny)

More cool ceilings

     That night me, Tyler and Samantha just stayed up late and chatted on the third floor were the terrace was. Everyone else went to bed early because they were tired or going on a early morning bike tour but we decided since we only had the one night in Barca we should make the most of it.

    The next day in Barca it was pouring rain. It didn't stop once all day. I woke up exhausted but happy that I basically got to see everything I wanted to see the day before. The only thing I didn't see while I was in Barcelona that I really wanted to was Santa Maria del Mar, the cathedral of Barcelona. If it was sunny I would have liked to go to the beachs too but that just means il have to come back another time in my life. 

    Alot of people wanted to walk to the port and see the ocean but Tyler and I were tired and my foot hurt so we stayed closer to the hostel and decided we would meet them there later. It was a moonsoon all day and we were freezing so we found this little coffee shop that had coffee for .75 euros. It ended up being the best coffee I've had in spain and also the cheapest. It was great. After that we stumbled upon a market and saw some nasty things. I saw a pig's skin face and every variety of fish ever. The fish are so fresh in spain they look like they are still alive. Its freaky.

do you spy the pig face?

Christopher Columbus Statue

Rainy Day In Barca

Me and Tyler at the Port

We discovered that the port area was very close to Las Ramblas so we decided to meet the rest of the group there. Everyone was soaked and tired and they group that wasn’t with us all day decided that they wanted to go back to Las Ramblas. Tyler and I didn’t because we were just there and my foot was hurting really bad so we went back to the hostel. Technically we were checked out but the front desk workers were really chill and they didn’t care so we went up to the 3^rd floor lounge area and took and nap on the bean bags and dried off. The bed at that hostel and that bean bag nap were the best sleep I’ve gotten since being in spain. It was amazing. I felt so refreshed.

The rest of the trip was just a breeze. We got dinner at place close the bus station, got on the bus, got to the airport, waited there for a bit and then got home. We were all happy to be back in Madrid.  

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Saturday at the Prado

On Saturday we went to the Prado art museum in Madrid. I had been dying to go since I got here and was really excited. It ended up being me, Samantha, Marshall and Syd who went. We all met at the Prado and since we are students we got in for FREE! I love student discounts.

The museum is huge and you could probably spend days there but we just hit the highlights. We saw all of Goya’s dark paintings, which were very scary. They even had the lights dimmed in the room to emphasize their frightening subject matter. I also saw many Velázquez paintings, and his most famous work, Las Meninas. Las Meninas is considered to be one of the best and most famous works of Spanish art of all time so that was amazing to see. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

My favorite thing that I saw was Bosch’s Garden of Earthy Delights. It is a triptych so that means it opens like a display board and has different meanings based on if it is open or closed. It was open in the museum and we obviously couldn’t touch it but it was so cool. It’s pretty big and has amazing details and bright colors. It was made in the  late 1400/ early 1500s but looked very modern and Dali-ish or something. I loved it. After the Prado everyone was hungry so we went to a bar and go some food. It was there that I realized I lost my phone! I was freaking out for a bit because I really didn’t want to buy another one so I went back to the Prado to look for it.

Luckily for me it was just sitting in the grass outside the Prado, where we had been earlier that day and since it is bright blue it was easy to find. I’m pretty sure no one took it because it is stone-age technology and probably worth a euro or less. Sometimes it pays to have ancient technology.

All of us outside the Prado (me, samantha, syd and marshall)

the walk up to the Prado

That night there was a free concert hosted by MTV near my friend Samantha’s place in Madrid. We decided to check it out because as college students we are drawn to anything free. I met her at the metro station and then we met some of her friends that she met the other night in SOL. They are from Syracuse and are also studying abroad in Madrid. There was three of them, two girls and a boy, and the girl said she had to wait for her other guy friend, Juan. I thought Juan would be a college-aged student also from Syracuse but he ended up being a random 30-ish something Spanish man. I actually mistook him for being homeless. He looked like a Spanish Kosmo Kramer.  He and the girl ended up pretty much hanging out with each other the whole time instead of us so it was fine.

The concert

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More concert pics

Me, Samantha and some new friends from Syracuse

Rock out

Posing by the MTV Madrid Beach sign, you can't really see it with the lighting

  The concert was pretty cool for a bit and they played a lot of trendy Spanish songs. However, it was super crowded and there were a lot of drunk people, which is a volatile combination when you have a broken foot (people step on you/fall over on you). I only stayed until 12 because I wanted to catch the metro back but I’m still glad I went.

Found the H and M of my dreams

On Friday a few of my friends were going hiking, my good friend Tyler was in Portugal visiting his mom and the rest of us were just chilling. There is this clothing store in Sol called TOPSHOP, its really famous and one of my roommates had just gotten a really cute shirt from there so I posted in our trip planning group on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to go with me. My friends Samantha, and her roommate Jenny said they would go with me.

To save money, I decided to walk there instead of taking the metro. I like to walk not only because it is free, but then I also get exercise while exploring my surroundings and getting my barring of the city of Madrid. It’s really not that big of a city and I like to wander to find out got to get places. I got lost on the way there and was a little late meeting them but I think it was worth it. I won’t get lost again now that I know the right way.

We went to TOPSHOP and it was really amazing. We found the sale section pretty quickly because the store was kind of expensive but none of us got anything. I tried on this really cool leather and lace lilac-colored dress that I was in love with. Unfortunately the lace had a rip in it which was probably for the best because it kept me from spending unnecessary money.

After that we wander around a few more stores and then got some dinner. I wasn’t that hungry and didn’t have that much money so I just got sangria. The sangria is amazing here and they have it everywhere. A lot of times it is cheaper than bottled water or pop and I think I will really miss not being able to find quality sangria when I am back in the states.

Since the metro was on strike I had to walk home too, but it ended up being worth it because I found the amazing H and M I had been looking for. This H and M used to be a theatre but they just turned it into a store and it is huge and beautiful. It still looks like a theatre and has amazing balconies and chandeliers and is four stories. They also had unbelievable stuff ranging from 3 to 300 Euros. It was insane. I’ve fallen in love with European style and fashion. I ended up buying a 17 euro necklace but everything in the store was to die for.