Well, its been about a month since my last update, and tons has happened. School ended December 20th for me, and Lindsay came to visit the 21st. On the way to meet her at the airport, my laptop got stolen in the metro. It was pretty horrible and stressful, but luckily we had coverage and we were able to replace it. But lets just say I was happy to get out of Madrid for a few days. Ugh!
My host mother let Lindsay stay at our apartment here, and that was very nice of her, because it meant we didnt have to pay for a hostal. The day she came she was pretty exhausted, and so was I. We took a nap, then went with my host father to the police station to report my laptop stolen, because I needed a police report for insurance. The police officer took like an hour and typed everything I said with one finger.
Then we just took a walk to the Royal Palace and around my neighborhood, just took it easy.
Friday was insane, we did both the Reina Sofia museum and the Prado. It was incredibly tiring, but Im glad she got to see both of them. That night we went and saw flamenco, which was fun too. They didnt dance as much as they did when I went with Erin, which was a bit disappointing, but they were still good nonetheless. I hope they dance more when my parents and sister come, though.
Saturday we flew to Barelona. I loved that city, it is so refreshingly different from Madrid. The first day we just walked around, our hotel was right in the middle, on the street La Rambla, which is the funky downtown area. We just had some paella and went to bed, because it was pretty stressful getting there, we got lost on a train in the outskirts for a while.
The next day was more walking around, we went down to the ocean and took a little cable car across the water up to the mountain Montjuic. We walked around that a lot, and then headed back down. It was sunday, so a lot of stuff was closed.
Monday was Christmas, and we walked around to see all the Gaudi art there is in town. We saw the Sagrada Familia church, which was really impressive and beautiful, despite the 7 cranes surrounding it (its been under construction for over 100 years).
It was definitely wierd to be away from home for Christmas, but Im glad I was with a friend in a beautiful new city, if I couldnt be home.
Tuesday we went to the Barcelona aquarium, which was pretty neat, but much smaller than I had expected. We also went on a search for shoes for me for New Years Eve, to match a dress I bought, but we had no luck, it appears that Barcelona cannot make cute, walkable black high heels for the life of it.
Wednesday I flew back to madrid, to get ready for Brett, who flew in on Thursday. I met him at the airport, and then we went back to our hotel and collapsed for a while, because he hadnt really been able to sleep on his flights.
It was really amazing to see him, I felt more relaxed than i have in months! I hadnt even realized how tense or stressed I had been, but when he got here it all felt like it broke loose and relaxed, it was so nice.
After our nap we went out to the area where I have been working for a late lunch at a really good egyptian/lebanese/morrocan restaurant. Then we walked around a bunch, saw the palace, and the egyptian temple, went the to Reina Sofia museum, and then had tapas for dinner at a cheap bar near my house.
Friday we had lunch at my house, so Brett got to meet my family and see the apartment, which was nice. I am really glad he can actually know what my experience was like now, be able to picture the people I talk about. After that we went to the Prado for a few hours, and also walked around the huge park right nearby. We got paella for dinner, then went back to the hotel and watched a movie that brett had brought, on my new laptop, which brett also brought.
Saturday we flew to Paris, which just so happened to be the day the Madrid airport was bombed by ETA, the Basque separatist group. It was pretty scary to realize what was happening, it happened about 8 hours before we flew and thats pretty much my worst nightmare, but it was in the one terminal very far away, so it actually did not affect our flight too much, thank goodness. Its sad though, because it means that the ceasefire for peace talks with ETA is over. There was a lot more security personnel around, and our flight was delayed a bit, but that was all. When we finally got to Paris we were totally exhausted and decided to just get some Chinese take out and eat in the hotel, and watch Pirates of the Carribbean 2. (Which brett also brought)
Sunday was new years eve. That morning we walked to the Eiffel Tower, which is about two blocks from where we stayed. We just looked at it, we didnt go up it yet. Then we wandered over to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which is beautiful. We got there about dusk, so we didnt get the full effect. After that we happened upon the Jewish area of Paris, complete with excellent food including bagels. Very exciting. About then it got very very cold and started to rain, a lot, which was a bit of a bummer because it made our aimless wandering a bit less fun. But it stopped in time for midnight, which we spent at the Eiffel Tower. It glittered at midnight, which was beautiful.
Monday a lot of stuff was closed for the holiday, so we did more stuff that didnt involve actually going inside. We went on the huge ferris wheel near the louvre, and then walked to the Arc du Triomphe. Then we went back to the Jewish area for dinner, and had some of the best falafel Ive ever eaten, and drank some beer called Maccabee.
Tuesday we woke up early to try to beat the crowds at the Eiffel Tower, which failed miserably. We waited in the cold rain for about 4 hours to get to the top. But at least when we did make it up there it was incredibly beautiful, and worth it, I would say. After that we went back to the hotel and collapsed in exhaustion for a while, then went back to Notre Dame to go inside. It was really neat because they were having a service for a saint's day, and so there was some beautiful singing and nice smelling incense while we walked around. After that we went and had more food in the Jewish area (its just so good!!). I had latkes that were amazing, though they lacked applesauce. We sat near some people from Australia and talked to them for a bit, which was nice for Brett, since he studied abroad there.
Yesterday we climbed the towers at Notre Dame to see the gargoyles. It was quite the view up there, but also quite the climb! hundreds and hundreds of stairs. After that we went to the Catacombs, which was incredibly creepy (and also involved climbing many stairs). It is where millions of bodies have been stored in years past when the city didnt have enough space in graveyards to bury them. There were just hallways after hallways full of stacked bones, it was so wierd and haunting. And scary too, because you are way underground, and its cold, dark and wet.
Then we went to the Louvre, and saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus de Milo, among other beautiful things. It was so nice to finally see all that stuff, and the museum itself is really beautiful.
After that, we just headed back, and packed up brett's stuff, because he left early this afternoon.
I had such an amazing time in Paris with him, it really was fairly devastating to say goodbye to him. I feel like right now I just want to go home, but I still have two months to go. But its actually only 3 more weeks in Madrid, then Im travelling with Julia for ten days, and then I FINALLY get to see my parents again, and I am spending the whole rest of my time travelling with them. I think it will all go really fast, I am just sort of in limbo here. I dont leave paris until afternoon on Saturday, and its still afternoon on thursday. I am hoping to meet up with a friend from highschool who moved here a few years ago, but I have been having trouble reaching him. I think if i could see him I would feel a lot better, because I definitely dont like being alone so soon after saying goodbye, its a little rough.
But overall this is all going so incredibly quickly, and i am constantly amazed at everything I have been able to do so far in these 4 months.
Alright, My computer is about to die, so I need to go plug it in, but Ive got some pictures up at www.flickr.com/photos/anniemb, so you should check those out!!
