Sunday, April 27, 2008

My Journey

So, I got back into Lyon last night after my 2.5 week long journey around Europe. I made a little map complete with short explanations with google maps so that you can better see where I was:
<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113355030386816916635.00044bddb8493e76c68d8&ll=45.282617,6.075439&spn=3.455127,7.426758&z=7>

I'm hoping that works. That should satisfy you until I've gotten the chance to go through my 600 photos I took...YIKES! But yes, although there was some doubt in your minds whether I was alive or not somewhere between Budapest and Milan, I am in fact quite happy, healthy, and tan after this amazing, amazing trip. I will be posting basic summaries as often as I can in the coming days. Post soon!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Les Francais

See the red flag? That's the protest leaving the Place de Terreaux.

Dim and Cristina studying some French

Tables Cafe Leffe. You can also see the pretty fountain in the middle of the Place.

Enjoying a pastry from the boulangerie next to my house.
Janine with her shadown and mine...saturday afternoon photo session taking advantage of some good light!

colocs.

So, it was absolutely beautiful here yesterday. I got out of the house and headed to Place de Terreaux to meet my friend Cristina and her French bf to study some French grammar...woohooo! We have a final exam tomorrow, so we found a nice cafe with tables out in the plaza and looked over our work, with the help of Dim, the French guy. However, I had my camera and did more picture-taking and people watching than studying. The sun was so warm and everyone was out walking around---I just loved it! It was one of those "wow, we are in France" afternoons because we were sitting in the place at a cafe surrounded by people speaking French and witnessed a "manifestation" or protest, which are VERY popular here in France. Also witnessed a parade of different kinds of bicycles persuading people to take bikes more. Also a parade of unicycles. Can you see why I was a bit distracted?


The other night my school organized a pub night for all the study abroaders here with all the French people that will be studying at their schools next year, and I met two girls, Elodia et Charlotte, that will be studying in Austin. They're both so sweet, and I'm looking for to hanging out with them and hopefully speaking French as much as possible :) I also really enjoyed bragging about Austin and UT for a night :)

Really though, as my "sejour" (stay) here is coming to an end, I've been thinking my general opinion of it, and I've decided that I love France. At the beginning of my stay here I had a lot of issues getting used to the culture, especially the people and their ideas of doing things here. In fact, I pretty much went through a "I hate France" stage. But now, I know I want to live here again. I just love the people--the things that originally annoyed me (like their strong opinions on EVERYTHING) now amuse me greatly. Of course I've always loved the food, and the country itself is just amazing. So much history and beauty and things just so unique to such a small place. It's coming to the point of "now or never" since I'm really only going to be here for 1 more month (in France specifically) since I'll be traveling so much. It's almost painful to think about leaving, and I apologize in advance for any pouting or grieving I might do for the months following my retour...Just know that if you ever want someone to go to France with, or even just a French film, you know who to call. Tear. Gros bisous de la France!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

BARCELONA

Tiles at Park Guell

Place Espana from the top...this was definitely zoomed in!

Enjoying my paella in Barceloneta

Izzy, Josh, and I...Longhorns in Spain!

On a balcony of one of the towers at La Sagrada Familia


La Sagrada Familia...just one side...when it's finished it's going to be absolutely surreal!

Lookin out on BCN

amazing view!

Xus (Jesus), me and Izzy

Park Guell


Xus and I at Mojito, the salsa bar.
So, it's actually been nearly a week since I've gotten back from Barc, and I have failed to write this probably because I've been too exhausted from the trip...it was a great time---people don't lie when they say the party starts at 2am there!
Anyways, I stayed with Jesus, my Spanish friend who studied at UT last semester, for the whole weekend. He came picked me up at the airport and we met up with my friends Izzy and Josh a little later...I'm amazed that by taking an airplane for an hour will get you from still winter "foliage" to palm trees! Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great most of the weekend--cloudy and a bit chilly. Luckily though the last full day I was there it was a lot warmer and sunny--evidently the real Barcelona.






While I was there, though, we walked along Ramblas--this long, wide street with lots of shops/restaurants and street performers---tourist central. Also did some beach action but didn't get in of course because it was too cold--what a shame, too. I'd love to go back in the summertime. Barcelona seems to be a very nice, clean city...at least the parts I went to. Other "guiri" things (spanish word for tourist) that we did were go La Sagrada Familia--a church partly designed by the famous architect, Gaudi, that has been under construction for over a 100 years now...it's the COMPLETE opposite from any traditional cathedrale...honestly, quite weird, but amazing at the same time. Also went to the Museu Picasso, Place Espana--it's at the top of this hill called Montjuic and we watched this huge fountain show with lights and music, Park Guell--yet another crazy creation of Gaudi. It's this crazy looking park that overlooks Barcelona, and you can see the whole city nearly and the coastline from certain scenic outlooks.

Really though, a lot of my time spent there was spent eating...haha, perfect for me! I had the best tapas--potatoes bravadas were my favorite, but we also had octopus, squid, fried mussels, tortilla, and many, many more. We also had the most delicious paella in Barceloneta by the marina. Even tried arroz negre, which is black because of squid ink! Another very Spanish drink which I learned to like immediately was called clara--half limonade (carbonated lemon drink) half beer. It's a good thing I'm not living there---otherwise none of my clothes would fit me anymore!

One of the best parts of the weekend though was meeting lots of cool people---we hung out with Josh's exchange friends and his Spanish roommates a couple nights, and they were all really fun, nice people. There were actually lots of French people there, and it's possible that I spoke more French in the first couple of days there than I do on a daily basis here in Lyon---and what I mean by that is long conversations...The last night Jesus and I made it to a salsa club, too, and went dancing like we did back in Austin. Made friends with a nice girl from California and also saw some GREAT dancing! Anyways, I also really enjoyed being reunited with my friends from home, including Jesus. Just a good weekend. Even learned some Catalan! Even though everyone says I should be able to understand it pretty well since it's a mix of French and Spanish, that language is a bit too crazy-sounding to follow. I understood a lot of Spanish though, which was surprising.

Anyways, what's on the plate for the next few weeks? I'm heading out this Wednesday for our 2 week April break, and I'm going to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, Italy, and hopefully Nice! Sounds like a crazy amount, and I'm sure it will be. I'll have to really make an effort to take care of myself so I don't bottom out like last trip...Anyways, must go and study for a final exam I have on Monday. Ciao!