carpi diem

With last two months on this side of the pond left, and looking ahead to my plunge back into the "real life," the reality is that I begin dental school in August. And along with that reality, the fact that traveling like I have had the opportunity to do these last months won't be apart of my "routine." What's a girl to do? Well... carpi diem! Seize the moment! I am in the middle of grasping every single day with both hands, willing myself to be a sponge to soak up all of the experiences I have at my doorstep.

With that.. Megan and I seized the opportunity to head to Spain from Bordeaux. We made a pit stop in Irun (San Sebastian) on the northwest coast before taking the 6-hour train ride to Barcelona. While most of the cities that I have been to thus far have had plenty to do for a couple days stay, this one left me wanting more. Barcelona had so many things to offer. How does a girl do it all in two days?? Lets just say I am definitely going to be in need of a new pair of Nikes when I get home!

--> I don't really know how to explain Barcelona except that there are several different "categories"... We'll start with the "Old city." Barcelona used to be an old Roman walled city (those Romans sure did get around!). Portions of the Roman city still remain, tucked in the Gothic quarter, but they are harder to spot due to the way they are mixed in with the rest of the tightly packed buildings. So we opted for a walking tour. This picture of me is decked out in my "nerd gear," as I like to call it. Camera in hand, headphones, with radio transmitter around my neck to hear the guide better, in my ears, and my purse tightly tucked under my arm to combat pick-pocketers. What you can't see is my passport protector strapped around my waist, under my clothes and my "Eyewitness travel Europe tourism" book and map of Barcelona in my bag. All I need is one of those khaki safari hats and my sunglasses on and my look would be complete.

So the coolest part about Barcelona being an old Roman city isn't the usual old churches, but that they have actually uncovered some of the old city remains-- of which is underneath the current city! They have created a history exhibit that you can go down into, beneath the streets and see. I liked the way we did it though, which was to look down into the windows (like a basement) of the museum at the remains, so you got the perspective of it being under your very feet. This tour also took us to the chapel where Columbus returned to share with the king and queen about his discovery of a new passage to Asia... Of course we all know that it wasn't really Asia...

--> Along the line of the old city wall line is an immensely popular pedestrian street, La Ramblas. At the top is the square shown in the picture, with pretty fountains. True confession: I am a sucker for street entertainment. I could be captivated for hours by street magicians, men without heads, mediocre musicians, women dressed as fairytale princesses, or the everyday person completely covered with silver spray paint pretending to be the tin man. I absolutely love it. La Ramblas had an incredible selection of this particular type of entertainment, as well vendors selling everything from turtles to beautiful paintings. At the bottom end of the street is the seafront, as well as a giant monument to Columbus... and my first-ever sighting of the Meditteranean Sea.

--> The Barcelona seafront was redone and made to be vacation resort caliber in 1992 in preparation for the Olympics. Supposedly, it was so successful they never looked back. They even still call the area, with the high rise hotels along two miles of sandy beachfront, the Olympic Village. And yet another form of street entertainment... sand castle building!

-->It's also worth noting that the 1992 Olympic grounds (the stadiums and pools and fields) were built on a mountain/park on the western edge of the city near the castle of Barcelona. Atop a mountain, the views from the stadiums overlook the entire city. We did go up the mountain and see the castle and view... Can you imagine watching the world's best high divers with this in the background? Ah....

--> Of course we had to "experience the culture" as well. My Spanish is quite sparse... "Hablo muy poco Espanol" (with a charming smile of course). In the cultural department, having a real conversation with the locals was pretty much out of the question. So we opted for food :) Sangria and Paella. Yummy yummy. Of course they had to serve the sangria in a fish bowl sized glass! Luckily, it was our last "experience" of the day.

Outside the "old city" is a whole new world architecturally. Barcelona has had two very famous artists, Antoni Guadi and Pablo Picasso, with very unique styles. Guadi's mark is more noticeable from the street because he was an architect. Bold colors and designs-- it was right up my alley. There were museums, a park, a church, and other various buildings he had designed. We only had two days in Barcelona, and I hope you've already begun to understand the vastness of what the city has to offer, so of course we had to make choices about what we wanted to see. We chose the park, which houses his home and church, Sangrada Familia. The park felt a lot like an oversized playground and his home, designed by him, reminded me of a lifesize gingerbread house. My pictures really didn't do it justice, so if you have time, please google Park Guell in Barcelona. (http://www.gaudidesigner.com/uk/parc-guell.html)

--> And the church, an incomplete masterpiece. Guadi died before the completion of La Sangrada Familia. Gaudi started work on it in 1883 and worked on it until his death in 1926. Located perfectly in the middle of the city, it is supposed to be a symbol of the identity of the Barcelona. It is being built, based on the original designs Gaudi had, completely on the donations of the people. Because of this, its completion is slow going. The side of it shown in this picture is a representation of the Easter story underneath four of the twelve spires representing the twelve disciples. The following is a website that shows more pictures of the beautiful church: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php

I easily could have spent days exploring Barcelona. There was so much to see and do. Hopefully, someday, I'll have the opportunity to go back :)

warning: word explosion ahead

It's an inside joke inside my family (not anymore, though) that I am a person with a "word quota" per day... a certain amount of words with which I need to share with the world each day.. My brother jokes that if I've had a quiet day he pities the person who gets stuck with me at night. I start by saying all of that because, well, my housemates have been gone the last two days and I've got so many exciting things to share with everyone about my last ten days that I thought you may need a proper warning.

From my last entry, you know I had made my way to Bordeaux to visit a friend. My words were restricted while there due to the French keyboard. Typing was so hard!

<-- Bordeaux was beautiful, and it was extra special to visit with the help of Juliette and her family because of being from there and opening their home to Megan and I to stay. So... to start the food her mother prepared was amazing. Fresh baguettes at every meal, yummy pasta, ham, salad... MMmmm.... This picture is of Juliette and I in Lacanau, a beach town west of Bordeaux. It wasn't quite warm enough to hit the beach in a swimsuit and go for a swim, but it wasn't hard to picture how packed the area would be as soon as the real heat comes!

<-- For one of the evenings, we went out for dinner with some of Juliette's friends. Talk about a "local experience." Juliette was the only one at the table who spoke both English and French fluently. The extent of my French is "bonjour," "pardon me," and "au revoir." Pathetic, really. Thank goodness smiles are universal! We ate at a restaurant in the Bordeaux city center and then went for a stroll. The ambiance of Bordeaux felt sophisticated. I don't really know how to explain it, but it made me want to sit outside a cafe and sip some of that world-reknowned red wine and talk about global issues. A photo doesn't really capture it well, but this photo is looking out over one of the bridges. During the summer, the open area you see before the river is a water mural. Bordeaux boasts the largest square in all of Europe-- lined by quaint cafes, elegant city buildings and then backed up against the river... there was a garden and also this water mural.

<-- I feel a little embarassed to admit I am not a wine drinker. Embarassed because I was unable to grasp the significance of the wine chateaus we visited. Bordeaux, as most of you know, is known worldwide for their wine... This photo doesn't do it justice at all... but what I was going for was to show the vastness of this region of grapes. Try to imagine when the grape vines are in season! We drove for over an hour and still all you could see were rows and rows of grapes. While there were literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of chateaus, we visited the Medoc and St. Emilion regions. You may recognize some of the bigger chateaus... Petrus, Canon, Cheval Blanc, or Beau Sejour-Becot. I will be honest and tell you that I don't know much about wine..

<-- The oldest Bordeaux area to produce wine, Saint Emilion. This is where the chateaux Cheval Blanc was. There were quaint wine shops everywhere on the tiny, winding cobblestone streets. Saint Emilion's is considered a midevil French village, with its first vineyards were estimated to have been planted in the 2nd century. Amazing!

the amazing race

First of all, I have to explain the circumstances under which I am blogging. I met a friend in Swansea, Juliette, who is from France. She invited Megan (who I usually travel with) and myself to stay with her with her family in Bordeaux. So here we are and, interestingly enough, they have different keyboards!! Its like someone took all the letters and punctuation marks, threw them in a blender, and then spit them back out all over the keyboard. I am struggling to find anything I need-- for instance, there probably will not be any contractions in this blog as I cannot find the apostrophe!!!

My main purpose for blogging today, though, is to talk about what I have observed while travelling in Europe. We have chosen to fly RyanAir and EasyJet for most of our travels because of their typically low fares. There are a few things that are unique about flying in the airports here. Rather than give you the gate number for your flight right when you arrive at the airport, they have a common waiting area for all travellers and a screen listing the upcoming departures. About 30 minutes prior to your departure- at what seems like the very last minute, the screen announces your gate number and the race begins!!

Everyone stands, pretty much in unison, and begins the race to the gate. This practice is made even more interesting because air carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet do not give seat assignments. Therefore, when the gate is announced, the mass of people all moving together towards the gate gets competitive, everyone vying for a premier spot in the queue. My initial reaction to this process found me apathetic, not minding being towards the back of the queue. But more recently, I have found myself really getting into it. Megan and I were standing and at the ready when the gate announcement signalled the start. We took off, speed walking along the moving walkways. If it were a real race, we came in third. Our prize-- getting to be able to board the plane first. Haha! It is the same thing in the train and bus stations as well.

More to come on my trip here in France another time.............

Wales in a nutshell: Castles and sheep

It was a blustery, rainy day in Wales Wednesday when Paul and I set out on our adventure to see some of South Wales' treasures. From what I've gathered from being here seven months now, I would call the rainy weather something like, "typically Welsh." There are exceptionally beautiful days, but rainy is by no stretch of the imagination uncommon. Nor is it the most ideal for climbing mountain trails, exploring caves or sight-seeing. Most Welsh tourist attractions are outside. So here's the thing I've realized/learned: In Wales, you let weather slow you down in any way, you will most likely miss all of the wonderful things this country has to offer. With that said, Paul and I pressed on. (For those of you who don't remember, or have joined my blogging world recently, Paul Murray is my host counselor here in Wales. He and his family have been absolutely wonderful to me-- making sure I have my neccesities and staying out of trouble! Wednesday, Paul was able to take a day off of work and volunteered to take me around Wales to see some of the sights off the main road- or at least the one the bus goes to!)

-->The main stop of our day was at Carreg Cennon Castle, Paul's favorite castle and now mine as well. In this picture, you can see it perched atop the hill. Most castles are on top of a hill-- having a cliff on two sides of your castle means two less sides to worry about being attacked from. Nowadays it means two things: breathtaking views and steep hikes to get to them!

--> This picture is from the inside of the castle looking out over the cliffs at the Welsh countryside. There's a few reasons why this castle has become my favorite. Wales is the country with the very most castles per land mass of anywhere in the world. They are everywhere-- in town, out of town, next to each other (there was actually another castle within a mile of Carreg Cennon), some are round, some are square... Anyway, although I know that all of them have had some sort of restoration work done to preserve them, I really appreciate when they are left as close to how they were as possible. Some are rebuilt so that tourists can see how it would have looked when it was alive and well, but I feel like the ones that are toppled a bit and missing peices have the most character. You walk in and can feel the history within their walls. There are small stairs that wind and twist into small chambers... your imagination can't help but soar into a different world full of knights and princesses, horses, bows and arrows, cannons and battlefields. Carreg Cennon is also unique because of the natural cave below the castle. Pictures don't do the dark tunnel justice, as the flash takes away all of the ambiance created by the darkness-- but it was pretty cool. You climb down into it by way of old, crackled steps, and it isn't lighted so you have to make your way with a flashlight, ducking because the space is kind of crampt. Mom, you would definitely be too clostrophobic to do it. And I made it all the way to the very back!

--> Paul and I made a day of it. The family (Bernard is in the picture with me) whose land Carreg Cennon is on are friends of the Murrays. It is a working sheep farm in addition to also having long horn cattle. Spring is lambing time.. which means baby sheep! Although we didn't get to see born while we were there, I did get to see several day-old baby lambs :) They are a little bit more cozy looking than the pigs and cows we're used to in Iowa, haha. After hiking up to Carreg Cennon and exploring the grounds and cave, Paul and I had a bowl of homemade "cawl" (Welsh stew). It was delicious. The rest of the day we drove to Brecon and stopped in at the cathedral and then drove back to Swansea through Brecon Beacons National Park, which was a beautiful drive through the South Wales mountain valleys. The only thing we forgot to do was get a photo of Paul and I together!

everyone is Irish on St. Patty's Day!

<-- Dublin is the top destination in the world the week of March 17 every year. So I thought to myself, what better time to visit the capital of Ireland than when everyone else is too? I am not normally a large crowd, thrive on chaos type of girl, but spending St. Patrick's Day in Dublin was a worthwhile experience! Three friends and I took the 45 minute flight over, wore some green, experienced the over-full pubs, tasted the Guiness, and celebrated the patron saint of Ireland with the rest of the world!



<-- It was a short 2 1/2 day stay in Ireland. We explored Dublin: the Guiness Storehouse (of course), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral (In the picture), Trinity College, O'Connell Street, and Temple Bar were the main highlights. Ireland, like the UK and the rest of Europe, has incredibly rich history. The cathedrals we visited, although most had had extensive restorations done in the 1800s, still had parts of them dating back to the 1100s. Amazing.


<-- Taking advantage of being on the island, we took a rail tour south to Cork to visit Blarney Castle. Those of you who know me know that the "gift of blab" isn't exactly something I need, but nevertheless I climbed the winding stairs of the castle to the top, grabbed the rails and leaned back to lay my lips on the sacred stone. I have not noticed a huge difference in my speech or my desire to speak yet, however, my presentation at the Swansea Rotary Club last night went exceptionally well. Maybe the stone really does have magical powers!

<-- If you look closely at the photo, you can see through the bars down to the ground. Apparently years ago, people actually had to hang to kiss the stone. After one death, they changed the tradition by adding rails and a "trained assistant." The stone that you're meant to kiss is down a little bit. Being that I am on the shorter side, I had to keep scooting off and bend back far enough that it did give me a whisper of fear for my life. One can't help but wonder how incredibly un-hygenic this particular tourist site is either. I'm not saying I licked it or anything, but after making the journey to Cork and trekking throug the grounds and up the castle stairs, you have to make sure your lips touch!

23 candles

<--I started my 23rd birthday day, yesterday, being greeted out front of my house by a Welsh friend singing, "Penblwyd Hapus A Ti!"(Welsh "Happy birthday to you!"), with a bag of Minstrels in hand (my new favorite chocolate candies here that you can't get back home). Definitely one for the memory books! My favorite part of the day was my friends that took me to the local cafe for a yummy breakfast, but I also got ice cream in the afternoon and went out for pizza and drinks with the rest of the gang that evening! I can't say I feel older quite yet... however, I do feel a subtle whisper in my ear encouraging me to act more like an "adult", whatever that means!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes from home! I missed not being with you all to celebrate-- we can make up for it this summer :)

springtime swans

It's days like these that I am reminded why I could stay in school forever. While I am aware it is not unique to any particular college campus, there is something about the first day when Spring is really in the air and everyone is out on the lawn socializing, reading or just soaking up the sun. There's usually music coming from somewhere, and there is that extra energy of youth mixed with Spring fever. It makes you want to skip your lectures and have a picnic! Spring is finally in the air!

Monday evening I gave a presentation at the Mumbles club- unique because it is one of the one of the only remaining "male-only" clubs in Wales. They were warm, hospitable and encouraging as all Rotary clubs are!

The academic term is flying by! One more week until Easter break. I have a couple of adventures, some near and some far, planned for my upcoming break, in addition to setting aside time for essay writing. Easter break in the UK is 4 weeks long-- US universities could adopt this tradition and I sure wouldn't mind! Following my return from break I will have 2 weeks of lectures remaining and then their final exam schedule is 4 weeks long. Educational philosophy here is largely based on independent learning. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but my lectures here meet only once a week. Now, while I, at almost 23 years of age, am really loving the flexibility in my schedule and can manage my time and get my work completed, I am not sure if I would have been able to do that as successfully at 18/19.

This more independent learning model does not only pertain to universities either. At the school and college levels (high school age), they also appear to have a lot more flexible schedule, and longer breaks, than the high schools I attended. Neither is better or worse-- just different I suppose!