Paris!!

Whoops, sorry it's been so long but I have been so so busy!

Let me start with the best weekend of my life- in Paris!!!!  Last Thursday afternoon, Amy and I flew out of Barcelona to begin our amazing weekend.  It was just the two of us the first night so we got to our hotel which was teeny tiny but fine and once we got settled in we went out for dinner.  We called it an early night so we could get up and explore the next morning.  So we took the metro to Arc de Triumph and walked from there down Champs Elysee which is famous for its shopping and just wandered around finding cool things.  We were somewhat far from the Eiffel Tower but we were able to get some really cool pictures of it over a bridge.

Then we did a bit more exploring and then headed back close to our hotel because Elizabeth, Claire, Meredith, and their new friend Emma were almost there!!  They were taking a train from Nantes, France, where they are studying this semester, to Paris.  We waited like little kids waiting for Santa at the top of the stairs off of the metro stop for them.  I hadn't seen them since December so I was so excited!  My heart was beating out of my chest.  It seems so silly now but I was soooo excited to see them!  When I finally did I absolutely freaked out and we went back to the hotel so they could settle in.  We waited a while for Sara and Lizzy (coming from Madrid) who's taxi driver didn't know where he was going but when we finally saw them it was a similar reaction. I believe someone actually screamed too... maybe Sara?  So we were finally all there and so happy to be with each other.  We went through a few bottles of wine in the hotel room before heading out to find dinner.  We tried to go to one awesome restaurant (more on that in a second... we ended up going there the next night) but it was packed so we settled for one down the street.  After dinner we went to another restaurant for dessert and champagne and we ended up making friends with this British couple sitting next to us.  We were having so much fun with them when all of a sudden about 6 men in kilts walk in and one is playing the bagpipes.  So naturally we all absolutely LOVED these men and asked them to play us songs so they sang us Scottish songs complete with bagpipes and kilts and we loved them and they loved us and it was hilarious!

The next day we woke up pretty early again to go do more exploring.  We went to Notre Dame, the top of Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and just stumbled upon some other places. 

In front of Arc de Triomphe

View from the top of Arc de Triomphe of Paris

At the Eiffel Tower!!

After we left the Eiffel Tower we found a great little French Cafe where we got drinks and FRENCH Fries. So French :)  and then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night.

We wanted to go to this really fun restaurant that we heard about so we left relatively early for dinner.  It was this Fondue restaurant where they served you wine out of baby bottles!  It was the strangest thing but so much fun! The atmosphere was great and so was the food.  

After dinner the four of us decided that we had to go to the Eiffel Tower at night to see it first when it was lit up and then to watch it sparkle... I didn't know that it did that but once every hour (I think) it literally sparkles.  It is the absolute most beautiful thing.  So we left dinner, went and got a couple of bottles of champagne and sat in the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower for probably two hours just enjoying being with each other.  If I could go back to that moment I would in a heartbeat.  I was the happiest girl in the world.  I was in a beautiful place with beautiful people.  I wouldn't have traded those couple of hours for anything.  It makes me look forward to all of the moments I will spend with my friends all over Europe and it really made me appreciate our friendships.  I feel like we have already grown up so much in the month we have been here (because yes, exactly a month ago today I left America- so hard to believe) .  I can't wait to see what these next three months will bring before I have to go home. Paris was truly amazing and I can't wait to have a similar experience soon.

We came home Sunday and as sad as I was to leave those girls, when we got off the plane in Barcelona it was 67 degrees and sunny and a beautiful day!  Despite my lack of sleep the entire weekend (It's Wednesday and I'm still not caught up!) I wanted to spend the day outside, which leads to another story:

Long story short, Elizabeth's cousin who goes to PC has a friend who was studying in Egypt for the semester and was evacuated because of all of the protests and chaos there.  Her insurance company evacuated her to Barcelona while she figured out her next plan of action.  I ended up getting her name and got in contact with her because she didn't know anybody here and would be here for about a week.  We met up and went out for lunch and walked around Barcelona a little bit.  She ended up deciding to go to a study abroad program in Wales and left this morning but we hung out a good bit this week.  I really enjoyed getting to know her and hate that she had to leave Barcelona!

Anyway...Sunday was obviously the Super Bowl and of course we had to go watch it!  I met up with Beth, McCauley, Ellen, Julia, Christie, and Amanda and we went and watched it in a very American way- at the Hard Rock Cafe!  We got our first drink free- a Budweiser- so American- and ordered foods such as onion rings, milkshakes, etc.  We figured it was one of the only times we would really want to be total Americans and it was definitely worth it!  But keep in mind the time difference so the game didn't even start until 12:30 our time. Eek.  So it was another late night after a weekend full of late nights, but totally worth it!  The only bad thing was that since TV networks don't play the SuperBowl I guess Hard Rock ordered it from somewhere but we couldn't watch the commercials!  Such a bummer, but to make up for it when there was a commercial break, Hard Rock provided us with entertainment- Dallas Cowboy style cheerleaders wearing red, white, and blue sequined dresses and pom-poms.  It was very unexpected but so funny!  

So here I am back in Barcelona and still loving it so much!  There's so much that I still have to see and do.  This weekend we're staying here and will probably explore a lot, and then next weekend I'm going to Brussels to see my good friend David Roth who I work with at camp and I am so excited to see him and to go to Belgium!  I don't really know much about the country except beer and waffles so I'll probably over-indulge in both.  Can't wait!  And I have a London trip in the making right now!  I have so much to look forward to.  But for now, 

Adios!