Euro-trippin part 2-Spain

After a very short and pleasant plane ride from Amsterdam I found myself in the city of Barcelona. At first I felt a bit overwhelmed as I had no idea where I was going and absolutely no knowledge of the Spanish language, but I hopped in a taxi, pointed to the address of my hostel and made my way there. I later learned that taking a taxi was an expensive mistake as the metro system in Barcelona is extremely easy to use and there was a metro stop just outside my hostel, this should be a lesson to you all, don't be afraid to take public transportation. Anyway, after the taxi driver stopped and gestured to a small and shady alleyway Rachel and I jumped out and walked down it to find the building of our hostel. The hostel was called Arco Youth Hostel and was actually quite nice. I didn't really know what to expect as this was the first hostel I ever stayed in but I was really happy with the experience. We stayed in a 16 person dorm that was mostly filled with sweaty snoring men, and just two other girls besides ourselves. At first this seemed a bit intimidating but I grew to see the humor in it as time went on. Here's some pictures of the hostel:

The kitchen

The beds

The shady alleyway

Our hostel was located in a touristy part of the Gothic District of Barcelona. We were right on the famous Las Ramblas, a tourist trap of a street where shady people try to sell you junk and pick-pocketers thrive. I actually liked being there, it was lively and interesting to watch and be apart of. The day after our arrival Rachel and I decided to take advantage of a free walking tour around the city. This was a very good decision as I learned a lot about Barcelona and the area is which I was staying, here's some pics:

A beautiful church that has taken 600 years to complete and is still under construction.

The images on this building are a style of art typical to Barcelona called sanscritti. Artists use sand to make images, you will find this throughout Barcelona.

Before discovering America Christopher Columbus was important to Spain so they constructed many monuments to him, here is the largest.

Barcelona for me was characterized by its small alleyways and close proximity of its buildings. It felt to me like living in the past, or how the "old world" might be depicted in movies. I loved how the sun shone between small gaps between buildings, it was something I wasn't completely able to capture on film but I sure did try.

The highlight of Barcelona was definitely Parc Guell. It was only a short 15 minute metro ride to an incredible, beautiful park designed by Gaudi. Rachel and I decided to hit up the famous St. Joseph market to buy some bread and cheese (in our usual fashion) and headed out to picnic in the park. The beauty of this place in indescribable, so I will have to say it with pictures as per usual.

The Market

The park was set atop a mountain which meant that in order to get up it, you had to take an escalator which was at nearly a 90 degree angle.

View of Barcelona from the top

Somebody carved my name into a cactus :I

The famous Gaudi building which has taken 300 years to complete.

So yes, as you can see the park was pretty darn amazing and quite whimsical indeed. This was definitely my favorite part of Barcelona.

After a lovely train ride through the Spanish countryside Rachel and I landed in Madrid where we were greeted by my friend Morgan, and this weird statue:

Creepy, no?

Madrid was absolutely beautiful and differed from Barcelona a huge amount. It felt a lot more modern than Barcelona, but a lot more livable. As Rachel, or maybe Morgan put it, Barcelona is somewhere you visit and Madrid is somewhere you live. Morgan was an excellent tour guide and took us to some wonderful places including the main park of Madrid, which again was beautiful.

ruins of some sort

The lovely lake

After a nice day in the park, Morgan brought Rachel and I to her favorite haunt, El Tigre. This is a bar that serves traditional Spanish tapas, but the twist is that you don't order your food, you order your drink and food, not of your choice, comes with it. So you order your drink and a free plate of food comes with. Awesome? I think yes.

Tapas, tapas, tapas.

me, a mojito, and a croquette (a fried ball of bechemel sauce)

Madrid was characterized for me by its absolutely awesome street art. It may have just been the area in which Morgan lived, but the street art was some of the best I've ever seen. Morgan informed me that it is a growing trend there and that some shop keepers encourage it.

Outside and ATM

Outside an optometrist

On our last day in Madrid Rachel and I visited the Prado Museum where we saw a really really cool exhibit of Goya's Dark Ages. The paintings were totally eerie but also completely awesome here is one of my favorites:

So after a wonderful stint in Spain Rachel, Morgan, and I loaded into a plane and left for Bologna, a story to be told next time. Speak to y'all soon, enjoy the Royal Wedding.

My European Adventure part 1-Holland

Hello friends, I've returned safely back to London after a very long and memorable trip through Europe. I'm having difficulty in deciding where to start as there is just so much to say, so I suppose I should just start from the beginning.

My journey began very early on April 8th. I woke up before the sun and made my way with Rachel to the train station where we caught a train from London to Brussels (Belgium).

Here's my first photo of the trip:

I grew very attached to my backpack, physically as it was strapped to me, but also emotionally.

The reality of the trip had not yet set in at this point as I literally had no idea where I was going, and only a vague idea of how to get there. When we arrived in Brussels Rachel and I decided to do some sight seeing, however this did not last very long as we only had a 2 hour stop over, we were very far away from the actual sights, and we had no idea what language the Belgians spoke (it's French). I did manage however to buy some delicious Belgian chocolate in the train station.

It was filled with strawberry cream and was the best chocolate bar I've ever eaten, I look forward to going back and having another.

When we arrived in Amsterdam we found out very quickly that the Dutch are incredibly friendly people. As Dutch is a very difficult language that is very hard to read let alone speak, Rachel and I found ourselves a bit lost while trying to figure out how to find the train that would take us to our friend Melanie's village outside of Amsterdam. However, our fear was quickly quelled by a very nice bystander who approached us and asked us if we needed help, and sent us on our merry way. Another nice thing about the Dutch is that many, maybe most, people speak English. Anyway, so Rachel and I found our train at platform 7, hopped on and made our way to the town of Zandvoort. I had no idea what to expect but upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised to find that the town looked like this:

Now my friends, I hope I am not alone when I say that I had little to no idea that such a beautiful place existed in the Netherlands, let alone only 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam. I am not exaggerating when I say that the beauty of this beach rivaled those of the tropics. It was perfect.

That night Melanie brought us to a gigantic beach party. It was absolutely the craziest party I have ever attended, overwhelming at times but none the less awesome. When I stressed how crazy this party actually was to some Dutch people they told me "Oh we do this every Sunday" I think this may say a little bit about the Dutch. Here's a picture of the party:

One cultural tidbit that I found interesting is that despite the legality of marijuana in the Netherlands it is not widely used by Dutch citizens themselves. I think this says a lot about the power of legalization.

The next day Melanie was kind enough to show Rachel and I around Amsterdam, a city that completely contradicted my expectations. I don't think it is incorrect to say that many Americans imagine Amsterdam as a city filled with sex, drugs, and maybe some rock and roll. I had this image that every shop keeper, child, and dog was high, and that the Red Light District took up more than half the city, and there was a party going on constantly. However, I discovered how wrong I actually was. This city itself is beautiful, quirky, welcoming and warm. Mostly it is just tourists that are high, and the red light district is surprisingly small. The canals are charming and every house is slightly askew with its own unique roof. The city is very green both in color and environmentally. You will find a bike in every square inch of the city as people opt to ride these more often than cars. I heard someone say that there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam, a statement I originally did not believe until I saw just how many bikes there actually are. I really loved this aspect of Amsterdam, I felt it amplified the character of an already very unique city.

I really enjoyed Amsterdam but a reoccurring feeling I felt throughout my trip is that the true beauty of a country lies outside of the major city. For example despite the beauty and reputation of Amsterdam, I really truly loved where I stayed in Zandvoort. The small village was reminiscent of a classic fifties beach town on the west coast with arcades, boutiques, ice cream stands, and cute super markets. If you should ever make your way to Amsterdam make sure to check out Zandvoort or any small town on the outskirts of the city, in doing this you can get a real feel for life in Holland.

My time in Holland was really a lot of fun, especially the time spent with the family of my friend Melanie. The Dutch people are some of the nicest people I encountered on my trip, I could not believe how warm and friendly and polite they are. I look forward to going back in a few weeks with my family, I think we will all really enjoy it.

After Amsterdam Rachel and I took off for Barcelona, Spain. But that my friends is a story for another day. Keep enjoying!

Oh The Places You'll Go

Gosh it's been so long, for that I apologize! I've done a lot over these past few weeks, here's the highlights:

I went to Stonehenge! No aliens found, yet.

I went to Oxford! Fun fact: this is where Harry Potter was filmed, inside this building is the "Great Hall" unfortunately I didn't get to see it :(

I went to Hampton Court Palace, the Palace of Henry the 8th, I live only a short 15 minute bus ride from here.

I went to Bath, this is where the Romans built baths from natural springs, they thought the springs possessed healing powers, I don't disagree.

Rachel and I turned 21(on the same day)! Our first beer as 21 year olds in England was a Brooklyn Lager, go figure. The highlight of the night was that we were sung "Happy Birthday" in Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, Arabic, English, and Dutch! Overall it was a pretty mild night, not your typical "get drunk it's my 21st birthday" ordeal. We're pretty lame.

In addition to these big events I did a few small but meaningful activities. I saw two plays, the first was "Frankenstein" directed by Danny Boyle, it was great and you could see elements of Boyle throughout the entire production. It was very provocative as well, theater here is a bit racier than in the US, more nudity. The second play I saw was a production called "Woody Sez" it was an incredible four person play about the life and music of Woody Guthrie, to say I loved this play is an understatement, it was absolutely incredible. Each character played several different instruments and Woody's life was told through both narrative and his own music. I hope it comes to New York, I would see it again.

I saw some great movies as well, "The Fighter" I'm sure you saw it too so I won't say much more about it. "Submarine" which is a British film, do yourself a favor and SEE THIS MOVIE it was so cute and funny and clever, and there's just no love like indie love. I also saw "Never Let Me Go" it was a very well done tear-jerker, see it with a lady friend.

I visited the very cute neighborhood of Notting Hill, it's absolutely lovely, lots of antique markets, and the book store from the movie, "Notting Hill" which I have yet to see.

I saw some incredible works of art from Dali, Van gogh, Monet, Da Vinci, and some other great classics. One thing (among many) that I truly love about England is that the government funds the arts so that museums are free. The collection throughout this country is admirable, and it has helped me to appreciate art far more than I did before.

Anywho tomorrow I leave for my big European vacation! I'm very excited, but at the same time very scared. Tomorrow morning I leave London by train, have a quick stop in Belgium, then continue on to Amsterdam where I'll be staying with a friend for the weekend. Sunday Rachel (my travel buddy and arch nemesis) fly into Barcelona where we will stay for two nights. After our stay in Barcelona we will hop on a train to Madrid where we will meet the lovely and loving Morgan Smith. We'll spend one night in Madrid and hop on a plane to Bologna, Italy. In Bologna we'll stay for two nights, eat lots of cheese and drink wine before making our way by train to Florence. Florence will host us for three nights until the train takes us to Rome. We will spend three nights in Rome as well and then make our way by train to the beautiful city of Paris. In Paris we will stay with some friends of Ms. Smith or possibly stay in some hostels. I'm not sure how to get back home to London yet but I'm sure it will fall into place.

It's a 16 day trip, I've packed all of my supplies in my backpack, I've printed all of my maps, boarding passes, and tickets, and I think I'm ready to go!

I want to stress to everyone how affordable it is to travel Europe. We're staying in hostels that we've booked ahead of time, using a rail pass, and we sought out the cheapest flights. If anyone would like any advice on planning such a trip please let me know, I'm happy to help.

I'll be sure to write when I return. Into the great wide open I go!