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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Foggy London Town
Hola everyone! So last weekend I finally got to travel outside of Spain and I went to London, England! It was sooooo much fun! It is such a cool city. The flight over wasn't too bad but the passport checking people were really rude and mean. I later found out that they are supposed to be like that because they don't want any immigrants and they try to ask you dumb questions to get you to trip up. I didn't appreciate it and I just wanted my passport stamped. After we got out of that mess, we soon realized that every other person from London is really nice and very willing to help you get you wherever you're going. In order to get to the place we were staying, we had to take the Tube, which is the metro. My friend and I ended up running into a couple from Madrid that has a summer house in San Juan, which is 10 mins by bus from Alicante. Their English wasn't that good and we talked to them for awhile, and they were wondering if we could translate for them so that they could get an "Oyster Card" which is the Tube pass. We were able to translate and get them their Oyster cards! Casey and I couldn't believe that we actually were able to use our Spanish, because we were afraid that we would just speak English all weekend. After a Tube ride, we met up with Casey's cousin and we went our for a drink at a Pub. I tried a Strongbow which is like a Cider beer. I really liked it. We told her cousin about the passport people and she told us that they are always mean. She also told us that it is said that you always have 3 cameras on you in London. We were like ahhhh Big Brother!! She said that they just want a safe city. Crazy...After the pub, we went back to her dorm to get some sleep and great ready to start a brand new day in the city!
The next day, we got some breakfast at the Tube station and starting our site seeing tour. Right when we got out of the Tube, the first thing we saw was Big Ben, and we were like wooooowwwww. It was just so cool to finally be able to see it. We started walking because we wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and everyone says to get there an hour early. We made it into Tralfagar Square where the National Gallery is. We asked for directions to the Palace and started the long walk. Once we got there, which was right when it was starting, we saw tons and tons of people. It was crazy. We decided that we wanted to get closer because we couldn't see anything from where we were. We were actually able to get up to one of the gates, and so we were able to get some pictures and a guy in front of us was taking a video of what was happening so I just watched it haha. It really wasn't anything that cool and sometimes it was hard to see or know what was going on. BUT, the guard band played "Singing in the Rain" so I was super pumped about that! We decided that we wanted to move on to other things, so we walked back to the square. We went into the National Gallery for a little bit and that was cool. Then we went to the London Eye, which is like a huge ferris wheel. It takes you up really high and you can see the whole city. That was really cool and I was able to take some good pictures. After the Eye, we went to the Westminster Abby. We had to pay to get in so we decided not too. A little later, 2 more of our friends arrived and we met up at the Tube station. We took the famous phone booth pictures and we were lucky enough to get ones with Big Ben in the background. For lunch, we got Fish and Chips, which is just a fried piece of fish and french fries. It was really good, and we all got pictures with it. Later that night, we went out on the town. Our first stop was at a pub, and of course, I got some Strongbow. Then we made our way to the Ice Bar. It was really cool because everything on the inside was made of ice, like the bar, the seats and the glasses! The drink I had was called the Reactor. It was delicious. After that, we went out to other bars and clubs to experience the night life in London.
The next day, we had a huge list of things we wanted to do. Our first stop was at Platform 9 3/4 which is from Harry Potter. We all got our pictures in front of it and I did a sweet jumping picture with it haha. After that, we got on a double decker bus and went to Camden Town. It was a weird and crazy place. All of the buildings of the shops were decorated with huge. Then we got back on the bus and went to Abbey Road to take the famous Beatles picture. We got some good ones and it was so cool. So many people were walking across with their friends on the other side taking pictures. We signed the wall that was in front of the Abbey House. I signed mine and I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't come out too well, so hopefully my parents can fix it up so that it shows up. After that, we went to Saint Paul's Cathedral which was pretty cool. We were able to get in but we kinda had to hurry because a church service was going to be starting soon. Our next mission was to see the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On our way we passed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and a sweet Pirate ship. Turns out, the London Bridge is pretty lame and the popular bridge is the Tower Bridge. We took tons of pictures and crossed the Millennium Bridge and the Tower Bridge, but not the London Bridge. Our last stop was the Tower of London, which was used as a prison back in the day. It was pretty cool. After all of our sight seeing, we went out again for one last night in London.
It was such a good trip and so much fun, because we saw so much in such a short amount of time. I definitely want to go back, and hopefully I can some day! My plans for this week are going to Valencia on Wednesday and then going to Switzerland on Thursday through Saturday. I'm really excited!! I hope everyone has a great Saint Patrick's Day! <3
The next day, we got some breakfast at the Tube station and starting our site seeing tour. Right when we got out of the Tube, the first thing we saw was Big Ben, and we were like wooooowwwww. It was just so cool to finally be able to see it. We started walking because we wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and everyone says to get there an hour early. We made it into Tralfagar Square where the National Gallery is. We asked for directions to the Palace and started the long walk. Once we got there, which was right when it was starting, we saw tons and tons of people. It was crazy. We decided that we wanted to get closer because we couldn't see anything from where we were. We were actually able to get up to one of the gates, and so we were able to get some pictures and a guy in front of us was taking a video of what was happening so I just watched it haha. It really wasn't anything that cool and sometimes it was hard to see or know what was going on. BUT, the guard band played "Singing in the Rain" so I was super pumped about that! We decided that we wanted to move on to other things, so we walked back to the square. We went into the National Gallery for a little bit and that was cool. Then we went to the London Eye, which is like a huge ferris wheel. It takes you up really high and you can see the whole city. That was really cool and I was able to take some good pictures. After the Eye, we went to the Westminster Abby. We had to pay to get in so we decided not too. A little later, 2 more of our friends arrived and we met up at the Tube station. We took the famous phone booth pictures and we were lucky enough to get ones with Big Ben in the background. For lunch, we got Fish and Chips, which is just a fried piece of fish and french fries. It was really good, and we all got pictures with it. Later that night, we went out on the town. Our first stop was at a pub, and of course, I got some Strongbow. Then we made our way to the Ice Bar. It was really cool because everything on the inside was made of ice, like the bar, the seats and the glasses! The drink I had was called the Reactor. It was delicious. After that, we went out to other bars and clubs to experience the night life in London.
The next day, we had a huge list of things we wanted to do. Our first stop was at Platform 9 3/4 which is from Harry Potter. We all got our pictures in front of it and I did a sweet jumping picture with it haha. After that, we got on a double decker bus and went to Camden Town. It was a weird and crazy place. All of the buildings of the shops were decorated with huge. Then we got back on the bus and went to Abbey Road to take the famous Beatles picture. We got some good ones and it was so cool. So many people were walking across with their friends on the other side taking pictures. We signed the wall that was in front of the Abbey House. I signed mine and I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't come out too well, so hopefully my parents can fix it up so that it shows up. After that, we went to Saint Paul's Cathedral which was pretty cool. We were able to get in but we kinda had to hurry because a church service was going to be starting soon. Our next mission was to see the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On our way we passed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and a sweet Pirate ship. Turns out, the London Bridge is pretty lame and the popular bridge is the Tower Bridge. We took tons of pictures and crossed the Millennium Bridge and the Tower Bridge, but not the London Bridge. Our last stop was the Tower of London, which was used as a prison back in the day. It was pretty cool. After all of our sight seeing, we went out again for one last night in London.
It was such a good trip and so much fun, because we saw so much in such a short amount of time. I definitely want to go back, and hopefully I can some day! My plans for this week are going to Valencia on Wednesday and then going to Switzerland on Thursday through Saturday. I'm really excited!! I hope everyone has a great Saint Patrick's Day! <3
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A little weekend trip to Granada, Spain
Hola a todos! So last weekend, some of us went on a trip to Granada, and let me tell you, it was such a good trip. There weren't many of us, because a lot of people couldn't go because they had already scheduled trips for that weekend. It actually made it better, because when we go places as a big group, we realllly stick out. As a smaller group, we don't stand out as much. When we got there, we checked into our hotel, which was kinda crappy in comparison to other ones that we have stayed at with CIEE. I was in a room with 3 of my friends, and at first, we only saw 2 beds that were pushed together, and we were like oooh man we have to fit 4 people on those!! But then we found 2 more beds, so it was all good haha. After resting for a little, we took a small tour around the city. It was really cool, because a lot of the buildings have different looks to them with different accents or decorations. Granada is very different than Alicante in that aspect. We went to the main plazas, as well as a cathedral that was huuuge. After that, we had a lot of free time to eat lunch and go shopping and explore. Everyone went to the same restaurant to eat, but my friends and I decided to split from the group to find another place. A well-known thing about Granada is that at some restaurants and bars, if you order a drink, you get a tapa. So that's what we were looking for. We found a cute place and the tapas were delicious. What we didn't know was that the tapas weren't free, but luckily they weren't expensive at all, so it was all good. Then we spent the rest of the time shopping and exploring. Another well-known thing about Granada is that everything is cheap. So I was able to score some great souvenirs at great prices. We shopped til we dropped and decided to rest a bit at the hotel. After some rest, we went out for dinner, and we decided to go to the place that everyone went to for lunch. When we got there, we noticed that there was like nobody there, but we sat down anyways and ordered some drinks and picked our tapas. When we got the tapas, our eyes got kinda big because they weren't that big, and we were planning on this being our dinner. So we decided to order 2 more tapas, and that filled us up for the most part.
Then it was time for the Flamenco show!!! We all got into our bus and we were all so excited. The little place was so cute and the dancers danced in the middle of everyone. I had a pretty good seat. The dancers were so great, and it was so much fun to watch. It is just incredible how fast they can move their feet and legs like that! When the show was over, we went on a night tour to look at La Alhambra, which is a castle/mosque. It looked really cool with the lights shining on it, but my camera just couldn't capture it. After that, some of my friends and I decided to go out and enjoy the night life. It was a really fun night.
The next morning we took a tour of La Alhambra, which was amazing. As you can see, I took tonsss of pictures. It was just a beautiful day at a beautiful place. Our tour guide was really cool and easy to understand. We spent all morning there walking around and taking pictures. Then we walked back down to the city and got some lunch. After lunch, we had some more free time to do some shopping. It was a really warm, sunny day, so before it was time to leave, we laid out in the sun. I liked Granada way more than Madrid, because it felt more authentic, and not like just another city.
On Sunday, I spent all day at the beach getting my tan on, and let me tell you, I now look like a Guido from Jersey. I got really dark really quick. It was so great because we haven't had really good beach weather in like a month. Everyone was outside enjoying the beautiful day.
I have midterms this week, and I've been really stressed lately because I've been having problems with one of my professors. He assigns us way too much work, and I have him for 2 of my 3 classes, so that means I have tons of work to do. Luckily, Paco, the main director of CIEE, is going to talk to him, so hopefully things will get better.
This weekend I am off to London!! I am so excited! I am definitely gonna talk in a British accent for 90% of the trip...100% probably...haha jolly good! Well, I miss everyone sooo much, and I hope you enjoy my Granada pictures!
Then it was time for the Flamenco show!!! We all got into our bus and we were all so excited. The little place was so cute and the dancers danced in the middle of everyone. I had a pretty good seat. The dancers were so great, and it was so much fun to watch. It is just incredible how fast they can move their feet and legs like that! When the show was over, we went on a night tour to look at La Alhambra, which is a castle/mosque. It looked really cool with the lights shining on it, but my camera just couldn't capture it. After that, some of my friends and I decided to go out and enjoy the night life. It was a really fun night.
The next morning we took a tour of La Alhambra, which was amazing. As you can see, I took tonsss of pictures. It was just a beautiful day at a beautiful place. Our tour guide was really cool and easy to understand. We spent all morning there walking around and taking pictures. Then we walked back down to the city and got some lunch. After lunch, we had some more free time to do some shopping. It was a really warm, sunny day, so before it was time to leave, we laid out in the sun. I liked Granada way more than Madrid, because it felt more authentic, and not like just another city.
On Sunday, I spent all day at the beach getting my tan on, and let me tell you, I now look like a Guido from Jersey. I got really dark really quick. It was so great because we haven't had really good beach weather in like a month. Everyone was outside enjoying the beautiful day.
I have midterms this week, and I've been really stressed lately because I've been having problems with one of my professors. He assigns us way too much work, and I have him for 2 of my 3 classes, so that means I have tons of work to do. Luckily, Paco, the main director of CIEE, is going to talk to him, so hopefully things will get better.
This weekend I am off to London!! I am so excited! I am definitely gonna talk in a British accent for 90% of the trip...100% probably...haha jolly good! Well, I miss everyone sooo much, and I hope you enjoy my Granada pictures!
Monday, March 2, 2009
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