My final days abroad...

3:28 PM Posted by Alex

Sorry this post is SUPER LATE! I have been working as a camp counselor for the past 4 weeks, and there has been no time at all to finish up my blog for my last week in Paris. Here is an overview of my final adventures studying abroad.

On Monday, June 27th our marketing class went with our professor to get falafel in the Jewish district of Paris. This was my first time to have falafel, and it was delicious!! Then we all went over and hung out on the side of the Seine river. Afterwards, my friend David and I went up the Montmartre to see Sacre Cour. The inside was gorgeous, but the view was one of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen.

Wednesday…the day my mom came into town!!! Our class went on a “company visit” of city hall, which was honestly just a tour of Hotel de Ville. It was full of history and the inside was very pretty, but I was preoccupied because my mom had come in to Paris to visit me! I went over to her hotel and we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We had a delicious seafood dinner at a cute café around the area and then took the elevator up the tower. It was definitely a little frightening because we went to the very top level, but by the time we were up there the sun was down and the lights from around the city made the view outstanding.

BARCELONA was our destination for the weekend, so after class we headed to the airport. Arriving at the Hotel Neri, we were more than satisfied with our room. It was a beautiful hotel located on a picturesque alleyway just off a main square in the heart of the city just a couple blocks from Las Ramblas. We went exploring and had dinner at a packed tapas bar which was quite the experience. Later that evening our hotel was having their annual summer party, so we stopped in and hung out in our favorite spot, the hammocks up on the roof.

On Friday we headed to Park Güell, a famous space designed by Antoni Gaudi. We also hit up the beach, which was beautiful and the water was absolutely perfect! The “magic fountain” in the Olympic Village was our last stop of the day, and it was stunning. It was mesmerizing to watch the designs made by the water, and also, people-watching was a hilarious. Mom didn’t feel well that day, but she was such a trooper.

The next day, we started off going to La Sagrada Familia, a famous church designed by Gaudi that is still in the process of being built. It is so different from anything I have ever seen, and it is beautiful. These picture do NOT do it justice. Then we took the open-air bus to the Fútbol Club Barcelona stadium. The fanaticism over this team is unreal, but the stadium and tour was sweet. I got a stomach bug while we were there, so we went straight back to the hotel for the night. I stayed in, but mom did a little bit of extra exploring.

Sunday before our plane out of Spain, we walked around the Barrio Gotic and Cataluña square area. We also made our way down Las Ramblas, the huge tourist street.

Monday after class mom and I did some shopping, walked around the Eiffel Tower and Luxembourg garden area before heading back to Saint Germain and hanging out at a local café.

Tuesday night I went on a Paris night tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours! We biked around the city and ended with a boat cruise. It was a fun way to get a final view of the city and meet some other cool tourists.

Our last night in Paris!! The program hosted a farewell dinner at a café in our neighborhood, and then some friends and I went out to a fun bar-turned-club and danced all night before I had to leave early that next morning to catch my flight. It was a bittersweet goodbye.

Thanks everyone for reading!

Alex

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Took the train to London for the weekend!

7:15 AM Posted by Alex

Sorry for the huge gap in postings!

Last Sunday (June 19), I went to the Hotel des Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb. The war hospital is now turned into a war museum, housing ancient armor, objects from Louis XIV to Napoleon III and a whole wing dedicated to the 2 world wars. The chapel where the tomb is held was built for a place where the injured soldiers and nobility could attend together. It was cool, but got a little boring for me.

Monday I went to an evening mass at Notre Dame. It was completely in French so I obviously had no idea what they were saying or singing, but the music was pretty and the cathedral is outstanding. The detailing and mood of Notre Dame is magnificent.

On Tuesday there was a big music festival going on ALL OVER the city! Street performers and bands were on every corner and in bars, so we went down to the Latin Quarter to have dinner and be entertained. The bands were OK, but the atmosphere was festive and lively, so we had a lot of fun. We walked all the way down the Seine and made it to the Eiffel Tower by midnight to watch it light up and “sparkle”.

Our event for the week planned and paid for by our UT program was a Seine River boat tour on Wednesday! It lasted about an hour and we saw many of the major sights from the river while all hanging out together on the barge. Afterwards, a group of us went down to the Latin district, walked around and hung out at some small bars.

OFF TO LONDON, ENGLAND…Cheers!

This weekend Melissa, Kristine and I took a short trip to London! I have to give a big shout out to my Aunt Carrie, who gave me a "Top 10 London" book, which was vary helpful and used quite often. We took the Chunnel from Paris on Thursday afternoon. We found out our hotel, The New Dome Hotel, was kind of in the ghetto outside of the central area, but it was clean and the people were very nice, so we had no complaints. That first night we found a very cute Italian restaurant right near the New Dome, walked around our area (just a little) and went to bed early.

London is so busy!!! On Friday we went by Parliament Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham palace to see the changing of the guard at 11AM. There were so many people there, and I am too short, so it was very hard to see anything that was happening. The weather that morning was perfect, so it was so nice to walk around the city.

We had lunch in the Waterloo area and I got the necessary “Fish ‘n Chips” at a pub/bar close to the station. That afternoon we headed toward the Thames River and walked down to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and crossed the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral. I went all the way up the 528 steps to the top and got an amazing view of the city. No photography was allowed inside the cathedral, but you’re just going to have to trust me when I say it was the most beautiful church I have ever seen. It was huge, and the ceiling, altar, choir gallery and everything in there was so perfect, colorful and elegant that I swear my jaw was dropped the whole entire time. I did sneak one quick picture at the very end, but it does not do this place justice.

For dinner we headed to Trafalgar Square and ate at the Texas Embassy. It was the old embassy building when Texas was its’ own country, and now it’s a tex-mex restaurant. We got free margarita’s with our Texas drivers’ licenses, and we were missing Mexican food, so it was a great dinner. We even ran into some of our friends on the MPA program who were also in London for the weekend. We went to Piccadilly Circus afterwards and walked around that busy area!

Saturday morning we rode the London Eye. It was a little cloudy and gray, but still fun and the view was awesome of course.

Then we headed over to Westminster Cathedral, which was not as pretty as Westminster Abbey, but this one was free to go in. This time at Buckingham Palace we went at a time that was not as hectic so we got to really see the palace. I did not meet any royalty this time…I guess Will and Kate were not in town. We went up to Covent Garden for lunch and ate at another yummy pub/restaurant.

After lunch we took the tube up to Abbey Road. This was where almost all of the Beatles’ songs were recorded and the site of the iconic album cover picture. We spent loads of time trying to get the picture just right, but the street was just too busy! Still, it was very fun exploring the area in the gorgeous weather.

The tube took us back down to the London Bridge, which was really unimpressive. It was just a concrete bridge like any other, but the Tower Bridge was much cooler, and is the one you see in most of the pictures of London. We stopped by the Tower of London on our way from London Bridge to Tower Bridge, but unfortunately it had just closed by the time we got there.

Sunday morning we got up and went back around Westminster. We just HAD to take the classic telephone booth pictures. Being obnoxious American college tourists, of course we had a mini photo shoot with one of them by Big Ben. It was worth it.

Then we met up with some other girls from our trip that were on our train ride back and saw platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter at King’s Cross station. It was depressing, though, because the whole station was under construction so 9 ¾ was moved outside and it wasn’t a real brick wall so it just looks kind of dumb. But we still went and checked it off our list!

All in all, the trip was successful and a great way to spend a weekend. We definitely needed a lot more time to completely experience London and all the castles, but our time was exciting and it was so nice that they all spoke English haha. Sorry for this novel of a post, but I hope you enjoy all of the pictures!

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