Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Barcelona, Spain February 18, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 3:52 pm
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We got a train and headed to Valencia… a city on the Eastern Coast of Spain.

We found our hostel… people are soooo friendly to us! It was really nice to be in a place where people are willing to help you out.


We visited some churches, went to the Towers and some ancient fortification buildings. We crossed a bridge and visited some gardens. We picked oranges from tress, but decided not to eat them.

For Dinner, we found a place called the “American Bar and Grill”. Perfect… it was sooo good. ( I know, I know).

Back at the Hostel, we met some people. There were 3 brothers from Venezuela who came to Spain to find a job. They told us that in South America you cant really be who you want to be, so they came to Spain to find a better life for themselves. I was so impressed that they chose to learn English, in a Spanish-speaking country, and I felt so ignorant that I don’t bother to learn their language. So I made a decision for myself to learn Spanish this summer.

 

Barcelona, Spain February 17, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 3:52 pm
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Finally, we got there in the morning, and we took the metro to find a place to stay. We found a really cheap place that a family owned and rented out their extra bedrooms… it was a little shady, but Emily and I decided to stay anyways… we spoke no Spanish… they spoke no English… all well. It was really warm in Spain… there were palm trees, we walked along the bay for a bit! It was absolutely beautiful.

We went shopping, I bought a sweater… Emily bought shoes.

We went to the Imax Theater… saw two 3D movies— both in Spanish…Didn’t understand a thing, but the visuals were nice!

 

Paris, France February 16, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Love,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 3:51 pm
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Today was the last day together for irving and I… and we headed, with the group, to Versailles. The courtyard was really nice, but again, it was really cold. We said our good-byes, and he headed home…. And I walked through the palace, not really remembering much of it though.

Then, I went, by myself to see the Monmantre (Where Amelie was filmed). I also saw the real Moulin Rouge, which was right dead smack in the middle of the red light district! I took pictures and took the metro back to my hotel.

Emily, Marjorie and Tony and I headed to the train station. We are going to Barcelona. We booked couchettes and went overnight to

 

Paris, France February 15, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 3:49 pm
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We woke up early the next day, and made our way to the Emerson hotel. We ate breakfast there and headed out for a day full of tours. First was the tour of the Church of the Notre Dame…. It was pretty. There were candles inside, and I turned to Irving and said, “Awe, lets light a candle together!” and then I saw it was 2 euros to do that, and I screamed, “What? Two Euros? Forget that!” It was funny.

First was the Chapel of the Saint Chappell. It was beautiful, the stained glass windows were really amazing.

Whitney too us to a department store, and took the elevator to the top floor… from there, we had an unbelievable view of Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in full view! Then we ate lunch (Crepes with chocolate and bananas!)

Then, we headed to the Louvre again… this time to actually go inside. We looked at statues of Venus and Nike and listened to lectures about the history of them, that was cool, because that stuff interests me anyways. Then, we saw the Mona Lisa…. Yea, great… what a nice painting… but whats so great about it? I guess its famous and everything, but I wasn’t too impressed with it!

We learned about the history of the location of the Lourve itself. Underneath, it was excavated in 1992 and they found the remains of an old castle that was once torn down. It has the same structure of the Castle that I live in, in Well! It was impressive!

I also saw an Egyptian exhibit, where I saw a real-life mummy.. it was a female, probably about my age… and there it was.. right in front of me…. If I was dead and that old, I wouldn’t want people looking at me! But it was awesome, I’ve never seen anything like that before.

For Dinner, we headed to the Latin Quarte. But there was a manifestation for peace going on, so as Americans, we decided to avoid that, and ended up eating in a little Italian place. Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower! Irving and I wanted to climb the whole thing, but the stairs were closed… and I would have died doing that anyways. The whole thing was lit up, I couldn’t believe I was actually there. We took some pictures and enjoyed the view… but it was really, really cold up there… so after that, we headed back to the hotel.

 

Valentine’s Day in Paris February 14, 2003

Filed under: Love,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 1:55 pm
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Last night was Karaoke Night at the Castle…I got up the guts go get up there and sing a few songs, including WANNABE by the Spice Girls! Doesn’t that remind you of Freshman Year of High School??!! It was good times. Emerson sold beer for 40 cents…that was pretty cool too! Wake up call: Feb. 14th, 7am. We all eat breakfast, and find Valentine’s Day candy in our mailboxes. (Conversation Hearts—in Dutch!)

We board the coach bus and head for Paris… we get there at 4pm. Upon arrival, all 80 of us head to the Hotel Campanile. We are forced to wait outside for like a half hour while they check in for us. I walk into the lobby of the hotel…. And Irving is there waiting for me with a rose! (Valentine’s Day weekend in Paris…this is gonna be good!)


We walked to his hotel, and I dropped off my stuff. We then walked around the city for a bit, then met up with the Emerson Group for a little tour of Paris.

It was sooo cold outside, but we had to listen to hours of lectures OUTSIDE… we went to the Church of Notre Dame, and walked to the Louvre. It was beautiful at night, all lit up! The whole city was romantic… it was like a dream. We ate dinner at an Italian Restaurant, we tried to order in French, but that didn’t work out too well.

A few pictures from our Valentine’s Day Weekend in Paris!!!