sunday--last day in bilbao. it was spent in montellano. it's a small mountain town about 30 minutes outside of the city. there we had a wonderful meal. i walked around some. mostly just enjoyed the view. and enjoyed my last day and night with S, C, and O.
cute montellano house.
and from the back.
the pretty view.
monday--i set off for barcelona! the trip was a little stressful to say the least. i condensed my luggage down to one heavy heavy suitcase plus my backpack with clothes for the next six weeks. and then my bookbag with my computer. stil a lot of luggage, but way less than what i came over with. yes, i found the inner stregth to ditch some of my clothes. i took the bus from bilbao to barcelona. instead of taking the metro, or paying for a taxi, i took the bus to the bus station. i had just missed the bus i needed so i had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. i arrived just in the knick of time though. i sat down on the bus at exactly 10:29. my bus was leaving at 10:30 and they wait for no one. the trip took about 7.5 hours with a 30 minute stop in zaragoza. it was not the most scenic place i've ever been. basically a glorified truck stop. i arrived at sants at 6 with C (a friend from clemson) meeting me. we went to his apartment and walked the entire length of barcelona. we got dinner at samsara! then walked back towards the water, got a drink, and hiked all the way back to his apt because the metro had already closed. all in all a good day. i forgot how much i missed that city. returning felt just like coming home. familar.
tuesday--i woke up and walked the city. i took the metro to para-lel. (my old stomping grounds). i walked from resa to the port area. along maremagum to barceloneta. i put my feet in the mediterranean. then i headed into ciutadella through the born into my favorite church, santa maria del mar. afterwards i wandered to the catedral area and towards catalunya. C met me and we ate at a new walk to wok. it was amazing. we then headed up to gracia again. this time to revist my favorite parc, crueta del coll. we walked some more and headed into lesseps and took the metro back to his apt.
wednesday--my day began around 4:30. i walked to sants to catch the 5:35 train to the airport. i got to check out bcn's new terminal! i flew from bcn to paris where C (a friend from home) is working as an au pair. her wonderful host mom and the 3 kids picked me up from the airport. currently i am staying just outside of paris in a cute little town called bry-sur-marne. (depending on the trains, it takes about 40 minutes to get into the heart of paris.) the day was mostly spent catching up with C and playing with the 3 kids.
thursday--i woke up bright and early to escort C to her french class. her school is located near the luxembourg gardens. while she was in class for 3 hours i wandered around the city. i have truly mastered this. i wish someone could pay me to wander around cities for hours. i wandered wherever i pleased, and only looked at a map just to get back to C's school. first i walked around luxembourg gardens. then i found myself at the pantheon, which is where victor hugo and marie curie are buried, among others. i only looked at the outside though. i slowly worked my way down to the seine and into notre dame. on my last visit i never went into the church. i also found the most amazing bookshop in the entire world. it's called shakespeare & co. it's been in paris since the 1920s and many famous writers have found themselves within it's walls. hemingway's lost generation met there. during wwII it was an underground publishing place for james joyce. the entire place is covered from floor to ceiling in books with hidden nooks and quaint reading corners. i can't wait to go back. i made it back to C's school around 12 to catch the train back into bry.
shakespeare and co.
lots of books.
and nooks.
friday--C has no class so we woke up early and took the train to la defense. there we saw the grande arch as well as many great pieces of art. we found a serra, miro, calder, and others. i also found the nicest mcdonald's i've ever seen in my life. tonight we cooked dinner for C's host family. it was the most southern meal i've had in a long time. the menu included: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet tea, apple pie and vanilla ice cream. it was amazing! currently i am stuffed!
tomorrow is la nuit blanche. there will be some amazing art exhibits in the city as well as museums opened late. we need to do some major planning. we will be spending the entire day in the city. maybe the entire night. who knows.
oh yeah, C and i are going to dublin next thursday-sunday! then i return to barcelona for a few days until i figure out what the next destination will be on my tour-de-europe!
No comments:
Post a Comment