Hicimos el surf...

So the international student group at Navarra organized a little surf trip to Biarritz, in the south of France.  It's actually really close to us--only about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from Pamplona.  For 25 euros, we got 2 hours of surf instruction, gear, and a bus ticket.  Pretty good deal, I think.  Someone was kind enough to take a pic of all of us...pretty small but still pretty cool!

Despite the fact that it was an absolutely terrible day weather-

wise (cold and rainy), it was a blast.  The waves were huge because the weather was bad, but that made it even more fun.  Mostly everyone spent most of their time on their stomachs, anyways...I only got up on my feet for about 2 seconds.  But hey, at least I got up.  

After changing out of our wetsuits, we walked along the coast and took a little tour of Biarritz.  It would be great to go back sometime 

when the weather is nice....Biarritz is a beautiful little town.  

Bar-tha-lona!

Seeing as it was Labor Day here in Spain last Friday, we took a little weekend trip to Barcelona.  We lucked out majorly, seeing as how the weather was absolutely beautiful.  We got in late Friday afternoon, so we just walked around Las Ramblas, which is the main strip with lots of street performers and vendors.  It's also apparently the #1 place in Europe to get robbed, but thankfully that didn't happen to us!  We took a little walk down to the boardwalk and then grabbed some dinner before heading back to our hostel.  

Saturday was gorgeous weather--we got up early and went to La Sagrada Fami

lia, which is a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi.  It's been under construction since 1898 and apparently isn't scheduled to be done until 2026.  It was pretty cool, because every part of the church was designed after some part of nature (tree trunks, flowers, formulas, etc).  Gaudí was quite the intelligent man.  We also walked to Hospital de La Santa Creu, which is Europe's 2nd-oldest functioning hospital and basically looks like a cross between a gingerbread house and Taj Mahals.  Really a cool place.  

From there, we thought it might be a good idea to walk to Park Guell, also designed by Gaudi.  Little did we know that it would be about an hour walk, uphill all the way.  So we definitely got our exercise in for the day.  It was worth it, though; the park was beautiful.  And, it holds the largest park bench in the world...so we can officially say we sat on it. 

Best part of the day was still to come...we went to the beach for a few hours.  Leslie and I got in, despite the fact it was absolutely freezing.  But hey, we can say we swam in the Mediterranean!

Probably my favorite part was the guy balancing a tray of 30+ donuts on his head while dancing, singing, and playing the triangle.  He really looked like he was loving life.  

Luck would also have it that the Picasso Museum is free on the first Sunday of the month, so we went there before heading home on Sunday.  Definitely worth the wait in line, because it was an impressive collection that really delved into his life.  

Claire comes to visit...and Mallorca

Claire Schlafly came to visit from London...she missed her flight to Barcelona so the only part of Spain she saw was Pamplona.  I think we showed her a good time...we explored Casco Viejo (old town), went out for pintxos, and hung out in the Ciudadela (the weather was warm for the first time in awhile!)

On Sunday we left for Mallorca.  After almost missing our bus, we made it to Madrid alive and flew to Mallorca.  Mallorca was absolutely gorgeous--the weather was wonderful and our hostel ended up bein

g like a hotel.  And you can't beat the fact that it was only 30 meters from the beach.  We hit the beach immediately after getting into Mallorca and then stopped off at a Mexican restaurant for strawberry margaritas as soon as it started getting too windy.  Monday morning was a bit rainy, so we went into the heart of Palma and explored.  Saw a beautiful cathedral and got a taste of what the actual city is like.  And, miraculously, it cleared up, so we took the bus back to our hostel and went straight to the beach!  This trip was really relaxing, because it was the first one I've taken that hasn't been all about seeing all the touristy sights--our only priority was the beach!  

Spring break!

So we had quite the whirlwind Spring break tour...Dublin, Venice, Florence, and Rome.  Dublin was absolutely amazing, despite the fact that it was kind of expensive.  It's got a more European feel than London, which seemed pretty American.  We did a day tour of the countryside (Wicklow and Glendalough), which was beautiful.  We went to where Braveheart and P.S I Love You were filmed and then had lunch at a carvery in Wicklow.  We also went to the ruins of St. Kevin's Monastery in Glendalough.  Pretty cool.  Here's a pic of Guinness lake...looks like we photoshopped ourselves in.  

Venice was cool as well--quite the experience only being surrounded by water.  It's definitely the most confusing city I've ever been in--we got lost quite a few times.  Our hostel was an old palace, so there were ornate wall hangings and paintings and canopy beds everywhere.  Plus we got free breakfast AND dinner--a great deal.  It's definitely the coolest hostel we have stayed in so far.  

Florence was my favorite city in Italy...home to the world's best gelato, aka Grom and Gelateria de Neri.  Per the suggestion of one of my friends who studied in Florence last semester, we went to Trattoria de Anita.  Honestly, the best pasta I have ever eaten--the waiter worked his magic with the cook and let us have the famous truffle sauce, despite the fact it's not served usually at lunch. 

Rome was great as well--we did a walking tour so we really got the history of the city.  The Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the 

Roman Forum, the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Maria Maggiore....the list goes on.  

LONDON!

Haven't posted for awhile, but I just got back from London after spending 5 days there in my friend Shelby's flat. On Friday, all the people from the Brussels internship program met up in London, so I got to hang out with my fellow ADPis from Mizzou...Shelby, Patty and Maria. We did every touristy thing possible and loved it. British Museum and Egyptian mummies, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Gallery (Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, etc) and much more.

Probably the best part of the weekend was our adventure to Buckingham Palace to watch Changing of the Guard on Sunday. Very cool thing to see, but no need to stay for the whole thing--Maria and I gave our spots to some lucky people and went in search of a typical English breakfast. Let's just say it was heavenly--bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, fried tomatoes, (beans??), and coffee. And all of that for only 3.95 pounds. Pretty great. Later on that day, we did some hardcore shopping and discovered what may very well be shopping Nirvana--Primark. It's like the Forever 21 of London and pretty cheap. Belts and tights for a pound.

On Monday, Shelby had to work, so I spent the day exploring by myself and mastering the use of the Tube. I visited Portabello Road Market (in Notting Hill), which was so great--I picked up some beautiful scarves as souvenirs which I ended up wanting to keep for myself :) I also snapped a picture of the Travel Bookshop from the movie Notting Hill. Unfortunately, Hugh Grant was nowhere to be found...

We're headed off to spring break this week, so this may be the last post for a bit. We're visiting Dublin, Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. Wish us luck!

Weekend in Madrid

After Valencia, we headed to Madrid via Ryan Air. That was my first Ryan Air experience, and needless to say it wasn't too pleasant. But hey--it's cheaper. Madrid was very cool--for being such a huge city, it's still clean and pretty. It's a lot more tourist friendly--everyone speaks English and for once, I wasn't the only blonde on the street. But I think I like living in Pamplona a lot better, because we definitely have to speak a lot more Spanish.

Anyways, we went to the Palacio Real, where the King and Queen of Spain live. It reminded me a bit of Versailles, minus the gardens and the gold everywhere. We're also thinking that this is where Lindsay got pickpocketed while standing in line....

After the Palacio Real, we walked to El Parque de Buen Retiro, a 300 acre park which is basically the Central Park of Spain. It was definitely the place to be on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon--everyone was sunbathing, rollerblading, or taking paddleboats out on the lake.

Our last stop of the day before dinner was the Reina Sofia, which was a really cool place to see. It doesn't feature many of the older works, like the Prado, but instead has Goya, Miró, Dalí and Picasso. Picasso's Guernica is there, which was cool--but even cooler, the museum had created a room of all his studies/thought processes leading up to the painting of the Guernica, so we really got to understand all the complexities that went into its creation.

Finally, we got a taste of home when we walked into an Irish pub, and lo and behold, the scores for the Mizzou/Cornell game were up. We saw the last two minutes of the game as Mizzou went on to victory. Perfect.

Las Fallas in Valencia!

So we're back from Las Fallas, having eaten plenty of famous Valencian paella and Valencian oranges. Las Fallas was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The neighborhoods in Valencia spend a whole year crafting these elaborate scultptures (called ninots) which are made out of wood, paper-mache, and plaster. At midnight on St. Joseph's Day (March 19), they set off fireworks and light them all on fire. The one we saw was probably about 40-60 feet tall, and the heat from the flames was so intense that the whole crowd starting running backwards to get away. It's basically a firefighter's nightmare and a pyro's dream.

We got there the day before La Cremá (the burning), so we got to see the parade where everyone dresses up in regional/historical costumes. They basically walk all day in these elaborate costumes. They go all out, too--check out this dog in the traditional garb and hair piece.