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So, after leaving Bergamo, we flew to Granada to begin the third part of spring break! I'd been to most of the major cities in Spain as part of a school-sponsored trip in high school (with the exception of Barcelona), so I was excited to get back there, plus see one new city! And I've actually missed speaking Spanish more than I thought I would, so I was looking forward to using the language again. Be careful what you wish for...After flying into Granada, we ended up hanging out in our hostel for awhile. It was a cool, funky little place with a rooftop terrace...how awesome is that? The rest of my day ended up being a little more eventful...one of the guys on my trip had been sick since Rome, and it was obvious that he needed to see a doctor. So a nice lady at the hostel helped him pick out a clinic, and suggested that he take someone who could speak Spanish along with him, just to help out until an English-speaker at the place could take over. Out of our group of nine, only two of us can speak Spanish, one the other guy hasn't taken actual Spanish classes since high school...so guess who got to go along? So I get us to the clinic, and dealt with an almost-mini-fiasco with the not-English-speaking receptionist while we tried to figure out payment stuff. But it all got worked out, and she gave us an appointment in an hour (wow! not used to that in the States). So we wait for an hour, plus a little time upstairs as the doctor finishes seeing all his other patients. Then this exchange happens (en español, por supuesto):Doctor: "I hear only one of you speaks a little Spanish."Meg: "That's me! I speak some Spanish. My friend is the one who's sick, and he only speaks English."Doctor: "Well, that's OK...I don't speak a word of English! Let's get started."So after I picked my jaw up off the ground, I translated the WHOLE appointment. I mean, I definitely wasn't fluent, but between my Spanish and the doctor using medical books he had in English, we managed to do OK. But it was up to me to explain the prescription, diagnosis, and treatment info to my friend--never expected to be doing that in Granada! It was so worth it when he started to feel and look better. And I couldn't have asked for a nicer doctor--what a sweet old guy! The rest of the time in Granada was a lot of fun. The next day, we went to the Alhambra and Generalife, which are these palaces and gardens where the Moors lived when they ruled that section of Spain. The Moors were Muslim, so the palaces have this fantastic Arabic influence on them...absolutely gorgeous! And probably my favorite palaces that I've seen in all of Europe. I'd seen them on my last trip, but it was so worth going back to see again! (And this time with a much better camera!) Now, let me just preface the next part of our adventure by saying that we had a joke on our trip that every day it was a new man down--someone was always falling and hurting themselves or getting sick or having some sort of medical problem. So when our hostel sponsored a late night trip to some hot springs outside of Granada, it sounded like the perfect thing for all of us to do! Which is was...they were these natural springs in complete darkness about an hour outside of the city...AMAZING. But it would figure that I would find a way to injure myself, and when I was climbing on the rocks around the springs on our way out--slip! crack! I fell and bruised my tailbone or something...I'm just lucky that I didn't break my arm or anything! It made it a little harder and more painful to get around the rest of the trip (and a super-uncomfortable 5-hour bus ride to Madrid), but what are you going to do? I was still in one of the coolest countries, so you better believe I was going to enjoy it! The next day, before we left for Madrid, we walked around the city a little bit more, and saw the Cathedral and stuff. The only thing I missed out on was doing the gypsy caves, but I'll save that for my next time in Spain. I'd been to Madrid before, and I think the last time it was my least favorite city that we saw. But least favorite out of everything in Spain isn't saying much, because Madrid is fantastic! I saw some stuff I had seen the last time, like Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, the Prado (with some of my favourite paintings by Valazquez!), but I also got to see more! We went to el Parque del Buen Retiro, which was packed full of people and performers since it was on a weekend. It was such a beautiful, sunny day, and it felt nice just to wander around. We also went to el Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, a sort of more modern art museum than the Prado. And when we went there, they were having the most fantastic Picasso exhibit! Oh, it was amazing! There were four different areas that traced the four different eras of his work...incredible. I never knew all the different areas that he dabbled in, not to mention just how talented Picasso was (very!). And I got to see Guernica for myself, which was great after studying it/mentioning it in classes that I've taken. Also, there was a street vendor outside The Sofia wearing a Northwestern sweatshirt...unexpected, but priceless! We found a really cheap flight, so five of us ended up flying out really early from Madrid to Barcelona, which gave us pretty much a whole extra day in the city! SO worth it since I hadn't been to Barcelona ever before. And I saw SO MUCH: the Sagrada Familia, La Rambla, the amazing and famous market (Mercat de la Boqueria), Park Guell, the Gothic Quarter, the Cathedral, some Olympic stuff, the beach, and the view from the amazing park called Montjuic at both day and night. And I could have spent a lot longer there!! I think it's my new favorite place in Spain. You really have to see Gaudi's architecture for yourself, it's like nothing you could ever imagine. The Sagrada Familia kind of looks like it's melting, Park Guell looks like either Candyland or something that Dr. Suess came up with...it's so unbelieveable. And it's really cool to hear their official language: Catalan, which is a blend of Spanish and French. I think it'd be fun to learn, if it was spoken more outside of the region of Catalonia. It was also interesting to talk to one of the guys that runs the hostel we stayed in. Catalonia, like Basque Country, thinks of itself as a country independent from Spain, only that Madrid doesn't recognise it as its own country. So Toti made it very clear that since he's originally from Barcelona, he's Catalonian, NOT Spanish. He said that his English is actually better than his Spanish...his first language was Catalan, and he uses English more since so many of the people coming through the hostel use English. Kind of interesting to hear for myself what I've learned in Spanish and politics classes. But, unfortunately, I eventually had to fly back to Shannon. I have to admit, it was nice to hear the Irish accent again! Coming back to Cork definitely felt like coming home. And now I'm on part four of spring break: recovering, eating, and sleeping! I have a few more days of it, and then my final three days of classes starting on Tuesday. I'll post pictures from each of the cities again, I hope you all will enjoy them! And a special thanks to anyone and everyone who helped to make this trip possible...it really was the spring break of a lifetime, I'm so, so grateful, and I don't think I'll ever be able to top it! Plus, it was nice to see a little sunshine after months in Ireland, haha!
Wow. I'm finally back in Cork after a 17-day trip through the Mediterranean. It was the best spring break EVER. I got to see more than I thought possible in that time...I can't even begin to imagine how many miles (kilometers?) we walked the whole time. The trip also involved some adventures, which you'll get to hear all about. I'll also refrain from putting up the 1000 pictures I've taken. I have to say that the best part of the whole trip may have been coming back to Ireland and having people tell me that I look tan. And that's why I love the Irish, because God knows what a pale person I am!
The trip even started out on an interesting note. Four of us flew out of the Shannon Airport, and when we got there, there were army people crawling EVERYWHERE. I've never seen so many military people in one place in my life! I was wondering why the Irish Army would have so many men there when I saw they weren't Irish at all--they were all US Marines and Navy guys. And they were all getting ready to get shipped out to Iraq from Ireland. It was pretty sad because a whole bunch of them looked a lot younger than me, and you could hear some of them saying that they really didn't want to leave Ireland. One of my friends talked to an airport employee, and he was saying that they ship them through here all the time. It was just trippy because that was the last thing I expected to see in the airport...I also haven't seen that many Americans in one place since I left the States in December!
We flew from Shannon to Venice, which I ended up liking a lot more than I even thought I would! It was so cool to be in a city where it's completely pedestrian. Everything is just a series of canals and bridges linking all the little islands that make up Venice. It's really easy to get lost because half of the streets aren't marked (we had a hard time finding our hostel in the dark, thankfully Tatiana was already in Venice and helped search for us!). One time we left the Piazza San Marco to head back towards our hostel, only to end up right back there 15 minutes later! But half the fun of Venice is just wandering around, anyway. We also made it out to the little island of Murano to see some glassblowing, which was fantastic! They also have these cool glass sculptures all over the island, and they're amazingly beautiful. Back in Venice, we saw the basilica and climbed to the top of the clock tower to get the best view of the city. Piazza San Marco was awesome, but I would just like to say that there were more pigeons there than I have ever seen anywhere else. In my life. Ever. Ew. But other than a little rain on our last evening there, the weather was fantastic. It was good to be someplace that can get hot again (Mom, it's definitely your country). Also, this is where my gelato addiction began. But after a couple nights in Venezia, it was time to take the night train to Roma.
After a mostly uneventful train ride to Rome (word to the wise: it's always possible to turn off the nightlight in the cabin), we got into the city and found our hostel, only to have them move us to another hostel. But even though that was a pain, we ended up with a much better deal with a much nicer hostel. Then we picked up some Roma Passes and went all over the city! I saw the Colosseum, the Forum, Trevi Fountain, the church of St. Peter in Chains to see Michelangelo's sculpture Moses, the Spanish Steps, Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy, and so many random squares and piazzas. It was amazing! We spent a lot of one day at Vatican City, which was on a much bigger scale then I ever realised. The view from the cupola of the basilica was well worth the hike up there (I feel like we got owned by some old ladies hauling up those stairs). The art that the Vatican Museum has is unbelievable, and I couldn't believe I was getting to see the Sistine Chapel for myself! It was sort of easy to forget how intensely people feel the religious aspect there and kind of take it to another level...when we went down to the tombs of the popes, there was a special section blocked off behind where people could file past the tomb of Pope John Paul II because of all the people who stopped for significant amounts of time to pray there. And while we were watching some cardinals start a Mass in one of the chapels of St. Peter's, this crazy lady got hauled off by security for trying to run after the cardinals and bishops while yelling stuff at them. There's so much to do in Rome that I feel like I could go back a few more times and still not have seen everything! (It also had the best gelato I've ever had in my life...SO GOOD!) So that's what I plan on doing. And at times it felt like the city didn't want us to leave...we planned to take a 5:15 pm train out of the city that would get us into Florence around 9. But that got canceled (aka "sopresso"). We had the option of a train at 6:30, but we decided to take the 7:15 because it was direct and faster. Then the 7:15 one also got sopressoed. So we had to take an indirect one that left around 7:30, which was really just the 6:30 one running with a delay. Let me just comment on how unhelpful and unfriendly Italian train employees are. Also, there are no announcements of what station it is, so we were lucky that we even got off in the right place to switch trains. But we finally made it to Florence without much other trouble.
Florence is in Tuscany, which in my opinion means it's incredibly beautiful. Since each of the cities was in a difference region, they each had a different feel to them, and I have to say that I think Florence looked the best! It was so pretty. We got to spend more time just wandering in Florence than we had in any other city, which ended up being really nice. The only disappointment was that we spent Sunday wandering, leaving the museums until Monday--except they're all closed on Mondays. So I didn't get to see the Uffizi or Michelangelo's David, but I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time I'm in Florence! Always good to have something to look forward to! And I did get to see the Duomo, Santa Croce, a beautiful synagogue, Dostoevsky's house, and the best view of the city from Piazzale Michelangelo. Not to mention a bajillion replicas of the David that are all over Florence.
After a couple days in Florence, we took the train up to the Milan-Bergamo area to catch our flight to Spain. All in all, I could not have asked for a better experience in Italy! The espresso, gelato, and food all lived up to expectations...and I guess the sights did, too. And I felt like I kept seeing family members all over the place! I'm glad I got to see where some of my family is from, and hopefully one day I can get back there and maybe even make a trip to the south of the country! (Hint hint to Bridg for picking where she wants to study abroad...)
Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia.
Construction began in the 1880's-1890's and isn't scheduled to be finished until 2026.
La Rambla!
The most amazing market I've ever been in, right off of La Rambla. I could move there. You should see the chocolate section.
Gaudi's Park Guell.
Park Guell...seriously looks like something out of Dr. Suess!
Inside the Cathedral.
And a shot from on top of the Cathedral's roof!
Just another plaza...
The military castle at the top of Montjuic!
Meg and me in Plaza Mayor!
Puerta del Sol...the exact center of Spain is located here.
Parque del Buen Retiro
Parque del Buen Retiro
Crazy sculpture in between el Parque del Buen Retiro and el Museo Nacional Reina Sofia.
Some of the detailing in the rooms of the Alhambra.
More of the walls of the Alhambra.
Inside the Generalife.
Around the grounds of the whole complex.
View of Granada from the Alhambra...I think you can imagine why I love it so much!
Elana and Meg hanging out in the Piazza della Signoria. 
The Duomo! It's huge and absolutely gorgeous inside.
Basilica di Santa Croce.
One of the copies of the David...this one's in the Piazzale Michelangelo.
Great shot of the city and beyond from the Piazzale Michelangelo.
First stop in Rome: the Colosseum!
Michelangelo's Moses at the church of St. Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli). Which also had St. Peter's chains, coincidentally.
The Trevi Fountain at night...if you have a limited time in Rome, I highly suggest going here!
Meg and I in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
The Spanish Steps
Some of the ruins at the Forum.
More at the Forum.
View of the Grand Canal from the Ponte degli Scalzi. I referred to this one as "big water."
One of the really cool glass sculptures on the island of Murano, which is famous for its glassblowing.
My future home in Venice.
On the left is the Basilica di San Marco, and on the right is the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia. Both of them are in the Piazza San Marco.
View of the city from the clock tower!
