The end of my travels...

Hello all,

Well, I have reached the end of my study abroad experience. It has been quite a run, and I've met fantastic people and seen some incredible things. I leave for home this Friday, December 19, and while I'll miss Barcelona a lot, I think I'm ready to go home and see my family and friends, and get back to normal life at school in California.

Here are a few more pictures of Barcelona that I've taken over the semester.



Inside Gaudi's Casa Batllo (amazing house! google it.)

More Casa Batllo

On the roof of Casa Batllo

Roof of Casa Batllo

My favorite thing in all of Barcelona: the lamp posts

You see these everywhere! If you're a citizen, you can pay 30 euro a year and use these bikes all over the city! Quite the deal.

Fountain in Ciutadella Park...some of the only green in all of Barca.

Gates to Ciutadella Park

Famous Gaudi Park

Inside Parc Guell (this is where America's Next Top Model was filmed at some point, in case you're a fan!)

More Parc Guell

Currently the background picture on my computer; cermaic/mosaic in Parc Guell (this type of art is everywhere in Barcelona, and I am newly obsessed with it)

Ceiling of some of the architecture in Parc Guell

Parc Guell

Mi calle! (My street!)

The front door to my apartment building. 29 Avinguda Sarria

Elizabeth, my best friend here, and I went to an FC Barcelona game. SO much fun and such an awesome cultural experience. Soccer/Futbol here is a completely different world than it is in the states!

My friend Jessica and I on the way to Tibidabo (<--a church and theme park on the top of a mountain...you'll see in the pictures to come)

On the funicular/tram up to the top of Tibidabo

Beautiful church on the top of Tibidabo

Theme Park/Ferris Wheel at the top of Tibidabo

Beautiful view

Stranded at the top of the ferris wheel with my girls!

Tibidabo at christmastime!

Inside the beautiful church. Entirely mosaic, and completely incredible.


Thanks so much for reading my lovely little blog over the past semester! I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and and my observations and stories! Can't wait to see everyone again over the next few months.

Hope all is well wherever you are.

Love,
Mary

From London to Paris to the end of Barcelona...

Hi all,

So about a month later, I realized that I haven't posted a blog since London which was four weekends ago. So I thought I'd update you a bit! I only have 8 days left in Barcelona, and it's all gone by so so quickly. Even though everyone says "Oh, it'll fly by..." you don't know til you've experienced it.

I went to London and visited my friend Meri who was studying there and she showed me an amazing time. I think London is one of my favorite cities that I've been to. Part of that might be that I was so bewildered that everything was in English and that people could actually understand me, but I think a large part was due to the art that I saw.

Meri is an art history major as well, so we got to be nerdy together in every museum, which was really fun. We saw the Tate Modern (and a special Rothko exhibit that happened to be there, which was incredible since he's one of my favorite artists), the National Gallery (which had about 1/4 of the art I've ever studied in it), and we saw a random Andy Warhol exhibit sort of on accident that blew both of us out of the water. The great thing about London museums is that, aside from special exhibitions, they're all free! While in London, we also strolled through Hyde Park, and went to Westminster Abbey, where I paid my respects to every British poet I ever read (since they are ALL buried there). I saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye, and got to go out in London with one of my best friends, so it was definitely a winning weekend! It's always way more fun visiting someone in the city they've been living in, too, because then you don't have to plan anything and they're basically your free tour guide with inside tips!



Dali Exhibit near the London Eye

Andy Warhol Exhibit (amaaaazing)

Me & Peter Pan in Hyde Park

Beautiful Hyde Park in the fall

Westminster Abbey

Meri and I near Big Ben

Trafalgar Square, near the National Gallery

Buckingham Palace


Then I went to Paris the next weekend, and visited my roomie, Liz (who I'm sure I've talked about before in this blog), and had a blast there too. I had already been to Paris before with my family (I felt so spoiled walking around and recognizing things I had already seen!) and so there was no pressure to see any of the touristy stuff, which was nice, although we did have brie, a baguette, and a bottle of wine near the Eiffel Tower....no complaints here.

We saw some cool art in the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre (although it's a little too big for my taste, still incredible), and I got to go to a few of Liz's favorite parisian areas, had some great food, went to a fondue restaurant where they served wine in baby bottles, and saw a few of my other friends that are studying in Paris. We also went to a huge rave/all night dance party in Gent, Belgium, wore some crazy outfits, and danced the night away!


Seeing my first Basquiat!! My fav art history teacher would be so proud.

My favorite spot in the Louvre

Me, my bright red umbrella, and the Eiffel Tower...plus a baguette.

Our little lunch/wine rendezvous near the Eiffel Tower

Liz and I in Gent

The crazy concerts/dance party


I'll post one more blog about my last few weeks in Barcelona, when Meri, Liz, and my boyfriend John came to visit me, and post a few more pictures. But other than that, I hope you enjoy these ones!

Love,
Mary