Monday, March 22, 2010

Molly in Lisbon

And the traveling continues!...

On Thursday evening, I met my dear friend and roommate from Wofford, Patterson, at the Lisbon airport. Both of us were coming out of a stressful few weeks at school, so we were both excited to have a leisurely weekend with no set agenda.

The weekend got off to a great start when we checked into our hostel, which ended up being more like a palace. The two of us have stayed in some rather interesting hostels that were dirty and full of unfriendly help. We knew we were in for a real treat when we staff welcomed us with open arms and offered anything and everything to help us. We thought our situation couldn't get any better...until we saw our room. Every detail was beautiful: the molding on the ceiling, the smell, the big window overlooking all of Lisbon, the fresh sheets, the color of the walls. Patterson and I were seriously speechless and so excited about to spend three nights in such luxurious conditions!





On Friday night, we ventured to the center of Lisbon to find a nice local place to eat dinner. We selected a completely random place that we would eventually return to for a second time. Patterson and I had a nice private table outside and were waited on by (no joke) four waiters all evening. We became friends with each of them and insisted on getting lots and lots of pictures with them, which are without a doubt our favorite pictures from the weekend. Our closest friend was Ricky, who is a circus performer-by-day and waiter-by-night. He was so friendly and even taught us a little Portuguese, which I was NOT very good at!

All through the week leading up to our trip, weatherchannel.com was predicting rain showers (80% chance) and clouds for the entire weekend. When we woke up, there was no rain so we set out to see all that we could within the city of Lisbon on Friday. We spent the first hour on the north east side of the town called Oriente, but struggled finding our way around and didn't feel very comfortable in that area of town so we quickly left. Next we went to the Belem area, which is along the river on the south western part of town. As soon as we got there, there was not a cloud of site and the two of us had smiles from ear to ear. I was prepared for rain all day wearing my rain boots and toting my umbrella around, so everyone must have thought I was nuts!

Belem was absolutely beautiful and we saw many important landmarks in Lisbon. One of my favorite parts was going to the Belem Tower which overlooked the river and the Abril Bridge. Apparently, Lisbon is often called the "San Francisco of Europe," and this comparison was very accurate in this part of town. The Abril Bridge looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge, and Lisbon is also very hilly with trollies running throughout the city. Patterson and I enjoyed a nice lunch at a local restaurant and eventually made our way back into the central part of town for more site-seeing. After more map struggles, we finally made it to the top of the city where a famous castle is. Patterson and I were too stingy to actually pay to go inside, but we still got excellent views of the city and used the money we saved to treat ourselves to a tasty ice cream cone.



On Friday night the Terriers played in their first ever NCAA tournament game. We didn't have access to the internet for free, so we sat in our hostel with my Blackberry constantly refreshing the score. Wofford played an excellent game and despite the loss, we were so proud to be Terriers.

After the game, Patty and I went back to the same area of town for dinner and eventually settled on a lovely Italian restaurant. The two of us enjoyed tasty Pizza Margheritas and wine. We finished up pretty quickly and headed to Barrio Alto, which is the area of town famous for its night life. We were a little overwhelmed by the atmosphere there so we didn't stay very long, but we were glad we got to see the area. Patterson and I eventually settled on a restaurant in one of Lisbon's main plaza for a last drink that was called Pic-Nic. We were hoping to casually enjoy a glass of wine, but were constantly bombarded by people trying to sell us jewelry and (what we thought were) drugs. (Ricky later informed us they were simply kitchen spices-- oh how naive we are!). Needless to say, we were very uncomfortable and headed in early for a good night's sleep.


On Saturday, we decided to go to the small coastal town of Cascais as the weather appeared to be holding up. Cascais was everything we wanted and more. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the small North Carolina beach towns like Southport with little shops, restaurants, and great coastal views. We saw beautiful homes and flowers and really felt like "spring was upon us" (Patty made fun of me for saying this!). We enjoyed a delicious meal with two of our favorite things: Pasta Alfredo for Patty and Avocado and Mozzarella salad for me. After allowing our tummies to settle, we enjoyed a nice (and cheap) McDonald's chocolate ice cream cone while looking out over the Atlantic. Like the rest of the weekend, it was so relaxing and we were both so content.

For our last night in Lisbon we decided to surprise our friends back at Thursday night's restaurant. As expected, they were thrilled to see us, but unfortunately they weren't able to give us such a personal dining experience because of the crowds. Still, we had a lot of bonding time with Ricky and he even treated us to flowers (a red flower for me and my red wine and a white flower for Patty's white wine) and Ginja, which is a popular Portuguese drink. We also made friends with the people sitting next to us, a couple from Madrid celebrating their first wedding anniversary. One of our favorite parts of the dinner was the street performer, who was a shy young man from Brazil (we talked to him later in the night to find out this information). He played some of our favorite songs, including Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" and Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." They were certainly songs we didn't expect to hear from a Brazilian street performer in Portugal!



We headed home shortly after dinner in preparation for our 5:00 am wake up call. The weekend went by entirely too fast, but was full of experiences that I will never forget. It was so hard to leave Portugal and come back to the real world (haha as if my "real world" is so bad right now!).

On Friday, I leave for Turkey where I am going to meet my parents and my oldest brother, Wilson. I miss them so much and get giddy just thinking about seeing them in Istanbul. We will spend 6 nights in Istanbul and then return to Barcelona for 3 nights. On the Saturday before Easter, Wilson and I are going to Paris while my parents venture off to Italy. I am so lucky to have all of these amazing experiences and I have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Molly in London

Hey everyone!

I have just returned from a fabulous long weekend in London with Mimi. We are well over the half-way point of our program and missing the English language, so London was the perfect destination. We arrived late Thursday evening and stayed at the Central Hostel which was located in the Notting Hill area of London. While we loved the area, the hostel was a bit of a disappointment as there were many loud people and it was quite dirty. Fortunately, we had lots to see in London and didn't need to spend much time in the filth with our rather interesting roommates.



We had quite the busy day on Friday, seeing famous places such as Hyde Park, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey Cathedral, the London Eye, Westminster Bridge, and more. Although we thoroughly enjoyed visiting all of these places, the highlight of our afternoon had to be our lunch at Pret a Manger. Brent recommended this restaurant to us, describing it as "cheap, delicious, and everywhere." Pret a Manger was definitely cheap and on every street of London, but describing it as delicious did not do it justice! I was able to enjoy many things that we don't have in Barcelona, including DIET Coke (verses Coca Cola Light), a Jalapeno Chicken Wrap (I swear the Spaniards don't believe in anything hot or spicy), Sweet Potato Chips (non-existent here!), and SeedLESS grapes. The lunch was absolutely phenomenal and we returned for a second time on Saturday.

Buckingham Palace



The London Eye

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

On Friday night, Mimi and I met up with her family friend Andreas and his girlfriend, Jessica. Mimi's mom works as a publicist in Spartanburg, and has worked with Andreas, a pianist, for many years. The couple took us to a posh restaurant and bar in Piccadilly Circus for drinks and then to a local restaurant for a tapas-style dinner. We concluded the evening getting frozen yogurt, which about did Mimi and me in! We were so spoiled by Andreas, and it was really nice spending time with a local who had so much to tell us about London. 

I could NOT train my brain to look right first. Thank goodness for these reminders on every street.


Our not-so-posh hostel


We started off Saturday by visiting the world-famous Portobello Market. There were thousands and thousands of people looking to find antiques, clothes, foods, etc, but it was a bit overwhelming so we didn't stay for too long. Later in the day, we visited the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and visited popular stores on Oxford and Regent Street. The highlight of day two had to be our stop at Big Ben's, which was a local cookie store. We escaped from the cold for a while and indulged in enormous Chai Tea Lattes and warm Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mmmm! 

On the London Bridge

The Tower Bridge


We had a low key evening on Saturday night in preparation for our 5 a.m. wake-up call. Mimi and I chose Bella Italia, which was a delicious Italian restaurant in the Oxford Circus area. All in all, we had a fabulous trip and have had a hard time adjusting back to speaking Spanish with such regularity. Life was so simple in London! 


St. Paul's Cathedral

Fortnum and Mason, one of my personal faves.
The food here was a lot like Dean and Deluca and the store also had gifts and restaurants. 
Mimi and I indulged in some delicious samples followed by some tasty custard and cheesecake.
I could get used to living in London!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tuesday March 9, 2010

Where is my semester abroad going?! I have now been in Spain for over two months, I've finished all of my midterms, and I have every single week planned out until I return hope at the end of April. I am still having the time of my life and wish time would slow down for just a second.

Mimi and I stayed in town this past weekend and had a nice and relaxing couple of days. On Friday, we met up with Sarah Johnson and our friend Margaux at our favorite bar, Dow Jones. Later in the evening, my friends Danielle and Brittany from UNC were able to join us with their boyfriends. Danielle and I always try to meet up but always fail in our attempts, so it was nice to finally spend some time with her.

We woke up early Saturday morning with the intention of meeting Danielle and Brittany for brunch, but our plans with them fell through. Mimi and I still wanted brunch, so we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant by the beach called Milk. I had my first Spanish blueberry pancakes, which were absolutely divine! We look forward to taking Sarah and Margaret there when they visit next month. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking along the port, sitting on the beach, and listening to the local bands playing around the city. 

Our biggest surprise of the week came yesterday when Barcelona got their first snow storm in 20 years! While Charlotte was enjoying a nice taste of spring, we were caught in a blizzard and painfully watching from our classrooms. Because it snows so infrequently, Barcelona was totally caught of guard and everything shut down. No busses were running, the power was going out, and the taxis refused to pick anyone up. I was fortunate to catch one of the only running metros home, but Mimi and many others had to walk home. I was absolutely drenched and freezing by the time I got home, but was greeted by my sweet host mother, Elena, who prepared hot chocolate, sandwiches and chips for Mimi and me. IES considered canceling classes for today, but with sunshine and warmer temperatures today, everything was back to normal and I was able to take my final midterm. 

On Thursday, Mimi and I leave for London where we will be until Sunday. I have never been there, and am anxious to see the place Brent called home last semester. I know we'll have so much fun!

P.S. How 'bout them TERRIERS? Headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the school's history. Go Wofford! http://www.wofford.edu/newsroom/story.aspx?id=441557 


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Hey everyone!

I am so sorry I have been so slack on my postings lately- my life has been crazy! Last week, I completed all but one of my midterms, and then headed to Rome on Thursday afternoon for the weekend. Our flight out of Barcelona was delayed several hours, but Grace Perry and I finally arrived around 11.

Once settled into our hostel, we met up with Sarah Kana and Margaret Strom who are both studying in Rome for the semester. They picked us up at the train station, and the four of us walked around for a while in search of a wine bar. We settled on a bar that, no joke, was right across the street from the colisseum. It was surreal. There I was sitting with three of my best friends and staring at one of the world's most famous places. After enjoying a delicious glass of wine and catching up for a while, we headed back to our hostel to rest up for a full weekend of touring.

On Friday morning, we met at the Wedding Cake, which I have yet the know the significance of. We then enjoyed my first authentic Italian pizza, which certainly did not disappoint. After lunch, we saw other places like the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Arc of Constantine, Circus Maximus, and the Colisseum once again. We also had gelato at the famous Gioletti ice cream shop, and it was truly a slice of heaven. I had a combination of After Eight (mint), Coffee, and Cream. I could certainly get used to living in Italy!!
The Wedding Cake



Hadrian's Tomb (I think!) with Sarah, GP, and Margaret



The Spanish Steps
The Pantheon


Inside the Pantheon

Italian gelato...Heaven on Earth



The Trevi fountain


Making my wish!

I love Italy!


By Friday evening, Mollie McInnis and Kensley Mincey (more Wofford students) had arrived in Rome from Milan, and we all met up for dinner. Our group of 6 dined at a family owned restaurant on a small side street. Once again, I had another amazing pasta dish and a wonderful time with all of my friends. We had intentions of going out on the town, but ended up spending the entire night catching up and sipping wine at Sarah and Margaret's apartment. It was the perfect ending to a busy day, and I enjoyed seeing their apartment and meeting their other roommates.
Dinner with Margaret, Kensley, Me, Sarah, Mollie, and GP


The six of us met up for a 10 am tour of the Vatican, which was absolutely incredible! We toured the Vatican museum, where I saw the Sistine Chapel. Then, we went in St. Peter's Basilica, which was absolutely beautiful. My only regret is that I didn't get a view of the Pope, which some of my friends got when they went on Sunday morning. Still, it was an incredible experience and I'm really glad I got to see everything.
Arch of Constantine



I don't think this one needs a caption



Roman Forum



Inside St. Peter's Basilica


On Saturday night, we went to a restaurant that was one of Anndel's favorite places in Rome during her semester abroad last year. As always, the food, wine, and company were all wonderful. We then went to one of Sarah and Margaret's favorite bars, On the Rocks, for several hours, and called it a night after that.

On our last day, we had lunch with Sarah's parents, who came into town on Sunday morning for the week. Without a doubt, I saved my best meal for last, and was sad to leave Rome! I had the most amazing weekend with beautiful weather, and can't wait for Sarah and Margaret to come visit us in Barca next month!
Simply delicious!

Last night (Monday night), John Langford joined us for dinner at the apartment. John is Mimi's boyfriend of a year and a half and is in town for the week to visit her. Elena and Cecilia went all out on the dinner and we all really enjoyed having a visitor. I also had an occasion to take a picture of my host family for you all to see! I hope everyone is doing well!

My 2 host moms, Elena and Cecilia



Our family of 5!
Me, Mimi, Cecilia, Maya, and Elena



And John comes for dinner!