Barcelona and Paris... continued...

Paris, Night 1
After flying into Charles De Gaulle Airport, I went straight to the train to catch a ride to Paris. I got a little bit lost trying to get to my hostel. Many people didn’t speak English, so it was tough for me to ask for directions. But I was lucky enough to run into a very nice local who told me which train to get onto, helped me buy my tickets, and even showed me where it was. After getting into my hostel, I just struck up a conversation with a few Canadians and ran into an American also. Then I met a guy from Newcastle, and we all decided to go see the Eiffel Tower that night. We walked over, and I was starving by then because I haven’t eaten in about 10 hours, so I got a crepe with strawberries and nutella on the way to the Eiffel Tower. It was a little small, but still ridiculously rich and delicious. Then we saw the Eiffel Tower at night and got to see it do its light show and all. It was pretty surreal. The closer we got to the Eiffel Tower, the more it looked like it wasn’t real. It is just such an enormous monument, but made of such intricate steel structures. Anyways, we decided to head back, and we wanted to drink some wine so we went to look for a market that was still open around midnight. Luckily, we found this little liquor store that sold wine and chips and food. I was still starving so I was really excited to buy some snacks and wine. But the problem was… I only had 5 Euros on me and the wine was 4.50 and the chips I wanted were 2.00. Such a Dilemma, but a quick decision was made. I got the wine, surprise, surprise… I still don’t regret making that choice. Anyways, one of the guys had a balcony on their hostel on the 5th floor, so we just sat outside on very nice night and drank our own bottles of wine. The view wasn’t overlooking the city or anything, but just next to another old school building. It was quite surreal. Just sitting outside on the balcony and conversing over some wine, while overlooking the common buildings of Paris. We all finished our bottles of wine, and I went straight to bed. It was a great way to start off Paris.

Paris, Day 2
I ended up waking up really early around 9am because I was extremely dehydrated and starving. I met two American girls and told me that they were going on a free walking tour at 11am and asked me to join. So I got ready really quick so that I could grab the provided breakfast from the hostel and get going with them to the walking tour. We started the Fountain of St. Michael’s and just walked passed a lot of landmarks, such as the Notre Dame, Louvre, the park outside of the Louvre, and pointed out some museums that we should visit. It was a very informative and interesting walking tour and I really enjoyed it. Our tour guide was from Argentina, and I got to talk to him for a lot of the walking tour between our stops and got a few good tips about what to see in Paris. After the tour finished, I headed back to the Hostel to meet Pam’s Cousin. We had agreed earlier to meet at my hostel around 3ish, so I had just barely made it back by 3 because our walking tour went a little long. I got a call from the front desk saying I had a guest, so I came down and I introduced myself and we just went straight to Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Church on top of Montmartre. We just got to talking and just started to get acquainted with each other while I was taking all the sights. As we were walking up towards the Church, I felt this familiar feeling that I’ve seen all this before. And I realized that Amelie was filmed in this area in Montmartre, and it all came back to me. I thought it was soo… well I guess the word I’m looking for is surreal again, the word of the trip. The view from the top of the hill at Sacre Coeur was amazing. Probably the coolest top of the world views I’ve seen. Then we walked more around the area and I really liked the feel of the area in Montmartre. It was very Artsy and small towny kind of feeling. Then we walked over to Moulin Rouge and just sat down to take a breather from all the walking. Then we got offered free samples of a new drink from Starbucks, from a worker in these tiny Starbucks cups. That was really cool, free things always make me happy =) Then we walked over to the Opera and just walked a few street performers then headed back to Montmartre for dinner. We ate at this little Diner, and all I have to say was that it was 10 Euros, and the ice cream that came with it at the end was amazing. Then we walked towards Sacre Coeur again to see the view at night, and it was so breathtaking. It was funny though because all the local students were just hanging out on the stairs drinking beers or wine. So we decided to head down and buy some wine ourselves. We headed down to the grocery store and got some snacks and wine, I had enough money for both this time. She invited me to her apartment, which was amazing. It was very quaint, but was on the top floor and had an amazing view from the roof top window. We just conversed over a nice cheap bottle of wine and some snacks. Life doesn’t get much better than this. Then I headed back and the Canadian girls were back at the common room so had another bottle with them, and just talked about traveling and all that goodness. Good food, good drinks, and good company are all that I really need, but to have all that in Paris was just the cherry on top.

Paris, Day 3
I woke up a little bit hung over this morning, well it was more around noon. It was raining pretty hard when I went out so I decided to spend the day in a museum. I took a quick shower and went to the d’Orsay Museum and I was just overwhelmed. There was just so much Renoir, Degas, Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gough, and so much more. I saw that it was sunny out so I rushed through the rest of the Museum, and headed over to Notre Dame. I got there just when the skies completely cleared up for a while. I went inside and the stained glass was so vibrant and colorful. It really gave the church a whole new dynamic compared to most of the churches I’ve seen, which are mainly built for monumentality. Then I went over to the steel bridge and took a few pictures, but as I was on the middle of the bridge, it started to pour rain and saw lightning and heard thunder roll in. It was very close to where I was, so I thought it would be smart to get off the steel bridge, which I immediately did. Then I ran to the metro and headed back to my hostel. When I got back to the hostel, it had completely stopped raining. So ended up walking down the streets of Montmartre and got a really good Kebab with one of the Canadians I met and went to the grocery store and bought more food and some cheap, but good, wine. Just before I left to do some night photography I went to say bye to the Canadians I met because they were heading out to the airport. After that, I headed out to do some night photography starting at the Arc de Triumph and walking down to the Louvre. It was supposed to rain that night, but the weather turned out to be just slightly cloudy instead. The weather was finally looking up. As I was walking back to the hostel, I noticed that the Canadians I met were back at the hostel. So I asked what they were doing back here, and one of them told me that she had gotten pick pocketed and lost her wallet and her passport and everything. I felt so bad for them and offered my wine for them to drink. Then we all just talked about other things to try and get their mind off of things, and eventually went to sleep.

Paris, Day 4
I woke up fairly early around 9am and grabbed a quick breakfast and headed towards Versailles. When I arrived, the façade of Versailles was pretty amazing with bright golden gates. As I was walking into the palace it started to rain pretty hard, but at least I got to avoid the rain by walking through the Palace of Versailles. The palace and hall of mirrors were amazing. Every room was so intricately decorated with gold, vibrant colors, and amazing frescos and oil paintings everywhere. And luckily, as I was finishing up inside the Palace of Versailles, the sun started to come out and the rain stopped. So as I entered the Gardens, there were a few clouds, but mostly blue skies. The gardens were so beautiful. All the trees were perfectly cut, and the size of the gardens was ridiculous, about 2000 acres. I walked about 40 minutes to the end of Marie Antoinette’s House. It was even more vibrant than the Palace of Versailles and really something else to see. I ended up spending about 4 hours at Versailles, and it still wasn’t enough time. I haven’t eaten all day, so I was starved and it started to get cloudy and rained again. So I went back to the area of my hostel and headed straight to a small bar close by and got a ham and cheese sandwich with cheese melted on the top of all that too, I guess it is a common French dish. I got to talk with the bartender, and found out that she was not too far away from where I was from, Thousand Oaks. She is an art major, studying abroad in Paris. We really just enjoyed talking about Paris, and art in general as I scarfed down my food and beer. She saw how fast I devoured my food and beer, so she got me another beer on the house. As I was finishing up, the sun started coming out, so I left and went to the Louvre because they open late on Fridays. I was actually a little disappointed with the Louvre to be honest. I think that all the other smaller museums I saw were just so much more inspiring. Maybe it’s because I’ve been studying classical art for so long, and have been exposed to it so much in Rome, that it was just nice to see more contemporary types of art. But one thing that did not disappoint was the Winged Victory of Samothrace. I spent about half an hour just walking around it and appreciating the detail and drama of it. As the Louvre was about to close, I was so exhausted, and was ready to head back and just sleep. But little did I know I would meet a random group of Norwegians who would make me drink the night away after I came back to the hostel. It was 4 of them, 2 of the were brothers and 2 of the were sisters, and they were just on vacation together. We all got our own bottles of wine and then headed to a few bars and just talked and walked all around Montmartre. These Norwegians just wouldn’t stop drinking, and kept buying me drinks, so I ended up forgetting a lot of what happened towards the end of the night, or early morning. Apparently, I went to a third bar with one of the brothers and he bought me 3 more drinks and I left him there and walked back to the hostel where I ran into the rest of the Norwegians. They told me it was about 5:30 when I came back in. And that’s about all they told me from what they recalled.

Paris, Day 5
I woke up in my own bed, thank god, at around noon. It was a strange feeling waking up still really drunk and not remember what had happened most of the night before, especially because I was traveling solo and had no one to account for what had happened. It was supposed to be raining or cloudy all day so I planned for Museums all day. So I just took quick shower and headed towards Museum d’Orangerie, still drunk. As I walked in, the walls were very white and calming. Then I entered Monet’s Nymphs (Lily Pads) Room and just blown away. It was just a giant Oval shaped room with Monet’s Lily Pads surrounding you 360 degrees. I just slowly walked around taking it all in and then sat down and got lost in it. It really was something else. I got Goosebumps several times just walking around the room. I think seeing something so calming and soothing really helped me sober up and avoid a hangover. The rest of the Museum was really fun to see also. Then I headed over to Pompidou Museum, which is the modern and contemporary art museum, and that was really fun to see. There were so many different things to see, from video installations, to interactive art, Joan Miro, Art of Design, Braque, Feminist Art, Picasso, and so much more. Then I headed back to the hostel to meet Jela, Pam’s cousin. She had invited me to an art exhibition organized by Americans, who are promoting both American and Parisian artists. I met a lot of Artists, and the organizers and had free wine and snacks. I was so overwhelmed by art the past few days, but in a good way! That is probably and understatement. By the time I got back it was 2:30am, so I decided to just stay up because I had to get to the metro by around 5:30am to the airport back to Rome. As I was packing in the common room, I got to talking to an Australian and an American who were mingling also. Then at around 3:30am, one of the Norwegian brothers came stumbling in really drunk and we all just got to talking and just enjoyed each others company up till around 4:30am. So I finished packing and headed for the metro for the journey back to Rome. Wow, that made me exhausted just writing about it all over again… Good times.

Barcelona and Paris... well just Barcelona for now..

Again, I know this is UBER lengthy...

Barcelona, Night 1
The first thing I did in Barcelona was find my hostel. The metros were very easy to read and efficient, it was a great start. Then I found my hostel and met a guy from London and then he introduced me to some Kiwis that he had met and we got a few drinks at the bar in the hostel and went out for some Tapas after. The place was called Egipte, amazing tapas and Sangria for 15 euros total. Oh and I got a free thing of champagne also, for some reason, but not going to complain. I had to think about it for a second because after traveling, I realized NOTHING is free, but I guess I lucked out. Then we headed back and saw that there was a vending machine that sold San Miguel beer cans for 1.20 Euros so we got a few of those and just talked for a while and headed to bed.

Barcelona, Day 2
Woke up early around 9ish and went to Park Guel and saw the Gaudi Park. Wow is all I could say. It was amazing. One of his houses looked like a life sized gingerbread house. It was just so surreal actually being there. Then I was starving so went to Citutad Condal for tapas. Amazingggg. 15 euros for amazing tapas and beer. Then I went to La Boqueria and found a candy vender. I was sooo happy. There are no good candies in Rome, or junk food in general. So I got sour straws and a bunch of gummies. Those sour straws were the best I’ve had in my life, soooo good. Great Indoor/Outdoor open air market. I got deep fried bacalao on a stick and was delicious and only 1.50 euro! Food is so cheap here if you know where to go in Barcelona. Then I went to the Picasso Museum, and really enjoyed it. There was a really interesting exhibition on Picasso’s Version of Diego Velazques’s Las Meninas. Then went to a local bar with a friend from my program that just happened to be in the same hostel. We got hearty simple tapas and beers for 5 euro and was really good and filling. Went back and the rest of my friends were goin to Razzmatazz, but I wanted to stay in because I was uber tired. I ended up meeting someone from Connecticut and just talking and getting to know her all night. It was great just meeting someone new and kicking back on a few beers.

Barcelona, Day 3
I woke up early and went to Sagrada Familia. Right after leaving the metro, it was right there. It was like a slap in the face. So amazing. His work is so organic and makes it look like the building is a living and has a soul to it. I ended up spending 3 hours there and headed to another church. I ended up at the Catedral and it was free because it was Sunday so that was nice. A great Medieval/Gothic church. Then I got lost in the Gotic area and got a pretty bomb Kebab. Then I headed over to the Joan Miro Park. It only had one really cool monument, but worth the metro ride there. Then I went back to the Hostel and met up my friend and we headed up to Montjuic and got to go in the Fort and saw the turrets and the amazing view from the edge of the castle. Even thought it was raining a little bit, it was still beautiful. The area is known not to be a great place to be at night. So once the sun went down we headed back. But on our way down, we heard gunshots so we started to walk a lot faster and headed back. Then we went back to that local bar and found an amazing deal that they had. A giant thing of Paella a side, and a giant chicken leg, or sausage for 4 euro, and of course the 1 euro beer, amazing deal.

Barcelona, Day 4
Went to Macba with one of my other buddies, and it was very interesting. There were a lot of weird paintings, but lots of really cool photographs. Then went back to La Boqueria and got some street food. Then ended up at Citudale Park to see Gaudi’s Fountain and it was so monumental. I just happened to bump into my other buddy there and walked around the park. Then I went back and went to meet a random girl in Barcelona for a cup of coffee through couch surfing. She was from Mexico, but studying abroad in Barcelona. It was really fun talking to her about photography and just about the city and anything really. Then I went back to the hostel and met up my buddies again and went to Salamanca, a Paella place, and had amazing seafood Paella. I went back to the hostel and slept early.

Barcelona, Day 5
Woke up at around 6:30 and went to the beach to catch the sunrise. It was beautiful. Finally some clear skies began to peak through the hazy clouds. As I walked along the beach side, I saw some really cool sand castles and molds. When I left the weather got gloomy again and I started to rush over to Casa Batlo. It was still a little gloomy and I was quite sad, but even with the clouds, plenty of sunlight was shining through all the windows and into the rooms. The apartments were so cool and modern. I fell in love with his work. Then when I went to the roof top, it was getting a little sunnier so I rushed down and went to Gaudi’s other apartment, Casa Pedrera. It was a lot smaller and was amazing. The rooftop was like a designer’s playground. So many undulating surfaces, including the banisters. Then I got my last meal at the local bar again and had 3 beers in an hour. I made it to the airport with plenty of time. So I ended up taking a nap just outside of the boarding area, and by doing so almost missed my flight to Paris. But a loud, “Last Call to Paris” woke my ass up and I ran to the gate and was one of the last ones there. What an amazing, yet uber exhausting trip. And off to Paris… To be continued…