Passport to Paris!

The day after school let out for holiday vacations, my friends Lindsay and Jamie and I wasted no time getting started on holiday travel.  First stop, the magical city of Paris.  We arrived and checked in to our hostel (shout out to the St. Christopher’s…; our best hostel of the trip)

Upon arrival in Paris, we headed straight to the Christmas markets and taste tested our first bites of Parisian cuisine.  Later, just after sunset, we walked along the Seine river toward the lit up Eiffel Tower in the distance.  It was a really special time of year to see the Eiffel Tower, because it twinkles on the hour at night.  Afterwards we strolled down the de Elysses, the famous street where are the ritzy stores are! 

(Christmas market...french soap, yum!)

(most amazing potatoes of my life. period.)

(mulled wine!)

(view of the Eiffel tower from a distance at night)

(arch de triumph)

The next day (Christmas Eve), we took a tour of the city and went back to the Christmas markets to try what we hadn’t had room for the day before.  That evening our hostel held a holiday dinner.  The dinner sort of sucked, but we met a guy named Joe from Boston and decided to get some drinks and walk around the Montmarte neighborhood (old artist district and location of the Moulin Rouge and all the sex shops) and the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.  The Sacre Coeur was quite impressive; it is a Roman Catholic Basilica located at the highest point of the whole city.  What made it even more special was that it was all light up because it was night time and while we were there, the bells rang from the domes; it was hard to believe we were in Paris for the holidays.

(om nom nom...mushroom soup!)

 (bridge where lovers attach locks to the gate & throw key into the water)

(the Guillotine)

(merrryyyy christmas)

(Moulin Rouge)

(Sacre Coeur)

The next day was Christmas, hooray!  We were a tad hungover from the night before, but pushed on and went to the Christmas markets again; this time because everywhere else was closed and our hostel didn’t have a kitchen.  After, we went to the Eiffel tower!  It was so excited seeing the tower up close and finally seeing such a famous structure that I’ve only seen in movies and photos all of my life.  We climbed to the top and got a great view of the city.  For supper we went to different Christmas markets..yum!  After dinner we decided to go ice skating, as Joe is a hockey player and Linds and I just thought it would be cute to go ice skating in Paris on Christmas.  Turns out I suck at skating, the ice really needed some Zamboni attention, and there were some really great guy-skaters there, who were showing off and just being jerks, cutting people off, flying past them, etc.  Annoying!

(yum!!!! banana & nutella crepe..my fave)

(Eiffel Tower)

(w/ Jamie & Linds)

(ice skating)

The next days we went to the Louvre.  The Louvre was so packed! Notre Dame and tried to go to a Catacomb, however it was closed!  For dinner we tried to eat cheap and decided to buy hummus, cheese, sausage a baguette and wine.  Yum yum!

(outside the Louvre)

(mona!)

(Winged Victory)

(Venus de Milo)

(notre dame)

(said a little prayer at N.D...haha)

The next day we went to Versailles.  When we got there, you could hardly see the Palace because it was extremely foggy.  Also, the line was one of the longest lines we waited in throughout our whole trip.  I’m pretty sure we waited for about two hours. Uy!  When we finally got in, it was packed with people.  After inching our way through the palace, we went outside to see the magnificent gardens…unfortunately we were unable to see their awesomeness because of the fog.   In the evening we returned to Montmarte and then decided to splurge on our last Parisian meal.  I had the most incredible beef bourguignon ever!!  Joe had duck and Linds had horse (gross)!

(Versailles!)

(nugget who was less than thrilled to be at Versailles)

(one of the many gardens + fog)

(Amazing last dinner in Paris)

The next day we packed up our stuff, went in search for a popular falafel restaurant (slightly overrated in my opinion) and found our way to the airport.

 

(falafel!)

Overall, Paris was incredible.  I think that in the future I would recommend NOT going to Paris over the holiday’s if you want to do all the touristy things…because let’s be real, who doesn’t want to spend Christmas in Paris?!   The downside though, is that there are mega crowds.  That said, I don’t regret my time there at all, and know that probably could have spent much more time there.

NEXT STOP: Rome

[NOT] Home for the Holiday's

(Me, Sara & Melissa in Sol by the xmas tree)

It didn’t quite feel like the Holiday’s in Madrid without snow like there is back home or my family around, but I was still happy because I knew it was a non-traditional Holiday and a special experience to have while living in another country.  I wasn’t really in Madrid during the Holidays (I was in Paris + Rome), but here’s a little bit about what we did at school...

Because most of the people in Spain are Catholic, the school was NOT non-denominational and decorated with only Christmas trees, baby Jesus’, and other Catholic symbols.  It was strange for me because I’m used to having to say “Happy Holiday’s” and only seeing snowmen and snowflakes, so as not to favor/exclude those from other beliefs/religions.

(xmas tree made from kids' hands!)

In addition to celebrating Christmas Eve, Christmas day and New Years eve, Spain also celebrates “El Dia de los Reyes Magos” or The Three Kings day.  The Three Kings thing really threw me off, because apparently kids get presents for Christmas (from Santa) as well as the Three Kings.  Also, when Santa and the Three Kings came to visit school the last day of school before break, I nearly bust a gut because one of the kings is supposed to be white, one is Mexican (?..or at least non-white) and one is supposed to be black.  Since there aren’t many black people/black parents who volunteered to dress up as the black King, one guy was literally painted BLACK.  It was hilarious and oh-so-wrong. 

(case in point)

In addition to the King’s visit, different grades put on music concerts.  Some of the older kids sang Spanish Christmas songs, while the kids in first and second grade sang American songs.  It was soooo cute!  The second graders also put on a little play in Spanish, which was also super cute.

(1st graders concert)

(Second grade play)      

I decided to share a little bit of my Ameircan culture with my co-workers buy baking some Christmas cookies. I made Mexican Wedding Cakes and Sugar cookies with frosting.  Although I had to work with some makeshift ingredients and didn’t have any cookie cutters, my cookies were a hit! Christmas cookie-baking isn’t a Spanish tradition, so everyone was excited to try something new.  All day my co-workers were complimenting me and asking for the recipes.

Granada

My friends Lindsay and Amanda, my roommate Lauren and her friend visiting from NYC, Rachel, went to Granada (meaning, “pomegranate” in Spanish) in Andalucia for the puente (a couple weeks before winter break).  Granada is most famous for The Alhambra, an old Moorish/Islamic palace…but more on the Alhambra later.

When we first got to Granada, we headed straight to the Christmas markets, where we immediately stuffed our faces with chocolate covered bananas and roasted, sweetened nuts (almonds, sunflower seeds and peanuts). 

Since we were close, we took our first stroll through the Moroccan markets, where it literally feels like you have been transported to Morocco (well, at least I think so).  Walking through the narrow passageways, are stores selling loose teas, pretty lamps, leather goods, genie pants and other hippie-looking attire (haha), hookahs, various glass textiles and lots of other odds and ends.

 (genie lamps and cool lights)

After, we decided to go to our first tearoom.  Someone had recommended Pakistani tea; a black tea made with milk instead of water…it was delicious!!  We also shared a hookah (shisha; no worries, it was tobacco free), which was really fun and relaxing too. 

(yum, tea!!)

Lauren and Rachel had signed up for a special tour of the Alhambra, so they toured it in the morning.  Amanda had signed up late, but through a special company so she was also in a morning group.  Linds and I had tickets for the afternoon.  The two of us slept in a little bit and then spent the late morning wandering an area of Granada called, the Albicin (or Albayzin), a neighborhood dating back to ancient times.

In the afternoon was our turn to visit the Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visiting the Alhambra takes a half-day.  It is split up in to four zones: the Palaces of Nasrid, the Alcazaba (military zone), the Medina (city), and Generalife (the villa), all of them surrounded by woods, trees, gardens, parks and vegetable gardens.  Click here to learn more about the history of the Alhambra.  Linds and I had a wonderful time exploring the ancient and unique historical city.  We had a lot of fun taking photos of each other with all the cool architecture and landscapes.

(at the Alhambra!)

 (typical Muslim arch architecture)

(The Court of the Lions...sans the lions because it was under construction, boo...still cool though)

 (favorite fountain in Generalife)

 Another thing Granada is known for are their cheap and huge tapas!  You only had to order a small beer for two euro, and got a giant tapa…more like a meal for free.  It was awesome. 

("tapa" for 5 of us..if you order another 2 euro beer, they give you ANOTHER plate of food just as big as this but with different stuff on the plate..pure craziness!!)

The rest of our time in Granada we spent enjoying other sites such as the Jewish area; there really isn’t much left of it, however there is some pretty cool graffiti.  We also went to a cool lookout point called Sacramonte (past the Albaicin), with a wonderful panoramic view of the Alhambra.   We went out for many more cañas and tapas as well as tea and hookah!  Overall a great trip!

(my favorite graffiti ever: "I was tired of not finding an answer, so I decided to change my questions")

IOU: New [travel] Posts + Updates on my life!

Hey everyone- So, I've been MIA...shocking, I know.  Time really flies when you are having fun!  

(haha, i'm such a nerd)

But here's what you can look forward to: 


- Granada, Spain
- My 18 day Paris + Italian adventure over the Holidays (w/ my pal, Lindsay Rogers)
- life update


...lots to come, stay tuned :)