London Continued

Here are the videos from the London Bridge and Abbey Road...My most favorite parts of our adventure in London.

London Bridge!

This week we traveled to London to visit friends and family. There is too much to do for just a week in London. The best part of being here was seeing my sister! And also my aunt and cousin I haven't seen in 8 or so years.

My lovely cousin Doyin, took us around most of the weekend. Every time we asked her what something was, she did not know, she just lives here. It was quite comical.

The first site we visited was the Tate Modern Museum, and we stumbled upon art works by Black artist. Our favorite one was "No Woman No Cry". When we were looking at the painting, the tour guide was having trouble remembering who wrote the song, "No Woman No Cry" (Bob Marley) My group knew the answer and then the tour guide asked us to sing it. We hesitantly sang the 4 words we knew of the song "No Woman No Cry"


Highlight: My sister almost burning down my aunt's flat, and me saving the day by putting the fire out! ( Thank God I go to Cornell...we thrive under pressure)

Low point: There wasn't one, I was with my wonderful and lovely sister for 5 days.

Accomplishments: 1.We walked Abbey Road, 2.I got a picture of a stereotypical English woman, 3. We sang and danced "London Bridge is Falling Down" and Fergie's London Bridge song on the London Bridge.


I will post again with more that I can remember later...pictures and video are coming! I have a spanish exam in the morning I should be studying for right now! (I also had to change my flight to fly back on Sunday instead of Monday as I originally planned because my study abroad program decided to give a final on Monday...)

Lesson in Art History

The works of Gaudi are absolutely stunning. I recommend seeing La Pedrera or Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, Parc Guell, and of course Sagrada Familia. You will be blown away by the amazing architecture. Pictures do not really do these building justice. 

I did not realize how intrigued I was by art and architecture until coming to barcelona. Getting to see the architectures, painting, and sculptures by some of the most famous artists in the world is something that I will appreciate and remember for the rest of my life. From Miro, to Dali, to Picasso, and Gaudi all of them have helped me to view art from a different perspective. 

I am very excited to see the works of Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Van Gough when I go to London, Italy, and Paris.

I feel like I am really getting to know the history and culture of Spain now. As my teacher was discussing different building in Barcelona, I was able to recall what I knew from visiting these places and follow along as an active participant.

Almost Vacation TIme!

March! I am amazed that it is March, I remember( ha I have to write I remember) my first week here and getting lost around the city. Now I can trek all over the city without a problem.

The Good: The Sun is out!
The Bad: My Spanish has progressed but falls greatly short of fluent.
The Ugly: My metro pass got swiped...I had to buy a new one, it was very expensive :(

After watching 11 seasons of Top Model, I believe I have gander enough skill to be classified as an amateur photographer. Here's a sample of my work...

Today we went to La Padera the apartment building designed by Catalonian Architect Gaudi.

Next week I get to see my wonderful and beautiful older sister in London!

A Walk to Remember...

Another week in Barcelona....Its going to fast.

We found a black beauty supply shop. It had olive oil spray and perm and weave!. Who said black hair care didn't exist in Barcelona. That made my week. Of course it was a little more expensive, but the point is I can get everything I need here in barcelona...No need to go to London. Haha. 

Two more weeks into no more ESCI classes. I cannot wait cause this whole five classes things is not quite working for me. 

Skype is the most awesome thing in the world. I don't know how I didn't know about this before. You can video and call anywhere for really cheap rates.

Day lights savings time in the US occured so they are only five hrs behind us now. Yes. 

Travel in Euro

Whoever said traveling in Europe is cheap was lying. we are in the process of booking our spring break trip and end of the program travels and all the flights are sooo expensive. one flight back from paris to barcelona one way is like 100 euro!!! It's ridiculous. I guess things are only cheap if you book them like 3 months in advance. I was expecting 20 euro flights. And the cheap websites such as clickair and ryanair suck. You will get through a reservation and then in the end it will tell you error, we cannot confirm this flight or they will show you one price and then in the end jack up the price but adding on fees, taxes, and other charges. Now the spring break place is city hopping through italy and then flying to paris. I am excited to see the Eiffel Tower and Venice, and visit the Louve, I just wish it was not so expensive. 

Madrid and Amsterdam

So I am kind of late with this but we took a trip to Madrid the first week in Feb. I cannot believe that was a month ago. The time goes by so fast here. My overall impression of Madrid was that is was a pretty city, but definitely not somewhere I would live for a semester. It was smaller than I expected. It was everything that I expected Spain to be like and seemed more authentic than Barcelona which is very globalized and full of tourists. While there we went to the Royal Palace, The Prado Museum which was one of my favorite activities because I got to see the works of famous Spanish artists such as Dali, Miro, Goya, and Valazquez. I enjoyed Dali's works the most because of their surrealist elements. We also went to the Reina Sofia and got to see the famous work by Picasso, Guernica. It was amazing to see all of the works of these artists in person after reading about them in school back in the states. I wish I could have taken pictures but that was strictly forbidden but these two museums are are a definite must in Madrid. We want to go to the famous Kapital but it was too expensive and we were exhausted from the day's activities.I felt like Madrid was more diverse than Barcelona and I did not feel as out of place which was positive. I was extremely cold which made it hard to walk around and explore, so i would suggest going later on in the year.  

We went to Amsterdam the last week in Feb. The city itself was really pretty, kindof like Barcelona. We crammed so many activities into two days since our time was limited. On Fri we went to the Anne Frank House after waiting in line for almost an 1. Being in the house were they hid out gave me a more personal perspective on the Holocaust and I really got to connect with her story while watching the videos and reading the phrases from her diary on the wall. I would suggest going really early or late to avoid the crowds. We also went to the Van Gough museum and saw the famous Starry Night painting which was awesome to see in person and worth the 15 euro entrance fee. I passed on the Heineken Experience because it was too expensive but I heard that it was really fun and they had alot of kool things to see.  We got to take a canal ride which is something I always wanted to do. I didn't expect to see boat houses with people actually living in them. I learned that due to a housing shortage in the past, people asked permission to build and live in boat houses in the canals. That was definitely something very different from our culture. We also went to Zanse Schans, which is about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam, and saw windmills and went to a clog making factory. It reminded me of Amish country in that their culture was so different and traditional. There were alot of black people in Amsterdam which is something I didn't expect to see and generally alot of diversity.  Also, I learned that everyone in Amsterdam in addition to speaking Dutch also speak fluent English. It felt good to be able to converse in English with someone and actually have them understand and not look at you funny. Our hostel was really close to the Red Light District which made it really easy to explore and do things in the city. I wouldn't suggest Travel Hotel because the hostel was really crappy and everything was falling apart. What made it worse was that my bed was missing a leg, so I had to sleep on a slant for two nights. That definitely was not fun. Overall I enjoyed Amsterdam and was impressed by the city.