Switzerland

So this past weekend we (Me, Hannah and Katie) went to Geneva, Switzerland. I liked it, but me and the country had a rocky start.


We left Friday morning. Our flight was at 8am so I got up around 5ish. We met up at the train station and went to the airport. They say you are supposed to be there at least 2 hours early, but we literally we were waiting at our terminal in under half an hour. We didn't have to wait online and security was kind of a joke. The plane ride was about a little over an hour and they gave us chocolate on the plane. When we arrived, we had to go to the train station part and take a train to the center of Geneva (about 6 min) and then we followed the Google Map directions I had written out to our hostel. The hostel was pretty nice and really big. We took up 3 out of the six beds in our particular bedroom. The 3 girls were from Chile, Brazil, and France. The only one who actually talked to us was the one from Brazil. She was a bit older. She said she was visiting on vacation, but had been there before for work. She was traveling to more than one place and only was there the first night. The hostel was pretty clean. The gave a douvet cover for the blanket, a fitted sheet for the bed, a pillow case, and a large locker that opened with one of those hotel type keys. We had a floor bathroom for girls that pretty much looked like any college floor bathroom.

After we saw our hostel, we left our stuff in the lockers and went out to find the United Nations. I stopped to grab a sandwich, which was about 9 franks (pretty close to dollars). We then made a note that we wouldn't be eating much in Switzerland. We walked for a while and then arrived at one of the tram stops. The tram coming said Nations, so we figured it would take us in the right direction. The hostel had given us a free pass for 2 days on the trains and buses in the immediate area, so we hopped on. We couldn't figure out where we were supposed to pay, and when we got off, we had never payed. From that point on, we watched people, and no one else seemed to either. However, there were ticket machines at every stop, so I'm still not sure how it works. When we got to the UN, we took some pictures and then went to the gate to take the tour. However, a guard told us it was closed due to special circumstances (They speak a lot of English there). The special circumstances, as it turns out, was that there was a huge protest about the genocide in Somalia. Katie was pretty freaked out by it, so we got away before the protest really started. We walked to a nice big park and went inside some museum that turned out to be the dullest museum I've ever been to. It was ceramics that were painted with floral designs from many time periods, and the place was huge. I was just glad it was free to get it. We then hopped back on the tram and took it for a while. We got off when we saw pretty things, including the huge geiser. However, after twenty minutes or so of walking towards it to take pictures, it shut off. We walked past some other nice buildings that of course all had construction going on in front of them to ruin the pictures. We ended up at starbucks to make us feel better. We ate a kebob place for dinner, because it was the only thing that was even reasonable, and ate gyros which were 10 a piece. We also went out looking for bars and clubs, only finding 2, one that was almost completely empty and the other ridiculously expensive. At that point, we were ready to get out of the country, and were seriously missing Barcelona.

On Saturday, after borrowing a travel book to look at from the hostel and with a little more of a renewed sense of hope, we woke up to try again. We ate breakfast at the hostel, which included cereal bread and coffee. We got our money's worth by drinking a lot of coffee. We then took the tram to the Red Cross Museum. The museum was really nice and I felt very educated after walking through it. It was also kind of depressing with the more recent things they showed, including a room full of kids in pictures with numbers, all children not claimed after a genocide. We spent quite a few hours there, and saw everything there was to see. Afterwards, we found the chocolate store we had found the day before and bought presents for people. We also took a picture of the lady there, who we all fell in love with, because she was just such a cute old lady. We then went back to the geiser, which was still turned off. However, this time we walked along the lake until we found a dock that stretched pretty far into the water. We got closer to a pretty lighthouse and took some really nice pictures. We also almost froze to death. Then we found a supermarket and bought loaves of bread and cheese (Swiss cheese!). We also got some fruit. We then sat on a bench and ate our makeshift lunch outside of a laundrymat.

We then asked a guy in a tobacco shop for directions.
...not complete...

The Parents Came to Visit

So on Friday, my parents came to visit me! I was so excited, but very upset when their flight was really delayed and then they missed their connecting flight. It was actually kind of a nightmare because I had to go buy them a phone, meet some lady at their apartment to get the keys and then trek to the airport to wait for them. They arrived around 9ish. On the way to the apartment, Hannah and I stumbled upon an outdoor concert and then went back after we met the lady. It was a lot of fun. After I picked up my parents, they opted for the RENF/Metro route over a cab, so it was kind of an adventure in itself with all the luggage. When we finally arrived at the apartment, we didn't really do anything except spend some time together and go to sleep.

Saturday was a big more exciting. In the morning, we woke up around 8:30 and went to find breakfast. My dad was happy because they have real fresh squeezed orange juice here, but not so happy that breakfast was a crossoint. My mother enjoyed her first cafe con leche though. Afterwards, we went the cathedral, which was about a ten minute walk from their apartment. We payed to go up to roof and took some really nice scenic pictures. After the cathedral, we walked to the Rambla so they could see what all the hype is about. They got to see all the animals and the market and all the valentine's day stuff that was out. (They don't really celebrate Valentine's day though, its more April 23rd). Then we walked to the Pedrera to meet up with Katie and Hannah. We took the audio tour and actually got to the roof this time. It was so pretty, and so worth the second visit. Afterwards, we went to lunch (around 4pm) and I introduced to my parents to some tapas. They enjoyed them, and my father actually really liked one (pan con tomate). Then it was nap time! We ended up sleeping for like close to 3 hours I think and then headed out for a night in Barcelona. We started off the night at the Harlem Jazz Club, which was also super close to their apartment. The band that was playing was an Afro-Jazz band. It was pretty cool. Katie and Hannah got closer to take pictures and stuff, but me and my parents stayed farther back and just talked. Then we headed to the Oveja Negra, one of my favorite places. My dad bought us quite a bit of Sangria, and I think we were all pretty happy by that point. After, we headed to a club (around 2:30). We got free passes to City Hall, but when we asked the bouncer what kind of music it was, he told us it was house, so we voted against it. We eneded up walking home, hanging out at my parent's apartment for a while and then passing out around 5am. O and on the way home, some drug dealer /stoner huge black guy offered my dad a place to get some "nice pussy" and showed him some weed. My mother proceeded to get in the guys face and tell him that my dad was not interested.. you kind of had to be there, but I would've backed away too, as did this guy.



Another thing that happened, was the breaking of the shower. On Saturday morning, my dad got up first to take a shower and then someone knocked on the apartment door. It was our downstairs neighbor whose apartment had pretty much been flooded by the shower. The bathroom had just been completed and apparently, they forgot that pipes should not dump all the water out indoors. We had to call the owners and all that stuff, and we without a shower for the rest of the day and most of the next.

On Sunday, we went to the zoo, which made me really happy. Of course it isn't exactly the first thing people choose to do when they get to Barcelona, but I had never been, and my parents just wanted to spend time with me. I had a blast because I love the zoo. I turn into a little kid. Every animal turned their butt to me, which is why I have a facebook album completely dedicated to that. By the time we were done with the zoo, it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner (5:30-6), so we found a vegetarian place that would serve us. We had some pretty interesting food, and delicious vegetarian pizza. We then proceeded to take another siesta. Afterwards, Katie and Hannah came over to study, but we pretty much just ended up watching episodes of Two and Half Men before they had to catch the last metro. My parents and I then watched Gran Torino, we I thought was so good. We went to bed around 1.

On Monday, I had school for most of the day, so we were only able to meet up at lunch. We met my parents at the chocolate museum, which was really cute. It was a pretty quick tour, but it was fun to see all the sculptures and artwork created from the chocolate. After, we completely the chocolatey lunch hour by introducing my mom to the chocolate crossoints they have at school, which are the best things in existance, I'm pretty sure. Then they went off the beach and the Sagrada Familia, and I went to class. We met up after my classes ended at 7pm to find the Champagnery, which is a famous place that serves tapas with glasses of cava to go with them. When we got there, it was ridicously crouded. While standing still I was spooning with one guy, was pretty much on the phone with another, and could take a bite out of the sandwich of the girl in front of me. We decided not to stay and went to a small restaurant instead. The food wasn't that great, but what can ya do.

On Tuesday was the last full day my parents had. I didn't see them during the day because they went to Park Guell. After school, which ended at about 5pm, I walked to their apartment and me and my mom went shopping. I got my sister a birthday gift, but came up with nothing for my brother's. I have to buy him something online instead. Then we went to dinner at a place by the water, where we had really good paella. I had a Spanish exam the next day, so I wasn't able to take them to Chupitos, which was kind of disappointing, but I didn't have much of a choice. We went to bed not too late, because we had to get up at 6am for them to get to airport.

Things to Do While in Europe

(x) Touch the Pyrinese Mountains
(x) Pedreda
(x) Park Güell
(x) Sagrada Familia
(x) Sangria
(x) Flaming Shots
( ) Picasso Museum
(x) Dali Museum
(x) Cathedral
(x) Switzerland
( ) Germany
(x) Paris
(x) The Louvre
(x) Eiffel Tower
(x) Crepes
(x) London
(x) See the Alps
( ) Swim in the Mediterranean
( ) Morraco
( ) Random Country
(x) Andorra
( ) Make Spanish Friends
( ) See the Sunrise in the desert
( ) Ride a camel
(x) Flamenco Show
(x) See a soccer game
(x) Gelato
(x) Montjuïc
(x) Cafe con Leche
(x) Tapas
( ) kalimotxo
( ) Ireland
( ) Churros and Chocolate
(x) Carnival
( ) Become Fluent
(x) Swiss Chocolate
(x) Hostel

Some Picture Updates

Our First McDonalds Experience

Hannah found 20€ and treated us to dinner

Andorra has really cheap wine

I was a bit excited when I saw this

The Bus Driver Almost Left Us

Our First Soccer Game

At the Flamenco Show

Abuela Doing her 1st Shot of the Night

Los Padres

My parents are coming tomorrow!!

New Adventures.. a visit to the smallest country ever

Ok so this was my last week...

On Monday, I went to Chupitos with Abuela and Abuelo. Abuela Ana did 2 shots with me: the Bob Marley and the Boyscout. Abuelo did some random with me and then sipped on a glass of straight vodka for the rest of the night. We stayed there for a little while, and then we trekked back to the hotel in the rain. Afterwards, we had our first McDonalds experience in Spain, which I'm not proud of, but it was wet and cold out, and it was the only thing open. Then we had our first night bus experience, which was not as tramatizing as Katie and Hannah's. It actually dropped us off right in front of our house. It was probably one of the highlights of my night to not have to walk at all.

On Tuesday, we went to the cathedral with Abuelo and Abuelo. They really liked it. Then we walked them to the Picasso museum and wandered around and shopped. I found 2 cute dresses that are very Spanish, so I was excited.

On Wednesday, we went to the Flamenco show. It was good. I wasn't really the biggest fan, but there was a really good cute singer, so at least it was something to distract me when the really bad lady singer had her turns. Abuela and Abuelo really liked it and my favorite moment was when Abuela said "he really is cute.. I might be old, but I'm not blind". Then we said goodnight and goodbye.

On Thursday we say Barca play against Mallorca. They won 2-0. It was so much fun, especially considering I don't like soccer. We all bought jerseys and chanted with the crowd to songs we didn't know. We also did the wave! That was a highlight and we practically got high off all the weed everyone was smoking, since they don't serve liquor at games.

On Friday, we stayed in because we were leaving super early to Andorra, which if you didn't know, is a country.
So we met up at the airport to take the shuttle to Andorra at 8:30am. The bus was a little van that we only had to share with 2 other people, one of which was some older man that made friends with Katie.

Andorra was beautiful. Well it was this ugly town that's known for its ridiculous amount of stores, surrounded by absolutely beautiful mountains. When we arrived, we tried to situate ourselves, and then find this cheap hotel we read about in my guidebook. When we finally found it, they were completely booked for the night, and so we went to the hotel next door, which was only a few euro higher. We would've stayed in a hostel, but the difference was only a few euro, and the hotel included breakfast and our room and bathroom. We dropped off our bags and decided to head out for a little adventure. I, of course, forgot my camera so I was not exactly the happiest person, but what can you do. We tried to get higher into the mountain so that the pictures would be nicer. We found these fenced walkways that zigzagged up the mountain and followed them until it started getting dark. On the way up, Hannah found 20 euro laying on the ground and so we decided to have a nice dinner. After we got back, we were pretty much numb from all the snow and the lack of any warmth in the air. We found a little cafe that was really cute and sat in there drinking coffee and eating croissants with chocolate for like 3 hours. Then we looked into some shops and meandered around a book store for quite a bit. Katie found Goodnight Moon, the children's book, in Spanish and read it to us. We also found some other interesting books, including "The Big Penis Book". Now I had assumed that it was just a title, but low and behold, when I opened it, it was really just huge pictures of huge penises... go figure. We were pretty entertained with books for a while. After we had wandered enough, we went to get tapas, because we weren't that hungry. We found a place that was in the guide book and ordered a bunch of tapas and some beers. We ended up only paying about 3 euro a piece for dinner with the money Hannah had found. It was great. We also bought 69 cent wine and sprite afterwards. After dinner, we went back to our hotel room, drank the bottle of wine, and talked. We also looked through the guidebook to pick other countries we want to go to. We still have a few weekends empty, but we already bought plane tickets to go to Geneva, Switzerland in 2 weeks.

On Sunday, we took a bus up to the mountain, because we had seen really nice pictures in postcards. However, when we got there, I was less than impressed. The area has been destroyed by construction, so we didn't stay for very long. When we got back down to the hotel, we checked out, wandered some more, and wen back to a coffee shop to talk for quite some time. Eventually, it was time to leave, and we found our bus. We were supposed to leave at 3:15, but we ended up leaving at 4. It was supposed to take 3.25 hours to get back. It took 6. It didn't really bother me because I slept most of the time, but I feel bad for people who had to catch a plane at the airport. Overall, it was quite a relaxing weekend, and I can't wait for more adventures.

Success!!

I got Abuela to do two shots with me!! Pictures and details to come!

The Abuelos...

So I haven't updated in a few days, but I guess since my grandparents are here, I should. They arrived on Wednesday morning. I was super excited to see them, because it's been a month since I've seen family, which is kind of depressing. I went to see them in between classes at their hotel. We had a quick lunch and then I showed them to El Corte Ingles, which is a place they've wanted to see since they always see commercials for it on the Spanish channel they watch back home. It's like this huge superstore, that has everything you could ever think of. Each of them is about the size of a small mall. Anyway, that day I had class until 7pm, so I didn't get to see them again, but what can you do.

Thursday, I had classes again. Afterwards, I went to see the grandparents and I showed them La Rambla. We were basically just wasting time before dinner. We ended up walking for like an hour though. We walked down the center where they sell animals and paintings, and there are the live statues and stuff. They said parts reminded them of Cuba. Then I showed them the big outdoor market, where they sell fruits, nuts, meat, fish, and a bunch of other food. We got gelato and just explored for a while. Then we kept walking down the Rambla, which ends at the port. I asked them if they wanted to see it, and they said yes, so we walked across the big bridge on the port. Once on the other side, we walked through the mall that is there, and then kind of around. At that point, I was lost, but I didn't exactly wanna freak them out, so I just kept walking like I had a purpose. Once it turned 8, I said that we could go into a restaurant, but I didn't have anything in particular in mind. Everything I thought looked like fun, they thought looked kinda creepy. I dunno. Around that area, all the buildings look like that, and then the inside is the nice part, but whatever. We finally found a place and sat down to eat. The food was pretty good. Then we kept walking until I saw a sign for the Rambla. When we got there, I asked them if they wanted to take the metro back to the hotel, but I think Abuela was scared of it, so they told me they'd rather walk. Then I wanted to take them to a Jazz club, but they didn't really seem interested, so they told me they were tired. I hung out with them in their room for a while and then my friends met me at Plaza Catalunya, which is a few blocks from there.

We met up and decided to go back to the Oveja Negra and have Sangria. After 3 pitchers between 3 people, we were all a bit tipsy. It was pretty entertaining to walk to the club. We were all excited because the club where we had found the good Spanish music was having a college night, so we headed over. However, when we got there, we found out that the Spanish floor was closed for the night. Therefore, we decided to leave after a little bit and head back to the Rambla. We didn't find anything good and it being a week day, the metro was already closed. Since we didn't have a place in mind, we decided to go home. Michelle hadn't come out that night and no one thought it was a good idea for me to walk home at 3am, so I took a taxi, still drunk, back home. Hanna and Katie decided to take the night bus, and had quite an adventure with that. They apparently tried to push the button for the bus to stop, but it was actually an alarm, and yeah..they caused a bit of chaos. Then they thought the bus had stopped but really the bus driver had just stopped to say hi to another bus stop. Hanna jumped off and then Katie got stuck on the bus. It was a mess.

Friday, I went with my grandparents on the Tourist bus to see La Sagrada Familia. That was an interesting experience. We waited on line for half an hour to take the elevator up to the top. They told us it was worth the trip to walk down. However, the elevator definately didn't give away how much exactly we were going to have to walk. If you look at the pictures, you'll understand, but I think we walked down stairs for at least a half hour, no joke. Abuelo's knees gave out at the end, and it was kinda scary. Plus, the bottom part is very dark and he couldn't see where he was going. I felt horrible, but they were good sports about it. Now I know never to recommend that to anyone who has really bad knees. Anyway, we went to lunch aftwards, and then took the tourist bus around the rest of the route, but didn't get off anywhere. They went back to their hotel room and I went off to meet my Intercambio partner.

My partner's name is Gemma. She's a 26 year old teacher from Barcelona. She's really nice, and a lot of fun to talk to. We spoke in Spanish for about an hour, and then English for another, and then walked to a bookstore speaking both. It was really interesting, and I think it should be really helpful in the long run. We won't always be able to meet because we have very conflicting schedules, but the plan is at least once every other week for about the same amount of time. I love it.

Girona and Figueres

Ok so Saturday, we went to Girona and Figueres. Girona is supposed to be like one of the prettiest cities in Spain, but it was raining, so it kinda sucked. We did the tour and then stayed in an Italian restaurant for all of our free time. Then we went to Figueres, which is where the Dali museum is. I didn't think I'd like it, but it was pretty awesome. There was some great work in the museum. I took tons of pictures. On Saturday night, I had a migrane so I didn't go out, but Michelle and Hannah did and found boys. O well.