Lisboa: Quel rêve!

Don't worry everyone,  I'm back and have not forgotten about you!

Since my return from Portugal on Sunday night, I have been so busy with compositions, exams and presentations that I have not had one moment to blog.  But here I am with a full update on my weekend:

Thursday evening I flew into Lisbon.  The flight was about two hours and actually beautiful.  We passed over the Pyrénées and could see the snowy mountaintops.  Eventually, the ocean came into view and we landed in Portugal.  Brian arrived a short time later.

We checked into our hotel and had our dinner there.  As Lisbon is on the water, they prepare some excellent fishes.  I tried a very traditional codfish dish, which I enjoyed very much, and Brian had the sea bass.  We then went down to the downtown area, Barrio Alto, where we had heard there would be some St. Patrick's Day festivities.  It was a really cool area in which the streets were really just packed with young people, all of whom appeared to be Portuguese.  We really enjoyed immersing ourselves into this environment that first night.

On Friday, we packed a ton of activities into our day.  We began by taking the metro back downtown.  From here, we walked down to see the water.  The layout of the city reminded us a bit of San Francisco at first with it's very hilly streets, but it was obviously more European with its cobblestone pavement.  Once down by the water, we ate lunch at a small place where they cooked their meats on an outdoor grill.  We shared clams and both had a very Portuguese-style sirloin steak.  We finished it off with mango for dessert.

Then, we decided to take a long walk in which we intended to ultimately reach the famous Castle Sao Jorge.  Along the way, we came across a building that really interested us, so we decided to go in.  This was the Carmo Archaeological Museum, the mediaeval convent wrecked by the earthquake in 1755.  The convent had been restored a bit, but it was still left in its somewhat wrecked form.  The Gothic style of the church was evident, the architecture that survived was very impressive, and the view of the open ceiling with the remaining arches and the blazing sun above was absolutely stunning.  For me, this was really one of the most breathtaking monuments I've seen this far.

After leaving this site, we got a bit lost while exploring the streets.  We asked a nice Portuguese man for directions.  We asked, "excuse me... castle?"  He understood clearly what we were looking for, but somehow managed to launch into a five-minute long description in which he pointed North, East, South, and West, signaled to go up and then down, and ended with a smile and a "ciao!"  Fortunately, the next man we encountered explained simply that we needed to continue along our street and up a big hill.

We walked a bit more until we finally reached the castle.  The views from here were absolutely incredible, and we sat for a while looking out over the city.

Directly next to this castle happens to be the number one ranked place to eat in Lisbon, so we needed to stop in.  This place, Wine Bar do Castello, is primarily all about its Portuguese wines.  Having been learning all about French wines for two months now, I was really interested to taste a Portuguese wine and to learn about it from the expert who worked there.  This man was very helpful and recommended to us two glasses of a certain white wine from the Douro region.  It was fruity but not overpowering and went beautifully with the plate of cheeses that the man provided us with.  Although this place did not serve any real food and was only a tiny room on the side of a mountain, it was such an authentic and unique experience.  I do not think it was something that I will soon forget.

Exhausted from our day of walking, we returned to our hotel and took a nap before heading out to a late dinner.  The location we chose to eat at was one we had walked past during the day, called Sacramento.  It seemed attractive, and it was only after we decided to go there that we realized it was a highly regarded, while not overly expensive, restaurant in Lisbon.  For a reasonable price, I started with a fish soup, had a swordfish with scallop sauce as my entree, and finished with a lemon sorbet.  Brian had a salmon salad, a brie cheese burger, and vanilla gelato for dessert.  This was all paired nicely with a red Portuguese wine.  Overall, we loved the meal and the ambiance of the restaurant, but the very clear highlight was my swordfish.  I kid you not (honestly, I know how much I talk about my food), but this was the single best dish I have eaten thus far in my semester abroad.  The fish was prepared to perfection, and the sauce itself was shockingly smooth and flavorful.  If I could have just one dish again, it would be that swordfish.

Anyway, we finished our night shortly thereafter in order to wake up early enough to celebrate Brian's 21st birthday.  We began by drinking our morning espressos outside in the hotel's outdoor seating area.  We then took a trip to Costa da Caparica.  This is technically not in Lisbon-- it's over the Tagus River-- but the beaches here are considered some of the best in the area.  We were certainly not disappointed.  The weather was perfect-- about 70 degrees-- so it was not too hot, but extremely comfortable.  We pretty much soaked up all the beach had to offer for the next few hours.  We enjoyed some toasted sandwiches and a bottle of wine from the restaurant, Sacramento, over the course of our 5 hours of leisure.  There was not a cloud in the sky all day, the sand was perfectly grainy and smooth, and it remained relatively uncrowded until later on in the day.  The water was too cold to go into, but we watched the surfers and dipped our toes in for a minute or two.

We finally returned to our hotel, exhausted from the sun.  We took a quick dip in the hotel's pool (how could we not?), showered, napped, and prepared for an enormous birthday dinner.

We traveled down to the Docas de Santo Amaro.  This is the docks area below the Abril Bridge, right along the river.  Late-night, it's a great area that is full of life and offers some amazing seafood restaurants.  We chose to try Doca Peixe based on the menu we saw offered.  After having not eaten much all day and given the occasion, we jumped into this dinner with two feet.  Here is what we ate:
- bread with salmon pate, cheese sauce and olives
- appetizer of clams
- remarkable Portuguese white wine
- shared entree of lobster rice with clams and shrimp
- shared entree of curry shrimp with pineapple
- apple crumble with vanilla ice cream (and a candle, accompanied by my phenomenal vocals)
You can imagine that we left happy and not a bit hungry.  While my swordfish from Sacramento still stands as my favorite dish abroad, this may have been cohesively my favorite overall meal.  Each of the elements worked wonderfully together, and we could not complain about a single thing.

The night was not yet over, and we were in a great location to continue exploring.  At this point, we came across a great little bar in which there was a man performing live music.  We went there for a little while where we enjoyed some of Brian's Bob Marley favorites and celebrated the final minutes of his birthday together.

On Sunday, we were very depressed to be leaving, but enjoyed a final brunch at our hotel first.  Our food was very good, but the best part was our vanilla risotto dessert with raspberries.  It was truly exquisite and the perfect taste to have left in our mouths as we headed to the airport and out of Lisbon.

We said our goodbyes until one month from now, but it was nothing to be sad about.  We had had an extraordinary weekend together and both have a lot of exciting things to look forward to.  On Friday my parents will be arriving in Paris (and Abbey's on Thursday).  We can't wait to show them around and watch them fall just as in love with this city as we have.

I will be sure to fill you all in again soon.  À la prochaine!

Yummy mango dessert

Carmo Archaeological Museum (my favorite)

Stunning model shot on our way up to Castel Sao Jorge

Stables in the Castle

View from Castle's walls

Meat and cheese plate at Wine Bar do Castello

Us upon arrival at the beach

Beach in the early afternoon

How many hectares are there in Bordeaux?

Happy Thursday!

I have just enough time for a quick post before I run and catch my plane to Portugal, so here it is:

Since our return from Stockholm on Sunday, we've been keeping very busy.  Sunday was our roommate Jess's 21st birthday.  We couldn't decide on a cake to get her, so Abbey, Christy, and I chose three different ones!  One was a compilation of chocolates-- dark, milk, moose, etc.-- another was white chocolate, and the third was dark chocolate.  We couldn't find our candles, so we just walked into the kitchen with a lit match, sang happy birthday, watched Jess's surprise, and proceeded to enjoy all three delicious desserts.

We made good use of our time between classes Monday, by finally getting over to the Jewish Quarter.  We stopped at our favorite boulangerie on the way.  The woman there always greets us with the same high pitched, "bonjour mademoiselles!" and proceeds to give us the sandwiches she knows we ask for each day.  This is the kind of subtle gesture I am sure we will miss most when we return to the States.

Anyway, we reached the Jewish Quarter in a few short minutes-- it's only a few streets away from our school-- and were amazed to see how much is packed into such a small area.  It was so cool to see the delis and shops with a mix of French and Hebrew writing.  It was hilarious, in fact, to watch the Israeli vendors being as pushy as ever, but all in French.  After seeing the line for falafel and getting a free sample taste, we knew we should have skipped out on our sandwiches just that day.  We vowed to return another day.

On Tuesday, we had a field trip for our wines class near the Eiffel Tower and thought it would be a good excuse to return to one of our favorite onion soup restaurants all the way in the 16th.  So we trekked over, enjoyed our delicious soups, and followed it up by buying a few caramel candies.

We then went to the Musee du Vin with our wines class.  It was a cute little place and cool too-- we got to walk through the caves where wines had been made in the past.  The best part, however, was the wine tasting activity.  We were given three classes of red wine, discussed them a little bit with the woman running the tasting, and then participated in a small competition.  Our class of about 40 kids all had to guess what the three wines were-- their regions, grape varieties, and vintage-- based on the three options we were given.  Abbey and I agreed upon our guesses, but we decided strategically to put on our sheets essentially the same answers with one switched.  The prize was a bottle of wine, and we knew we would share it if either of us won.  Well, lo and behold-- Abbey's answers were nearly perfect!  She had guessed more accurately than everyone in the class, aside from one other girl.  So, given the tie, the two went into a sudden death round.  The wine tasting woman asked, "how many hectares are there in Bordeaux?"  As we all know, our beloved Abbey is not the best under pressure and when put on the spot.  Thus, after only about a fraction of a second, Abbey spit out, "EIGHT!"  Unfortunately, the answer is more like 135,000.  Alas, we did not win the bottle of wine, but it was very exciting to have been in the top two nonetheless.

On Wednesday, we had an excursion with our Fashion class in which we explored the area around the Tuileries gardens.  We walked down by Chanel's original shop and passed the Ritz.  Our teacher is just the most entertaining man ever.  He's so full of energy and life and is equally knowledgeable as he is enthusiastic about the subject matter.  Especially due to the 60 degree weather, we really enjoyed this hour long outdoor information session.  We really are lucky that this is what we get to call school for a semester.

After the trip and before returning to school, we did as we promised ourselves and went to get falafel.  It was everything we'd hoped it would be and more.  The pita was perfect, the sauces were exquisite, and the falafel itself was better than we'd remembered from our taste on Monday.  We left full and happy as usual, ready for an afternoon of French class.

So that's a bit about our fun packed week here in Paris!  I'm a bit sad to be leaving-- the honey suckles in our courtyard are just beginning to bloom, and it's starting to smell a bit like springtime-- but at the same time, I can't wait to be in Lisbon.  I'm sure I'll be back to fill you in on that soon!

A tout a l'heure!

Stockholm: Cheap flights, free coffee, and negative zero degrees

Hi everyone!

What an interesting weekend it's been.  A few weeks ago, on a complete whim, Abbey, our friend Amanda and I booked flights to Stockholm, Sweden.  The reason behind this decision was simple: cheap flights.  We had no idea what to expect, but now that we're back, we couldn't be happier that we chose to do this.

We arrived late Thursday night.  On our short walk to our hostel, we quickly realized that Stockholm is a very unique city.  It was only about 11:30, but there were hardly any people out, stores and restaurants were all closed, and the streets were completely cleaned.  Unsure of what to do, we found one place to pick up a quick dinner and then got ourselves to bed so we could get out early the next day.

From our hostel window on Friday morning we saw a shining sun and not a cloud in the sky, but we knew that  the temperatures were near freezing.  As Amanda so delicately put it, the temperature was going to be, "like... negative zero," so we made sure to dress very warmly.

After bundling up, we asked our hostel staff for advice on a good brunch spot and were advised to walk down Drottninggatan street.  Here we found an abundance of appealing cafes and shops.  We stopped for a very good brunch and enjoyed delicious coffee.  In Sweden, coffee etiquette is much like tea etiquette in certain other countries.  It is always offered upon entrance into an event or home, and in other places is usually very cheap or free.  It was the latter with endless refills with this meal.  This was one little bit of Swedish culture that we embraced very quickly.

After eating, we continued to the explore this area.  There is a lot of shopping here.  Some of these stores are more unique to the region, while others are very common.  We were not surprised to discover an enormous H&M-- a company that comes from Sweden and is headquartered in Stockholm.  We rationalized that because it was a native company, it was okay for us to go inside for a little bit.

We then decided to explore some of Stockholm's islands.  Because it is a city on the water, Stockholm is broken up into several regions and islands connected by part land and part bridges.  Each of these areas is defined by characteristics very distinct from the others.  Our hostel was in Norrmalm, and on this day, we decided to explore Gamla Stan.  This area is where the Old Town is located and is often referred to as the heart of the city.  So although this is a comparatively smaller region, we spent pretty much the entire rest of the day in it.

Gamla Stan can be most easily recognized by its cobblestone streets and old buildings.  Because it was so cold, we constantly stopped in old-styled taverns for bits of coffee, tea and soup.  We also explored a ton of little shops, including a really cool (but creepy) one that sold authentic Swedish made trolls and gnomes.  Gamla Stan is also home to the Royal Palace, where we could see the royal guards patrolling the area.  Although these guards seemed to be dressed quite like those we had seen in Prague and London, we were interested to note that this was the first time we saw some women doing the job, rather than only men.

Eventually, we made our way back in the direction of our hostel, where we first stopped for dinner.  We found a really delicious restaurant where we shared a series of tapas appetizers and a thin-crust pizza for our entree.  We left very full, warmed from the inside out, and sufficiently exhausted from our day.

On Saturday, we woke up early to make good use of our last day in Stockholm.  We started the day at the same cafe as the morning before.  Along with our coffees, I had a delicious and really filling lentil soup.  As much as I hate the cold, there is nothing like coming inside, taking off your coat, and enjoying a nice bowl of soup or stew.

We continued our island explorations, but this time we went to Djurgarden.  This island reminded me in a way of a New England city.  It offered a beautiful view of the boats out on the water and was full of quaint little shops and eateries.  Here, we went to the famous Vasa Museum.  This is home to an old Swedish ship that set sail in the 1620's only to sink about 1500 meters out in the harbor.  It took hundreds of years for the ship to be recovered, but it somehow managed to stay in fantastic condition.  The craftsmanship of the boat, detailed woodwork and designs are beautiful, and it was overall very cool to see.

After leaving the museum, we hoped to visit one of Europe's apparently oldest running amusement parks, also on Djurgarden, but we got there to find it was only open in the summer.  Nonetheless, we got to peek into the gates and see the game booths and cotton candy stands.  The emptiness of the area and old design of it made it look like an abandoned haunted theme park.  We were sorry we couldn't go in, but were also relieved to walk away from the goosebumps it gave us.

After leaving Djurgarden, we walked back through Gamla Stan and over to Sodermalm.  This was a very long walk, so we had to stop a few times to warm up inside.  It was definitely worth it, however, because Sodermalm had some cool things to see.  There were more young people in the area and more modern shops and restaurants.  We spent a while looking around here before we went into a pub for a burgers-and-potatoes dinner.  It was a momentous occasion for Abbey in that she tasted (for the first time ever) veal-- and liked it.  Again, it was not terribly late, but we the cold weather and all the walking had really exhausted us.  By the time we trekked back to the hostel, we practically collapsed into bed.

We awoke at 3:30 this morning to take the 80 minute bus ride that would allow us to catch our 7:10 flight.  While this was exhausting, we agreed that it was entirely worth it.  In our short weekend in Stockholm, we got good glimpse into most of the city.  Had there been more time and planning involved, it would have been a fantastic place to go skiing or snow tubing, but again, we were happy with our plans.  We also learned that it's an ideal summer vacation spot for those who are interested in boating, hiking, biking, and the like.

Now that we're back in Paris, my only real regret is that I didn't get to meet the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  I also enjoy being back in the majority as a brunette.  (Sorry Abbey-- I hope you enjoyed your once-in-a-lifetime weekend as a blonde in an all-blonde world.)

Now I'm exhausted, and it's time for a nap.  Zzzz...

view from one of the bridges

and another

Amanda, Abbey and Me

One of the Royal Guards-- and a woman!

a street on Gamla Stan

Trekking up to the Royal Palace

An interesting sculpture we found on Gamla Stan

An enormous Saint Bernard. Also on Gamla Stan

Mini replica of the old sunken ship in the Vasa Museum

Viva Barcelona!

Hola!

It's been so long since my last post, but what a weekend it's been!  I am finally back from an insanely packed and extended weekend spent in Barcelona, Spain.  Let me fill you in:

Thursday afternoon, Abbey, Christy and I departed from Orly airport and landed in Spain quickly and smoothly.  They went to find their hostel while I met up with Brian at the bus stop.  The first thing we did, obviously, as we headed towards his apartment was pick up bread, cheese, and tomatoes for dinner.  We ate, I settled in, and we got ready to go out.  We went to a club where the DJ Afrojack was performing.  The place was really crowded, and a really cool scene.  The best part was that it was one of Brian's friend's birthdays, so we were able to sit in the VIP area closest to the DJ.  We danced a ton and the night seemed to fly by.  On our way out, we realized we had worked up such an appetite that we decided to stop in a place nextdoor where I had my first tapas of the weekend.

Friday morning, we decided to do some exploring around Barcelona, so we headed to some of the major areas.  We walked up and down Passeig de Gracia and La Rambla where we saw some really crazy street performers, lots of cute souvenir shops, and of course tons and tons of tapas places.  Eventually, we stopped in one, Tapa Tapa, where we split half a dozen different dishes, all of which I liked very much.  My favorite was a crab salad mix.  As we continued to walk around after, I spotted some adorable Spanish babies, which I determined have much in common with French, Czech, British, and Dutch babies in that I want to kidnap them all. 

We then moved on to the Picasso Museum.  The place was not so big, but really had some amazing pieces.  There was such an interesting evolution to be seen in Picasso's work-- from the time of his first amateur sketches, to his famous Science and Charity, to the melancholy works from his Blue Period, to the well-known cubist, and finally surrealist pieces he created.  It didn't take long to see everything, but it was definitely worth the trip over.

Later, we decided to go to a restaurant called Cal Pep that Brian had heard good things about, but that he hadn't tried yet.  When eating at Cal Pep, the idea is to sit down at the bar and simply order whatever five tapas the chef recommends that day.  It was a little intimidating and sort of nerve racking to have no idea what was coming, but it was absolutely the way to do it.  We asked for mainly fish, rather than meats, and we were served a dish of very well-seasoned clams and mussels, an interesting potato creation, another unique clam dish, flavored and crusted baby fish, and monkfish in a delicious fruity sauce.  We topped it off with a tasty crema catalan and cream pastry for dessert.  It was all absolutely incredible, and when it was over, neither of us could move.

The following morning, we took a trip over to the Castillo de Montjuic, which is an 18th century castle built atop a giant hill.  Especially with the clear skies we had that day, the views of the water and the rest of the city were breath-taking.  We spent a bit of time sitting along the ledges and walking from one end to the other, looking out over Barcelona.

We finally descended, and went to eat lunch at popular place called Bo de B.  Here they make really good sandwiches that are enormous and very un-European in that you can choose your toppings and basically mix up whatever you want into them.  It is no surprise then, that we both got jumbo sized sandwiches with virtually everything possible in them.  We followed this with a long walk that we figured would justify our eating habits.  (It's okay to pretend.)

We then made our way over to the enormous fresh food market on La Rambla.  (No, I'm not kidding.  I told you we like to eat.)  This is where we bought all sorts of fresh fish, vegetables, and spices to cook ourselves dinner that night.  Several hours later (I promise it really was several hours later), we began preparing our epic meal.  We had two tuna steaks, which we seasoned, coated with sesame seeds, and pan-seared to start.  Then, we had pasta with clams in a white wine clam sauce and shrimp with parmesan cheese.  We were so proud of what we had created.  It was all so tasty, but we enjoyed eating it nearly as much as we had did cooking it.

On Sunday, we made a quick stop for tapas before we headed to Park Guell.  This is another amazing location for sight seeing, especially given the weather, and is filled with all sorts of fantastic structures by the famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi.  Walking through parts of the park, I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss world and half expected to see a Who wander past me.  We left the park, and following the architectural theme, went to see Sagrada Familia.  This is an enormous Roman Catholic church also designed by Gaudi.  Once again, the outside of the structure is reminiscent of something from a fantasy novel.  The colors and shapes look almost out of place in the real world.  The most fascinating part of this church is that it is incomplete-- Gaudi died during its construction.  The plans still exist, however, and it is being worked on and projected to be compeleted in 2026-- 100 years after Gaudi's death.

After taking a nice nap, we went out for my last dinner in Barcelona.  We went to an Italian restaurant, where we split a fantastic risotto dish and a thin-crust pizza.  We were enjoying ourselves and the food so much, that when we eventually looked up, the restaurant was empty.  It had actually been closed for an hour, but the staff was too polite to kick us out.

On Monday, I only had a few hours to kill before I had to return to the airport.  We took a walk down to the Port where we sat outside and ate chips with cheese, guacamole and salsa, drank cold beverages, and strolled along to check out all of the white tents.  It was a beautiful day, and I was truly sad to be leaving.

However, just when I thought my trip was over, sitting in the airport, I was left with one more small adventure.  My flight was delayred an hour and a half and then a man working for the airline tried to tell me I needed to check my bag.  After pleading with him to no avail, I was left with a giant luggage sticker on my bag.  A nice couple nearby, having watched the sorry scene, pitied me and suggested I simply ignore the order to check my carry-on sized suitcase.  Blocking me on either side, they played the look-out while I stealthily tore the sticker off, shoved it in my pocket, and continued on my way.  So fortunately, I got out of checking my bag.  That was not the end, however, because upon landing, due to our delay, it was too late to catch the metro. 

Here, I found myself in a cab for the last stretch of my trip.  The driver told me the drive would take 20 minutes-- interesting to me because I was expecting a solid 40.  I didn't argue, however, and fastened my seatbelt as the driver practically floored it back to my street.  He got me there in 20 minutes alright.  In addition, after a brief conversation with him, he learned that I was a student, pitied me for having missed the metro, and assumed that I was broke.  He therefore decided that it would be cruel to charge me the usual 65 euro for this trip and left me only 40 euro lighter.  Finally, back in my apartment, I collapsed into my bed somewhere between 1 and 1:30 am.

So... a long weekend it's been!  In spite of some overeating and stressful situations, the time was absolutely marvelous and I wouldn't have changed a thing.  I can hardly believe how quickly the days seem to have passed!  Now, there's just a short week left to go until another weekend away in Stockholm, Sweden.  This time, the weather will be drastically different in the opposite direction.

I'll be back next week to fill you in!

Candy stand at La Rambla market

Cannon at Parc Montjuic

View from Castle at Parc Montjuic

Our delicious homemade meal

Making an attractive face while taking a water break

Us at Parc Guell

One of Gaudi's buildings in Parc Guell

Sagrada Familia