Aye, it looks like we're in Dooblin!

Hi everyone,

We're back from Dublin already, which doesn't seem possible considering it was one of the very first trips we booked this semester.  Now there's just another short week before we leave for spring break.  Where has the time gone?

The group of nine of us arrived in Dublin late Thursday night.  The flight was quick and easy, and we were entertained by the high school students sitting around us who were returning to their home in Dublin after a trip to Paris.  I knew we were truly in Ireland the moment upon landing when the boy one seat over turned towards me and said, "aye, it looks like we're in Dooblin!"

We basiacally spend the rest of Thursday night getting settled in and exploring the streets around our hostel so we could wake up early Friday morning.  We spent this following morning giving ourselves a walking tour of the city.  First, we went to see Christ Church, which was right by our hostel.  We decided not to pay to go inside, but we took a few pictures outside.  We then ventured through Trinity College's campus.  For a moment, it made each of us miss our own universities (...but only for a moment).  The weather was beautiful and students were out playing tennis and laying on the lawns, really making for a wonderful atmosphere.

After exiting the school grounds, we headed towards Merrion Square where we were able to see the famous Oscar Wilde memorial and walk around the park a bit.  The Wilde memorial consists of a statue of the writer lazing out on a rock and a few small pillars covered in quotes copied in his handwriting.  There were a bunch that I had already heard and a few new ones that made me smile.  Here are a few that I think you might know or like:
- "I have nothing to declare except my genius."
- "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
- "Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
- "Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple and the simple thing is the right thing."
- "Most people are other people."
- "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
- "Nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion."
- "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."
- "I can resist everything except temptation."

After Merrion Square, we walked over to Saint Stephen's Green, the enormous park in the city center.  With the perfect weather and the freshly planted flowers around us, we were truly in bliss.  The area was full of people lounging on the grass, taking photographs, or out for their daily run.  We would have liked to stay in that spot all day, but we were starting to get hungry.

So we headed on over to the famous Leo Burdock's where many famous people have come before to enjoy Dublin's oldest Fish and Chips.  We each got our own order of this enormously portioned meal, which we savored down to the very last bite.  (We were less blissful half an hour later when we entered our food-comas.  But it was worth it.)

Following this meal (and a too-brief recovery period) we walked over to the Guiness Factory.  Most of us had already visited the Heinekin Factory in Amsterdam, so we thought we knew what to expect.  As it turns out, this place is far bigger and actually quite different.  Personally, I found the most interesting part to be the floor with all of the old Guiness ads, some dating back several decades.  Of course, we also got to go up to the top floor with its 360 degree windows and drink a free pint of Guiness.  I personally don't enjoy this beer much, so I didn't finish mine, but some of the girls really loved it.  To me, the best element of my beer was the shamrock design the bartender managed to incorporate into the foam on top.  Very cool.

A while later, we ate dinner at a bar and explored some of the pubs in the area.  Our favorite of the night was a place called O'Neills.  All of these venues had live performers, but the ones at O'Neills were members of a really authentic Irish group who played a mix of classic songs that we knew and Irish folk songs that we didn't.  We had a ton of fun there, dancing and singing along when we could.  In spite of all the fun, we didn't stay out too late because we had a huge day before us on Saturday.

This next morning, we awoke early to get on a private bus tour of the countryside.  It was the group of us eight girls (one was staying with a friend), one other American who had come on her own, and two german girls.  The driver of our van was an Irish man named Tommy, who had to be in his 70's, but was so full of life and enthusiasm that we couldn't help but smile at his crazy antics.  The tour itself was absolutely amazing and a hilight of both our Ireland trip and this semester abroad.  The drive, which included several stops and went from about 10 am to 6 pm, took us all over Wicklow.  Here is a bit of what we learned and saw:
- The new football and rugby stadium. It was built just a year ago and cost over half a billion dollars.
- The U.S. embassy (obviously obnoxiously out of place and overdone)
- Enya's house
- Several golf courses
- Approximately a zillion sheep
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers's insane property (maybe you know him as Henry VIII in the Showtime series, The Tudors).  His land is so expansive and isolated that we could only see it from a ledge along the mountainside.  Apparently, around this time of year, he throws ridiculous parties that can go on for up to eight days at a time and has his guests helicoptered in.  I wouldn't decline an invite.
- The bridge from the movie P.S. I Love You.  A fun fact about this bridge is that the water that runs underneath it is part of the stream that was used originally to make Guiness beer.
- The expansive field where Braveheart's big battle scene was filmed.  The scene included 3,000 actual military personnel, who were used as extras.  During filming, Mel Gibson made the individuals go through three takes.  On the third, he had riled up the extras-- the result being that they acted with enough intensity to require several ambulances.  Forty people were injured with broken arms, legs and the like.  I guess that's what Mel was looking for because that was the take that they ended up using in the movie.
- Laragh.  This is the tiny town where we took our lunch break.  We enjoyed half-portions (still huge) of beef and guiness stew.  Mmm...
- Glendalough (Gaelic for, "the valley of two rivers").  This is a Christian site that dates back to the 6th century.  The area was destroyed in the end of the 15th century, burned down when the British were discriminating against Catholics.  Tommy told us that on an ordinary Sunday, this site can have up to 10,000 visitors.  Fortunately for us, it was not quite that crowded, so we were able to walk around and snap some pictures without being overrun by other tourists.

This made up the bulk of our day, though there were a handful of other quick stops where we were able to get out, snap pictures, and breathe in the fresh, unpolluted countryside air.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and the scenes around us were simply extraordinary.

After this super-long day, we returned to our hostel to rest for a bit before heading back out.  We eventually headed back over to the Temple Bar area, where we went into The (actual) Temple Bar and a few other bars, including one called Quay's, which we liked very much.  Again, we enjoyed the laid-back atmospheres of these places and the live performing groups.  We headed back to our hostel eventually, completely exhausted from our day of activity.

We started our Sunday by checking out of the hostel and getting brunch nearby.  We then strolled down Grafton Street, a great shopping area, where my friends Allison and Erin bough themselves Claddagh rings.  If you're unfamiliar with these, they're traditional Irish rings that feature two hands clasping a heart.  The idea is that the ring is acquired as a token of love and worn either facing in, to indicate you are romantically involved, or facing out, to indicate you are available.  The rings they bought were really pretty, but I figured I'd be better off letting someone else get one for me one day.

After walking down Grafton some more, we returned to St. Stephen's Green.  We sat out on the lawn for a while, just talking and enjoying the feel of the sun on our backs.  Eventually, we dragged ourselves up where we picked up some ice cream on our way to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Erin had really wanted to go inside, but unfortunately, when we arrived they were not allowing visitors, as it was time for mass.  Instead, we plopped ourselves back down on this new lawn, where we talked and enjoyed the sun some more and watched a group of Irish children kicking around a soccer ball. 

Eventually, it was time for us to head to the airport.  We grabbed some sandwiches from a place called Munchies along the way.  My sandwich was good and kind of reminded me of what I always eat back at school, which was nice... but puh-lease... it was a far stretch from my indian chicken from SandwichLady.

Anyway, we were sad to be leaving, but agreed that we'd had truly had an amazing weekend in Ireland.  Between the city of Dublin and the Irish countryside, we really did get a glimpse of what makes Ireland so unique and fantastic.  I wish I had a bit more time to spend there, but then again, I can't wait for spring break!

Typical looking doors on the streets of Dublin

In Merrion Square

Us in Merrion Square (Me, Gina, Christy, Erin, Leslie, Abbey, Allison-- Ali took the photo)

Roommates! (minus Jess) St. Stephen's Green

Fish n Chips... after half was already eaten

Shamrock in my Guiness!

Shore

Jonathan Rhys Meyers's property (zoomed all the way in!)

Christy, Me and Abbey 

Christy, Erin, Ali, Abbey, Me, Gina, & Allison on the P.S. I Love You bridge

Countryside

P.S. I Love You bridge from below

Braveheart battle scene locale

Stream in Glendalough

Glendalough

On the lawn outside St. Paul's Cathedral

Wherefore art thou, Sandwich Lady?

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I'd pop in for an unexpected mid-week blog.  It's been so nice just spending these past two weeks here, really experiencing the dreamy beginnings of April in Paris.

On Saturday, we woke up and made omelettes at our leisure.  Then I dealt with my laundry situation (I really must never again get to the point where I need to do five loads at once) while Abbey studied for her French midterm.  The day, however, was simply too nice to be spent indoors-- it actually hit 70 degrees!-- so we decided that we would venture out for the rest of our afternoon.

We headed down to the Marais to pick up our sandwiches and sit out to eat by the Centre Pompidou.  We were a bit distraught, however, when we found out that our sandwich lady's boulangerie is closed on Saturdays.  Unsure of what to do, we wandered a bit until we found some mediocre sandwiches at another boulangerie.  Fortunately, the scene outside Pompidou counteracted our affected moods, as there were a few performers out and enough people around to be entertaining without being overwhelming.

After our lunch ordeal, we headed towards some vintage stores we'd been dying to stop into for the longest time.  Aside from our experience with one woman working in Aquarêves who seemed to be intent on annoying us right out of her store, we had the greatest time ever trying on some ridiculous items.  I ended up buying a really cool t-shirt dress and a pretty top, and abbey wound up with a really cute dress of her own.  I also got a black clutch, which I've desperately needed here and will be sure to make good use of.  The best part about all of this?  The prices were just so reasonable!

On our way back to our apartment, in high spirits from our retail and sunshine therapy, we decided it was about time to stop by Pêre Lachaise-- something we've been meaning to do since we've arrived in Paris.  This is a really famous cemetery that's just a 15 minute walk away from where we live.  Of course, as soon as we arrived, the security guards were closing the gates.  I managed to snap one picture or two, but we'll have to go back another day.  Oh well... "A" for effort!

On Sunday, we had hoped to get back to Pêre Lachaise, but unfortunately the beautiful weather spell had passed.  It was okay, however, because we managed to make the day productive, getting some work done and stocking up on groceries.

Monday was just another school day.  We went back to our sandwich lady for lunch-- her shop was open, but she was nowhere in sight!  To ad insult to injury, they were all out of our Indian chicken sandwiches!  Fortunately, Abbey and I are resilient, and without panicking too much we were able to select another sandwich each to try.  Indian chicken they were not, but delicious they certainly still were.  I guess a small change here and there isn't really so bad.

Later that evening, feeling spontaneous and benevolent, I decided to cook Abbey a surprise dinner.  It was a surprise in that she didn't know what I was making.  She had some trouble guessing from the ingredients.  Let's see if you can do any better:
- baguette
- tomato sauce
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- mushrooms
- onions

If you guessed baguette-pizza, you are correct.  Simple as this was to make, it ended up being really delicious.  We complemented our pizza with some nice Burgundy red wine and enjoyed an appetizer of mozzarella and tomatoes.

Tuesday was nothing more than another ordinary day of classes.  We went to visit our sandwich lady as per usual only to find that she was missing in action again!  At least the boulangerie had our Indian chicken sandwiches though... 


Abbey and I never really go out for meals here, but we decided that since we hadn't traveled in a while and had cooked all of our meals this past weekend, it was okay for a little treat.  We had been wanting to try a little place called Chez Omar, a 25 minute walk from our apartment, which is celebrated for its couscous.  We shared two entrées-- a filet of steak in mushroom sauce and chicken couscous-- both of which were delicious.  We drank a 2009 Côtes de Provence rosé wine with the meal and completed it with a scoop of lemon sorbet for me and café ice cream for Abbey.  The meal was excellent, but we were so full, we could barley even walk ourselves home.

And now here we are, on Wednesday.  I just enjoyed a delicious falafel for lunch and must go to French class before I can return to the 70 degree weather outside.  I also just signed up for the classes I'll be taking in the fall-- how is it possible that I'm going to be a senior?!

Tomorrow we're off to Dublin with a big group of girls, which we're super excited about.  Of course I'll be back to fill you in on every detail!


À la prochaine!

P.S.  Sandwich Lady... if you are reading this... where are you??

Baguette-Pizza dinner (not the best pic, it's from my phone)

Chicken couscous

Sorbet citron et glace café 

View from our bedroom window-- it finally looks and feels like spring!

A shot of one of the trees in our courtyard

The longest blog you ever did see...

Hello, my loyal readers (Jaime?)!

This has been the longest you’ve been forced to wait on the edges of your seats to be updated on my European whereabouts.  So where have I been this past week?  Budapest?  Helsinki?  Minsk?  Warsaw? No, no, no and no.  I’ve been in the greatest capital city of them all: right here in Paris, France.

And now you must be wondering, what thrilling activities have I been doing that have kept me away from you for so long?  Well, the answer is simple:  Midterms.  Can you believe that this semester is already halfway over?  Where has the time gone? 

But I’m getting ahead of myself now.  Let me take you back to last week: 

On Tuesday we had our midterm for wines.  During my study break, I was fortunate enough to be able meet my friends Jocelyn, Kristin and Arielle, who were traveling Europe on their Cornell spring break.  We went to the Jewish Quarter, grabbed falafel, and walked around for an hour.  It was nice to see some familiar faces but a little weird to be reminded that life is really going on back at school without me.

Thursday afternoon, Abbey’s parents arrived for what would be the beginning of their short visit here.  They were tired from their travels, but we decided to take them on a bit of a walking tour anyway.  We took the metro to the Tuileries and proceeded to walk through the gardens, past the Place de la Concorde, up the Champs Elysées, over to the Arc de Triomphe.  We then returned to Republique, where their hotel was, and went out to a very nice Mediterranean couscous dinner.

Friday morning, Abbey and I had an excursion to attend for our wines class.  The event was the Salon des Vignerons Indépendants, all the way out across the city.  This is a wine show that occurs twice a year, once before Easter and once before Christmas, in which independent winemakers from every region in France come together, set up tables, and have the largest wine-tasting event in Paris.  There are over 5,000 different tables of wines, each of which displays bottles from unique wineries that have been produced with care and passion by the very people standing beside them.  The wine is for sale, of course, but the point is to travel around the tables, tasting the wines and interacting with the people. 

The nature of the French wine-making process is, in general, very traditional, and thus, the majority of the winery owners are individuals descended from families that have been on those very lands for centuries.  Of course the wines themselves are spectacular—some cannot be purchased anywhere except directly from the hands of these sellers, in person—but it was really this historical and familial element that made the event so amazing. 

Oh yeah, and no one spoke any English.  All this did for me was force me to recognize how competent I’ve become in French.  Of course, I do not speak perfectly, but when placed in this situation, I was able to engage in exchanges that were detailed, lengthy, and impassioned.  While I was proud of myself in seeing my progress, I was more impressed by the histories shared with me by these vignerons.  To see them display such affection and fervor as they shared the fruits of years of labor was really so inspiring.

We finally left this wonderful event to meet back up with Abbey’s parents and mine, who had just arrived in Paris as well.  After taking ten times longer than necessary to get out, we all voyaged over to the Jewish Quarter, where everyone had a taste of our favorite falafel.  We then took a long walk along Île de la Cité and to Notre Dame.

On Saturday, we took a train out to Versailles for the day.  The lines were long and it was starting to get hot, but the place was truly remarkable.  While it was certainly a major tourist attraction, it was pretty cool to walk where some of the most famous kings and queens have been, to see just how lavish it really was, and to actually experience the enormity of the grounds. 

After Versailles, Abbey and I had to break away for a few hours.  Our roommate, Christy, had won tickets to a Rugby match in a raffle, and she offered her extras to us.  It took us a while to get there, and as soon as we sat down, it started to rain, but aside from all that, the experience was awesome.  The match was Racing Metro 92, a Parisian team, versus Toulouse.  Every seat in the stadium was packed, and we were sitting just eight rows back directly behind Paris’s goal.  The fans were so alive and the game was so exciting!  Although Toulouse had been projected to win, Racing Metro took the prize with a final score of 43-21 and a fireworks display.

After the game, we met back up with our parents at our corner brasserie where we had a really nice dinner.  Everyone’s meals were very good, and we all enjoyed a bit of escargot.  We left very full and very tired from our long, long day.

Sunday morning, Abbey’s parents left early to fly back to New York.  Later on, we met up with my parents near the Eiffel Tower to have onion soup at one of our favorite places.  We followed this with a visit to the Rodin Museum.  This was an outing that I had to be convinced to participate in—I’ve never been so fond of sculptures.  I couldn’t have been happier, however, that I decided to go along.  We got to see some famous works—The Thinker, The Kiss, The Gates of Hell—and I really obtained a new appreciation for this type of art.  For once, I was really able to see the way a skilled sculptor can capture emotion, movement and life in something is, in fact, so lifeless.

Monday and Tuesday morning were devoted to French and Communications exams, but when it was all finished, I met back up with my Mom and Dad for what would be a long walk further south into the city.  We explored the Latin Quarter a bit, and I took them to Première Pression Provence, the olive oil and spreads place that Brian and I discovered back in February.  We bought a few of the best we tasted and then wandered further south through the Luxembourg Gardens.  The day, which had been pretty dreary, really cleared up and made the walk that much nicer.

We continued past the gardens and finally reached our next tourist locale: the Catacombes.  The Catacombes de Paris is a famous ossuary.  Originally, these caverns and tunnels were Paris’s stone mines, but eventually, when cemeteries were beginning to overflow in the late 18^th century, they became the new home for decomposed bodies.  The ossuary holds the remains of about 6 million people, stacked and organized with precision.   It was a bit overwhelming at first to see all of these bones, but we agreed that after a few minutes, we became detached from the idea that these had been actual people.  It is simply too overwhelming to think of the faces and personalities that had belonged to these bones.

After the Catacombes, we agreed that we all needed a glass of wine.  We had a seat for an hour outside at a café where we enjoyed a glass each and then returned to the 11^th arrondissement to pick up Abbey and get dinner.  We chose a Brazilian place called Ave Maria and were surprised by how much we enjoyed our food.  This was a great new discovery for Abbey and me, especially because it is right in our neighborhood.  We will be sure to go back there again another night.

On Wednesday between our classes, Abbey and I took my parents to our favorite boulangerie for lunch.  The lady there (read: our best friend) was thrilled to be giving us four, rather than two, of our daily Indian chicken sandwich.  We sat out by the Centre Pompidou to eat, and then stopped for some cafés.  We separated again in the afternoon and met up later that night for dinner. 

Dinner itself was a great activity because a friend of mine from school, Jenni, was visiting Paris for the week with her mom and siblings.  The four of them, my parents, Abbey, and I made a reservation at an Italian place called Le Cherche-Midi.  I think we caused the waiter a bit of a headache when we had him translate the entire menu for us and repeated all of our questions ten to fifteen times each in spite of his consistent answers.  It was worth it in the end, however, because we were able eventually to order and really enjoy our meals.

On Thursday, I met my parents after class for our last few hours together.  We went the Musée Jacquemart-André, which someone on the plane recommended to them.  I had never heard of it, but it proved a great decision to go.  The museum was originally the private residence of Edouard André and Nélie Jacquemart.  Edouard was from a Protestant banking family and had quite a considerable fortune.  The couple traveled the world, acquiring precious works of art that they decorated their astonishing mansion with.  Some of the pieces that we saw, by artists like Van Dyke and Rembrandt, were really amazing, but to me it was the house itself that took my breath away.

We finally returned to my parent’s hotel where we said our farewells.  The week had been long, exhausting, and activity-filled, but worth every minute.

Now Abbey and I are enjoying our breakfast omelets and our class-less Friday!  I hope I haven’t lost you somewhere in this blog post of record-breaking lengths… Oh, and there are more pictures to come when my parents send theirs along.

À la prochaine!

Outside Versailles: so much gold and so many people 

In Versailles

Marie Antoinette

Hi Mom! Love you!

Us at rugby

Rugby and our amazing seats! (Not zoomed in!)

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