A very exciting trip!

Hello everyone! Sorry that I've taken awhile to write another post, but I have some very exciting 
news to share with you all. Not only have I been able to travel all over Spain, but also outside of 
Spain to... PARIS. Yes, PARIS! I couldn't believe it either. Before hearing about School Year 
Abroad I never thought that I would travel Spain, let alone Paris. The trip still feels like a dream. It went by so quickly. It lasted for five days, two for travelling to/from Spain and France and three 
for visiting museums and other fun stuff. I went with the Contemporary Art class. Even though I'm 
not in that class (I'm in Art History), there were extra tickets, so since I had asked the teacher, 
Sole (pronounced SO-LAY), early enough, I was given one of the tickets. Lucky me! I only had 
to pay a pretty small portion and everything else, food, hotel, transportation, was payed for us 
by the school. You can't get a better deal than that. Paris, even though it's amazing, is 
expensive, so the school really helped us a lot with the money. We were also accompanied by the Math teacher, Jen, who had been to Paris several times before and who had studied French in high school. 

We left Zaragoza on Thursday, April 18th. We all met in the bus/train station early in the morning 
and took a bus to the Madrid airport. We then took a plane later in the afternoon towards Paris. 
The flight was about two hours. It wasn't too bad. 

Once we landed in Paris another bus took us to our hotel, which was not in the center, but near 
it. We were given our different rooms and then went to dinner in a very fancy restaurant. We had 
our first taste of Parisian food, and it was all delicious. The first plate was a salad, the second 
plate was pasta, and for dessert we ate chocolate mousse. It was to die for. We stayed for 
several hours and went back to the hotel. We were very tired from travelling all day.

Next morning (Friday, April 19th) we ate breakfast in a café. We had our first real French 
croissant and we all loved it. There's nothing like it. Then we walked to our first museum, the 
Museum d'Orsay. It used to be a train station, but in the early 1900's it was converted into a 
museum and now holds many works of contemporary art. There was also a very detailed model 
of the famous Paris Opera House. I loved it. 

Front of the Museum d'Orsay.

Inside the Museum d'Orsay.

We then had free time for lunch and an optional visit with Sole to see two famous cathedrals in 
Paris: Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle. My friends and I only visited Notre Dame, which is a 
Gothic cathedral. The inside was very impressive and there was a concert of a chorus singing. 
Instead of continuing with the group to see Saint Chapelle, my friends and I went to the famous 
English bookstore Shakespeare and Company. On the second floor there is also a library with 
old books and on Sundays they give a free tea-party during the afternoon. The store is very 
nice and cozy. We only spent a short time there because soon afterwards we had to gather with 
the group again to visit another museum called Centro Pompidou. The building is huge and 
made mostly out of glass. It looks very modern. One of its distinct features is a long tube of 
escalators on the outside of the front of the building that are used to get to the different floors. 
One of their benefits is that as you're rising slowly, you get a better and better view of the city. 
On top of the building is an expensive restaurant. In the building we went to the second floor 
where the museum was. It had a lot of interesting pieces of art. There were some Cubist 
paintings, some by Picasso, and a lot of other contemporary paintings. I really liked the 
museum. 

The facade of Notre Dame.

Inside the cathedral.

Shakespeare and Company.

Centro Pompidou

After the museum we all went to eat dinner together in a restaurant. Then we had more free  time until midnight. My friends and I returned to Shakespeare and Company and stayed until it 
closed. On the second floor there was also a piano that anyone can use, so I played a little on 
it. It wasn't fully in tune, but I didn't care. It was very cool to be playing the piano inside one of 
the most well-known bookstores in the world. 

The next day (Saturday, April 20th) was a very busy day. We were going to visit three museums. The first one we visited was Los Invalides, which has the tombs of Napoleon Bonaparte and his son. It was really cool to see them. Next we went to the Museum of Rodin. It's dedicated to the sculptor Auguste Rodin, and some of his sculptures are on display outside in a garden. We walked around and looked at each one and then went inside a building where he used to live to continue seeing his sculptures. There were so many of all different sizes. It must have taken all of his life to make them. 

The facade of Los Invalides.

Napoleon's tomb.

The Museum of Rodin.

The sculpture "The Thinker."

After the Museum of Rodin we had several hours of free time for lunch. Some friends and I 
headed towards the Eiffel Tower to find somewhere near it to eat. We spotted a cheap crepe 
place and I bought one for lunch. I know the dessert crepes are the most well-known, but 
crepes can also be healthy, filled with vegetables, meat, cheese, etc. Mine had ham and cheese. It was really good. We kept going towards the Eiffel Tower until we found a big park 
where a lot of people were also sitting and resting and eating. We were right in front of the 
Tower, and the view was amazing. 

The one, the only, Eiffel Tower.

After lunch we went to visit the third museum, the famous Louvre, which is the most visited 
museum in the world and has a collection of over 35,000 works of art. The building is huge, and 
if you spent only five seconds looking at each painting, it would take you five/six months to look 
at every one. Imagine that. Only a small portion of that amazing collection can be seen in one or 
two hours. No wonder it's the most visited museum in the world. You have to visit it a lot to see 
a lot. In front of the museum, a lot of people were standing on blocks and raising one arm. They 
were trying to make it look as if their hands were holding the point of the glass pyramid, the 
famous entrance to the museum. 

The Louvre. 

The sculptures "The Slaves" by
Michelangelo.

The famous, Greek sculpture the
Venus of Milo.

The painting "The Wedding at Cana" by Giotto, an
Italian painter.

You can't visit the Louvre without seeing
this painting: the Mona Lisa by
Leonardo de Vinci. (It's blurry because I
had to take the picture quickly. There were
a lot of people around it!)

The Apollo Gallery which serves as a display area for
Louis XIV's collection of art. 

Later that afternoon most of us went on a boat ride along the Seine River. I was very excited. While gliding along the river, a tour guide pointed out to us well-known monuments and 
buildings on either side of the river. There was one restaurant on top of a building for which you 
have to reserve a spot one month in advance. It's really fancy and expensive. One notable 
feature of the river is that many bridges cross over it. The guide was telling us, "And here's the 
shortest bridge, the longest bridge, the oldest bridge, the most romantic bridge," and other 
interesting facts about them. The ride lasted for about an hour, and as the sun was setting it grew windier and chillier. Everyone was frozen when we returned to the dock and got off the boat.We went straight to dinner afterwards. I ate duck, which was delicious. Then we returned to the hotel and I went to sleep.

View of the Seine River from the boat.

Sadly the next day (Sunday, April 21st), was our last full day in Paris, and Sole had to leave 
early after our visit to the Museum of l'Orangerie. It's famous for having Monet's huge paintings 
of the lily pads. They were so beautiful to see. We first saw them and then wandered around the 
rest of the museum. There were only paintings and many of them. My favorites were the lily pads. I would love to have them covering my bedroom wall. 

The facade of the Museum of l'Orangerie. 

The painting of the lily pads by Monet.

Afterwards Sole said goodbye to everyone and left. We had the rest of the day off until 
dinnertime. This was our time to do want we wanted to do. I really wanted to see the famous 
Paris Opera House, so one of my friends and I walked to it. It was nearby; it only took us about 
10-15 minutes to find it. In front there was a bunch of people taking pictures, standing, sitting on 
the steps. A small brass band was playing on the steps and it had a large audience. My friend 
and I looked for the entrance. Since we were students, we only had to pay 6 euros, which was a 
really good price. With the ticket in hand, we entered deeper into the Opera House. We first 
came upon the Grand Staircase. Everything was richly decorated. The architecture is Neo-
baroque. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked around a bit. On display were 
some beautiful ballet costumes. I don't know what ballets they were from. On the same floor 
there was a spectacular hallway that seemed to be completely covered in gold. I'm sure it was 
just gold paint, but it was still incredible all the same. I could imagine all the people dressed up 
in ballgowns and tuxedos with feathers and fans and bow ties milling around and chatting. It 
would be a grand sight. Next we walked through the library. The shelves were full of very old 
books, and in one room were small displays of scenes from the opera Don Juan. Then we 
entered the auditorium. It was breathtaking. It can hold 1,979 people, and ballets and operas are performed there. When I looked up, I saw the magnificent chandelier and a painting by Eugène Lenepveu covering the ceiling. It was one of my favorite parts of the Opera House. 

The facade of the Opera House.

The Grand Staircase.

The ballet costumes.

The "gold" hallway.

The auditorium.

The chandelier and painting by Eugène Lenepveu.

When we finished seeing everything, my friend and I left and found lunch in a small food stand. I 
bought two crepes: one with chicken and cheese and one with strawberry jam. They were very 
good. We waited for two other friends who we were meeting to go visit the Eiffel Tower. They 
showed up about half an hour later, and they had gone to Ladurée, the famous macaron shop. 
The girl had bought six macarons of different flavors. One tasted like rose petals. It was 
interesting. The boy had bought ten gold-covered macarons, and when I say gold, I mean real 
gold. He was so generous as to give one to each of us. They were very expensive, but  delicious. When we finished eating, he decided he didn't want to visit the Eiffel Tower with us, 
so he left. My remaining two friends and I cleaned up and headed towards the Tower. 

We were planning on going to the very top. However, once we arrived, the friend who had gone to Ladurée didn't feel very well, so she returned to the hotel. My other friend and I chose to 
continue ourselves, and we wanted to try climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator 
because the line for the stairs was shorter and the tickets were cheaper. But at the end, we 
changed our minds and paid for the elevator. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go to 
the very top, so we went to the second floor instead. We still got a fantastic view though. I could 
see all of Paris: the Seine River, Notre Dame, Basilique du Sacré Coeur, etc. It was one of the 
best moments in Paris for me. On the first floor there is an expensive restaurant which is also 
quite famous. When the Tower was first built, the people thought that it was ugly and they were 
scared that it would fall. At that time it was just a temporary structure and not very stable. Then it 
became such a recognizable symbol of Paris that it was fortified and now is a beloved part of 
the city. My friend and I stayed up there for about half an hour. When it was an hour before we 
were meeting everyone for dinner, we went back down in the elevator and started walking in the 
direction of the restaurant. 

View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower.

We started to see people carrying flags in pink and blue, so my friend stopped and asked one family why they had the flag. They told her that it was for a rally against gay marriage. On the flag was a picture of a family of a mom, dad, and two kids. Beneath were the words "La Manif Pour Tous," which means "Marriage for all." My friend and I were really surprised by this. We kept walking on and came upon a barrier in the street. We turned onto another street which led us right into the heart of the rally. There were thousands of people waving flags and banners and wearing clothes with the picture and words. We had a bit of trouble finding a way out because all of the roads were blocked off. Finally we were let out and we continued walking to the restaurant. We called the teacher on duty because we knew we were going to be late, and we arrived twenty minutes late to dinner. After dinner my friend and I returned to the hotel because we were very tired. I packed my backpack and went to bed straight after. 

The rally.

The next morning (Monday, April 22nd) we got up early, ate breakfast, and rode to the airport. It 
took us all day to return to Zaragoza, and we got back late that night. I was sad that we had to 
leave Paris, but I had a great time there. I hope I have the chance to visit it again for a longer 
period of time. 

The trip to Barcelona! (over spring break)

Hello everyone! I know I haven't written in awhile. When writing for the blog I like to have a lot of 
time to write, not just half an hour, so I usually wait until the weekend after I go on a trip. It's not 
the best idea since the trip isn't as fresh in my mind, but I have pictures to remind me what I 
have done and seen, so it's not too much of a problem to remember everything. 

A week ago we had our spring break. It lasted for one and a half weeks. Not too long and not too short, though I wouldn't have minded at all if it were for two weeks instead. One of my friends (Jordan) and I decided to travel to Barcelona for four days. He had been to Barcelona once before, but it would be my first time in this amazing city. 

We left early Monday morning on April 1st at 7 am on a bus. We arrived in Barcelona three 
hours later and took the metro to our hostel. It was located near Torre Agbar, one of the most 
famous buildings in all of Barcelona. It's especially spectacular at night when it lights up in blue 
and red. Jordan and I got to the hostel and went to our room. There were already three people 
staying there. From the window we could see the Torre Agbar. 

Torre Agbar

Jordan and I left the hostel after we got settled. We had a map of Barcelona, so we looked at it 
to see where we could go for the rest of the afternoon. First we ate lunch in a restaurant because we were very hungry. We hadn't eaten since that morning. We found a really nice park called el Parque de la Ciutadella. It's quite big and very green and houses the Parliament of Cataluña and the zoo. There's also a huge fountain in the center with statues of dragons spurting out water. It's really cool. Next we walked passed the Arc de Triomf, which is a famous landmark in Barcelona., and then headed towards the Chocolate Museum! I was pretty excited. We were going to see sculptures made out of chocolate! What made it even better was that our tickets were chocolate bars, so we could eat them. Inside there were displays about the history of chocolate and why everyone loves it and how it's made from the cacao beans. The sculptures themselves were very impressive. I would think that it's difficult to sculpt chocolate because it's usually soft and melts easily. Of course I'm sure there are ways to keep it more frozen and easier to mold.  

The fountain in el Parque de la Ciutadella.

The dragon statue.

A mammoth sculpture.

Arc de Triomf.

Inside the chocolate museum. Cacao beans.

Jordan with an ape. (Remember, these sculptures are
all made out of chocolate!)

Do you recognize it? It's the Arc de Triomf, chocolate style.

Chicken Little.

Home of the Smurfs.

From the Pixar movie Up.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and two other characters I don't know.

Bambi and friends.

La Sagrada Familia.

Saint George and the dragon.

That whole archway is made out of chocolate. So many
intricate details!

Next we walked towards the waterfront. It started to rain so Jordan and I ran towards the mall 
which is right on the harbor. It's a really nice location. We also walked through one of the most 
famous streets in Barcelona called La Rambla. It's really long, packed, and lined with booths 
selling flowers, food, clothes, souvenirs, etc. Near the end closer to the ocean, there are 
several "statue people," who are people that dress-up to look like statues. And they really do 
look like statues. If you didn't know that it was a real person, you would assume that they were 
statues. When you throw them coins, they move. Sometimes it's really creepy when they only 
move their head from side to side, watching everyone pass by. 

The street sign.

It's a real person. Trust me.

Alongside La Rambla is a Wax Museum. Jordan and I were interested by it, so we checked it 
out. In the first room there are two wax sculptures, one of Darth Vader and another one of a man. Both of them looked very realistic. Outside on the roof the building there was a wax sculpture of Superman, which I thought was cool. 

The front of the Wax Museum.

One of the wax figures.

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Supermannnnn!

We continued along La Rambla, and all of a sudden a rainbow appeared in the sky. It was one 
of the best I had ever seen. And there was not only one but two of them! The second one was 
very faint. You could barely see it. 

The fainter rainbow is to the left behind the tree.

We decided next to see the renowned Gaudí houses. The sun was setting, so when we arrived, 
one of the houses was lit up with blue and purple lights. It was really pretty. I couldn't believe 
that I was actually seeing the houses in person because they are so famous and one of the best 
examples of architecture around the world. 

Then we went to see another of Gaudí's architectural achievements: La Sagrada Familia, the 
famous cathedral. Its construction still hasn't been finished yet. It began in 1882 and will be 
finished in the first third of the 21st century. When we finally arrived it was fully dark out and bright lights were shining on the front of La Sagrada Familia. It stood out in the darkness spectacularly. Jordan and I walked to the other side of the cathedral, which is the older part. It definitely looks older and has more decorations. 

The newer part of La Sagrada Familia.

The older part.

The next morning, (Tuesday, April 2nd), Jordan and I returned to La Sagrada Familia to see it in daylight. Then we turned onto a street called Gaudí's Avenue and headed towards Parque 
Güell. It took us a good half an hour to reach it because we weren't exactly sure where it was 
and it was uphill so we walked more slowly. The park is famous because of Gaudí. Two of his 
houses are there and a sculpture of a lizard he designed is also there. The park is quite large 
and winds up and down. On the top you get a great view of Barcelona with the Mediterranean 
Sea in the background. There's also a small platform made out of rock with several crosses 
which one can climb and see the whole city. It's very beautiful. 

Gaudí's Avenue.

At the entrance of Parque Güell.

View of Barcelona from up top. You can see La
Sagrada Familia in the middle.

The rock platform which we climbed.

One of Gaudí's houses.

Jordan and I returned to the bottom of the hill and walked to the beach. It was a perfect day for it. There were quite a lot of people already there, sunbathing, surfing, and having fun. We found a little spot to sit down and stayed there for about half an hour. It was very peaceful. I could've 
fallen asleep if I had wanted to. 

After we left the beach we wandered to another part of Barcelona we hadn't seen yet. We visited the Jardins Mossèn Costa i Llobera, which is like a garden and park joined together. A lot of different plants grow there, especially cacti. The garden/park was located on the side of a 
mountain, so we kept climbing because we wanted to see what was on top. What we found was Castell de Montjuic, an old military fort that played an important role in Barcelona's history. We entered the fort and got another really good view of Barcelona. We stayed for the sunset and then headed back down the mountain. 

Jardins Mossèn Costa i Llobera

Castell de Montjuic

View of Barcelona.

The Mediterranean and a canon.

Sunset.

Barcelona at night, all lit up.

We walked towards the Olympic Village. In 1992, Barcelona hosted the summer Olympics. Now the stadium is open free to the public during the day. Since it was nighttime when we saw it, we couldn't enter. But it was really cool to see the huge torch on the side of the stadium. 

The Olympic stadium and the torch is to the right.

Afterwards Jordan and I bought some food in a supermarket for dinner and returned to the 
hostel and ate it. 

The next morning, (Wednesday, April 3rd), we visited a flea market near our hostel. I guess it's 
well-known throughout Barcelona. There were a ton of people setting up their stalls or looking 
around and buying things. 

Jordan had told me that he wanted to do a free walking tour (in English) around Barcelona, so 
we went to the plaza where it would begin. The company that runs the tours is called Walking 
Bean and it's a non-profit organization. People donate money if they want to at the end of the 
tour. Our group toured the old part of Barcelona, also known as the Gothic part because there is a lot of Gothic architecture there. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic. She explained to us the history of Barcelona, how it formed, the rulers, important events, etc., and talked about certain buildings. It was really interesting. 

Afterwards Jordan and I did the Teleférico del Puerto, which in English is the Port Vell Aerial 
Tramway. Even since our first day in Barcelona we had wanted to do it because you ride in a 
small cabin and see the whole city as if you were flying slowly. We had to wait for about an hour 
to get tickets, and ten minutes later it was finally our turn. The ride is not long, also about ten 
minutes, but you get an amazing view of the city. I wish it could've gone on for longer. 

The tower where we got on the ride.

After we got off we visited the Museu Olímpic i de l'Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch which is a 
museum about the Olympics: its history, ceremonies, winners, etc. We walked down a long 
ramp that also functioned as a timeline of the Olympics. It was really cool. 

We passed by the Olympic stadium again and since it was open this time, we took the 
opportunity to look inside. It was gigantic. I don't know how many people it can hold, but I'm sure 
thousands. And for some reason there were several cats laying down on the steps. It was an 
unexpected place for them to be. 

We visited the Museum of Picasso next. We got to see his versions of Las Meninas by  Velázquez. The paintings looked completely different. I could discern the different objects and 
people, but they were painted with different colors and shapes that only resembled the original 
painting. I still like Picasso's renditions though. He was able to incorporate his style and political views in them. Afterwads, we returned to the hostel and ate dinner and went to bed. 

Early the next morning (Thursday, April 4th), Jordan and I visited another famous market on La 
Rambla. It's very big and always packed with people. Jordan bought a smoothie. 

Next we visited the Museu Nacional D'art de Catalunya (Mnac), or the National Art Museum of 
Catalonia. It's situated on a hill and faces La Plaza de España. The building is humongous and 
is very impressive. The first exhibition we saw was one of the history of currency used in Spain. 
There was some huge coins that must have weighed a lot. We also saw some very tiny coins. 
The last display was of credit cards showing the modern way of paying for things. Then we 
moved onto paintings. First we saw the section with Baroque/Renaissance paintings and then 
the one with Romanesque art. In my Art History we had already learned about Romanesque art, 
so I looked for one of the paintings that we had studied. I finally found it. It shows Jesus Christ 
surrounded by the Four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All of the Romanesque 
paintings were authentic. I don't know how they were moved from their original place to the 
museum. It sounds like a difficult process. Next we saw the Gothic paintings. I had also studied 
Gothic art in my class, so it was cool to see some examples in person. 

The front of the museum.

View of Barcelona from the museum.

Coins.

Sant Pau by Diego Velázquez. (Baroque)

Santa Agnes by Massimo Stanzione. (Baroque)

Romanesque piece of art.

The famous Romanesque painting I had studied in
Art History.

Gothic work of art.

After the museum Jordan and I took a bus to see Cosmo Caixa, which is a science museum. 
There were some really neat presentations like one where you pressed a pedal to create a mini 
tornado which you then could touch. Next to it was a small whirlpool and in a different part was a 
life-size model of the rain forest with real plants and animals. The science museum was 
interactive and really interesting.

Early humans.

Human skeletons.

The tornado.

The rain forest.

We only had a few hours left in Barcelona. We were leaving later that evening. We decided to 
visit the aquarium last. It specializes in Mediterranean sea life. I saw a lot of sharks and sting 
rays, some jellyfish, and many different species of fish. 

Sting ray.

Sharks.

Dory from Finding Nemo.

Belly of a sting ray.

Penguins

A different-looking sting ray.

Jellyfish.

Lizard sleeping on a log.

Afterwards Jordan and I returned to the hostel to collect our bags and took the metro to the bus 
station. We arrived back in Zaragoza late that night. 

I enjoyed this trip to Barcelona immensely. The city has so much to offer and is one of my 
favorite places in Spain. I definitely want to return to this great city in the future and learn more 
about it.