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Towards the end of my semester in Barcelona, I spent a great deal of time trying to fit in as many must-see sites as possible, but I definitely did not have enough time to do everything I wanted to do. It seemed that all those days of sleeping-in had finally caught up to me. I remember that R and I went to the Christmas market (Santa Llucia), which had tons of different caganers and caga tíos. The stalls had both traditional caganers and ones of celebrities, which were especially amusing.
Later that day, we also went to see the Montjuic fountain show, which was unfortunately under construction when I tried to go with K. It was rather impressive, though I must note that if one wants to sit on the steps at night in the winter, one should probably opt for pants instead of tights (even in Barcelona). If you wish to see a picture of this show, I would suggest either going there in person or using Google, because at that point, I (more or less) decided that it would be a better idea to enjoy the show than to waste time snapping pictures. Besides, I'm sure that I could not have captured the full majesty of the fountain anyway.
On another occasion, A and I went to Fundació Joan Miró, which I really enjoyed. All of his works seem to have the same elements: stars, women, men, ladders, birds... As time went on, we became progressively more skilled at identifying each of these elements (they're fairly abstract). Anyway I recommend this as well.
Later, A, her host mom, L, and I (finally!) went inside Sagrada Familia. I've seen the outside of it countless times, and in my opinion, the outside is nothing compared to the inside. It was absolutely gorgeous, and A was able to tell us several interesting facts about the church, due to the fact that she opted to use the audio guide the last time she went.
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| It's as if you're in a forest! |
So my departure from Barcelona was actually more bitter than sweet, given the fact that I decided not to go directly home like my fellow students. Therefore, I did not return home for the holidays; instead, I proceeded to travel to Sevilla (where I spent Christmas), Cordoba, and Madrid (for New Year's), all of which were lovely in their own way. I wish I could say that it was significantly warmer further south, but this was not the case. Despite this, the extended time in Spain was definitely worth it, but I'm not going to go into that right now, since it is fairly late and I have my first classes tomorrow.
I spent about two and a half weeks in New York (not nearly enough time, if you ask me) before flying across the pond (yes, I'm going to start trying to use English terminology as much as humanly possible). Being on the group flight was great because I was able to meet D on the plane, and I didn't know anyone in the program before. In fact, they wouldn't even tell us who our roommates were before we arrived! We had to wait and be surprised.
Anyway, the plane arrived in London on Wednesday, and I proceeded to my flat, which I am sharing with four other women in my program. We have a kitchen, two (abnormally small?) bathrooms, and two refrigerators. There isn't much else to say...My flatmates have been great so far. I got a great little cell phone with the Orange network, and hopefully this time, the back won't fall off. I still do not know how to cook, so if you would like to send me any (simple!) tips, they would be much appreciated.
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| Fun fact: the beds are on wheels. It is quite inconveniencing when one wishes to get on or off their bed. One of these days, I will simply fall on my bum (okay, now I feel slightly ridiculous). |
Here's to the end of an era. And the start of a new one. (Also, is it weird that as I wrote this post, I was narrating in my head with a British accent?)
