from_the_bakpak

ok..so i lied

2007-01-20T20:37:42Z

one final update...really quick.

today we went to park guell.....amazing. the park was so serene and just beautiful. and the weather was great, sunny and 70.

it´s about 9pm right now and jeremy and i are on la rambla for the last time, enjoying the sights and doing some last minute shopping. We are going to be meeting jen and dave around 1130 for some farewell tapas and sangria, and maybe more guiness.

it´s been a really great trip and i´m sad to go home, but ready...i miss my bed and my cats and my guinnea pig.

i promise that this time i will set up a flickr account so everyone can see my pictures. i´ll post the link when i get home.

tomorrow we leave and everything needs to go ontime for us to make all of our connections...i´m a litlle nervous, becuase i need to get home on sunday because i teach on monday. but i´m trying to think positive and think that everything will work, but who knows.

adios!

Final day in BCN

2007-01-20T12:58:03Z

So this week as flown by and we are on our final day in barcelona.

It has been a really fun trip, but we are both ready to come home.

Yesterday we went up the mountain, Montjuic, and went to the Olympic park. Since I was there last they have converted the olympic stadium into a soccer stadium for barcelona's secondary soccer team. This time we walked further into the park and saw all the art and fountains that they build for the games. It was less depressing this time that last, now that they are actually doing something with the buildings. After the mountain we went out for paella at a restaurant that we were obviously underdressed for. they sat us at this crappy little table in the back, but it didn't really matter, the paella was delecious...lots of fresh seafood. after that we took a siesta and then went out with jen and dave. Tapas and beer made for a great night. we ended up closing this really cool irish bar that had great guiness. we finally got home at 4am...it was a really fun night.

the day before, jeremy and i went to the aquarium, which was amazing. they have a 25 meter shark tunnel, which was really cool. You'd walk through the tunnel and there are sharks and stingrays swimming all around you. Having a 6 foot great white shark swim over your head is something to be seen. I was really impressed with the whole place and the variety of animals they had. After we were done there we wandered around the port for awhile and went to the mall. Then we met jen and dave in the old city for some shopping. I bought tights to go with my new skirt that i bought, so i'm happy.

Today we are going to Park Guell, which was designed by Gaudi. then back to the old city for sangria and shopping and finally out again tonight for Dave's birthday.

It's been a great trip, but like I said I'm ready to come home. I miss my hair dryer! but i am not looking forward to going from 70 degree weather to 20 degree weather!

from_the_bakpak @ 2007-01-17T15:16:00

2007-01-17T13:22:32Z

so I´m back at the same cafe as yesterday but this time my computer has a sticky space bar....annoying.

so since yesterday the weather has cleared up and we finally have sun! today i´t´s in the high 50´s and beautiful. but it´s really funny because everyone here is dressed like it is winter in wisconsin right now...heavy coats, scarves and boots! they have no idea what cold really is!

last night jen and dave took us out for some really amazing curry....very spicy, just the way i love it.

today jeremy and i went to Sagradia Famila, a large and unfinished church that was designed by Gaudi. They have been working on building the church for over 100 years and they predict they will finally be done in 2025. needless to say it is a very impressive building. right now it has 12 spires, representing the 12 desiples, but once it is finished it will have 18 total! i´ll post pictures when i get home.

ok, i´m just about out internet time, so that´s all for now.

Bak in the Pak

2007-01-16T12:56:27Z

Hello All!
Once again I find myself sitting in an internet cafe back in Barcelona. I decided that it was time to come back and visit my friends, because who knows how much longer they are going to be here for. And this time I brought a freind, Jeremy.

Ok, I´ll start from the beginning. We left from Milwaukee on Saturday and flew to New York where we spent the night. While we were there we just wandered around the city, got pizza at our favorite pizza place and got gyros at our favorite gyro stand (which involved walking 20 blocks uptown in the rain...but it was SO worth it).

On Sunday we decided to act like millionares and we hired a car to take us to the airport....so we rode in style, a Lincoln Town Car. I could really get used to that type of living. Once we got to the airport I decided that I was going to keep living like I had money and I got a pedicure at this really nice day spa they had right in our terminal. my toes are so cute now!

We flew Air France, which was decent. the flight was about 6.5 hours, which was long enough. I actually managed to sleep on the flight, which is something I don´t usually do. Once we landed in Paris at 6am we had to connect on another Air France flight to Barcelona. Our connection consisted of us sprinting through the airport (which is HUGE) after having to go through customs and security(again). But we made our flight and were in Barcelona by 9am. Our friends, Jen and Dave, met us in the city and took us to our hostel, which is very nice. We have a private room that has a shower and a sink, which never happens. So I´m very pleased.

Yesterday the jetlag got the better of both of us and we ended up sleeping for 6 hours during the day....ooops! that night we went out with Jen and Dave and got middle eastern food and then went back to their place where dave made us desert crepes....delecious!

Today we had breakfast with Jen and then Jeremy and I headed into the Old City to look at old churches and architecture...all of which is beautiful.

So I think that´s everything so far.

More to come tomorrow!

funny story

2006-06-13T19:56:03Z

i forgot to mention this in my last entry.

apparently i am a big hit in paris. today i had a guy ask me to marry him.

it was actually pretty funny. I went into Starbucks (yes, i went to starbucks. at first i just went in to steal napkins but then a chai tea sounded really good and i knew i could get it there. what i didn't know what that a small would be $4. stupid paris starbucks) and the guy behind the counter started talking to me in french, so i did my confused shrug/head shake and said that i don't speak french. so he started talking in perfect english asking me how i was enjoying paris and how long i was staying. I ordered my drink before he took my money he looked at me and said "i have to ask...will you be my wife?" i was so suprised that i just started laughing and he said "i take it that's a no?" i made sure to let him down gently...but it's nice to know that i have options overseas! i know he was in no way serious..but i've never had a guy use that as a pick up line before.

also...i went back to my hotel and packed...my bag is smaller than when i got here! i rock.

so...um...paris..yeah

2006-06-13T18:17:12Z

i did finally make it to my hotel last night. and what a lovely neighborhood it was in, let me tell you. many of the neighborhood's youth were enjoying the weather on the street corner and the made sure to let the entire neighborhood know how the felt about it. and my room...oh what a room. the foot of space betweent the bed and the door/wall made the place really cozy. and by the looks of the carpet i just knew that that room had had a lot of visitors. and the shower! wow...what a unique little shower, i stress little, but it was clean, well execpt for the mold on the ceiling, but who looks up anyway? but hey, i did have a TV...it didn't turn on of course, but just it's presence gave me some company. and lucky for me there was a restaurant just across the street, mcdonalds. mmmm...french mcdonalds, what a unique and semi-tasty treat. moral of the story..the hotel was crap. pure crap. luckily i was only there one night. i hightailed it outta there at 9 this morning and am now at a much better hotel, much better neighborhood. if any of you have seen the movie Moulin Rouge, i am about 4 blocks from it (the moulin rouge..not the movie). so i have been listening to the soundtrack from the movie over and over again.

i did my whirl-wind paris tour today. paris and i don't really get along. first, it was 90 and humid today! not the best for sight seeing. also, the subway cars aren't air conditioned...that makes for really miserable travel. but i saw everything i wanted, notre dame...let down. the louve...closed. Champs Elysées...i counted 33 stores that we have in milwaukee and chicago. Arc de triumph...saw a girl get taken away in an ambulance because she had an asthma attack on the stairs. Eiffel Tower...was there for 5 minutes. The highlight of my day was when i got lost and found this amazing cheese shop. The woman spoke no english, but through creative charades and her "moo"-ing at me once (she was trying to tell me the cheese was a cow's milk cheese) i got this amazing soft cheese. i have no idea what it was, but i will search the world over to have it again. right next door to the cheese place i found a bread store, got a baguette and then made my way to the louve. while i was wandering around there i found this passage way that cut between the two sculpture rooms of the museum. the rooms were windowed off but i was able to sit and eat lunch and look at priceless art.

the second highlight of the day was my nap in the park...until a branch fell on me from the tree and scared me to death.

third highlight...this internet cafe. because they have american keyboards...i can type fast again!

i leave tomorrow morning at 825am...and i am so ready to come home. this trip has been really fun, i've seen some amazing things, but it's time to go home. i miss my cats and my apartment and my iguana and my parents and my guinnea pig and my boyfriend and my hamster and my bed (not necessarily in that order).

these last couple of days have just been hard. i'm tired and worn out and poor. i think that if i had had someone with me here in paris, i'd be feeling better. just to have someone to vent to. but i'm glad i came and saw everything; more importantly i'll know what to expect next time...and there will be a next time. just not for a little while.

so i think that's all i've got for right now. i'll post when i get home with a link to a photo journal...that way if anyone wants to see pics they can.

not happy

2006-06-12T10:26:24Z

so i'm in france right now...in some little town called Perpignan...and i'm crabby. the train i wanted to catch to paris is full and now i have to wait 3 hours for the next one. i wandered around for 15 minutes trying to find an ATM...found one and then found this internet cafe. i'm hqving serious issues with this keyboard, nothing is where i can find it and for some reason i can't lot on to my email.

i should be in paris by 8...at my hotel by 9, and depending on how the rest of my day goes i may just go to bed. grrr...i'm so crabby right now.

unlimited internet time..woohoo!

2006-06-11T18:56:16Z

today is my last day in barcelona...very sad.

yesterday and today have been really amazing days. yesterday i went around the city by myself did some shopping and eating. it was a beautiful sunny day and everything was really just perfect. i wandered around la rambla for awhile. and while it is a huge tourist area i love it. there are all these amazing street performers, combined with flower shops, pet shops and just great people watching, it makes for a really good time. i spent a lot of time at the art fair and the area around it, just wandering around the little streets. i also went to the big park in barcelona and saw the waterfall there. after that i met up with jen and dave and we went out for dinner at a place called Organic, completely vegitarian, organic food. i had some delecious fetuccini with spinach and veggies. and some awesome sangria...that´s what i´m going to miss most about barcelona...the sangria, well maybe not the most, but it´s a great thing. after dinner we went to la rambla (again) and got some more sangria at a cafe and sat and just talked and people watched for about two hours. at about that time the world cup match was over and all the argentinians (sp?) came out to celebrate the victory. football fans are so fun. so we watched them party in the streets for awhile and then went for late night tapas and yet more sangria.

today dave and i went up one of the small mountains surrounding barcelona...montjuic (pronounced mon-wee). it was the main site for the 92 olympic games. we saw the old stadium, which was really small. and actually, it was kind of depressing. it´s really fallen into disuse and it just looks dirty and like it´s starting to fall apart. we also saw the high dive pool, which had the same effect as the staium. then we hiked up the rest of the mountain (oy...what a walk...and in flip-flops) to the castle, which was also a bit underwhelming. but it gave us some great views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea. it was kindof neat because there was a cruise ship docked at the time and we could see all the pools and running track onboard, almost a bird´s eye view (side-note: next vacation is totally going to be a cruise).

the hike down the mountain was much more flip-flop friendly and then we met jen for paella, which was fantastic and full of fresh seafood. then it was off to the beach....the wonderful, topless if you feel like it, beach. i did not go topless...but many others did. i had a breif moment of feeling like i was 14 again and giggling about it. then i jumped in the sea and forgot all about it. i can now say that i have swam in the mediterranean. it was great. the water was a little cold, but there were great waves and it was a lot of fun. but after all the hiking and beach, i am now sunburned...hopefully not too badly.

tonight is my going away dinner...indian food, followed, of course, by sangria.

tomorrow i head off to paris, my train leaves at 845, and since it is the high speed train, i will be in paris by 5...not a bad trip. i´m hoping to hit the eifel tower at night, and then the rest of the sights the next day. i´ve heard that paris is overrun by internet cafes so i should be able to update both days i´m there.

tomorrow i´ll have been in europe for 2 weeks...you miss me yet?

later

8 minutes before my internet time runs out!!!!!

2006-06-10T14:29:49Z

barcelona rocks my world. i love it here.

i have spent the last two days wandering the city by myself and it has been amazing! i came here not expecting much and being completly floored. when i get home i´ll be sure to post pics because this city is somethign to be seen.

i found a great little art market today right next to a 2nd century church. how cool is that?

times up...more later

what i wouldn´t do for a bed and some tea...

2006-06-08T19:52:58Z

right now i´m at an internet cafe on la rambla (the busiest street in barcelona) listening to some punk germany boys flirt with some 15 year old german girls...it would be really amusing if i wasn´t so sick right now.

the late nights and long days have finally brought me down. i am so sick right now. my throat is raw from coughing and i have this lovely sinus headache thing going. on the upside we found an all you can eat sushi place for dinner, and it very well could be the best idea ever.

Today was pretty laid back, we walked la rambla, got sangria, shopped and had dinner. since i´m currently miserable i didn´t feel like doing much. i´ve decided thought that i am going to stay an extra day in barcelona, so i´m leaving monday for paris and spending monday night and tuesday there and coming home on wednesday. i´m going to have to skip versailles, but i´m having too much fun here, and i don´t feel like two more days is enough to see everything i want to see. plus the hostels in paris are outrageously expensive and booked up right now, so i am frantically trying to find a room and if i can´t i may have to skip paris all together.

the weather here is still beautiful...i don´t think that ever changes and i love the fact that it is light out until 930pm.

heather...you were totally right about the lisp thing they do here, it´s so amususing, but at the same time it makes it even harder to understand them because they do it even when the speak english.

so that´s all i´ve got right now. i´m going to try and book a hostel and then go home to bed.

think healthy thoughts for me!

hola!

2006-06-07T18:20:44Z

so i made it safely to barcelona. it took 27 hours but i made it. the train ride was tedious. but the french countryside was beautiful...that is the only way to describe it. it's rolling hills that are dotted with villages of 50 houses. all red roofs. they all look so quaint. the night train was....interesting. it was comfortable enough, but it was like trying to sleep in a moving car...you only half sleep; everytime the train stopped i woke up.

i am staying with jen and dave in barcelona. they found a place yesterday and it has an extra bed! their place is in the loft of an old warehouse that is now used by and artist. its...interesting. there are no windows to the outside, only ones that overlook the loft and they have two lights right now, so it's very dark. i think that come july it is going to be roasting in there. but it's a free bed and i'm not complaining. and they love it so i'm really happy for them.

barcelona itself is beautiful. the weather was sunny and in the 70's today. we walked around the main part of town and then went to the beach...i love it! tomorrow is more sight seeing and more beach. i was sad to leave germany, but i think being here will make up for it.

i don't know how much access to a phone i'm going to have so mom and dad, i might not be able to call you until i get to paris.

the only thing that is slightly annoying about barcelona is that the kids in the neighborhood light off fireworks in the middle of the day...i'm not really sure why, they just do.

other than that i'm having a really great time, but i can tell that by next wednesday i'll be ready to come home.

adios

sad...

2006-06-05T22:12:54Z

it appears that my time in germany is coming to a close. tomorrow i leave for barcelona at 830am. my entire time in germany has been wonderful. i love being back here and adam and i are already planning our trip back here next summer.
today was another lazy day...we went to lunch with adam's friend, angela. we went to this amazing indian restaurant and i had the best chicken curry of my life...i want to come back her just for the food.
after lunch we went to the train station to reserve my seat on the EuroNight train tomorrow (it's the hotel train that travels overnight from paris to barcelona) and a got a very unpleasant suprize...i knew that i was going to have to pay a supplement to go on the train because the whole cost wasn't covered by my Eurail pass, turns out the supplement was $75! i might as well have stayed in a hotel in paris for the night and taken a train during the day. oh well, i'm getting there in one piece and with a bed so i shouldn't complain too much.

after shelling out money at the train station adam and i went swimming at the community pool which was lots of fun. the pool is great. they have a huge outdoor pool that is heated to the temperature of a hot tub, so even though it was 60 outside it was perfect for swimming.

my backpack has already grown in my week here so i'm not really sure how i'm going to get it to pass for a carry on during the flight home. but i have another week to worry about that.

so that's about all i've got for you, my loyal readers. i won't have internet until i get to the hostel in barcelona on wednesday, so until that time i say

aufwiedersehen

oy

2006-06-04T21:05:10Z

what a day.

today we went to kelheim and saw a greek tower..built by the same guy who built the greek temple we saw the other day. It was absolutely beautiful. this tower was to commerate the battles the german states fought against napoleon. the hike up there was about half a mile straight up hill but it was worth it for the views of the danube valley. after that we walked 5km through the forest to a cloister called weltenburg. they brew their own beer there that is excellent, and they also have a church...but it's nowhere near as important as the beer..haha. on the walk through the woods we saw the remains of a wall built by the celts in 200b.c. (or was it 1200 b.c.? either way it was old). there was also a roman wall further along on the walk that was a little younger..and by younger i mean 200 a.d.

after we went to the cloister we took a private boat down the danube back to the car. the river valley was absolutely beautiful, the pictures i took don't even begin to capture the beauty of this area. By far bavaria is the most beautiful part of germany.

adam and i made dinner again tonight...i keep impressing myself with my culinary abilities. tonight was tortilini with a garlic-butter sauce...made by me.

the late hours and long days are starting to catch up with me though, i have a sore throat and a headache tonight. asprin and a bath should take care of that though.

i heard from my friends in barcelona and it looks like they will have a bed for me which is impressive considering they just moved over there 4 days ago and didn't know where they where going to live when they arrived. i wish i could be as adventerous as them...but i just can't. i need some sort of game plan.

tomorrow is a national holiday...pentocost monday...so everything will be closed sadly. but adam and i are going to go swimming and out to lunch with another friend of his. and then lots of lounging and ice cream...i have been craving ice cream.

interesting fact...no one over here uses ice...and it bugs me...i want cold soda!!!!! just kidding, it doesn't bother me that much, it just seems strange to me...me the arrogant american. haha.

adios!

let's try this again

2006-06-03T21:41:36Z

livejournal just ate everything i typed so i'm starting over.

I'm still alive and still having an amazing time. i can't belive i still have another 11 days here..this really is a dream.

the club was great the other night...why can't american clubs play good music like they do here?

yesterday adam and i went to munich for the day. it was a lot of wandering around, going into random churches and adam buying a $700 bag from burberry...i nearly fell over when i saw him sign the credit card receipt. and i thought paying $20 for a world cup shirt was too much. We met up with Matthais later on in the evening and went over to their friend's house for dinner. They made some amazing italian food and we sat around and listened to music and drank wine all night. this european lifestyle is really addicting. On the way home that evening we drove past the new stadium for the world cup...absolutely amazing. you can see the lights from it 3 miles away on the autobahn.

today we slept in...again. and then wandered around regensburg for awhile, got some sushi, wandered, shopped, ate, and then took a tour of the city. we also went to these ruins that are under the main square of the city. they are the remains of a jewish temple and grotto from the 16th century.

tomorrow we are visiting a monestary in the mountains that has the best veiw...or so i was told. and of course there will be more eating.

hope everyone is safe and happy and enjoying summer. the weather is finally cooperating here, it has been sunny and 65 the last 2 days....i hope it lasts!

Cheers!

europe...day 3 or is it 4??

2006-06-01T21:12:12Z

another day in europe...this truely is the life. I slept in today (much needed) and then adam and i went to this great bakery called Opera and got tarts and kuchen for breakfast. we've decided that we are going to rob the place of their recipies and open one up in wisconsin. after a very long breakfast we did some shopping and then went to the near-by town of Donerfstau to see these 1000 year old castle ruins...very cool, they overlooked the danube valley. After that we went to a greek temple that the germans built in the 1800's...yes i said greek temple. the inside is filled with marble busts of famous germans...very interesting.
tomorrow we are going to munich for shopping and sight-seeing and some dancing that night. i can't even begin to describe how much i love being back here. i'm looking forward to my train ride to barcelona because i will get to see some more of bavaria and the rhine valley.
tonight we are going out to a club in town and then late night eating.
adam and i have decided that we are just going to eat our way through europe...so far we are succeeding. matthias is a bing fan of stinky cheeses...so he and i have spent the past few nights eating tons and tons of it on bread. I was told that the best place to get really stinky cheese is at the market at versallies, so i'll be sure to pick some up.
i should really get going...the club is calling to me!
guten abend!

finally here

2006-05-31T22:11:23Z

hello all...
i made it safely to germany! it took 24 hours of traveling but i am here. our flight leaving o'hare was delayed 5 hours..yes 5! first there was weather and then all the taxiing around the airport caused some sort of mechanical problem so we had another 2 hours of waiting while they fixed a valve. We finally got to germany to find out that our train was delayed an hour and a half. so finallz we got to the house at 10pm...3pm your time. the house i am staying in is beautiful. it is a three story, row house. the entire top floor is a terrace and library. i have my own room with quite possibly the most comfortable bed i have ever slept in.
today adam and i walked around Regensburg (the town i am staying in) for a few hours, did some shopping, saw the royal palace and the Kempfer museum. and then came back to the house and watched german TV..always amusing. Once Matthias got home we went grocery shoppin and adam and i cooked dinner...a traditional bavarian dish that i cant remember the name of...but it was potato dumplings and sauerkraut and it was fabulous.
I am having an amazing time so far. i had forgotten how much i love germany. suprizingly my german is coming back to me really quickly, so i don't feel like such the tourist.
Tomorrow we are going to a near-by town where adam lived last year and to some castle ruins and then swimming.
the weather has been ok...today it was about 55 with sprinkles. Next time i take a european vacation i am going to chose countries that have similar climates because unfortunately i packed for the mediterranian climate of barcelona...not the mountainous climate of bavaria...what was i thinking? luckily they have lots of sweaters i can borrow.
So all in all i'd say i'm having a great time so far. I still don' have a hotel in Paris yet...but i'm not worried.

tchuss!

2 days!

2006-05-28T05:00:41Z

i'm so not ready yet.

I'm almost done packing...almost. I finally just booked my hostel in barcelona. my apartment is almost clean, my car is clean. i still need to shop for food for all the animals...and did i mention that i leave in 2 days???

I haven't booked my paris hostel yet because i'm not really sure when i'm going to be getting there. i figure i'll just do it in barcelona.

i think i'm finally getting excited about going. now that a lot of the things that i needed to get done are done. but i still haven't quite comprehended that i'm going to be gone for 17 days.