From Starkville Mississippi to Cergy France

     This is the last place before I go back to Paris for the rest of the semester. LONDON!!! This is the land of fish and chips. Where people say, “Cheers!” while passing by. London was great, but really expensive. Thankfully all the museums are free. And I really don’t like the British Pound. I believe that at the time I was there it was around $1.80 to £1. That was my least favorite thing. Especially when the train system cost about 10 pounds… But everything else was cool. Anyway here are the photos.

(Our hostel in London. I got the top bunk!)

(View from our window.)

(Palace of Westminster and Big Ben)

(The London Eye)

     So that was the end of the first night. We were tired and only wanted to take a quick look of London before it was time to get back to the hostel. Even though we had got into town in the afternoon we were exhausted from traveling so much.

The 2nd day in Dublin was our last. We had already seen most of the stuff we wanted to at this point. So another day a aimless walking just to see what we could find.

(Leprechaun Museum?? Who all seen the leprechaun say yea! YEA!!!!)

(St. Patrick’s Cathedral)

(Walking through a park)

(Looking down O’Connell Street)

(Me and Joe at Flannery’s Pub. The bartender was nice enough to let us take a pic behind the counter.)

(Nightlife in Dublin)

(This reminds a little of Amsterdam)

We had an early flight the next morning and we didn’t want to miss it. So we spent the night in the airport. I did not sleep at all. However, Joe found a place to sleep in the airport as you can see in the picture above. He looks like a ninja… Anyway, Dublin was great! Up next is London!

After Rome we were on our way to the next destination, Dublin. We only had about 2 days there, but we definitely made the best of it. As always the day started off as random wandering around the city. However, we did have some major places in mind that we wanted to visit.

(The River Liffey)

(There I am putting out the vibe…or at least trying to. I was dead tired after a late flight from Rome and then having to wake up early to go around Dublin. But this is the life!)

After wandering for a bit we decided to go to Dublin Castle.

(There it is. Dublin Castle. I though it was gonna be much more grand than this. It was more like a big church, but it was still really cool to see.)

(Joe reading the sign above the door.)

(There you go, some Gaelic)

After Dublin Castle it was back to wandering around Dublin.

(Joe walkin’ them streets)

So after a little walking we found this small art gallery. We had a look and it was pretty interesting I’ll have to say. It was very trippy art.

(Name of painting: What’s it all about?)

(I’d have to say this one was my favorite. It was painted on an old rusted metal gas tank. The name of the painting is: I got all the fuel I need)

(Name of painting: The face behind the skin)

I really liked the art in this place. It was… different. It’s a nice change from all the art I see in the museums.

(Christ Church Cathedral)

Above is Christ Church Cathedral. We wanted to check it out, but it cost money to go in. So we just passed on this one. We were trying to conserve as much money as possible at this point and we still had to go to the Guinness Storehouse. Yes… the beer… the beer is a MUST!

(St. Audoen’s Church)

Up next is what we’ve been waiting for… The Guinness Storehouse!

(Just around the corner!)

(We’re there!)

(Barley)

(Hops)

(The Magical Irish waterfall that is just for show… it represents the awesomeness of the water that they select for their beer.)

(There’s my free Guinness!)

After walking around the storehouse you eventually make it to the top where you get your free Guinness and you can see all of Dublin from above!

So after seeing the Guinness Storehouse we made our way back to the hostel. We were done for the day. It was a great day indeed. And now to finish this post, a random photo of something I saw while walking around Dublin. Dig it!

THE END… of Day 1 in Dublin.

Now it’s the 4th and final full day in Rome. I had already seen quite a lot, but there was still some stuff to see. I went alone for the entire day. The reason being that I had already seen The Coliseum, The Roman Forum, etc… and the rest of the group had not seen those. However, we agreed to meet at the Trevi Fountain at a specific time. My phone didn’t work there so we had to have an old fashion rendez-vous.

(Trevi Fountain)

This is where I was supposed to meet back with the group. Unfortunately they didn’t show and as a good rule of thumb I only waited 15 minutes. But no biggie. I had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted! :D

After the failed rendez-vous I just walked around a bit more and decided to get back to the hostel. When I was back where the hostel was I decided to get some Chinese food and call it a day. But as soon as I entered the front door of the hostel the rest of the group was right there getting ready for the night. They told me they were all going out clubbing and invited me. It was some kind of deal where you can pay 10 Euros and go to two clubs. I was really tired at this point but I thought, “Why not?” So I immediately scarfed down my food and changed clothes. I was ready for the night. Now it was back to the center of Rome on another 40 minute train ride. However, the clubs ended up being really lame. It was a tourist trap!!! Horrible music, really expensive drinks, tons of other tourist who heard about the same deal, and just lame atmosphere. Never again! Word to the wise, if anyone offers you a deal on going to clubs, don’t go. It will be a horrible venture. On the plus side though, I met some girls from the Tennessee and Alabama. I felt like I was at home for a moment when I heard their accents. I talked with one of them and it turns out we were from the same town. And we were born in the same hospital only 9 days apart! Pretty crazy. Well, that was the last night in Rome. Up next…Dublin!

    It’s day 3 in Rome now and there’s still much to see. Started the day off with the usual hostel breakfast of a bread roll, slice of ham, slice of cheese, and coffee. It seems that every hostel I go to they at least have that for breakfast. It’s universal. After breakfast Joe, the other Americans, the German, and I all went into town. Our first stop was The Vatican.

(There it is. The Vatican)

(While waiting to enter, we noticed another Space Invader mosaic. This guy has been everywhere!)

(Some ceiling artwork.)

(Look up!)

(Look down!)

After walking through all that we had to see the Cappella Sistina.

(Be quiet, Don’t fall, and most of all… NO PHOTO!)

(So… the security guards were constantly saying, “No photo!” and “Shh!” That got really annoying… My group and I eventually decided to shush them back. And take a few photos. Unfortunately they all came out blurry.)

(There’s Thomas, the German I told you about earlier.)

That was it for The Vatican. Next up was lunch. Pizza. And it was delicious as always. After that we all decided to go to the Pantheon.

After the Pantheon we all decided to call it a day. Just went back to hostel and chilled with some other people. We ended up meeting some cool German girls and talked into the wee hours of the morning. Lots-o-fun!

     It’s now the 2nd day of my travels and it’s time to see some major stuff. Thankfully one of my roommates, Ashwin, told me all about the public transportation in Rome which made my stay so much easier. Also, something great happened. I had no idea, but while I was in Rome it was Cultural Week. What does that mean? Everything is free. The Coliseum, Roman Forum, museums etc… It was great! I had no idea before I got there. What a great way to start!

(The Coliseum)

(Looking out from the Coliseum towards The Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum.)

     I spent about 3 hours at The Coliseum. It was amazing! It’s so weird to be walking through a build so old and to know what happened there. Incredible. After that I decided to have some lunch I brought with me. While sitting down eating my lunch a kid walks up and says, “ciao gatto!” There was a cat behind me trying to drink the water from my bottle. Then he started clawing at my bread! What a little scavenger. Oh well.

(Ciao gatto)

After the Colosseum I met up with Ashwin and went to the Roman Forum. On the way there I of course had to take a picture of the Arch of Constantine seen below. I’d have to say the Roman Forum was one of my favorite things I visited in Rome. It was so cool just being there and thinking of how long ago the arches, pillars, buildings etc were made. There’s just so much detail in every square inch of everything here! Truly astounding!

(This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and it was epic. Not so much as a tomb, but there was an awesome art museum inside that I walked through. For free of course because it was Cultural Week!)

(Just some art I liked.)

(Finally…Pizza! Really the only thing I ate while I was there. It was so good and fresh! Also it wasn’t too expensive. Ranging from 3 to 4 Euros and sometimes with a drink at that price. I didn’t try spaghetti, tiramisu or much else. Just pizza and gelato for me! And maybe some chinese food when I got back to my hostel, but hey! It was the cheapest thing around late at night after a long day of walking the streets of Rome.

(There it is. Gelato…)

     That was my 2nd day in Rome. Never a boring moment and always something interesting to see everywhere you look. I don’t think it’s possible to go to Rome and not have a good time. After all that walking I made my way back to my hostel to chill and meet up with Joe. He had a hostel the 1st night on the other side of town so we were separated for a day. Once got back to the hostel and saw Joe, I met some other Americans and a guy from Germany. We all started hanging out and kind of became a crew for the next few days.

-C’est tout!

adventureandodyssey asked: what hostel did you stay at in barcelona?

I stayed at Urbany Hostel.  Here’s the link:  http://www.barcelonaurbany.com/

     So begins another adventure around Europe. It started at 4am April 13, 2011. I had an early flight and I had to get into Paris only to have to take a bus 1 hour out of the city to Beauvais Airport. From there I flew to the great city of Rome! Now my second favorite city; Paris is my first favorite city. The hostel there, Litus Roma Hostel, is by far the best hostel I’ve been to. Friendly staff, great amenities, nice set up with a bar and piano, and literally across the street from the beach on the Mediterranean Sea. Parfait!

(My room in the hostel. I had some cool roommates for a few days!)

(The Mediterranean!)

(Decided to walk along the beach until I found some food. BAM! Only 1 Euro for this delicious spinach and mozzarella sandwich.)

     Ha… yea that was the end of my first day. I got into town and had to get to my hostel which was 40 minutes outside of the city center. After waking up at 4am I was way too tired to journey into the city. Thankfully I had several days there. For the rest of this 1st day I just walked the beach, took a nap, and met some people in my hostel. A couple Canadians, A guy from America and a New Zealander.

-C’est tout

This past Thursday I decided to take a walk through the local park here in Cergy. The weather was so nice how could I resist?

(Green hills of grass everywhere. It’s nice break after being surrounded by concrete all the time)

(Translation: Keep dogs on leash.)

(The lake. They have small sail boats you can rent for the day. I may have to come back and do that one day.)

(Epic Red Bridge with Epic Staircase and Epic Pillars at the top. It’s an Epic of Epic Epicness.)

(While walking up the stairs I found a bag of flour and eggs smashed around it. Also, silly string had been placed atop the whole mess. I think this was a cake FAIL. Or maybe a prank gone wrong??)

(Finally made it to the top. Here you can see most of the park. If it was a clear enough day you could see the Eiffel Tower straight out from here. Peut etre prochaine fois…)

     So that’s it. Beautiful warm day. Nice stroll through the park. I like it. I think I’ll make this a weekly thing.

miss you!!

     I’ve been in France now for about 2 months. I really hadn’t tried fine French cuisine much. Not because I avoided it or didn’t want to try it. It’s just, I couldn’t find it. I live in a university town so there’s a lot of cheap good food. But nothing fancy like most people think of when they hear about French food. So, I went into Paris to meet my friends for dinner! And it was sooo good!

(Fine red wine)

(Escargot. I’ve had escargot before, when I was in the states. But it’s nowhere near as good as this!)

(French Onion Soup!)

(Cuisse de canard confite et pommes sarladaises = Duck leg confite with fried potatoes slices)

(J’ai faim!)

(Finally, dessert! And one of my favorites too! Crème Brûlée!!! It had a Bourbon vanilla sauce. SOOOOO!!! GOOD!)

(Emily drinkin some wine)

(Kody through the wine)

(Me drinkin the wine)

     So, dinner was duh-licious! I think I understand why people here take their time while eating. Who in their right mind would want this meal to end? It had so much flavor in every bite. I couldn’t believe it! Everything was amazing. I wish I could afford to eat like this every night. But for now I’ll stick to things that are “pas cher” (cheap). Stuff like rice and spaghetti. Maybe some Nutella every now and then.

Last night was AWESOME!!! I finally got to do what I’ve always wanted to do since I got here. A few friends and I went to a Parisian night club to see one of my favorite artist, The Phantom’s Revenge. We went to Nouveau Casino which seems to be a pretty nice venue. It wasn’t too big, but it had a nice bar and an upper floor to chill and talk with people. I’ll definitely be going back for more.

(Me and Emily as we get ready for the night)

(I agree. This is “The Place to be”)

(Me outside Nouveau Casino)

(Moi et les femmes)

(Finally made it in. Now time for a drink)

(One of the DJ’s that night: Darius)

(This guy was hilarious! He was taking photos for the club’s website and got a few photos of us.)

(The Phantom’s Revenge)

(It’s about 5am and it was time to go, but the train back home doesn’t start till 6am…)

So that was our night. Lots of dancing and awesome music! I also met a few people at the club who were really cool. A few of them even invited me to stay with them anytime I wanted! I got some names and numbers. I’m so excited that I finally have a contact in Paris. Anyway, it was a lot of fun! Can’t wait till we do this again.

     So I had just gotten back from vacation and a day later my dad came to Paris for a visit! It was his first time back in Paris since 30 years ago. So I had to give him a tour of the city. I decided to take him to the Louvre, Champs Elysees, L’Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, and Montmartre.

(Me and my dad at The Louvre)

(After hanging at the Louvre for a few hours we decided to walk up Champs Elysee and eat some lunch!)

(So we’re in France doing all the tourist things. Saw the Louvre, walked up Champs Elysees and now we stop to eat. French food? No. Ha ha ha! Instead we ate some Italian. But it was GOOOOD!!!)

(After lunch we went shopping to find my mom a souvenir. We found some really nice French scarfs. Then we finished walking all the way down Champs Elysees to L’Arc de Triumph.)

(Dad at Trocadéro with the Eiffel Tower.)    

     After walking through Trocadéro we went up to my favorite part of Paris. Montmartre. There, we saw some street performers and listened to some jazz on the streets. Eventually we decided to get some dinner. This time it was real French Cuisine! After that it was time for him to go and I had school the next day. So I had to get back to Cergy. It was a great to see my dad. Even if for only a day. It made me realize how much I miss my friends and family back home. Hopefully he’ll be able to make it out here again before I leave France! Also, in April my cousins will be out here for a visit before they make their way to Germany! I can’t wait to see them!

It’s now our 2nd and last whole day in Barcelona. The next morning we had to leave ASAP for an early flight back to Paris. So we have to make this day worth it. It started out with a general plan. Mike and Cody were gonna go to Sagrada Famillia and take a tour. Joe and I were supposed to meet them at a park around 2pm. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, Joe and I get to the park. Which happens to be really big. We never designated where in the park to meet. So after waiting there for 30 mins Joe and I decided to continue the day without Mike and Cody. It was still a great day for everyone tho! We heard about each others adventures.

(Breakfast! On our way to the park, Joe and I decided to stop for some food. While in the restaurant an abuelita comes up to us and starts pointing at the menu saying, “Muy bueno! Muy bueno!” So, I was like, “Okay! I’ll have what the abuelita suggests.” It was raw ham with cheese and a tomato paste of some sort. It was pretty good! definitely muy bueno! Gracias abuelita!)

(Walking through many alleys and streets Joe uses his NYC navigation capabilities to get us to the park.)

(After we got to the park and waited for 30 mins we got to the other side of it and saw Port Barcelona. We decided to head for the beach afterward.)

(The Mediterranean… It was amazing! Warm weather, the sea, good food, beautiful city, nice people. And in February. One of the most depressing months weather wise in my opinion. I decided to dip my feet in the water for a bit. Although it was t-shirt weather, the water was still freezing cold.)

(After getting some dinner and walking down the beach for a while we came across a hookah bar on the beach! We had to stop. I mean, how often do you get to smoke a hookah on the beach in Barcelona? It was great! Really chill and a nice way to end the day.)

After the hookah bar we began to make our way back to the hostel. We did see some cool things on the way, but my camera batteries died… Anyway, It was a nice way to finish our visit to Spain. This day may not have been as adventurous as the first, but it was still amazing! Now it’s the end of our vacation and the next day we return to Paris. However, in April we have another 2 weeks of vacation!!! My general idea is to go to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, and back to France. I’ll keep yall updated on that.

We’ve finally made it. Spain! The one I’ve been waiting for. We got to Barcelona pretty late. We only had enough time to get to our hostel, get some food, and sleep. But as soon as we got there the weather was amazing! After having been in two countries that we’re freezing cold, we got to experience some warm weather on the Mediterranean. 

(Welcome to our hostel. This one was the nicest of them all. It had big lockers to store our stuff, a clean bathroom, and we had a great nice view out the window on the 9th floor!)

(The view from our window.)

(Now we’re finally walking around town.)

(After walking for a few minutes we made it to this church the Cody suggested seeing. It’s really bizarre. It’s called Sagrada Familia. And like Cody says, “It looks like a church that would be in Star Trek.”)

(It’s still under construction.)

(We stumbled upon this abandoned… well we weren’t sure what it was, but it was abandoned. So we decided to check it out.)

(ooh stairs)

(Always finding graffiti somewhere.)

(We all decided to take a picture together after our discovery.)

(Next there was this sweet park designed by some guy named Antoni Gaudi. Oh yea, he designed the church you saw earlier.)

(Great view of the Mediterranean from the park.)

(Going uphill we decided to stop and listen to some tunes!)

(There’s the top of the 1st of many hills that day. The guys decided to race up there while I waited for the signal to snap the photo. Eventually I made it up to the top.)

(There we go! Finally made it up there. And what a great view it was.)

(Looking down on the city. With miniature mode. I love it!)

(Target acquired. Just to the right of the antenna tower. At the top of the hill we noticed on top of another hill 3 hills away a church. As soon as we saw it we had to go there. How you ask? Walking. Almost 6 hours of it. No joke. But it was well worth it.)

(We’ve now descended into town and decided to get some food before we continue. Joe ponders what to buy.)

(Now we’re on the 2nd hill of the day. At the top we found this random cross with names scratched on it. Also, I think we were in someone’s back yard.)

(There’s the 1st hill we were on earlier)

(Getting ever farther away, you can see the first hill were on in the middle just to the left. Now we’re finally climbing up the 3rd and final hill. And it was the highest! But the church was getting closer and we were almost fished with our journey.)

(There it is! We’ve almost made it! just a little further.)

(Instead of taking a road, Joe decides to lead us through the forest. Definitely a great shortcut. Sorry for the blurry pic tho. It’s the best one I have of the forest.)

(We’ve made it to the top!!! Finally! The church was behind me in this pic. Thought I’d snap a pic from the top first.)

(There it is! The church known as Tibidaba. We were high enough that we were walking in clouds sometimes. Totally worth the days hike up here!)

(The inside of Tibidaba.)

(Front side of Tibidaba.)

(The guys with Barcelona at nighttime under the clouds. One of the best views I’ve ever seen in my life!)

After that whole day of hiking around Barcelona it was time to go back to our hostel. But we definitely didn’t want to go back the same way we got there. And we had no idea how to get back down and it was dark out. Thankfully we met some cool Canadians at Tibidaba who were going back to Barcelona. We took the bus and train with them down to town. Really cool people! After that we decided to get some dinner and return to our hostel for the night.

(Dinner! Empenadas and Coke! Delicious!)