Surviving the Strikes

As I'm sure you all have heard, the strikes have been going on throughout France for over two weeks now. I've come to find it is something I will never understand. How can raising the retirement age a mere two years from 60 to 62 cause such unrest throughout the entire country for so long? I understand being upset, but honestly, I'll probably be working 40+ hours until I'm 80, while they work 35 with over a month of vacation time. Maybe that's why as an outsider, I don't understand. But what does setting fire to cars, schools and train tracks do to fix the problem? Sounds like they are just causing more problems for people who had nothing to do with the reform, I highly doubt President Sarkozy and other high powered government officials are taking the Metro to work each day. The thing that I find the oddest is that so many of those striking are high school students, saying that if the older generation stays in the workforce for an extra 2 years that they won't get the jobs they deserve. All seems like an excuse to miss school to me! I've lucked out that I have avoided any direct effects from the strike, besides a closed monument or museum here or there, but the strike has seriously disrupted all of France, I didn't think I was going to make it out of the country due to not enough fuel and many flights being canceled. Luckily, my flight was not one of them, and I made it safe and sound to Spain last night! Let's just hope that when I return in a week all this unrest is finally over...

One Year!

My family left on Wednesday and then Thursday, Chris arrived! Talk about an exciting 10 days.

I met Chris at the airport on Thursday night, his flight didn't get in until pretty late, around 11pm, so we just headed to the hostel we were staying at for the night and planned to begin our Paris adventure on Friday.

Well, apparently when my family left they also brought the beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather with them because it has been freezing in Paris ever since, especially during Chris' visit. On Friday, it was overcast and chilly as we headed to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. Despite the cold, the view from the top of Montmartre was still gorgeous, and it was nice that it was not nearly as crowded as it had been the weekend before when I was there with my family. As we walked into Sacre Coeur I quickly noticed a difference though, I think the overcast skies had a negative impact on how breathtaking the inside of the basilica is. Normally, when you walk in on a sunny day, the light comes through the dome and casts a halo like look over all of the people sitting in the church, without that light, the basilica did not have the same feel. Any other time I've stepped foot inside, my breath has been taken away in almost an eerie way, this time it just seemed like any other church. I was definitely a little disappointed, especially since I'd been talking so highly of Sacre Coeur to Chris and he didn't get the full effect when we went there. We wandered around Montmartre for a bit, looking at all the artists and cafes and we stopped and ate chocolate crepes. Yum!

After Montmartre, we made our way to Notre Dame. Apparently French architecture relies on the sunlight more than I realized because the Rose Window wasn't as impressive as usual. So not only did we have to deal with the crappy weather, but it was also having a negative impact on our sight seeing! Hopefully next time Chris is here it's nicer out, otherwise he is going to think I'm a crazy person for loving these places so much! After wandering around for a while, we decided we were going to see how long the line was to go up in the towers. As we rounded the corner we found out they were already closing them thanks to the strike... this strike is really getting in the way of showing all my visitors how awesome Paris is! So we gave up on that idea and headed over and grabbed some paninis from a take-away cafe. We wandered down by the Seine and ate our lunch while taking in the view of Paris and watching all the tour boats go by. It was such a relaxing, simple lunch, it was perfect!

I've had visiting the Musee Rodin on my to do list since before I left for study abroad. I knew I had to find the Thinker statue to get a picture, considering we have one at U of L too! So I figured there was no better weekend to visit the museum than when Chris was there so I could have another Louisvillian in my picture with me. We found the museum without a problem and got in for free with our student visas, that is by far one of the best perks about studying abroad, EU students get into most museums in Paris for free! We wandered around the gardens and found the Thinker (it would have been hard to find) and then went into the museum. The entire place was gorgeous, and I just might have to make a trip back there at some point.

After the museum, we decided to head back to Cergy to make dinner and hang out. It was about 6:20 on the train, and it was without a doubt rush hour in France. I have never been on such a crowded train in my life, there was barely even any room to stand, let alone sit, talk about zero personal space. As the ride went on I got hotter and hotter and started not to feel good when we were about 3 stops from Cergy. I turned to Chris to tell him we were going to get off the train at the next stop so I could get some air and suddenly everything went black. Apparently, as the train came to the stop that I said I needed to get off at, I passed out. I'm sure I scared the crap out of Chris as he pulled me off the train, leaving a trail of my scarf, jacket and backpack on the platform. Once I got some fresh air I came back to and felt fine, just needed a little air and a bottle of water. Thank god Chris was there though, I don't know what I would have done had I been alone with no one to take care of me. I definitely learned a valuable lesson that I should never get on a crowded train, especially if I don't have any water with me!

On Saturday, we made our way back into Paris and started our day at the Champs Elysses and the Arc de Triomphe. The effect the strike is having on the city was once again apparent with the upstairs of the Arc being closed to the public. As we headed down the Champs Elysses towards the Louvre we stopped for some lunch. I finally gave in and had McDonalds for the first time since I've been here, I'd say 2 months is a pretty good streak (how sad is that?!)

We wandered around the Louvre for a while, going to see the can't miss pieces like the Mona Lisa,  and then went to an area that I had never been to to see all the Egyptian art and a whole area filled with gorgeous sculptures. I think even if I went there every weekend during my time here, I still wouldn't see half of what is in the Louvre, it is just that big and amazing. After the Louvre we continued our adventure down the FREEZING Champs Elysses, going into the stores to find refuge from the cold.

By the time we made it back to the Arc de Triomph, it was time to head over to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It does not matter how many times I had seen it all lit up in the previous week, it's something that will never get old, it is that breathtaking. We found a little pizza place to have dinner and then headed back home.

Sunday was our actual 1 year anniversary, but the day pretty much just consisted of us making lunch before heading back to the airport. Lame, but it wasn't worth it to brave the cold in Paris when we only had a couple of hours to work with before Chris had to catch his flight.

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend, or really 10 days between my family's visit and Chris coming here. Just a few days of class stand between me and a 2 week long fall break!

Heading Home

On Wednesday morning, we all woke up and finished packing up whatever else we had lying around. I had to get back to Cergy and return to the real world of school and my visitors were all heading back to the US. The original plan was for them to take the train, but the strike was still going on and interrupting some of the trains so they ended up finding a taxi. I said good bye to them before heading to the train station to make my trek back to Cergy (luckily the line I needed to take was running). It was really weird to see them go and to not be leaving with them. The whole time I was with them it felt like a typical family vacation, just without my dad, Mitch, and Danny, so it was hard to see them go and be left behind, especially knowing I had to go back to school.

I could not have asked for a better trip. I had so much fun with everyone and forgot how much I miss spending time with my cousins. I'm extremely lucky that they got to visit and and even more lucky to have such an awesome family who I would want to spend as much time as possible with. Thanks so much for such a great visit guys, I loved everything about it!

When in Paris... eat lots of bread and cheese!

From our first night in Paris on, we fell into a routine I could easily get used to. We went and found a small grocery store and picked up some wine, bread, and cheese (and of course some coca light) to bring back to our apartment. Ever since I arrived in France I've avoided the cheese aisle, I know it sounds silly but it is huge with way too many options and I get overwhelmed by the thought of even attempting to pick out what I might like and make a decision.

On our way back from the grocery store the Eiffel Tower was already lit up for the night, so we stopped for a quick photo shoot with our very French groceries. We then headed back to set our table for our mini feast and enjoyed all the food, taking a break from eating to watch the tower sparkle on the hour from our balcony.

Let me tell you, and I know Taylor will agree with me on this one, because I'm pretty sure she would disappear every hour on the hour to watch the Eiffle Tower sparkle, it never gets old, no matter how many times you see it. I'm quickly learning that it doesn't matter how many times I go into Paris this semester and see the same monuments, they will continue to take my breath away each time I see them. I think that's one of the reasons I know for sure that I made the right decision about studying abroad!

We continued our tradition of bread, wine, and cheese each night they were in town and I'm pretty sure each night we added more food into the mix... first it was cookies, then chips, then some other cookies. It was great and I miss it, I can't eat a whole baguette by myself each night! (Actually, I probably could, but it wouldn't be the best idea)

Strike Day

Today, there was a strike, so I ended up getting to stay in Paris with my visitors rather than going back to school to suffer through my least favorite day of classes. Our original plan was to go to the Musee d'Orsay but when we got there we found out it was closed because of the strike. So we just took some pictures with the statues and things outside of the museum and figured out Plan B. We then headed over to the Louvre, hoping that it wouldn't have been closed because of the strike as well... no such luck. So we found ourselves wandering around a bit that day. Even though all the monuments and museums were closed and the trains were barely operating, all the stores on the Champs Elysses were open, so we wandered around a bit then headed back to the apartment for a while before we planned on going to the Eiffel Tower that night.

At around 9, Taylor pointed out that they stopped selling tickets to go up in the tower at 9:30, so Uncle Mike ran ahead to get them before the booths closed. He is probably lucky the army men didn't think he was a crazy man running by considering they were armed with the big scary guns just like the ones at the airport. When he arrived and we met up with him shortly after we realized that the tower was closed because of the strike too. Strike 3 for the day...

On our way back we stopped at Walter's cafe (unfortunately he wasn't working) and got some more creme brulee and Pepsi and took a bunch of pictures to match a poster that we saw in almost every cafe and souvenir shop we went in. Despite how awkward it is to pretend that you don't notice people taking your picture, they turned out pretty good and once again the dessert was delicious. The French know what they are doing when it comes to food, especially dessert.

Despite our plans not turning out exactly as we'd hoped and the weather feeling a bit more like fall it was great to have an extra day with them! Although it would be great if the next time they decide to strike they consult with me first to make sure it doesn't interrupt any of my plans ;)

Battle of the Gypsy and the Mom

On our way back from picking up our groceries for the night we were walking through the Champs de Mars (the area near the Eiffel Tower) on our way back to the apartment. I was carrying the baguettes and minding my own business when a crazy little gypsy girl came up to me. Now I've seen my fair share of gypsies since I've been here, then tend to gather in the touristy areas which I have visited the most, so I've quickly learned to just ignore them and walk away, they definitely are nothing like Esmarelda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame...

Well this little gypsy girl was something else, she came up super close to me and asked for food. She was literally so close I thought she was just going to take a bite out of the baguette that was in my hand. I tried to turn my shoulder to her and keep walking, something that usually works to get them away, but this one was very persistent. She kept following me, trying to get me to give her food. That's when my mom swooped in and put some distance between the two of us. Apparently it was quite comical for the Leddin's to watch, I can only imagine. A little bit of pressure from my mom and probably an evil look or two and the girl was finally scared away. Thank goodness for those mom genes, ready to attack!

More Typical Stops

Yesterday, we made our way to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, without realizing the crowds we were about to face. We navigated the trains, once we got change to buy tickets and a train map to navigate which lines we needed to switch to and when we got off the train we were welcomed by quite the crowd. Turns out it was the weekend of Montmartre's vineyard festival, so their were people everywhere. We took the hilly back roads up to the basilica and we were all happy to see that we had avoided the stairs when we got to the time, not only because it had been a long and hot walk but also because the stairs leading up the Sacre Coeur were packed with people.

I thought trying to make our way through the crowd took away from the area a bit and having to push through people to be able to see the awesome view of Paris that the stairs provide was a bit annoying, despite this it was still worth it. As soon as we walked into Sacre Coeur you would never know that there was a huge festival going on outside it was so quiet and serene in the basilica. My mom agreed with what I said the first time I visited, as soon as you walk in you almost get a creepy chill, it's the weirdest feeling and so hard to describe, I think it has to do with the light coming in from the dome.

We headed back out to face the crowds and find somewhere to eat. After quite a bit of wandering we ended up over by Moulin Rouge, I had never actually seen the building before, so it was completely by chance that we ended up on that street. We found a little Italian place to eat, which opposite from all the places we had passed along the way was a bit off the crowded beaten path and due to the odd time that we were once again eating there was only one other group there.

When we got off the train we attempted to find somewhere to get bread, cheese and wine for the night but because it was Sunday a lot of the places had closed early. As we walked by the Eiffel tower we took some pictures and Uncle Mike got us some scrumptious cotton candy that we devoured in about five minutes, we're Leddins and like our sugar, what can I say?

This morning I had to get up bright and early to make it back to Cergy in time for my French class at 8:30, I was out the door by a little after 7 and could see the sun rising behind the Eiffel tower and my train headed back out to the suburbs. I'm pretty sure that the girls were just waking up when I was getting out of class, so I met up with everyone after my class on the Champs Elysses. We wandered around for a bit and went over by the Arc de Triomphe.

P.S. Happy 24th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Thanks for letting me steal her T Ry!

A walking tour of Paris

Our first real day of sight seeing began today after some pastries for breakfast and a leisurely start to the day. We decided to walk towards Notre Dame and visit some other places along the way. We walked along the sidewalk next to the Seine and I couldn't believe how nice it was out! It was in the 70s and sunny, definitely unexpected but welcomed after the crappy, rainy weather we'd had all week.

I pointed out the different monuments as we walked by them (to the best of my ability) and then we decided to cross over the Seine to see the Louvre. I'm still awed at how huge it is and all the ornate details in all the statues and every other part of the museum. Those French kings and architects really knew how to design an impressive palace. We took some pictures and I taught them the art of standing on those crazy little boxes that are at all the monuments to make yourself look bigger than them. With how short all of us are, we have to embrace anything that will make us look taller!

After sometime at the Louvre, we continued our trek to Notre Dame, stopping along the way to look at all the art and things the street vendors were selling along the Seine. When we arrived at the Ile de France, we found a Rolls Royce on the street, along with the driver, and asked him if we could take a picture with the car. Clearly the man has had the same request a time or two because not only did he allow us to take a photo, he also posed us just so, told Nikki and me to take our sunglasses off and told Uncle Mike and my mom where to stand to get the perfect photo of both us and the car. It was hilarious.

Multiple stops and photo shoots later we made it to Notre Dame, where we once again took some pictures before heading inside to see the cathedral. I don't think I'll ever get sick of playing tourist while I'm here. Despite having now visited Notre Dame multiple times I still find myself taking a million pictures of the amazing building. We took our time looking at each of the chapels and sat in the church for a while, we each lit a prayer candle and got a medal as a keepsake.

Afterward, it was time for another late lunch at a café, this time for paninis and crepes, which were delicious (at least I thought so). After lunch Taylor and I got my favorite ice cream, she had to see if it lived up to the hype and we began our journey back to the apartment.

The Great Flood

I should have known that a visit from my family would include many comical stories to look back on, since all of our vacations always do, but I didn't expect so many to happen the first day they arrived. After we ate some bread & cheese (we never did make it to dinner) and hung out for a little while, catching up, we decided it was time for bed so we could begin our sight seeing in the morning. My mom and I went upstairs to our room, Taylor went to the other room she and Nikki were sharing, Nikki was going to shower before bed and Uncle Mike settled in on the couch with the iPad in hand ready to begin his 24 marathon.

From bed, I could hear what sounded like water dripping, but I just assumed it was sounds from the shower in the next room, boy was I wrong. All of the sudden you hear footsteps flying up the stairs, and Uncle Mike going into the girls room to ask what was going on. Hearing the conversation from the door was quite comical, especially when you heard him pounding on the bathroom door telling Nikki to turn the shower off, followed by the two of them talking trying to figure out where the water was coming from. Turns out, there was a bit of a leak. We walked downstairs to find a huge puddle on to floor with water dripping from the ceiling, guess that was the dripping noise I heard. It took all of the towels in the apartment and a pot to catch the water still dripping from above to clean up the mess. Good thing Uncle Mike was down there though, I can only imagine what the mess would have looked like had he not noticed the problem.

Good thing there were two bathrooms in the apartment because we will definitely be steering clear of that shower for the rest of our visit...

Oh Walter...

We made it safe and sound to our apartment without any problems. We were there before the time we were supposed to be able to check in, so we decided to head to a café for something to eat and for some Coca Light (the french version of Diet Coke) for Uncle Mike. This is where we met our very comical French waiter, who thanks to Taylor, we called Walter for the rest of the trip. We sat down with all of our luggage around us at a couple of the little tables outside and ordered some drinks and a couple of creme brulees. This is where we had our first interesting Walter moment, apparently we picked one of the few places in all of Paris that served Pepsi products instead of coke. Uncle Mike tried to tell him that he didn't like Pepsi and wanted water instead but thanks to the language and overall communication barrier that we had with our waiter, Walter returned with 5 Pepsis and 2 desserts.

After enjoying the scrumptious dessert, it was about time for us to be able to get the keys to our home for the next 5 days, so Uncle Mike asked Walter how to get to the address where we were supposed to pick them up from. This is when the man turned into a cartoon character, I wish I had a video of him trying to remember and explain how to get there in his broken English, it was that funny. He kept looking at the address we gave him and scratching his head and pointing in all different directions, then he even went back in the restaurant to try and figure it out. After a couple of minutes, he returned and took his iPhone out to pull up a map and whipped his little notepad out to try and draw and explain where to go. There was lots of gesturing and "YOUUUU" and other short phrases for him to try and get his point across. After about 20 minutes of Walter giving directions to a building that was supposed to be fairly close by, Uncle Mike and Nikki went to attempt to follow Walter's directions and my mom, Taylor and I stayed at the café for a little while longer.

The three of us figured we'd taken over all our tables at the café for long enough so we decided to drag all of our luggage back over to the apartment, good thing it was just around the corner. We waited for what seemed like forever for Uncle Mike and Nikki to return and received many interesting looks from the people walking by. (I would look at 3 people with 5 suitcases, a duffel bag, 3 backpacks and a couple of purses funny too). I was able to finally reach Uncle Mike via text (good thing he brought that international phone with him!) and found out that Walter's directions were terrible and sent them on a much longer trip than it should have been, not that that's surprising seeing as how much he struggled with giving them. When they arrived at the building, they found out the keys were in the apartment and a guy named Anthony would come by to let us in, so all that for nothing, of course!

While we were waiting for the other two to come to the apartment and for this Anthony person to come let us in, two ladies with a bag full of cleaning supplies came out the door and began asking us in very mumbled French if we were staying there. We lucked out and they had just finished cleaning our apartment for us, so they had a key to let us in! It was quite interesting to see my mom and the French lady squeeze into the world smallest elevator along with 2 of the suitcases to go up to the apartment, and Taylor and I followed with the next load. The lady let us into the apartment and explained to my mom how to use the keypad to get into the building, within the first few hours of arriving in France, I think they all realized how difficult the language barrier could be!

Uncle Mike and Nikki made it back to the apartment after their very long trek and we all settled in. The place was great, a living room, full kitchen (I forgot that normal kitchens have more than just two hot plates!), and dining room on the first floor and then upstairs there were two bedrooms and two bathrooms along with a loft area. Both floors had balconies that had a perfect view of the Eiffel tower (hello, dream home)! All of us were exhausted, in my excitement for my visitors I hadn't slept much on the night before and the world travelers were all jet lagged, so we decided to get a little nap in before beginning their exploration of Paris!

View from our balcony!

BEST SURPRISE EVER!

This  morning, I once again found myself waking up bright and early after far too little sleep to drag myself and my suitcase on the 15 minute walk to the bus stop to head to the airport. It was still dark as I left the dorm and began my trek to Charles de Gaulle, this time I didn't have another country as my destination, I was headed to meet Uncle Mike, Nikki, and Taylor at the airport and planned to spend the weekend in Paris with them!

The bus ride went extremely well, despite all those flag stops we stopped at along the way and I made it to the airport in just over an hour, enjoying a nice little nap along the way. As I entered the terminal I navigated my way through the crowded airport to the arrivals board to find out where I should go to meet my visitors, it looked like I had arrived in perfect time to get make my way down terminal 2C from where the bus dropped me off at to 2A where my family would be arriving after getting their luggage and making their way through customs.

However, I did not plan to be stopped by several VERY intimidating army men (and one woman) with big scary machine guns telling myself and anyone else who tried to enter the hall between terminals C and B that we had to wait. There was no clear reason as to why the hallway was closed for those twenty minutes or so, but after waiting as patiently as I could until they finally allowed us to make our way down the hallway. I guess I should be happy to see heightened security in Paris considering the travel alerts that have been issued, but I was not a very happy camper when I had to wait to go see my family, especially when I had no way of contacting them to let them know what the hold up was.

When I finally made it to terminal 2A, I saw two brunettes who looked quite familiar and headed their way. As I walked up I realized that it was not just Nikki and Taylor standing amid all the luggage they had, but someone else was with them... MY MOM! Words cannot describe how excited I was to see each of them and how shocked I was to see my mom standing in Paris, France when I didn't think I'd see her for another 2 1/2 months! We rounded up their bags and waited for Uncle Mike who had gone to look for me (told you it took me forever to get to them) and headed out to find a cab. The original plan was to take the RER, but after seeing the size of my mom's suitcase and not knowing exactly where our apartment was I thought it might just be easier to go the cab route.

I'm still shocked that everyone kept my mom coming a secret from me, well done. I'm surprised that so many of you knew and never accidentally let anything slip! And thank you so much Uncle Mike, it was the best surprise you could have ever given my mom or me!

Sevilla, Spain and Lagos, Portugal

On Thursday night at around 11:30 my plane landed in Sevilla, Spain after what felt like the longest flight ever (I think I was a little excited). I walked right off the plane and did not even have to worry about customs, which was a nice surprise, and since I was literally the 3rd one off the plane I saw Chris within minutes of landing! After six weeks of being apart it was great to finally see him! Since it was already so late, we went right to my hostel where he hung out with me for a little bit before I went to bed and he headed home, we had an exciting day ahead of us after all!

View from the balcony... can you say paradise!?

Chris came and met me at my hostel in the morning and we stopped by his home stay to pick up his suitcase and meet up with his friend Michael who he is studying with. I was very proud that I fit all of my stuff for the weekend into my little backpack, while both of the boys were lugging their carry-on suitcases behind me. One thing I have learned from this experience is how to pack lightly, and that rolling your clothes is the biggest space saver ever! We met up with everyone else who was heading on the Lagos trip, 3 full bus loads! It was about a 3 hour bus ride to Lagos and we stopped in the middle, but we picked up an hour on our way so we arrived at about 1 o'clock. It was a beautiful day out, I was starting to forget what summer weather felt like, it's felt like fall in Paris since I arrived and was freezing in London last weekend! We stayed at the Aqualuz hotel, which was gorgeous. All of the hotel rooms had a balcony that overlooked the two pools in the courtyard, it was definitely much nicer that the hostels I'm starting to get used to staying in! We got settled into our rooms and got ready to head to the beach.

The beach was gorgeous, I was amazed when we first walked up. Definitely prettier than Panama City, where we spent Spring Break. There were huge rocks everywhere and the bluest water I have ever seen. We spent the day hanging out on the beach, I only got in the water as far as my thighs, and trust me that was far enough, it was freezing! Some of the boys swam out to one of the further rocks and climbed it and went cliff diving into the water. Something told me that it wasn't worth the swim in the cold water, besides with my luck I'd jump into the wrong part and get attacked by the coral. So I stuck to the beach and shallow water where I could see where my feet were. After a fun and relaxing day we headed back to the hotel. The students studying abroad in Spain are all used to their siesta, I'm starting to think their day revolves around it, I'm a little jealous! We then got ready to head to the end of the world to watch the sunset. It was well worth the 40 minute bus ride, I just wish my pictures did it justice. They used to believe that this point really was the end of the world when they thought that the world was flat, since it is the southernmost point in Portugal. You walk out on these huge cliffs and are surrounded by water and the sunset everywhere you look. It was a little chilly and very windy, so my hair didn't quite cooperate for the pictures, but it was gorgeous! When we got back to the hotel the guides took us into the center of town where they pointed out different restaurants we could eat dinner at. We ended up going to a Mexican place, which was perfect since I've been craving Mexican for weeks now and then got ice cream before heading to the bar where they were having specials for everyone on the DiscoverSevilla trip. I wasn't feeling very good by the time we got there though, something between the mixture of little sleep over the past couple of days, being out in the sun all day, the spicy food, and the creamy ice cream just didn't work for me, so we ended up calling it a night pretty early... we had an exciting day ahead of us anyways!!

On Saturday we got up and headed down to breakfast in the restaurant by the pool. After breakfast we hung around the hotel until it was time for us to meet to go on our Sangria Sailboat tour at 12:30. The sailboats were awesome, it was all you can drink Sangria for two hours out on a sailboat on the gulf on a sunny day. Who would have thought we'd be doing that in October?! The sailboat excursion also included a tour of the grottoes which are all the caves, so we broke into 3 groups and each took their turn getting on the smaller boat to get their tour of all the cool grottoes, they were awesome! We then headed back to the sailboat and Chris somehow convinced me to jump off the boat into the water, I think him saying that there was a 78% chance that I wouldn't jump made me want to prove him wrong... The water was freezing

Sunday the weather was overcast and a little crappy, so we didn't end up going to the beach. Instead they took us to the lighthouse where we were able to take in another awesome view and walk down a ton of stairs into the the grottoes. It was definitely a cool way to see them, they are even more amazing when standing right near them and able to take it all in than when you are in a boat, quickly driving through. After taking a bunch of pictures at the Lighthouse we decided to walk into the center of town for some lunch and to look at all of the little shops. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the hotel until it was time to head back to Spain. After a long bus ride back, (I spent most of the time sleeping so it didn't really bother me...) Chris, Michael and I grabbed dinner before I stopped at my hostel to check in and then Chris and I went for a walk around Sevilla so I could see it all at night, until it started raining!

Today was my last day in Spain, that morning I went to school with Chris and hung out in the library while he was in class. When he got out of class, we went and grabbed some food at a Tapas bar that was right next to the cathedral with an awesome view! After lunch, we wandered around Sevilla for a while so I could see the town, grabbed some ice cream (of course), and then hung out in the park until it was time for me to head back to the airport to go back to Paris. It was quite the journey back between my flight, 2 trains, and a bus to drop me off right in front of my dorm, but it was definitely worth it.

It was the perfect weekend, just like Spring Break in October. I had so much fun with Chris and all his friends. And I'll get to see him again in 2 weeks, which is much better than 6!!

Just three more days until Uncle Mike, Nikki and Taylor are  in Paris, I can't wait!!