Around the World in Two Weeks

Week 9-- Spring Break

Spring break started out a little rough. Lauren and I, Katie and Emily, and the Portugal group all had late flights/busses out of Paris that Friday night, so we all set up camp in the hotel lobby to work on homework and wait out the clock. After what seemed like hours we were finally able to leave, so we thanked the hotel staff for letting us live in their lobby for day and left. Lauren and I then had a 15 hour bus ride to Nice that was absolutely awful. We sat behind two people who leaned their seats back as soon as we got in and never lifted them again. Lauren and I were absolutely squished, and anytime we did fall asleep, the bus would make a stop and pick up more passengers. I thought an overnight bus ride would be a smart thing to do (we wouldn’t have to pay for accommodation that night), but we were honestly so tired and angry by the time we got to Nice that we just wanted to nap. We met the Airbnb guy, found food, ate and went to sleep. We woke up much more rejuvenated and ready to see the city. 

Nice was absolutely beautiful. The weather was amazing, and warm compared to Germany and Paris. We spent the day walking around, spending a few hours on the coast wall and hiked up a small hill with a chateau on top. We then went down and bought gelato, then decided to go sit on the beach. Then our day took a turn for the worse. Lauren and I were taking pictures on the beach when some guys came up to us, wanting to hang out. While we weren’t looking, one of them stole Lauren’s phone and took off. Thankfully, an older French woman came running up, yelling about how he had taken the phone, and yelling at his friends who were still with us. Lauren tried to chase him down, while I stayed with the woman while she called the police. They suggested coming in, so once Lauren came back we went down the police station. 

We spent the rest of the day with the French police, who were all very friendly and very cute, if not very helpful. The other people waiting in the station weren’t too amused because the police let us cut everyone in line to help us file paperwork. Once the paperwork was filed, we didn’t feel like doing much else, so we went back to the Airbnb and ate dinner and hung out.

The next day we had another dreaded bus ride. This one was only 9 hours, but still rather awful. Spain is beautiful though, and we were super excited to see Barcelona. Lauren had been there before, so she had a few places lined up that we needed to go see. Emily was meeting us the next day, so we had a chill night in (after sitting on the beach watching the sunset). The next day was much busier. We met Emily and went sightseeing. Barcelona is a must see if you are studying abroad. The beaches are beautiful, there are several beautiful parks, including Park Guell, there are several incredible fountains, a pretty cool old castle that’s stil intact, and of course, the Sagrada Familia. If you go see the church (which you must), then you also have to go inside. It is unlike any other church in Europe or America or anywhere. It looks like a forest looking up to the ceiling, and the colors coming in from the windows make it feel like you are in a rainforest. 

We also saw a few other things, and ate some really good food. La Papita is probably one of the best restaurants in Europe—it was Lauren’s favorite, she went a few years ago with her family and insisted we went back. Thank gosh we did. We also ate really good burgers at a place near our Airbnb. 

Our next destination was Madrid. After a bit of a train fiasco we arrived late at night and devoured 2 large Domino’s pizzas. Lauren’s dad’s friend’s fiancé lived in Madrid and worked in the theater there in downtown. Her name was Demaris, and she was currently in a show called the Bodyguard, and invited us to stay with her in Madrid and then come see the play. She is the sweetest woman ever, and the show was absolutely amazing. It was especially good because it was all in Spanish, so we really didn’t know what was going on, but the actors were so fun and got really involved with the audience—and we happened to have first row seats. It was definitely my favorite night of spring break. 

Madrid consisted of more sightseeing and a few more museums. While it was definitely beautiful, I think Barcelona is more worth seeing if you are planning a trip to Spain. Demaris’s friendliness really made Madrid. Finally, on Sunday we flew out to Bonn, with a short layover in Portugal.

I always enjoy traveling, but after Amsterdam, Colmar, Beaune, Paris, Nice, Barcelona and Madrid I was more than ready to be back in Bonn and back to a ‘normal’ schedule.