Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain was the first stop on my spring break!  I really loved it there.  The climate was very tropical and there were palm trees everywhere. Barcelona is on the East coast of Spain.  My 5 years of taking Spanish in high school paid off.  I was able to speak with the locals and could understand what they were saying to me.  This was challenging, but also really fun and rewarding!

 

Spain is well known for tapas, which are appetizers.  This shows the chorizo (sausage) tapas that I had.  They were delicious!

This is one of the food stands at La Boqueria Market.  Shown above is a selection of fresh fruit juices at one of the stands.  I tried the raspberry!

The first night we went to a lights show at a big fountain.  The lights changed to the music that was playing.  It is called the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc.

 

This building is Sagrada Familia, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to be finally finished in the year 2041.  It is a Roman Catholic Basilica and I would say it is the most amazing building I have ever seen!

This is the inside of Sagrada Familia.  It had incredible ceilings and pillars, as well as stained glass windows.  It was such a nice day when I went, making the windows look really cool!

This is the famous dragon fountain of Park Güell, also by Gaudí.  (Ignore the woman, it was so busy there I couldn't get a picture without anyone in it.)  The park is known for its amazing stone structures and mosaic tiling.  I really enjoyed my time here and the view from the top was great.

Yet another building by Gaudí, Casa Batlló, was originally built as a home and now is used as an apartment complex.

Another of Gaudí's designs is La Pedrera, which is a residential building.  Gaudí is clearly responsible for the shaping of Barcelona.  He is known for his crazy, out of this world designs.

 

This was my view overlooking the city from the top of Montjuïc, which is a mountain in Barcelona.  I took a cable car to the top, where I also went to a castle at the very top.  The view was incredible and it even overlooked the ocean on to the right.

 

This is Torre Calatrava, a communications tower used for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  I also got to see the Olympic Stadium, which is right next to this, both on Montjuïc.

Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon

I took a school trip to the cities of Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon.  During the trip I got to visit Warwick Castle, as well as stay in Stratford, the hometown of William Shakespeare.  I even got to see a play by Shakespeare called 

"A Winter's Tale."

The outside of Warwick Castle

Myself playing cards with the wax residents of the castle

A view from above

The tutor homes of Stratford

My delicious English dinner of chicken pot pie

Shakespeare's grave inside Holy Trinity Church in Stratford

My first English high tea at a forties themed restaurant called The FourTeas

 

London Sightseeing - Round Two

 

My friend from home, visited me in London for a weekend.  She is studying abroad in Florence, Italy for the semester.  I took this opportunity to see a few more of the London attractions.

 

This is the Tower of London, built as a Royal Castle, Fortress, and Prison in the late 11th Century.  It was previously home to several English Monarchs and exotic animals, such as lions, alligators, and even an elephant.  The animals were given as gifts from visiting world leaders. The castle is now home to the Crown Jewels of past Monarchs.

Myself in front of the tower

One of the old crowns, displayed in a different part of the tower than the really expensive jeweled crowns.  This section is much less secure than the Jewel House.

This is the Jewel House in the Tower.  It is home to the expensive Crown Jewels, which contain tons of gemstones of different sizes and colors.

The Tower Bridge, which was where the Olympic rings were on display during the Olympics.

This is the building where I take all my classes in London, The Ithaca College London Center.  It is a restored victorian mansion.

Kensington Palace, soon to be home of Will, Kate, and Baby.  I live just up the street from it!

Myself in front of the Palace

The swans of Hyde Park, which is where Kensington Palace is.

Horse Gaurds Parade, the location of the beach volleyball events during the Olympics.  It is difficult to see in this picture, but the London Eye can be seen above the buildings towards the right.

Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden.  A nice restaurant and shopping square, also location of the Annual Easter Egg Hunt during the first weekend of Lent.

Berlin, Germany

My trip to Berlin, Germany was a very cool experience. I was out of my element when it came to a different language, however most people spoke some english. It was cold and snowy while I was there with my two roommates. In order to keep warm we took a bus tour that lasted all day, in which we were able to get off and on whenever we wanted. This enabled us to see all of Berlin's major sites! I even got to eat German food, including currywurst, which to me, tasted a lot like kielbasa.

 

Alexanderplatz is the major train station in Berlin. We stayed at the Senefelderplatz stop. These are examples of some of the funny words we ran into. Everthing sounded the same too!

Berlin is well-known for its' graffiti. It was everywhere! This is the section of the Berlin wall known as the East Side Gallery, which is completely covered in graffiti.

Here is some more graffiti

This is the Berlin TV Tower, which has the best views of Berlin

I went to the top of the tower and got a 360 degree view of the city!

The Berliner Cathedral

Me in front of the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin's most iconic attraction)

The Charlottenburg Palace

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The infamous Berlin Wall!

This is Checkpoint Charlie, the best-known point of crossing through the Berlin wall between East and West Berlin. It was manned by an American Soldier

Football Match

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a football (soccer) match,

Queen's Park Rangers vs. Norwich City, for my Sports in the UK class.  It was really cool to see how popular football is in England and observe the fans.

 

In addition I just wanted to let everyone know I will be taking a weekend getaway to Berlin, Germany tomorrow!! Pictures to come shortly.

 

Class Trips Around London

For many of my classes, I find myself venturing into different areas of London. This has been a great exerience for me to see new things. Below are trips from two of my classes

 

British Art and Architecture

The first several pictures are from St. Paul's Cathedral, which was rebuilt in 1675, after burning down in the Great Fire of London. I wasn't able to take many quality pictures, as photography isn't allowed in the Cathedral. (I may have snuck a couple...)

 

Drama in the London Theatre

Under the Cathedral pictures are pictures from the Waterloo area, which also contains the famous London Eye and the National Theatre; where I was headed to that night to see a play. I got to the area well before the play started, so I walked around for a while.

 

 

 

Sneaking a picture of the dome

 

The outside

 

View from the bridge of the National Theatre (the blue and pink-lighted building)

View of the other direction on the bridge

The London Eye and Big Ben

London Sightseeing

Here are some pictures from my sightseeing adventure in London last weekend.

Also, I made a poll which is on the left.  Please vote!

 

 

Big Ben and a double decker bus

 

London phone booth

 

Parliament building (attatched to Big Ben)

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben with the London Eye in the background

 

Queen Victoria's Memorial Statue, in front of Buckingham Palace

 

Buckingham Palace

 

Close up of the Queen's humble abode