Get loved, make more, try to stay alive

We arrived in Prague at around 11:00 that morning. First order of business was to exchange our money because the Czech Republic is not part of the European Union, therefore we could not use the euro. The currency is the koruny, and when we were there the exchange rate was about 28 koruny to 1 euro, or about 21 koruny to 1 US dollar. We exchanged like 20 euro at first just to make sure we could get to the hostel. We caught word that we could take a shuttle bus to the first metro station, and then we could take the metro to Prague Square which is right around where our hostel was.


The bus was packed and everyone was speaking crazy czech. we had no idea where to get off and no idea what we were doing. In fact, we almost got off at one point... in the middle of no where... but hopped back on the bus at the last minute... then this rando was like, "I'm waiting for the metro too, I think it's the last stop and everyone will get off." THANK GOD. Crisis of being stranded averted. We get to the metro stop, finally, and we didn't have enough money to buy tickets because the the machine only took coins. We are so tired that we were like screw it, and we just hopped on. We got off a few stops later and found the hostel without much trouble at all, but the only problem was we couldn't check in until 2:00. 

That afternoon we blew the rest of the 20 euro we spent on pizza and candy... like children. Then we exchanged more money at a bank, window shopped down the big avenue, checked into the hostel, napped, showered and then decided to venture into the unknown to try to find the bus station so we could buy tickets for a little excursion. We walked for about a half an hour and finally found the station, and there were several different bus companies so we decided to go ask the information booth what to do. Luckily the woman there spoke English, but I literally felt like I was at the Mad Tea Party or something. This is what the dialogue went like, for the most part:

Me: Hi, do you speak english?

Her: Yes, what do you want?

Me: We want to buy tickets to Cesky Krumlov tomorrow, where should we go?

Her: Yes, you have to buy tickets. 

Me: Yes, I know, but which company should we go to

Her: Incomprehensible name in Czech

(we walk away without knowing what she said, so turned right back around to ask again)

Me: I'm sorry, which booth did you say?

Her: What do you want?

Me: to go to Cesky Krumlov

Her: Where?

Me: Cesky Krumlov... we need to buy tickets?

Her: I don't know

Me: You just told us a name...

Her: BOOTH 16! (shuts window in a hurry)

Whaaaaaaaat? It was the weirdest thing ever. Anyways, we got the tickets, round trip for about 7 euro each, and then decided that we wanted to go out to eat. We had found this coupon for sushi, so sushi it was. The restaurant was actually really nice, and we ordered 4 rolls to split. All in all, it was pretty good, but I was really sad about the california roll because they didn't have cream cheese... they used ricotta instead so my mouth didn't know what to think. Our waitor was so attractive to me for some reason that I couldn't even look him in the eye or say anything else besides "Please" and "Thank you." Then we got the bill and it said 1291.00. It was always funny to us how much the bills/price tags read initially because our instinct was to think dollars... yea, we were big ballers because we dropped 1291.00 on a night out, yo. Afterwards we walked around the city and then went out for ice cream. 

The next morning we got up around 7 and walked to the bus station, which we found a lot easier than the night before. The bus left pretty much on time and it took about 3 hours to get there... I slept the entire way. We got off the bus and randomly started heading up a hill that looked like it went into the city. We were right :) On the way, we stopped to take some panoramic pictures that turned out really lovely. The sky was so blue, the rooftops were so red and the buildings were mostly yellow... so the city had a very basic, uncomplicated feel to it right from the start.


We walked around the city for a little while, in and out of the shops. After buying some postcards we decided it was time for lunch. We found this place called Papa's which had a terrace by the river, so we decided that would be perfect. The menu was very "American," but I didn't care. In fact, I enjoyed it. I ordered ribs, and when the plate came out there was a FULL rack of perfectly seasoned meatiness, with a big grilled cob of corn... I had a Coca-light and also hot raspberries with ice cream for dessert and it's safe to say I got out of there for under 10 euro. Amazing! We sat around and wrote out most of our postcards, waited for the little bit of rain to go away, and then we set out for more exploring and shopping.


We went up to the castle, which was really beautiful but only by default -- all the facades of the entire state had been painted on; although it all looked like stone and sweet masonry, it was just stenciling. I don't know if they ran out of money, or time, or if that was just the style back then, but it was really interesting.  

We had a traditional Czech dessert known as Trdlo per recommendation of Haley's friend, and they were delicious! Just hot dough fried, rolled in various goodies like vanilla, almond, cinnamon and sugar. They're in the shape of a big cylinder and you just rip the dough off in one big coil... so fun!

We took the bus back and literally got dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Well, we were in Prague, but we had no idea where in the city we were because our map only showed us the city center, and we were no where near the bus station or anybody who spoke English. For a few minutes I didn't know if we were going to make it to the hostel that night because we couldn't find a taxi and we couldn't seem to get to a metro station. Finally we stopped these two younger girls on their way out if they spoke English -- one of them gave it ago but thought her directions weren't good enough, so they let us follow them to the metro station and I felt like God was simultaneously laughing at us and helping us. We got back to the hostel and went right to bed. 

The next day we slept in and then went to a place called Bohemian Bagel. 

*ASIDE* I got to Spain on January 26th, and I have been craving a bagel since January 27th. I've searched all over the city - high and low - but haven't found any trace of anything even remotely resembling a bagel. Then one day, I came up with a theory as to why there are no bagels in Spain: late in the fifteenth century the Catholic Kings reconquered Spain from the Moors. They forced the Moors, along with the Gypsies and the Jews out of Spain. As you know, bagels are a Jewish food. No Jews to make the bagels, no bagels. No bagels, no happiness. I showed my host mother a picture of a bagel and she said she had never seen anything like that in her life. Hmmmm....

So this Bohemian Bagel place is owned by an American. I get there and order a sesame seed bagel with veggie cream cheese and my leg still begins to shake when I think about how good it was. To boot - they had fountain pop. ON TOP OF THAT - FREE REFILLS! Europeans can't wrap their heads around the concept of a refill, and I really think it's the one thing that could lead to world peace. Hahaha -- needless to say we went there for lunch that same day, then breakfast and lunch the next day, then BACK to buy bagels for snacks on the return trip home. What a love affair. 

After that, we went to the post office to mail the posters that we bought in Brussels to the US. We had to go on a baby goose chase to find poster tubes, but we felt very accomplished mailing them out so early and with the post cards too. It was actually pretty inexpensive which was unexpected but oh so pleasant. 

We went to the Charles Bridge and took some fly pictures,


then up to the castle which was much less interesting than what we thought... so we didn't even pay to go in, we just snapped a few courtyard photos and then left. Afterwords we got pretty heavy into souvenir shopping - mainly nesting dolls because I adore them and they were everywhere. I ended up buying one for myself, one for Lily and one for Colton. We made it to the John Lennon Wall after trying to track it down all morning... it was by far and away my favorite part of Prague. The graffiti was so pretty, and the messages we so clear.


I could have stuck around to soak it all in for a good chunk of time, but a big group of tourists showed up fairly shortly after we had started taking pictures, so we decided to split. We then went to a little market and I bought an absolutly lovely pashmina, a ring and some weird wafer-cookie type things that were supposed to taste like lemon, but didn't really taste like anything. The day slowed down quite a bit after that and I got pretty tired and pretty bored prettttttttty fast. We sat down for a drink, talked for a while... walked around some more... went to a random museum and then out to eat. Back to the hostel kind of early to sleep, which didn't really work out because we had these disgustingly obnoxious guys sleeping in the beds next to us who may have quite possibly been the worst snorers I have encountered in my life until this point in time. Douchebags. 

The next morning, after breakfast at BB, we went to seek out the Jewish Quarter. It was supposed to be pretty awesome... I was really excited about getting to see the cemetery, but we weren't allowed to go in at all, so I think we just decided to skip the synagogues too. The only glimpse we got to steal was through an iron gate outside the cemetery. Whah whah.


After that, we walked across the river and past the Charles Bridge again to go to Petrin Hill. It's kind of like the Montmarte of Prague, almost 400 feet above the city. The locals love hanging out there and it's pretty famous... Kafka wrote about it in his short story "Description of a Struggle," and it was part of one of Haley's favorite books called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." We took a little tram up the hill, then walked all the way down which was really relaxing. We got to the park and kind of separated to read and journal, but I got really cold after about a half hour so we left. We walked back home and pack up all of our stuff for the big trip back to Sevilla the next day, which took a while. Then we went out to dinner at a pizza place and back to the first Ice Cream cafe we went to the first night. It was really laid back and fun, and we got to go to sleep pretty early to be a little bit rested for the next day's journey. 

We took the shuttle back to the airport, checked our bags and then met up with our friends Lauren and Kate who had also spent the last few days in Prague. On the way out of the country, we got stamps in our passport... a little backwards, but I can't complain! Then we flew into London Stansted for a little layover and got another stamp there. YAY! We had to hang out in the airport for about four hours... but we just grabbed some food and drinks, people watched, did crosswords and lusted over all the awesome accents. Well... the latter was just me, but I don't mind admitting it. I CANNOT WAIT to go back in a month and explore all of the UK!!!

We arrived back in Sevilla around 9 pm, then fought like wild animals to get on the shuttle bus back to town. I walked into my apartment around 10, and my roommate was gone for the weekend, so it was nice to be able to have the room to myself... unpack my things and relax from a busy week of traveling. This past week I was a little sick with the head cold, so I didn't do too much other than resting up for the last leg of this semester. I'm sure I'll have more to say before that point in time... so keep checking! There's lots of others pictures besides those in-text here, so don't be shy. 

Love you all.  

No smirting with the waffles

Chapter 2: Brussels

We hopped on a bus and rode the 2 hours north to Belgium. Because it was a Sunday, we could only go to the bus station in the north of the city instead of the more central station. So we got off the bus and found a metro, then took that to the Midi stop… which is the neighborhood where we were supposed to be staying.

While we were planning this trip, Haley brought up this idea that she had heard of called CouchSurfing. It’s an online organization which basically facilitates free accomadation and cultural exchange for travelers. We signed up about a month back and reviewed a bunch of profiles for people in the cities we were to visit and emailed them to ask if they would host us… we had a taker named Jeff in Brussels. It was essentially like a blind date… we told him facts about ourselves, and gave us interesting tidbits and an address and then we were just supposed to show up whenever we got there. Unfortunately, he told us that he was traveling to the Netherlands that weekend, and wouldn’t be home until late Sunday night. So when Haley and I got to Brussels, we had to walk around with our 20 pound backpacks all day.

Back to the story… we emerge from the metro in the middle of nowhere. Correction, in the middle of the Ghetto. I had had this really romantic image of Brussels in my head – I thought it was going to be clean and full of gardens and fountains… but it’s actually a very ugly city. Hahaha. We wandered around aimlessly for about two hours, just trying to find the center because we knew that’s where we could go to pass the most time. Eventually we were pointed in the right direction and found it, but our energy and patience were both decreasing exponentially. Andrew’s friend Jean Louise had told us to go to this street near the center informally known as Kebab Street because of all of the Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants on it… and in the middle of all of our wandering… we stumbled upon the mythical Kebab Street. It was a like beacon of hope during the weary traveler’s darkest hour. We picked one random dive and stole a seat inside… a table for four because although we were only two, our bags took up the space of two grown men. We ordered average pitas – mine was beef with cucumber sauce and corn,


Haley’s was chicken with tomatoes and cucumbers… two Coca-lights…. And we were done. Life, as I knew it had ended. SOOOOOO GOOD. Everything I had every wanted out of life was manifested in this pita. For the only time during the entire trip, Haley finished her food before me, because I was too busy lusting to my food.

We stayed there for a while after we had finished and then decided to go chocolate shop hopping, in the hopes that we could get some free samples. All of the shops were the same – all were beautiful. It’s like in Brussels, they weren’t worried about making a pretty city, because the chocolate is the art. I forgot to tell you that I left my camera charger at Haley’s friend’s house in Paris, so I had to do without for most of the trip… but I wish I could have taken a photo of the chocolate shops for you all.

After the chocolate shops, we decided to take the plunge and get some famous Belgian Waffles… what else should we have done? When in Rome! Or… Belgium? Anyways… please forget anything you ever knew about waffles. Even then best, most exquisite and fantastical waffles ever conceived. Because they would pale in comparison to the real deal. In Belgium, they don’t waste their time with that batter nonsense – the waffles are made out of dough… dough which is made out of straight up love, sex, world peace, eternal bliss and probably lots of sugar.


You can get them plain, with powdered sugar, or even get fancy with fruit and chocolate sauce and whipped cream. But in my opinion that just complicates a relationship that should be very simple. And lovely. In my relationship with the Belgian waffle, I’m not sure who wears the pants… because for 48 hours straight I was at the waffles beck and call, but in the end I OWNED those waffles! Must be one of those life riddles.

We walked around a little and decided to sit down and have a beer… another thing famous in Belgium. Haley had something pretty authentic, but I, being someone that HATES beer, could only stand to order a raspberry flavored beer which actually didn’t taste like beer at all when I got it. I think it had like -1.4% alcohol too… so I felt real good about that decision ☺ About two hours later we found ourselves back on Kebab Street trying out a different restaurant, which wasn’t as good as the first, but still delicious.



We took the metro back to the ghetto, asked a taxi driver how to reach the address Jeff had given me, and then set out to walking. Remember the story I told you about the bars and cafes and Morocco? It was the second act of the same play – Jeff lived in the only Muslim neighborhood in Brussels. We got so many stares walking down the street at 10 pm with our big back packs. We finally made it… unscathed… to Jeff’s doorstep, rang the bell and then just prayed while we waited for him to come down. He was really friendly from minute one, very hospitable and accommodating. He told us all about Brussels, we had friendly conversation and all that jazz. Then went to bed in the pretty much the most awkward and uncomfortable silence ever.

The next morning we got up and went to an antique flea market that felt more like a massively unorganized garage sale than anything else. We spent about an hour there sorting through all the vendors' piles... Haley bought some cool tins and plates that she was happy with. I was kind of sad because I hadn't found anything, and then as we were walking out of the market, Haley looked at a random pile and was like "Alli, Look!!!!!" And when I turned my head I saw this colorful book sitting on the top of a pile. I went and picked it up... and... it was an antique copy of Alice in Wonderland in Dutch!! I WAS SO EXCITED. For those of you who don't know, I have an extreme and somewhat unjustifiable draw to that book, I hold the story very close to my heart and often incorporate it's ideas into my everyday ridiculous life. The book had so much character, and it was totally meant to be - plus it was only 3 euro, so you can bet I bought it! THEN, we found this often print and poster shop which we spent another hour in... I bought two absolutely amazing vintage pin up girl posters. They are uber feminine, ultra sassy and just the epitome of fun. I can't wait to hang them up in my new apartment when I get home!

We walked around the city a little bit... grabbed some more chocolate, some more waffles, and of course another kebab. There was a ton of stuff to see in the city, but for some reason we were as happy as could be just eating and shopping. We set out to find Mannekin Piss - the famous statue of the little boy peeing - because we thought it was going to be this big expedition to find, but we wnded up walking down this little side street and almost missing it. Not because of the side street, but because it was like the most insignificant little statue EVER.


The fountain wasn't in the middle of a square or plaza, it was engaged in a small alley corner, and then peeing boy was about the size of an actual infant. I was real confused... maybe let down, but I had a belly full of belgian food so I didn't let it get to me too much.

We went home to Jeff's place and hung out with him for a while. I got online to check baggage restrictions for the new airline that we were going to fly on... and thank the LORD that I did check, because we would have gone to the wrong airport the following morning if I hadn't. We thought we were flying out of the main Brussels airport, but instead, we had to get on a bus that shuttles you to the "other" airport -an hour outside of the city! Man that would have sucked. We agreed to buy a bag and put our extra stuff in it and split the cost of checking it... so it was cheaper to do online and I felt really good about that decision.

That night we wanted to get one last kebab, so we decided to see if there was anything in Jeff's neighoorhood. We kept walking further and further down his street, until things started looking real familiar. All of a sudden we realized that we were practically a block away from the center... and it only took us abut 10 minutes to walk there! We had been spending somewhere around a half hour traveling via metro each time we went back and fourth from Jeff's to the center...


luckily we hadn't paid for any of the metro tickets, but still! We couldn't believe how small the city actually turned out to be abd how stupid we were not to have realized it sooner.

The next morning we got up at about 5:45, changed out clothes and walked back to the bus station. Thank God we left early because we had some serious problems finding the bus to shuttle us to the airport. It cost 13 euro each to get there, which kind of sucked but beggars can't be choosers in a situation like that, I suppose. We made it safely to the airport, checked in without any Madrid-like problems, and hopped on the plane to the Czech Republic... leaving our beloved waffles and kebabs behind.

Hey Mona Lisa, can I get a date on Friday? And if you're busy, I wouldn't mind taking Saturday-ay-ay

Just to prepare any and all of those of you who read these posts, this will be part 1 in a series of 3 to fill you in on my spring break. Listos? Preparados? YA!

On April 1, I set out on a 10 day adventure, which I was certain would be the biggest and best spring break -- the spring break to end all spring breaks if you will -- thus my traveling partner Haley and I deemed the trip "Armageddon." Spoiler alert: the trip totally lived up to that name. 

Wednesday morning, I woke up at 6:30 to catch the bus here in Sevilla to the train station. For some weird reason, the only train I could get was headed to Madrid an hour before Haley's... so it was slightly awkward timing wise, but it worked out great. The Ave (fast train line in Spain) took 2.5 hours to reach Madrid from Sevilla and it was such a very pleasant ride. The cars were really new and fresh, and the seats were ultra roomy, and although my train left from platform 7, I got to pretend it was platform 9-3/4 and that I was hopping on the Hogwarts Express for another semester at England's finest institution for witchcraft and wizardry. Ahhhh :) I got into Madrid around noon and waited for Haley until around 1:15, at which point we took the metro into the city; we had a few hours to kill until we had to make tracks to the airport, so we hopped off at a random metro stop and wandered around the city until we found this random park/driving range that was super inviting. We sat down and ate the bocadillos that our host mothers had made for us and just chit chatted for about an hour, then we found this wonderful bench in the shade and took a nap in the park like hobos for about 2 hours. A very relaxing way to start the trip. 

We took the metro to the airport, which was very efficient because it takes you right into the terminal. We made our first attempt to check in, but failed miserably because our low-cost airline of choice, EasyJet, tried to make Haley check her bag because it wouldn't fit in the absolutely microscopic bin they had designated as the cut off for carry-on baggage. It was supposed to cost 20 euro, so we had a mini confrontation with the woman, hopped out of line and then proceeded to unpack and repack both of our bags for the first time in what would be a series of 4 by the time we physically got on the plane. It was the most ridiculous thing in the world, and I was so frustrated about it that I was literally sweating and red in the face -- I thought I was going to have to straight up pop someone in the face because when I got on the plane, I was able to fit my bag and another in the overhead compartment. Yes, TWO bags. That should be a lesson from the get go for anyone who thinks they're getting away with a great deal on low-cost airlines... they will nickel and dime you, and harass you at the airport, so be prepared. 

But alas, we reached Paris safe and sound, all baggage in tow. And we even got stamps in our passports - hazaah! We were to stay with a friend of Haley's from college, so we hopped on the RER (a more extensive line of the metro running to al outer zones of the city) to a stop relatively close to the apartment, then we caught a tram to her block. We got off and had to keep walking until we found her house number, then call her on a payphone to let us into the building. It was quite the process, but we were glad to make it in one piece and to have a place to sleep - for free! 

The next morning we went to the grocery - one of my absolute favorite things to do in foreign countries for some reason. I just love the grocery! We bought cereal, juice, pretzels and other superfluous items to pack a lunch for our day excursion to VERSAILLES! Versailles is one of those places I've dreamt of going to since I read about it in like the seventh grade... two weeks after the fact, I still cannot believe I did it.  We took the RER again to Versailles, a city actually just outside of Paris. We were supposed to pay an extra fee for the zone change, but we saw other people hopping the metro gate, so we decided to balls up and do the same. $Free.99 never felt so good. We stopped into a little cafe for a coffee and a coke, a little pick me up if you will... and it was so funny when we asked for the bill because the bartender said some random number in French, and seeing as how neither Haley nor myself speak French we just stared at him. Then he ever so nicely reached around to a coaster and wrote the number, then we all proceeded to laugh out loud at how silly it was. This was the start of a very friendly line of French people we encountered throughout our stay in Paris - in fact, I will just go ahead and get this out of the way: whatever rumors you have heard or stereotypes you might have in your mind about how unfriendly, arrogant and pretentious the French are, just replace the French with every average Spaniard and you'll be more on the right track. En serio - the French were so kind to us, it was a really refreshing change of pace from being in Spain and I soaked up every minute of it. 

So - back to Versailles. *Sigh* for Versailles. We rounded the corner of the avenue leading up to the Chateau, and I swear when I caught my first glimpse of it all I heard the sweet harmonies of a chorus of angels singing.


The front gates are made completely of gold, and they are immaculately polished and shiiiiiiiny. The front courtyard was impressive - it was like the greeting you get from a party host... warm and intimate, like a personal invitation to come inside and make yourself at home. We spent the big bucks on our admission tickets so we could see everything - and I didn't even care because I was so excited. The first stop was an exhibit in the Chateau about the history of the court: mainly portraitures of the famous Louis XIV and his counterparts that made Versailles their home. The second part was an exhibit about fashion at the French court - and it was so awesome! They had Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's coronation outfits on display, in addition to several other pieces indicative of everyday style in that time. It was really amazing to see how small-framed people were back then, both how thin and how short they were. And the way they fashioned women's apparel was sooooo funny - they put petticoats and metal or wooden frames under their dresses to create the weirdest profiles, HUGE, over-exaggerated hips and tiny tiny tiny waistlines. It was beautiful though. 

Next we got to walk through some of the Palace rooms: chapels, dining halls, drawing rooms, offices, receiving rooms, throne rooms, bed chambers. Everything was so ornate and detailed. Such brilliant color schemes and vivid decor on every surface.

We got to go through the Hall of Mirrors, the central gallery in the palace and probably one of the most famous rooms in the entire world. Every inch of the room was covered in gilded mirrors, flanked with windows that reached from floor to ceiling; crystal chandeliers hung from the center walkway and reflected the sunlight right onto the mirrors which in turn set light dancing into every corner of space in the room. Amazing. Just amazing. 

We had a picnic lunch in the main garden/courtyard and just people watched for a while, then we decided to take a mini train out to Marie Antoinette's estate - Le Petit Trianon. It was basically this mansion on the northwestern part of the estate that Louis XVI gave to Marie Antoinette to escape from the life at court which she so hated. We also got to visit her private hamlet and gardens, which was probably my favorite part of the entire trip to Paris. It was so green, so tranquil and genuinely felt like it was a little piece of heaven here on earth. Her palace was gorgeous - nowhere near as overdone as the main Chateau, but still so beautiful and rich.





We walked through the little paths that carved their way all through the estate; we visited the Temple of Love, the little animal farm, the grotto, the lake houses and the vineyard. The daffodils were blooming all over the place - greeting us with only the friendliest disposition like all daffodils do. I could have stayed there forever.   

That night we stayed in the apartment and made cheese ravioli with tomato sauce... washed it down with a decent bottle of riesling and turned in pretty early. The next morning we got up and about, packed out things and moved ourselves to another friend of Haley's, Andrew. He's been living in Paris for 3 years studying film at an international university in the city. When we got there and dropped off our things, we headed right out to do some sight seeing. It felt like we were in a completely different city than before... Andrew's apartment was right in the heart of Paris, only about a ten minute walk from Notre Dame. That was our first stop of the day, and it was beautiful.

Even though I thought I was pretty churched-out from all the cathedrals I've seen on my Spanish adventures, I was still amazed at the beauty of it all. My amazement will never cease at beautiful and painfully meaningful things people have created for God. It restores my faith a little more and more every time. 

After that we walked around that district in search of a market to buy some meat and cheese for a picnic lunch... it took us about a half hour, but we finally found this small grocery where we bought some brie and salami. We bought a baguette at a bakery and then hopped on the metro to go to - drum roll please - La Tour Eiffel!

When we got off the metro, we couldn't see the tower and had no idea which way to go, but we got pointed in the right direction and when we turned the corner into the park and I saw the tower for the first time, my mouth literally dropped open. It was so big! I mean tremendous! I had no idea how big it was going to be, but my breath was just taken away at the monumental-ness of it all. (By the way - that's what she said...) We walked under the tower to get to the grass knoll on the other side, and I just kept looking up to take it all in... I'm pretty I experienced a little bit of vertigo or something. We found a cozy spot and sat down to have our oh-so-French lunch. Haley's friend Kira met us there and we just sat around in the sunshine for a while, then tried to take some funny pictures with the tower. We grabbed a fresh crepe with nutella and banana, a few diet cokes, then set out for a walk through the city. 

We wound up at the Arc de Triopmhe - which was crazy big! The roundabout of traffic circling it had to be at least 8 lanes wide, and you can't access the arch from the sidewalk,  you have to go through an underground tunnel to come up right in the middle. We admired it from a distance, but I still thought it was amazing.

I had to pee like crazy, so we randomly stopped into a cafe and I discreetly snuck into the restroom than walked out with Kira - but right before we got to the door, the bartender stopped her and yelled at her. Apparently the bar wasn't open for people to just use the restroom, so I had to come back in and buy something to pay for using the restroom. She came out laughing and told me what he said... and although he was really serious, I was like, really? We thought about making a run for it, but Haley needed a pick me up anyways so she bought a coffee. It was real stupid of him to be such a douche, in hindsight. 

After we finished paying or dues there, we walked down the Champs Elysees (the most famous street in Paris - lots of cafes and super expensive stores) and enjoyed people watching. 

We took the Metro back  to Andrew's and had crepes for dinner. Afterwards, Kira, Haley and I went to Pont Neuf - which is the oldest standing bridge over the Seine in Paris... more importantly though, it's the bridge from Sex and the City when Carrie makes her sojourn to Paris. DEEEEE!

On Friday nights people go there to drink wine and just hang out. It was fun to do something other than tourist stuff, and I was thankful to have Kira there. We didn't stay out as long as we could have, because the wind next to the river was cutting through my fleece like a cold knife. Kira took us to the Louvre to see the pyramid at night before we hopped on the metro and went home. 

The next morning we woke up early to go to the Louvre for real. Surprisingly enough, we didn't have to wait at all in line. We got our tickets and a map and designated two hours of the day to tour the facility. What a joke. I had no idea how large and in charge the Louvre was in actuality. There's nothing to compare it to- nothing. Haley said she once read that if a person were to look at every piece of art in the collection for about 5 minutes, it would take them more than 30 whole days to see everything. I was truly overwhelmed looking at the map - I didn't know where to start. I really wanted to see some of the ancient art - especially the Mesopotamian reliefs.

And or course we went through the Renaissance section... I turned the corner into that wing and Rachael, all I could think of was the Lingo and I screamed CIMABUE!
I was looking for a Giot-to, but alas, he wasn't there. I hung out with Mona and Madonna for a while then moved onto the large-scale French pieces, mostly from the neoclassic and romantic periods, but so worth it. I was SO PROUD of myself for recognizing works and styles and recalling facts like I did. I don't often get to apply anything I've learned in my art classes, but I felt vindicated for about an hour that day... even though I think I bored Haley to death with the random things I was saying. Mrs. Lash, you would have been proud, too.

Afterwards, we stopped and had lunch at a gyro stand and then headed to the Cemetery Pere Lachaise... the biggest and best in Paris. For some odd reason, I love cemeteries. They are so relaxing... maybe because everyone there is dead and doesn't bother you. It's just such a tranquil environment, and there's always the most beautiful, enveloping trees to shade you and keep you company on a low-key day. Pere Lachaise is HUGE, like everything else in Paris. Instead of your typical gravestones though, most of the graves are mausoleums, or basically small scale houses! There's ivy crawling all over the unique and beautiful headstones and mausoleum doors and as far as you can see.
Basically famous French artist of the modern era is buried here, as well as playwrights, poets, politicians, etc. The most two graves are Jim Morrison from the Doors and the author Oscar Wilde;
We took a long walk through the grounds but made sure to stop at both of those sites. 

Last stop of the day was Montmarte - the highest point in Paris which provides a panoramic view of the city. It's something like 400 feet above the city and is famous for the basilica Sacre Coeur.


I was exhausted at this point in time - being on my feet walking through the museum and then the cemetery wore me out enough, but we had to climb some 200 steps (literally) to get out of the metro, and then at least another 200 to get to the top of the hill. I thought my knee was going to implode. The things we do for Paris. 

That night we went back to Andrew's and packed up all of our junk so we could make a quick and clean exit the next morning to catch the bus to Brussels. We had a tasty meal of chicken shawarma and ice cream, then watched a string of hilarious youtube videos with Andrew and his friend Jean-Louise. It was so low-key and so pleasant... a perfect way to end the first leg of the trip.