Fascists, Fascists... Everywhere

Friday morning, the entire Villa went off to Rome for the weekend with our history Professor. The intent was to meet an Italian historian who specializes in urban development in Fascist history.. Yeah... not as exciting as it sounds. We went to out hotel first and got settled before heading out on a long... hot... bus ride 3 miles outside the city center to look at the EUR center forum where Mussolini sought to establish basically, a Fascist city center that reflected the modern ideology and the Roman roots of the fascist regime. All of the buildings are in white marble, very block like, orderly, systematic... boring... Especially because the entire complex is a business center now, so there isn't much exciting going on out there now anyway. We spent a while wandering around until it became clear that we weren't really listening anymore. So thankfully, unlike Linda (art history professor), we cut the afternoon short and were free to roam! Below is part of the Fascist complexIn our chunk of free time, Mar, Sarah and I went to a few churches that are 'must-sees' but I didn't have time to see last week. The picture below is Sant'Ignazio which has a funny story. The church commission wanted to build this new magnificent, opulent church in Rome. They built this gorgeous base with lots of gold and frescoes and sculpture... yet ironically, they ran out of money before they could finish the dome. So they hired a painter to paint an illusionist ceiling of a dome. Seen below. It's pretty good from one spot, but has gotten dirty and looks less and less like a dome and more like a painting.

Outside another church, Sant'Agnese, which is in front of the Fountain of the Four Rivers (well known Bernini sculptures mentioned in Angels and Demons) The church was beautiful but it was much more interesting outside because of the following story. Apparently, Bernini and the architect of the church, Borromini, were at artistic odds. Bernini thought the exterior of the church was hideous, so it is rumored that the figure behind me in the picture below was shielding his eyes from the ugly facade. I thought it was too funny, so I had to imitate that! (it really wasn't ugly...)
After a few churches, we had to stop at an internet cafe so Sarah could 'find' her parents later, while there I saw a nun on the net! It was just too funny, the juxtaposition of conservatism and technology!
That night, Sarah was supposed to meet her parents at the train station, but never found them (poverina!) so we all met up and went out to dinner and yum!!! My new favorite thing is artichokes... I've always loved them, but fried artichokes are famous in Rome, specifically in the Jewish Ghetto. I basically had artichokes at every meal in Rome... fabulous!!Then we got a couple of bottles of wine and settled down in our hotel room to watch a chick flick! What a night!

The next morning, we met with our historian again who took us on our first stop, the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. This part of the tour was actually fascinating because we saw the balcony where Mussolin greeted the crowds the the piazza. As he was describing fascist propaganda, a neofascist parade began in front of us. A bunch of crazy men in bright blue outfits on cars drove by with flags and played loud nationalistic music. Talk about good timing!!
The historian also told us that when the monument was built, and when Mussolini decided to 'set up camp' in the building by the Colosseum, he basically ruined the ancient Roman Forum. 80% of the forum was destroyed or covered by the creation of the monument and by the creation of the imperial road that leads from Mussolini's building straight to the Colosseum. It's so sad that so much was lost... but it introduces a good point, regardless of fascism... how do we balance modernizing with preserving history? Food for thought...I have to note here that I am not wearing a jacket.... It may not be particularly interesting to anyone, but the fact that finally, the weather was nice enough where I didn't need one! WOOT!!!!

After wandering around the Roman Forum, we went a few miles north of the city this time to the sports complex that Mussolini created to foster the new strong Italian man. Unfortunately, everything was closed, but we got a quick glimpse at the Olympic Stadium. While waiting for the historian to get his thoughts together and try and talk his way into the stadium, Sarah and I had to indulge ourselves in another photo montage... here's one from he selection of many! For the afternoon, Mariana and I wandered Via del Corso, got lunch and went shopping! Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain to get gelato at a world famous site that was 'discovered' by the NY Times. It was fantastic and such a wonderful day! We met up with two others to take the train back Saturday night so I could spend all day Sunday writing a paper... for my fascism class.... somehow I managed to relate pseudo-Futurist/Cubist art to the fascist regime! yeah!
A dopo!

Church Hopping on Monday

Since everything was closed the few days before, Monday was our opportunity to finally go into all the churches we missed! First stop was to visit one of my favorite Bernini's sculptures... The Ecstasy of St Theresa. It's so well studied, and yet many people often neglect how gorgeous the actual church is and the opposing statue across the chapel from Ecstasy. We wandered around he church before running over to Santa Maria del Popolo to try and see Caravaggio again. We made it there just before it closed and I was so excited to finally see both paintings! It seems odd to me that the paintings are actually positioned across from each other in a side chapel, not on display to see from the front... it's interesting that two such famous paintings are tucked back in a corner with a less than prime viewing position... nevertheless... AMAZING!!!
Our last stop in Rome was then the Trevi Fountain. It was super crowded but the fountain is soo cool! It's tucked away between a bunch of buildings, not out in the open. I got out 3 coins to try and get a picture of me throwing the coin in over my shoulder... this one was one of many :) Of course, I knew well that I would be returning to Rome the next weekend with my history professor, so it must work! right!?
Hopefully I will get to go back and really enjoy the history and the food and the weather next time! Anyone want to go back with me!?

We were being punished for not going to church on Easter....

Sunday was by far the most miserable weather when we were in Rome. It was raining from the beginning... of course... since we had planned on doing all our outdoor activities in Ancient Rome. Our first stop was the Colosseum. The line (despite the weather) was sooo long and wrapped around the Colosseum. We stood in line for almost 2 hours, soaking wet, trying to stay excited about seeing the inside! It was an uncomfortable experience, but made it in, just as the rain lightened up! The picture below is Therese and I once we were finally inside! In an attempt to keep my camera dry I cut out the actual Colosseum!It is such a neat environment and it would have been fascinating to get a more detailed history, or even a tour of the place. An unlike the Arena in Verona.. we didn't have the opportunity to do a photo montage of a Gladiator fight....
After wandering for a while and looking at the different exhibits in the Colosseum, we decided to get a quick lunch and take a quick, practically running tour of the Roman Forum. The sun finally came out and we got to see a little bit of it before we had to run up to the Villa Borghese for our appointment to see the Museum. We made our way and got to the Museum in just enough time to discover that the reservation never went through and the museum was booked for the afternoon... ugh! So instead, we wandered around the gardens and decided to go to Piazza del Popolo before the weather turned for the worse again. Santa Maria del Popolo is a famous church there with two of the most famous Caravaggio paintings, The Conversion of St Paul and the Crucifixion of St Peter. I was so excited to see them, but.... the church was closed! Surprise!!
At that point, we decided to give up and head back to our hotel to dry off and sleep the day off. Thankfully, there was a great pizzeria open in our neighborhood. We had a bottle of wine and some food, before watching Georgetown lose the basketball game... sniffle... a sad day...

Porn in Pompeii.... Day Two

Yeah, so the next day, we woke up uber early to take a train to Napoli, then another train to Pompeii. It was not the easiest process to get there, but well worth the long journey! (I never really realized how far Pompeii is from Rome!) Anyway, as mentioned before, the weather sucked and was raining pretty much the entire time, but the ruins were incredible! Pompeii is soooo huge and its like a maze... which made navigating interesting since our map was soaked and ripped about 10 minutes into our self guided tour!

This is me trying to be an ancient statue in the rain.... I think I survived better than the rest did!
Since we spent the whole day wandering through ruins, it's not necessary to recap everything, but the highlights included the Villa of Mysteries and of course, the ancient whore house with pornographic frescoes.
** Sorry for the graphic photos.... but I couldn't believe that they took the time to make pornographic frescoes! Those silly people from Pompeii, they must have been a riot... well until they all were covered in ash... hmm
That was all we did Friday since it takes so long to get there. Friday night we had to change hotels but we so excited to have comfortable warm beds and some English tv channels! Even if it meant I had to deal with the *way too flirtatious* hotel manager.

Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place....Day One

So this last weekend was Easter Break for Georgetown students. Like many Italians, I decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome for the holiday. Thursday night I took a train down to Rome and met my best friend from Georgetown, Therese, who is studying in Athens. I arrived and made my way through the graffiti filled streets around Roma Termini to the hotel. I got there early, and even though it was my 'break' from speaking Italian, I could not resist watching the soap opera we watch at Flavia's house each night! The rest of the night was uneventful considering we needed to rest before our epic 3 day tour of Rome.
The next morning, we found a small open air market for breakfast then headed over to Vatican City!!

*Small side note* This is so I don't have to include it throughout the blog, but the weather was miserable in Rome, we were really only dry when we were asleep in our beds at night... hence the title of the blog (from Singing in the Rain) It rained everywhere we went except for a few moments of sunshine... stupid stupid rain...
This is me as a not so Pius pope... :)
So anyway, the line at the Vatican was already wrapping around the neighborhood, so we waited for a little more than an hour to go into the Museums! It thankfully wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be but still not any where close to being empty! Once inside, we made our way through the various exhibits, seeing all the gorgeous statues (without their penises of course... silly Pope...) Finally, after hours of wandering, we got to the Raphael rooms and I got to see the School of Athens!!!!!!!!! Oh man... it's so neat to finally see something you've studying for years and truly appreciate everything about it.
After the Raphael rooms, we climbed up some stairs and get to enter the Sistine Chapel!!! I must say, the room is pretty overwhelming, almost too overwhelming to absorb it all! I really wish I could see it by myself and have a chance to lie down on the floor and just look at every detail! Almost makes me jealous of the Cardinals and Pope who get the opportunity to see the room without hundreds of other Tourists!! After the exhausting run through of the museums, we braved the weather to go see St Peters Square!
There was a line to get into the basilica wrapping all the way around the piazza, but we got in it anyway. We were a little more than half way through the line when we realized that the line was only for people who had tickets to see Good Friday mass! We got kicked out of line and decided to drown our sorrows (and dry off) in a coffee shop with some hot chocolate. By the time we finished and went back to the piazza, the line was gone and they were letting in the general public to see part of the basilica that wasn't blocked off for mass! So despite the seemingly bad luck, we still made it in! Unfortunately, we couldn't see a lot because of all the people watching mass (the Pieta was also blocked off), but I got to listen to part of Good Friday mass and even get a glimpse of the Pope!
After our adventure in the Vatican, we walked over to the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was like my own little Angels and Demons mini tour! Then off to Piazza Navona to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers. The main fountain was unfortunately covered with scaffolding, but eh... what can you do!Then we went to the Pantheon where we were lucky enough to make it in before they closed! It was raining pretty hard at this point, but it was kind of neat to see the rain come down through the oculus of the dome! We only got a few minutes before they actually began turning the lights out on us! So we headed over to a small restaurant across from the Pantheon for dinner! We even got some free limoncello for dessert! (yeah for being girls in a restaurant full of male waiters :)

Intimisimi's in Orvieto

This past Friday, Mar, Sarah and I traveled two hours out to Orvieto, a small town south of Florence. I would never have thought to go there if it wasn't for Miss Button, who studied there last semester with the UofA. All I have to say, is thank goodness she told me to go there! It probably is my favorite place I've traveled to this semester! Thankfully, unlike the rest of the week, the weather was so gorgeous! 70 degrees, sunny, perfetto! Oriveto is the typical, adorable, Italian town on a hill, surrounded by rolling vineyards and villas!
We took some pictures then decided just to spend the rest of the morning wandering around and exploring all the little wine/oil/clothes shops. Despite the fact that the town is small, they have a surprising number of commercial stores, like the Intimisimi. In Italy, there are underwear stores about as often as there are Starbucks in the States. We decided it was about time that we actually entered one... it was actually pretty funny because Italians have very different tastes than Americans do. We wandered out to the edge of the town to see the valley and I could not take enough pictures! It was too beautiful!
We then found a fantastic place for lunch and ordered bruschette, zuppa, and of course.... VINO! The three of us get along so well and had such a blast with a little bit of wine added! After il pranzo, we decided it was time to head over to the Duomo! Orvieto's Duomo is incredibly famous for its facade and definitely lived up to the hype!To make it even better, I saw a group of UofA students playing soccer next to the Duomo... I recognized the basketball shorts and nearly squealed! Anyway, after I got over the excitement of seeing people somehow connected to me in a foreign country, we went into the duomo and spent almost an hour in front of the famous frescoes, absorbing all we could from them as Mar read from her guide book about them. We then got some gelato and made our way back to the train ride... a nice leisurely ride.. until two american girls decided to sit next to us and talk really loudly! Who knew, I can spot Americans everywhere I go and they almost annoy me now.. just because so many of the American girls here don't make any effort to blend in and carry on having loud, personal conversations in public places... anyway...
It was a wonderfully relaxing day for once! Before I head off to Rome for Easter!

Au Revoir Paris!

On our last day in Paris, we basically touched on all the leftover sights of Paris. In the morning we went to the Musee Arme and say Napoleon's tomb. It was strange to see such a huge tomb for such a little man... and a disappointment because most of the museum was closed off. Because it was closed off, we didn't get to see a lot of Napoleon's personal things, or his horse, which is actually preserved and stuffed! I must admit I wanted to see it just because it's such a strange idea! After a leisurely lunch in a little park, we headed toward San Chapelle, which is basically a cathedral associated with the Justice building that is made mostly of stained glass.
After wandering around for a while, we decided to take a metro trip up to the 19th arrondissement (or region) where a famous church Sacre Couer is located on the top of a hill. The region is also known for being the home to the Moulin Rouge and the infamous sex shops of Paris. The church was fantastic! The most beautiful view of the city with soaring mosaics and funny street performers.
The actual streets leading to the Moulin Rouge were not as fantastic. Every other shop was either a sex shop or a live show location, all of which include crude pictures or creepy men who stand out front and try to get people to come inside for a show. The images were certainly enough and when one man baa'ed like a sheep at us and made a rude gesture with his hands at us... we picked up our pace! Finally we arrived at the destination and it honestly was not as fabulous as in the movie... yet we took our pictures nevertheless!!
After an exhausting vacation (can I even call it that?) Sarah and I made our plans to return to the villa on Sunday! Overall it was an incredible break, expensive, but worth every moment! I was pretty excited by the end to have my own clean bed and to eat some of Flavia's home cooked meals!
Until next time... ciao ragazzi!

Tombs, Gargoyles, Relics, oh my!

The next day in Paris was a blur of churches and monuments and then lastly the Louvre! First we went to the Luxumbourg Gardens to have a little snack by the water and watch all the people! There was an adorable Parisian girl in her little red raincoat that was running after the ducks... it was the quintessential French scene! We then realized that San Suplice was just around the corner, so we figured since it was in the Da Vinci Code, we should go see it! We went in during mass, so it was an eery setting, and basically went straight to the obelisk that Silas goes to in the book when he reaches the end of the false lead given to him.
After San Suplice, we went to the Pantheon, which was truly a hidden treasure in Paris. It wasn't something we had heard of before, but just happened upon it. Inside the pantheon there is a Foucault Pendulum which was really neat to see. In addition, many famous Frenchmen are buried there, Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, Alexander Dumas, etc.
After the Pantheon, we made our way to Notre Dame!! It was so awesome to cross the Siene and approach the facade, especially knowing that I have studied it for 5 years and finally get to see it in person! We rested outside with some hot chocolate, only to be approached by very persistent gypsies... they kept asking us if we spoke english, so Sarah and I spoke in italian for the rest of our time outside the church in the hope that the gypsies would leave us alone...
The inside of Notre Dame is one of the most incredible sights I've seen while abroad. The lighting in the cathedral is dark, and there's a specific smell, musty, incense-like... and of course, the windows are magnificent! We were lucky enough to get to Notre Dame as mass was about to start and we had a front row vantage point for the procession. Having never been to a Catholic mass before, it was an alien sight for me, this long line of old men, and a few women dressed in black lace. The first man with the orb and incense, swinging back and forth like some eery pendulum. After a while, three men came out holding glass cases, two of which I couldn't distinguish, but the middle one was obviously a wreath of thorns enclosed in glass... which I am assuming is claimed to be the crown of thorns. Just as they passed by us, a woman began singing a choir song for the mass and the whole experience was fairly moving, even for someone like me. Just the thought that we were in this famous cathedral where so many people have come to pay respects and the sheer size and beauty of the actual location was just overwhelming. It was really neat!
If the mass wasn't the highlight of the adventure in Notre Dame, climbing the towers def was! It felt like we were climbing forever, so many steps in Paris!!! But once we got to the top, the view is so awesome. Sarah and I had a lot of fun with the gargoyles, mimicking their poses. I think I won out with my serious stone-like face as a gargoyle... but it was another fun montage!
We then rushed over to the Louvre to get in at 6 PM for free!!!! On Friday nights, it stays open until 10 PM so that anyone under the age of 26 can come in a view everything for free!!! So we prepared ourselves for 4 hours in this huge museum! We first planned out how much time we were going to spend on each floor, but by the time we started actually going through, we realized there truly is too much to see!!!! After an hour and a half we decided to just make a bee-line for the famous stuff because we were so tired from walking everywhere and although the works of art are fascinating and some things I've dreamed of seeing, its exhausting to wander through a building for hours on end! We went straight for the Venus di Milo, Mona Lisa, Athena Nike, Madonna of the Rocks... etc and after 3 hours, we were too tired to continue and ventured back to the hostel to pass out on our beds!

Let me show you something

On Thursday Sarah and I went to Versailles! It was kind of an adventure finding our way there on the train system, but we made it in one piece! I didn't realize that Versailles isn't in the middle of no where booney's of Paris, but it is now surrounded by normal buildings and the like. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice, it was cold and windy and cloudy... but thankfully everything was still brilliant inside! We decided to splurge a little and pay for a personal guided tour through the palace, which would be too overwhelming on our own! Our tour wasn't for a few hours, so we got to go into the Royal Apartment (open for special exhibition) and see how these people lived!!
I must have taken a million and a half pictures because everything was so incredible and worth capturing (too bad I ran out of room on my memory card part way through). But we were going through the apartments, seeing how the family set up their dinner table and hearing stories about how the queen would give birth in public so people would be convinced she actually gave birth to the royal line.. Ugh!
The biggest problem while we there was the crowds!! Even though it isn't high tourist season, the number of people at Versailles was intense! They had to do major crowd control between each room of the apartments and even if you managed to fight your way in, you were literally sandwiched between people. Half the time I could barely lift my arm to take a picture without bumping people! It was not the most pleasant experience, but thankfully the views were worth it!
At the very end of the Royal apartment you finally enter into the Hall of Mirrors!!! It was so ornate and covered in so much gold and glass... its hard to imagine how one family could amass soo much wealth... or manage to take so much money from the government! It almost seemed like it was too much. I can't imagine living in a place where you don't even use all the rooms, or even see the other rooms! But all that doesn't stop me from admiring it and of course, taking a picture there! (me and my headphones )
After we finished with the Royal Apartments, we met our tour guide, Louis *not his real name, we made it up for various reasons I will describe later* He brought us to different rooms that are normally closed off to the average public * the plebs* First we went to the royal chapel, which was gorgeous, and he told stories about how the royal family and court lived. Only the King, Queen were allowed chairs in the chapel, the royal family each had one cushion, and everyone else in attendance had to stand and kneel on the hard marble... for 3 hour masses!!!! The procession was also quite complicated because no one was allowed to turn their back on the King, and of course, the King would stand at the top of the balcony at the entrance to the chapel... so people had to walk in sideways so they would not offend the King. The only person who was allowed to turn their back on the kind was not the priest, but Beethoven, who at the age of 8 came and played the organ for the king, and of course it would be impossible to play the organ facing away from the actual organ, so he was permitted!

The tour went on from there and Louis was hilarious. He was the typical French snob... I'm sorry to say, dressed to a T with his little sweater vest and thick accent. He kept saying things like 'our ancestors,' and 'we never did this...' and by the end we were all curious who these 'we's' were. So we asked him and he said he is one of the 280 something descendants of the royal family! I guess he gives tours because it's the only way for him to 'return home?' He definitely seemed like he wanted the royal family to reclaim power... it was quite funny!
Despite the aweful weather, Sarah and I wandered the gardens, which were not in bloom, nor were the fountains working, but since I was there, I just had to see it! After Versailles, we jumped on the metro for a quick view of the Opera house! I was practically giddy because you all know how much I LOVE Phantom of the Opera! It was so exciting to see the stairwell where they filmed and etc!!
Since we had such a long day, we decided a casual stroll through the touristy parts of Paris, the Arc and the Eiffel Tower. It was so gorgeous at night!!! We even got to watch the night show of the Eiffel Tower, which was so neat! It was quite a romantic evening, dinner at a quite Italian restaurant, the Eiffel Tower at night, a stroll along the Siene... all with Sarah of course!

665...666...667...668

On Wednesday, Sarah and I spend our first day in Paris!! The weather wasn't fantastic, but at least there was sunshine! Once we got settled into our hostel we decided to just wander over to the Eiffel Tower and start our tour of the city! Of course... as we started walking, it began to snow... I swear the weather is more temperamental in Europe than in DC! Finding our way to the tower was easy... we were about 6 blocks away... and it is kind of tough to miss! It was pretty exciting to see it for real and we decided that we might not have a better day to go up!!
Despite the weather and the fact that it was not high tourist season, there were a ton of people there! Before we even saw the line, Sarah and I decided we were going to climb the tower rather than take the elevator. We figured after all our Italian food we were due in for some exercise! Little did we know how much exercise we would actually get! 668 steps to the second level of the tower - as high as you are allowed to climb for a low price. It was quite a workout but the views made the entire climb worth it! Here's a panoramic shot of the view... the quality may not be great, but you get the idea...

After managing our way down... which was actually difficult because our legs were shaking so badly from the climb up... We then decided to head over to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. The sun was just going down and the lighting was gorgeous!! I didn't realize that the Arc is in the center of a traffic circle, which is quite busy. Because of all the tourists, the government created a tunnel that goes to the Arc so people are not crossing the busy street... thank goodness!!!
After walking around the Arc a few times (not much else to do) we began walking down the Champs Elysees, which is where all the shopping is! We scoped out a few restaurants to try but basically just walked, watching all the people and trying to absorb the Parisian life. At the end of the Champs Elysees, there is the Concorde Plaza with these beautiful gold and green fountains and it was a gorgeous place to watch the sunset!
The Plaza Concorde is right in front of the Louvre, so we continued our evening stroll to the front of the Louvre just so we could finally see the front! It was so exciting and I was just itching to go in! Instead of paying to get in for a few hours, we decided to wait until Friday, when it's free and we made our way back to the hostel, but not before checking out some souvenir shops first!
Here is a GORGEOUS sunset shot I got right before heading into the smelly bowls of the Paris subway...

I Can Hear the Bells

On Tuesday, our final day in Barcelona, Sarah and I took a morning trip to MontSerrat, a gorgeous mountain outside of the city where there is a huge Benedictine abbey. We took this little train with big windows up the step incline to the abbey site and when we got to the top we had the most magnificent views! Just as we got there, a storm was moving across the valley toward Barcelona and it was a beautiful sight!
We made our way to the abbey and went inside for a tour! It's pretty neat that the monks built such a beautiful abbey on top of the mountain, the detail and the decor made the whole ambiance very special. Inside the abbey, the church was full of gold mosaics and decor, including a stairwell dedicated to the female saints. Sarah found her saint easily... but I had to do some maneuvering to make mine work.
When we got to the top of the stairwell, there is a small chapel covered in gold mosaics and it has a wooden statue of the Virgin who is holding an orb in one hand. Apparently it's tradition to rub the orb and the Virgin will grant you wisdom! We both of course had to touch it... but I am starting to think the Virgin forgot about granting us wisdom... considering well... we're still the same goofy girls trying to find our way around Europe!
After touring the abbey, we ventured out to a lookout point to absorb the views! The rock formations were really unique and there was something about the depth of the valley that was reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. Sarah was a little afraid of the height and did everything she could to stay away from the edge, but I loved it!!
We brought our own lunch up to the mountain, so we found a little park bench to sit and eat on. As we were sitting there, I felt something on my head and looted at my shoulders to discover tiny white flakes! It was partly sunny... a little cool... and snowing!!!! There was obviously something magical about this mountain... because it was not weather conducive to snow...
After our wonderful mountain experience, we made our way back to Barcelona to take an evening trip to Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi cathedral. I didn't realize that the to this day, the cathedral remains unfinished. It was certainly the strangest cathedral I have ever seen! Gaudi's organic influences were widely present and there was an eery feeling about the place. Despite the oddity of much of being in an unfinished cathedral, the detail and sculpture was fantastic! Every figure was intertwining and engaged with its surroundings. The whole place was very unconventional and unique... one of my favorite sites!

On our last night in Barcelona, we went out for Paella again... and of course... more sangria and met Megan for our last evening on the town! We found a fantastic little bar that served the most delicious crepes I've ever had and actually ran into some other Americans, one of whom knew Megan's friend at Georgetown! Our entire spring break we were constantly surprised by the number of people we ran into that we knew! In Paris (the next leg of the trip) I saw several people wearing Georgetown t-shirts by the Eiffel Tower and by Notre Dame, had someone run up to me and ask me if I went to Georgetown!! It truly is a very small world! Anyway, we made our way through the hundreds of drunk Irish (soccer game) to our hostel... for me to discover that the sweatshirt I bought from Oxford was stolen out of my hostel room! I suspect our fellow roommate (Irish) may have returned drunk and pissed (Ireland lost) and may have taken it out of spite... who knows! But that was 15 pounds (British currency) gone to waste!
Next off to Paris!!!!!!!!!