St. Patty's Day in Dublin!

The amazing and attentive students that we are, five of us decided to skip class for nearly a week and go to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day. The bus, train, metro, bus, flight, bus combination was absolutely terrible, but by the time that we arrived in Dublin, we piled on all of the green clothing that we could find and headed out to the city for the parade. Being a little early, we made our way into our first pub where we found out that you cannot drink at all in the city before 12:30pm, so we sat and ate lunch and waited for the appropriate time to have our first drink in a city that was probably mostly wasted at this hour.

We made our way to the parade, which turned out to be super packed and you could not see a thing. People were jammed on the sidewalks, scaling statues and sides of buildings just to get a glimpse of what was going on. We decided that we were not going to be so crazy as to try to top anyone that was willing to stand on a little building ledge that was 8 feet off the ground, and headed into another pub to watch from there on the television. We then walked to our third pub, it is Dublin after all!

Everyone in the streets was completely decked out in tacky green outfits, with blow up hammers (to hit random strangers, of course!) and various St. Patty’s props. The one thing that was disappointing was that the river was not dyed green… perhaps that is only in Chicago, but I was almost certain that they would dye the river that runs through the city and atrocious shade of green!

The next day we went out to Howth, further north on the coast, to see some cliffs. We ate some fantastic, but expensive, fish and chips, and then saw some really great cliffs. The weather was appropriately cloudy and super windy, and slightly cold, but we loved every minute of it. We then headed back in to town to visit the Temple Bar area (highly suggest!).

Day three of the Dublin trip we took a train to the opposite coast of the country, Galway. Galway is famous for the claddagh ring, and we did a lot of shopping there. Prices were fantastic, perhaps because their economy tanked not that long ago, but especially compared to the south of France, you really just couldn’t beat it. We spent one night in Galway in a B&B which was adorable, and then headed back to Dublin to catch our flight home!

Flying back was a completely different experience. We flew from Dublin to Paris Beauvais, which apart from having the tiniest airport in the world (unofficially), is also the home to Paris Disneyworld. Shoot me. Our entire flight was full of kids and babies that were ecstatic to be going to Disney. Everyone was wearing Mickie Mouse ears and had on the sweatshirt of their favorite Disney princess. Of course, they proceeded to either scream, or cry, or puke the entire flight. When we landed we realized that we were in danger of missing our train back to Aix, so we ran through the airport, to the bus (1 hour 15 minute ride into real Paris) and then ran from the bus through the subway, and into the train station. Despite our efforts and jumping lines, we missed our train by 10 minutes and had to pay the extra to get on the next one home. Eventually, we made it back to Aix, but only after about 9 hours of travel hell. To anyone that is considering it, I would highly suggest against flying out of Paris Beauvais! It is really awful and not convenient by any means. The three euro bus, plus the fifty euro train, plus the fifteen euro bus, plus the two euro metro does not make the four euro Ryanair ticket out of Beauvais worth it!

And the Grand Finale.... MADRID!

I absolutely loved Madrid! Granted, we didn't see too much of the city in the daytime, but the nightlife is great, and the food is relatively cheap (but really, anything compared to the south of France is going to seem cheap).

We drank at a Sangria bar that only served authentic Spanish Sangria that had a little brandy in it- just enough to make it nice and warm and sweet. Plus, this Sangria only cost 10 euro per pitcher (not like that rip off in Barcelona!). We ate at a really great tapas bar, El Tigre, where you go up and order a beer for 3 euro and then they bring you all your food for free! Tapas is the Spanish cuisine that is kind of like eating a bunch of appetizers for your meal. They are all small finger-foods like a piece of baguette with sausage, ham, cheese, vegetables, Spanish tortilla, anything at all. And they are so good! So we all got a beer and the guy brought out about 8 plates full of tapas! It was definitely a good experience.

I just really enjoyed the culture of the city. Even though it is the capital, I felt like it was more authentic "Spanis" than Barcelona. Nothing felt staged, and the city felt safer than in Barcelona, although once we got back we heard about the kidnapping and death of a 6'5" American guy, so I guess the city is just as dangerous as any other big city.

Our hostel was really fun. It was the first one that we have stayed in where they really set it up for the common areas and so you meet people from all over the world. On Saturday night the kitchen (the main common area) had about 30 people in it. Everyone was cooking, or drinking, or just hanging out. We had Italians, Germans, Americans, Venezuelans, French, and Spanish all in one room. And between all of us, communication was not hard. It was a pretty funny night- some Spanish guy was cooking intense Spanish cuisine with his shirt off, the French guys were drinking rum mixed with brown sugar, the Americans were playing Euchre, and the Italians were walking around without shirts just to show how Italian they were. It was really fun and we all had a great time. I felt sorry for anyone that was actually trying to sleep in the hostel because it was impossible. We were all way too loud and there were just too many of us. But all in all it was a fantastic hostel for the environment and you couldn't get any closer to all the action in the city. We were right in the middle of it.

We went to one club in Madrid, Kapital, and it was really fun. A little Cancun-esque. Four floors with paid dancers on the stage and cool air shooting down in columns from the ceiling. It was really fun and the clubs don't close until... maybe 6am? I have no idea really, they seemed to just never close.

We met a ton of people and made a lot of friends that we are still in contact with and will possibly run into in our further travels in Europe! That would be crazy haha reunions already!

Not Going Back to Ibiza....

While Ibiza was beautiful, I have to say that it was incredibly disappointing. By most accounts, Ibiza is supposed to be the "Unidisputed Party Capital of the World". False. Perhaps in the summer, which I actually highly doubt, but this is certainly not the case in the winter. I understand that we went during off-season, but I honestly wonder if people move to the island for the summer and then move to mainland Spain for the other seasons. There was simply no one on the island!

The first day that we got there, it happened to be some random island holiday (only for the islands right there) and absolutely everything was shut down. We hardly saw anyone that first day, no stores were open, no restaurants were open, but we were content with the fact that our hotel balconies looked out onto a beach with beautiful views. The second day was not much better. We were hoping that the island would come to life, but it didn't. The siesta hours were impossible to figure out. I know that I joke that they don't actually work in France, but they really really don't work in Ibiza. Nothing would open until around noon, then they would close from 4pm to 8pm for siesta, then they might open again at 10pm for dinner. Super random schedule, and they were never held to these hours either. Everything on the island was overpriced and the food wasn't even that great (although we did have a really good breakfast one day).

So, we tried the beaches. It was cloudy. They were nice, but not particularly large, or private, or the nicest sand, or really anything that would make me describe them as all that stunning. Granted it was the beginning of March, so we let this slide.

Next, and last, on the list to try was the nightlife. Nothing was open that first night, so we were stuck hoping that our second night would be fantastic. We found the only club that is open in the winter, luckily it was near our hotel, but it turns out that they were actually closed too. They only open on Fridays and Saturdays (this was a Wednesday). Alright, option two, a bar. Nope. We tried to go into one that looked like it was at least open, and it turned out to be a gentleman's club. As soon as we walked in some lady came running up and was like no girls no girls! After that we just tanked and decided that partying in Ibiza does not exist at all in the off-season. It was a huge disappointment. I can't say how the parties are on the weekend, maybe they are ok, but I really don't see that much potential in the island.

It was one of the poorest islands I have ever seen. There were hardly any parts that were built up, and certainly no high-rise hotels or anything. The island was big enough to have a McDonalds, but at this point, who isn't? Even with an influx of tourists in the summer, the island cannot physically support that many people and I can see no way that they party harder or bigger than they do in Cancun. So in my book, this myth is BUSTED!

Barcelona!

Ok so we spent 8 days in Spain for our winter break and we just got back yesterday. We visited Barceolona, Ibiza, and Madrid and I figure I will break this up by city, so here it goes!

We took the night bus to Barcelona which was.... miserable. There was absolutely no chance of sleeping the entire ride because the bus driver drove like a madman. We took a "break" at a rest stop. It lasted an hour. It was just so miserable, and then we finally got into Barcelona and it was 5am, so there are people haggling us because they are just getting back from the bars and everyone is drunk and we're just four American girls with suitcases looking for our hostel. Luckily there was someone at the hostel to check us in, and the staff there ended up being very nice and the hostel itself was fantastic- definitely my favorite one so far.

Barcelona in general was kind of disappointing. I find the Gaudi and Dali architecture to be really weird and kind of creepy. The city was more modern than I thought it would be, and it didn't feel as Spanish as I had pictured in my mind. We ate dinner at a tapas bar (which is basically miniture size portions of things and you get a few of them) and got royally ripped off when we ordered sangria. I figured it would be cheap because we're in Spain, land of Sangria, but when we got the bill it was 38 euro. Such a joke. So it was annoying to continually get ripped off. I feel like we're past that stage now, but there are different scams in every country.

The markets in Barcelona are amazing. There is so much food (and I'm sure a lot of pickpockets too) and it's all very cheap. We bought a head of cauliflower for 1 euro. It was nice to eat a vegetable for once (don't tell my mom I said that!).

We also took a cable car ride up to the top of a mountain/hill that overlooked the whole city and that was very nice.

Marley's 21st birthday was while we were in Barcelona and we took her to a bar called Chupitos that does a lot of entertainment drinks. They have the Finding Nemo (they put an M&M in the shot in some whipped cream and you have to find it before you drink it), Harry Potter (lots of flaming involved), a Boy Scout (you roast a marshmallow on the countertop that they set on fire, put the marshmallow in your shot, then drink). We got to the end, and decided to go for a big one for her, so we got her the Viking. She was blindfolded while they put a viking hat on her and the bartender proceeded to beat her helmet with a club while she drank. It was absolutely hilarious, and people all over the bar were doing drinks like this, so it was a pretty crazy atmosphere. I put up an epic photo of Marley, just for your benefit haha.

All in all, Barcelona was cool, but I don't think I would go back unless I was with someone that knew the city very well and could show me the cool things that are away from touristy areas. And I certainly will not be taking the night bus again.

Winter Break!

We're leaving for a few hours for our winter break vacation in Spain! We will be in Barcelona, Ibiza, and Madrid. Hopefully the weather holds out because right now it is supposed to be 55-65 degrees and no rain all week, so I hope that's true! This would be the first trip where it doesn't rain on us.

Marley is turning 21 while we're in Barcelona, so that should be fun. We're all pretty excited about this trip and have fairly high expectations, so I hope that Spain lives up to it! You'll be hearing back from me in a week, and hopefully with only good stories!

Carnival in Nice

Halloween, meet the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Carnival is nothing compared to American 4th of July parades. It has a creepy factor that is akin to Halloween, and it is normal for everyone to dress up in costumes. Little boys were running around dressed as Buz Lightyear and Spiderman, while the little girls were dressed as Snow White and a series of mermaids and witches.

The city of Nice was not decorated, really. There were a few things here and there, mostly signs, that suggested that it was Carnival time, but I really expected the whole city to be dressed to the nines for the whole thing. Not so. Apparently Carnival itself is a parade, mixed in with some other fun games and events. The parade lasted about an hour and a half, which was much longer than I expected. There was a mixture of gigantic floats, all with moving parts and specific themes, dancers, men on stilts, people in costume, gigantic floating balloons, and other people to run around and shoot streamers at the crowd. It was complete chaos. The spectators are encouraged to buy silly string and confetti, and it is acceptable to throw it or spray it at anyone and everyone. Needless to say, we joined in. The people in the parade are not so happy when you spray them, but the little kids all over love that an “adult” would want to play with silly string with them.

In the States there are all these rules about how you cannot get close to the floats. There are fences, police and security officers, and blocked roads. None of that exists in Nice. We practically stood in the parade. You could touch the floats, you could run in around the people in the parade, or cross the street whenever you wanted. There were also a lot of things that would have been deemed inappropriate in the US, especially considering there are so many children. A lot of the floats that depict women show them topless, or entirely naked. The music that plays is certainly not a radio edit. Christina Aguilera’s “Lady Marmalade” played, with the section that asks, Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir? We’re in France; they can understand that. At least in the States, the majority of children won’t know what that means. American songs played that clearly had cuss words in them, and one man walked in the parade dressed as Tarzan, with a Jane doll that he held at interesting positions. By doll, yes, I mean a blow up doll. But, different culture, different expectations.

So many people participate, that it’s a wonder there is anyone to watch, but with the huge influx of tourists every weekend, I’m sure that they make a killing. Carnival continues for three weeks with different events held on different days. The parade will run every day of the three weekends, but this was the first weekend, so likely the best parade.

While we were there it rained nearly the whole time, which was a little disappointing, but the party continued on nonetheless. The city was trashed afterwards- confetti, silly string, all kinds of trash, and streamers all caked onto the roads, benches, floats, and people.

It was very good to see Nice, which I can only imagine is incredibly beautiful when the weather is good. It was beautiful yesterday, and it was raining and a little cold, so I would love to go back sometime when it is warmer and actually see the beaches. We ate the Niceoise specialty, Socca, which is kind of a crepe that is then roughly cut up. It’s not sweet, and it’s thicker than a crepe, kind of the consistency of something made out of cornmeal, and it doesn’t have much flavor, but with a little salt and pepper, I thought it was very good. Not sure how it became a specialty, but I’m sure that if you mixed something in with it, it would be fantastic.

OM Game

Saturday night we went to Marseille to witness our first European soccer (football) match. Prior to leaving, everyone had warned us that we should really go with a guy because people would harass us a lot, but we figured that a group of 7 girls would be able to protect themselves. While walking in town, we weren’t so much as harassed, but encouraged as OM fans. We got a lot of cheers (“Allez OM!”) and a lot of “I love you”s.

We made our way to the Official OM Gear store, and almost all of us bought jerseys (kids size, of course, so they were only 15 euro). We then went and ate stadium food outside the Velodrome and made our way in. Of course, you can’t enter the arena and then walk all the way around it, like in the States. You have to go to the correct entrance to begin with; otherwise you can’t get to your seats. Naturally, we were at the farthest point from our entrance, and had to walk probably the better part of a mile to go through the surrounding streets to get to the other side of the stadium.
Once inside, the atmosphere is amazing. The fans are incredibly dedicated with each end of the stadium having their own “cheer leader” on a loudspeaker. Sections cheer regardless of what the other sections are doing, and each also has their own music, so there is always a lot going on. Confetti rains down on the spectators and massive flags are waved throughout the entire game.

There was no national anthem, no club anthem; they just kind of started playing. There were about 100 fake injuries during the course of the game, and I have to say the acting was less than convincing, but if the player laid on the ground long enough (most likely while the play was continuing because the ref didn’t believe him) the medical crew would run out with the stretcher, everyone would begin to almost be concerned, and then he would pop up and sprint away. I’m not sure if OM was playing their sixth string, or what, but I have to say that they looked very sloppy and not very impressive on the field. People in the stands started making paper airplanes out of the magazines that they had been given at the door. So while the players were faking injuries on the fields, the stands were going crazy with paper airplanes, some of which even made their way all the way down on to the field.

OM ended up winning 2-0 against Saint Etienne. It was a very fun atmosphere, although maybe not the greatest game in the world. I would highly recommend seeing a soccer match in Europe where the sport means so much more than it does in the States.