Going out with a BANG!

Holy crap! My last weekend in Barcelona just passed.... wow. I think I might start crying.

So, since it was our last weekend we had to do it BIG! On Friday night, Jesse, Zoe and I wanted a girls night, just us. We went to this Mexican restaurant close to our apartment that we always passed and noticed that they had cheap drinks and food but we hadn't gone to it yet. It was delicious! Four euro margaritas and tequila sunrises, oh and did I mention they were super strong?! The food was so good and fresh. After dinner we came back to the apartment to drink a little bit more before we headed to a bar/club, called Broadbar, decently close to our apartment. We left around 1 and on our way to the bar I asked this group of Spanish people if the street we wanted was the the next one and then we started talking to them. They were in their upper 20's and heading to another bar. They convinced us to come with them instead and we said "why not?!" We went with them to a bar called Novo and it was so much fun because we were the only Americans there. I love places like that, I feel like I'm truly living in Barcelona when we go to places where we are the only Americans. The people we met were really sweet and bought us a drink but we still wanted to go to Broadbar so we only stayed for like 45 minutes. By this time though it was like 2:30 so when we got to Broadbar we only had like 15 minutes before it was closing. We still went in and danced for a little but when it closed we decided to just head home.

When we woke up on Saturday, it was gorgeous out! Jesse, Zoe and I decided to go spend the afternoon sitting in the big parc, Parc Ciutadella. When we got to the park we realized there was this festival thing going on. It was pretty hippy, but it was kind of like the Mdidlebury festival with all the store and food vendors, but way bigger. Since it was a hippy festival, they only had vegetarian/organic food but we found a pita with a veggie burger that was so good. We then went and sat in the park for like three hours. Jesse and Zoe actually have stuff to worry about this week with finals, so they studied while I listened to music and did some crosswords. It was a relaxing afternoon, which was needed because we had BIG plans for Saturday night.

There is a HUGE club called Razzmatazz. The club is in a huge warehouse, it was three floors, with like five different rooms. There is one huge, main room right on the first floor. On the second floor there is like a catwalk/ balcony that you can see down into the main room. The other four rooms are smaller but still pretty big. Then at the very top there is a terrace where you can go and see so much of the city, it is amazing. The club is very Spanish and few Americans go but we had heard it was ridiculous and so much fun. So of course we had to check it out! We said that if we went, that means we have to party Barcelona style and stay till it closed - at 6 am!

Zoe, Jesse, and I met up with Mike, Jake, Alex, Will and Corbin at one of their friends apartments to pre-game and then headed to the club. When I walked in I was seriously speechless. There were so many people there and the place was HUGE! So much bigger than I expected. I would guess there was probably about 3,000 people there. NUTS! We had to pay 15 euros for cover, but that included a drink so we all got our drinks and then got to dancing. It was so much fun! We stayed on the main floor for a while and then decided to check out the other rooms. I remember there being a pop room, a techno, and an oldies. It was amazing. And guess what! WE MADE IT! WE STAYED UNTIL IT CLOSED! We were so proud of ourselves!

At Razz

Jesse had left early because she had heels on and her feet hurt so Zoe and I started trying to get a cab to head home. Well, that wasn't happening when 3000 people were all trying to hail a cab at the same time so we decided to just take the metro. For some reason, I think because we wanted to get a cab and didn't want to have to walk, or maybe because we wanted to see Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas at 7 in the morning and get breakfast, we got off the metro when we got to that area and walked around for a little. Since it was a Sunday morning in Spain, nothing was open yet, not even the Starbucks... so different from the U.S. We still couldn't find a cab, everything was so desolate! So we ended up just getting back on the metro and heading home. I went to bed about 8 am. That's right, I am living my life for sure! Especially on the last weekend!

I woke up about 6 at night... haha wow... kind of a waste of a day but I had a looong night. We wanted some food so we went to this Asian place that makes stir fry stuff to order. It was the first time I had it and it was delicious. After dinner we just came back and I went to bed about 11. I was exhausted.

Well, now its Monday. I have very few days left and I've cried every day since Saturday. A lot of people have to actually worry, or at least care a little bit about their finals, but since my grades don't transfer and I'm only going to get to live in Barcelona once like this, I don't care - I'd rather live my life 110%. I mean, I am sitting her blogging on one of my last days in BCN, totally living 110% right now. I got Jesse, Zoe, Mike and Nick to take a study break today though and we went to Champagneria for lunch again. So good! I got a little tipsy again but it was so fun. It's such a hole in the wall, it doesn't even have a sign on the outside, so if you ever come to Barcelona ask me how to get there, because you have to go!

The guys who convinced us to go to Novo Bar with them

At the festival

Tossa de Mar

On Thursday evening Mike and I boarded the bus for Tossa de Mar, a small town about an hour and a half away in the Coasta Brava - the coast of Spain spanning from Barcelona to France. Its mountainous and so pretty, very old and Spanish looking.

We got there around 7:30 and checked into our hotel and then we decided we weren't really hungry for dinner yet so we wanted to walk around the town for a little and buy a bottle of Cava and watch the sun set from our balcony (How romantic, I know. Do you want to barf hearts yet?) So we left the hotel and started walking around the HUGE town. Sooo exaggerating! We literally felt like the only people who were alive in the whole town, well except for one lady on a bike who we got in her way twice. It was pretty humorous. All the stores were closed and we didn't think we'd be able to find a grocery store open to buy some Cava, but luckily we found one. We found the Cava and there was a bottle of Cava called Bertha! I didn't buy it because it was too expensive. We don't like to spend more than 3 euros on wine and Cava... cheap I know. We headed back to the hotel and sat on the balcony drinking the Cava, watching the sun set and enjoying each other's company and conversation. It was perfect. Just what we needed. Its been crazy here with papers and tests the past few weeks and we have had a hard time finding time for just us. And since we have not many days left it was wonderful.

So finally around 11 we decided we wanted to eat dinner. We asked the people at the front desk for a good restaurant and they sent us to this small Italian place called El Nino. We walked in but we thought they might be closed because no one was in there at all. They were open so we sat down and then more people came, I guess in Tossa de Mar they eat dinner really late! Oh and guess who owns the restaurant - the lady on the bike that we kept getting in the way of! We all had a laugh about that one. Oh small towns....

We both got pizzas that were soooo good! After I went to Rome I fell in love with really thin crust pizza and this was really thin! So yummy! We ordered Sangria and it was ridiculously strong! We only had a 1/2 liter but we were definitely feeling a little tipsy. Dinner was great though.

Since this town was so small, it wasn't tourist season nothing was open so we decided to just to back to the hotel. We felt like old people because we definitely went to sleep at 1. It was lame-o. But the sleep was definitely needed.

On Friday we woke up around 11 and got ready and checked out. It was poopy weather because it was rainy and only in the low 60s. We walked towards the beach and it was really cool because they had a boardwalk kind of thing with a bunch of restaurants. We decided to just go to the restaurant and sit outside so we could see the beach at least. We ordered meals and Sangria and just chilled out. I brought my book of crosswords, so I whipped it out and we did a few.... I felt like an old married couple but it was fun. We ended up sitting at the restaurant for two hours and after a liter of Sangria decided we had probably had enough. We headed back into town and it was still cool and rainy so we decided to just head back to Barcelona.

It was a really nice little get away and it was definitely nice to have some alone time with no other distractions. Good job Mike on planning it all!

The center of town

Me Encanta Mi Clase de Espanol!

So, want to know how to make a two and a half hour Spanish class go by really, really quickly? Have the whole class meet before for lunch and each drink an entire bottle of Cava (Spanish champagne) by yourself. It makes speaking Spanish easier and so much more fun!

My whole class decided that since it was the second to last day of class, and since we have our final tomorrow we would all get lunch together and get a little happy. So we met at this really Spanish place for lunch. It is such a whole in the wall - it doesn't even have a sign on the outside to tell you its a restaurant, but the food is so good. You have to order two sandwiches and then you can get a free bottle of Cava. Perfect! So I ordered a hamburger. It was delicious, although when I go back, because I will go back before I leave, I'm going to order the chicken. Anyways so we were there for like an hour and a half, eating and drinking and reminiscing about our time in Spanish class. We decided that we should get our teacher a sandwich, because we love him so, and conveniently we got another bottle of Cava to split! Or did we get him sandwiches because we wanted more Cava.....? I can't remember...

Class was a circus, but our teacher loved it. It was the fastest class ever went and pretty sure I was fluent in Spanish... at least I thought I was. haha It was a good day for sure. Although my head is aching a little...

Tomorrow is our last day of classes! Yay! But BOO because that means that its over....

Mike and I had been talking about taking a little one night trip together before we left. We hadn't talked much about it lately and the other day he surprised me and had booked a hotel and everything for one night! So tomorrow after class were leaving to go to Tossa de Mar. Its in the Coasta Brava, like an hour and a half away from Barcelona on the coast. I'm excited, especially since we haven't been able to spend as much time together lately because of all our school work. It should be fun.

Since this is our last weekend in Barcelona we are going all out. I'm sure I'll have some crazy stories for you when I blog next. Get excited!

Class at lunch

The whole class with our teacher, Ata

What a crazy character!
Did I ever mention on here that he used to live in Fort Wayne?! For like 12 years! Crazy! He knows Middlebury and everything! Muy ridiculoso!

Spanish dinner and birthday surprise

Now that I knocked out a paper, a journal and a presentation in Spanish, I finally have some time to blog more than a sentence.

This weekend was a Zoe and I weekend. Three of our roomies were gone and the apartment was so clean and quiet - it was perfect! On Friday night we wanted to try out this restaurant, Cerveseria Catalana, we had heard about that supposedly has great tapas. Well, we heard right. Best tapas I've had here. They were delicious. When we got to the restaurant around 9:30 it was packed! (That is one thing I won't miss when I have to return home, eating dinner so late!) They said it was probably about a forty minute wait so we ordered a glass of wine from the bar and just hung out around there. We were starting to get pretty hungry so we decided to just order tapas from the bar like a true native and a spot sitting at the bar had just opened up so we hoped on it. We ordered one tapa at a time and of course ordered more wine! We started with pan con tomate (bread with tomato, Spanish brochette), then had cured ham and cheese, then moved on to some shrimp skewers, next came some asparagus, and then we finished the tapas with a Spanish omelet. We ordered dessert, of course, but it was disgusting, so we didn't eat it. We ordered homemade cake because we figured it would be delicious, well we didn't know they would pour whiskey all over it! Way to ruin a perfectly good cake!

During the course of our meal, we heard this guy behind us say "lets play a game and guess where these girls are from." Some what annoyed because I was thinking either this is a sad sad pick up line, or he's calling us out on not being Spanish, I turned around to see who this guy was. He looked decent enough so I said, ok give it a try. In two guesses he guessed that I was from Indiana! Crazy! And then he asked where, and I gave my usual response and said "Its a really small town, you won't have heard of it." He said "Try me, my mom's from Indiana." So I told him and he goes, "Yea, there's good restaurant there called the Essenhaus and its close to Goshen that has La Hacienda, good mexican." He noticed that my mouth was about to hit the floor and he told me that his mom grew up in Walkarusa (Spelling?!) and he had actually just been in Middlebury/Goshen over Christmas for a wedding, had eaten at both the Essenhaus and Hacienda. Wow! What a crazy small world! So we ended up talking with him and the girl he was with. They are around 25ish and are friends from college. She works for the government and just decided to fly both of them to Barcelona, first class, for the WEEKEND! WHAT?! Crazy! Apparently, she does this sort of thing all the time. The weekend before she was in London and in like two weeks she was going to China for like 5 days, just because she wanted to. Wow. Ridiculous. But whatever, she was loaded so she bought Zoe and I a glass of wine and then the most expensive bottle of Cava (Spanish Champagne) for us to share. They were really cool and so fun to talk to. Zoe and I had a great night and felt really native after our dinner of tapas and wine sitting/standing around the bar.

After dinner we met up with Mike, Nick and Jake. It was raining pretty hard so while they were waiting for us they went into the Burger King. We ended up hanging out there until it closed at like 3. Ridiculous but so much fun! We like to refer to it as the BK Lounge if you will.

On Saturday, Kate, Amy and Christine, two of my sorority sisters and another girl from Butler respectively, were in town from Florence, so we hooked up with them and I took them to a club near our apartment called Mary's Place. The first time I was there was when Kiki was in town and I fell in love with the place. It's so much fun! I tried not to be too out of control though because on Sunday I had a surprise for someone special....

Mike's birthday is on May 13th. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to be with him on his birthday, but I still wanted to get him a birthday present before we left. I wanted the gift to be something that would remind him of his time in Barcelona and maybe even a little of me. So I decided to get him a FC Barcelona (the futbol team) jersey and a official mug. So I sneakily figured out who he would want on the back of the jersey and what size he would want. I'm so good at being sneaky and telling little white lies! I was deciding when to give this jersey to him and how to do and then I realized that this past Sunday was the 13th- a month before his birthday - perfect!

So I began to scheme. He likes the musician, Jack Johnson, as do I and he has a song called Banana pancakes and we've talked about how sometime when we visit each other I'll make him banana pancakes..... well the banana pancakes came a little early. I got up and made them on Sunday morning and then had everything set up and ready. I put his jersey and mug with a card on the table and made a 21 out of bananas on his pancake with a candle in it. I had him come in with his eyes closed and had the song "banana pancakes" playing. He opened his eyes and his reaction was priceless! Just what I wanted! I had successfully surprised him! I was elated! So we both enjoyed some wonderful banana pancakes and the whole time he just kept thanking me and saying how good a job I did with pulling it off. It was wonderful.

Definitely a good almost last weekend.

Zoe and I eating our shrimp!

Chillin' at the BK Lounge


Birthday surprise!

heartbroken.

Less than two weeks and I can't even describe how upset this makes me.

Stupid Americanos.

It really isn't cool that just when you begin to feel like you belong in a city and even feel a little like a native, people treat you like stupid Americanos. This happened twice yesterday!

So, Thursday morning I was getting on the bus to go to school (haha sounds like I'm back in elementary school) and I was with about 8 other kids in my program. We all put our tickets in and paid for the ride but as soon as we sat down the driver tried to accuse us of not paying. It was this huge ordeal and we had to basically scream at him and tell him that we all had paid! He was trying to rip us off and figured he could since we were American.

Then last night, Zoe and I went to a club that we've been to about ten times before. We get up to the bouncer and he asks how old we are. We told him and then he asked for ID's! I've never been asked for my ID before and I don't have one anyways since my wallet got stolen. We decided to wait around for our guy friends to show up to see what they could do. The bouncer was just clearly being a jerk because when our guys even showed him their ID's he wouldn't let them in, or the 30 other Americans trying to get in. But in the meantime he was letting every Spanish person through. It was so much crap. We were all so mad.

These things don't make me want to come home though. I still am so sad I have only two weeks left! I can't believe it!

My Maid of Honor was in town!

Kiki came to visit! Yes, she will be my maid of honor, hence the name of the blog. Her and Mallory came from Rome for a visit. They also came with some other people from their program but they stayed with me and the others were in a hostel.

They got here on Friday morning and we headed first to La Sagrada Familia. They didn't really care what I showed them and wanted it to be more of a relaxing weekend. So after we went to La Sagrada and walked around the outside we headed to the center of the city, around Plaza Catalunya. They wanted to shop for some cute and cheap clothes because they were sick of all the expensive stores in Rome. So that's what we did... just spent a few hours in that area walking around. Around four or five they were getting pretty tired because they had to get up so early, so we decided to head back and take a siesta before dinner and going out.

They wanted to go to the all-you-can-eat-sushi-buffet-on-a-conveyor-belt that I had told them so much about when I was in Rome. So that's where we went for dinner. An hour later we emerged, bursting at the seams because we ate so much! It was actually disgusting... haha we had to come back and lay down for a little before we got ready to go out. They had heard about Chupitos, the crazy shot bar, so I took them there first and we got some fun shots. We tried a new one, its a melon shot and at the bottom of the shot glass they put a watermelon gum ball. Its my new favorite. After that we went to a club that I had never been to before, even though its like 10 minutes from my house! Its called Mary's Place and its soooo much fun! I don't know why I haven't gone before. We got in for free and were pretty much the only Americans in the whole club, but that made it so much more fun. So we were dancing with these Spanish guys we met and I was using my wonderful Spanish skills. Sometime in the night I gave them my number and they called me the next day! I didn't answer because I didn't know the number but then a little later I got a text message from them. The coolest thing was that it was all in Spanish! I felt like a true native. And I understood the whole thing! So proud of myself! haha

On Saturday we woke up around 11 and decided to head towards the beach and have a really lazy day. I took them to the port/beach area and we first got lunch. It was a really clear day but it was windy which made it seem so much cooler than it was, which wasn't cool. So after lunch we went to the beach to "lay out" in all of our clothes with our hoods up around our heads because the wind was so cold. We stayed out there for a few hours and then decided it was ridiculous to still be there since we were so cold. So we came back to the apartment and took a nap. We were so productive!

For dinner, I took them to get some tapas, like true Spaniards. They really enjoyed the tapas and we had a good dinner. After dinner, Kiki and Mallory wanted to meet up with the other people they came with because they hadn't hung out with them while they were here. So Zoe (my roomie who's amazing) and I decided we didn't want to go out so we just came back to the apartment and watched Across the Universe while Kiki and Mal met up with their friends.

On Sunday, I got eggs and fruit to make a big breakfast for them before they left and also, Mike was gone all weekend so they didn't get a chance to meet him but he got back early on Sunday morning so I invited him over for breakfast too. It was fun but they had to leave by 11 so they didn't get to hang out much on Sunday. The rest of the day was absolutely beautiful. It was almost 70 degrees and completely clear. Zoe and I sat out on our balcony attempting to get work done, but we were pretty unsuccessful. I did get a little tan line though! It was amazing.

The rest of the week is going to suck. I have two papers, a presentation and a journal to finish. And to top it off, I'm not in a good mood because I know the end is coming way too fast. So yea, I'm not looking forward to this week. All I want to do is hang out with my friends and not have to worry about doing anything else, but that can't happen.... Anyways, on that note... I need to get going so I can work on a paper... woo hoo!

Zoe, Mal, Kiki and I
-We're all Kappas rockin' our new Aviators

Mal, Kiki and I on the beach

I don't want this to end.

I don't want to leave. Period. I'm not coming home, all the friends I've made are staying forever and we are going to live in our happy, Barcelona world. Ok?

Obviously I know that can't happen, but every time I think about how I have three weeks and two weekends left I about ball my fricken eyes out and want to run backwards really fast in hopes that it will make time go in reverse.

I can not believe that its almost over. It seems surreal. I can't even begin to put into words what this experience has meant to me. I've gone through so many emotions, dealt with so many different issues, internal and external and it has truly changed me. I personally feel I have grown up a ton and changed as a person. For instance, I now like eating sushi, tomatoes, cucumbers, and coffee. Haha, ok bad example, but those are little things that have changed in me. I feel more mature and way more independent. I always thought I was so independent and could do anything on my own... well now I lived in a huge city, in a different continent, where they speak a different language without knowing anyone when I arrived. AND I SURVIVED!

I attribute my changes and this experience to one, myself, I spent a lot of time re-evaluating myself, (CHEESY!!!!!!) and thinking about what I wanted in life and who I was as a person. And second I attribute my changes to everyone I've met and become close with. Every single person has challenged me in a different way and opened my eyes to new ideas, thoughts and perspectives. Something I will always cherish. Also, having the chance to see all the places I ventured to has opened my eyes and I now see that there is more to the world than the beaches in Florida and the tequila in Mexico. (Seriously, why do people in Indiana think that Florida is the greatest destination? Migrate somewhere else for the winter! haha )

Ok, enough of my self-growth crap and complaining about how I don't want this to be over... but I am warning you, I will not be a happy camper when I return. Sure I'm so ready to see all of you and I miss you all! But, reverse culture shock is worse than the culture shock I experienced over here, so I was told. For instance, I'm already sad at the thought that I won't be speaking Spanish. Weird! So, a little advice, don't cross me the wrong way the first few weeks I'm home. Got it!? Oh no..... it might already be starting..... haha just kidding. I know this sounds like I never want to come home and you might take it personally... I want you all to know that I am excited to see you, I just wish I could see you for about two weeks and then return here and live happily ever after in my little, study abroad, Barcelona world.

Here are the lyrics to a song that Mike showed me. It pretty much describes how I feel about my experience here.

3 x5 - John Mayer

I'm writing you to
catch you up on places I've been
You held this letter
probably got excited, but there's nothing else inside it
didn't have a camera by my side this time
hopping I would see the world with both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words
Today skies are painted colors of a cowboy's cliche'
And strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky
are next to mountains anyway
Didn't have a camera by my side this time
Hoping I would see the world with both my eyes
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
just no more 3x5's Guess you had to be there
Guess you had to be with me Today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to
lose my way but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
no more 3x5's

Oh, back to school...

Monday "school" started again. Or I should really just call it the thing that makes me get up and waste time sitting in a room listening to a boring person talk. Although now that its nearing the end (huge tear rolling down my cheek) I actually have to start doing some work. Ugh.

So the week was pretty uneventful, other than the fact I had a slight touch of the flu, but it wasn't exiting via my mouth....you get the picture?

Mike's mom and brother came to visit him so since he had to meet my parents, I had to meet his. We met them at their hotel first. His mom was so sweet. She was like "Mike she's just as pretty as she is in the pictures you sent me." Which by the way I later found out are hanging on his fridge. Wow, guess his mom thinks we're dating or something. ;) I would soon find out that his brother and him are the exact same person and are so fun to be around to just observe them together. I felt really comfortable with them. We then headed to a restaurant. It was really cute inside and the food was amazing. Here's an embarrassing first-time-meeting-the-family story for ya...We all ordered this chicken dish and when it came out it was chicken on a skewer... great... how in the world are you supposed to politely eat that in front of people you are trying to impress?! So I start going at it with my knife and fork and I got half of the chicken off without a problem. Then I go to get more off.... so I'm working away at it and the whole kabob slides off my plate! SWEET! How embarrassing. His brother who was sitting across from me was the only one who saw and he kinda smiled at me and said "its ok, I didn't see anything." So I pick it back up and put it on my plate. Whew! Dodged that bullet. I attempt again. Within thirty seconds the piece of chicken flies off of the skewer and onto the floor!!! SWEETER! I, who does not get embarrassed very easily, wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. This time everyone saw what had just taken place. And the Mike, the wonderful person he is, gets up and takes a picture of my chicken lying on the floor...wow I picked a good one! They all just laughed about it and didn't seem to care, so that was good at least, but I was so embarrassed.

On Friday, I had a day trip to the place that's called The Forum. It was built in 2004 for the Universal Exhibition. It was just a huge place covered in cement where they had all their exhibitions. I have no idea why our professor thought it was appropriate to take up a Friday morning to show us cement. The only cool thing is that in one of the buildings there is a huge model of the entire city of Barcelona. So that was pretty cool to see actually. That night, Mike and I took his brother to Chupitos. A small bar that serves crazy shots. There are probably about 100-150 different shots you can choose from. My two favorites are The Harry Potter which is they take an orange, put sugar and cinnamon on top and light it on fire and then you take the shot and eat the orange. Delicious. The other favorite is the Boy Scout. This time they put alcohol on the bar and give you a marshmallow on a stick to roast over the burning alcohol and then you eat the marshmallow and take the shot. I have no idea what is in the shots but they are really good and not strong. His brother enjoyed it but it is always soooo packed, like can hardly move so we weren't there too long. We then headed to a new club that opened and it was so amazing. Probably my favorite one here. Very modern and it was a nice mix of American students and locals.

Last night I went out to dinner again with Mike and his mom and brother. I was glad they decided to take me out in public again after I threw chicken on the ground. We first went to the fountain/light show that I took my parents to and then went to a tapas bar. Dinner was great. They are so easy to get along with and his mom is so sweet. She likes when girls are around considering she raised three boys and a husband. (Yes, I know it sounds like I said she raised a husband, that's exactly what I wanted to say. I think husbands are just like children and need to be "raised". That's why I'm not getting married...) After dinner we got ice cream and then his mom and brother headed back to hotel because they had to get up early for their flight back to New Jersey.

Today, I HAVE to be a little productive and get a start on at least one of my papers that's going to be due in the next few weeks. I don't even know if I remember how to write a paper. I feel like its been so long since I did anything that I would consider to be true school work. My blog has been the closest thing to actually doing anything that requires a little bit of effort. So I'm going to stop procrastinating and get going on some of that.

Mis padres me visitaron!

Don't tell anyone, but I was super excited that my parents came to see me! SHHH!!!! Now you can't ever bring this up again....

They got here on Friday afternoon, I was lazy and ended up not meeting them at the airport and made them fend for themselves to find a taxi and get to their hotel. Finally around 4 I met up with them. It felt so good to have a hug from them. Once again, don't tell anyone. I can't be known as the mushy type. We decided to take it a little easy that day since they were tired from flying all night and mom was recovering from crapping her pants over their landing in Zurich - although she did have a legitimate reason to be scared because even Big D was scared! So I took them on the metro and we headed to Las Ramblas. Its a touristy pedestrian street and there are always street performers trying to make a few extra euros and its just fun to walk down. There were soooo many people there, it was ridiculous! Barcelona was full of tourists this weekend because it was Easter weekend, which is huge in Spain considering the strong influence of the Catholic church. So we pushed our way through the crowds, down Las Ramblas. I felt like a mom and I had to keep an eye on my parents to make sure they were right behind me, I didn't want them getting lost in this big city where they don't speak the language! Wow- role reversal for sure. I should have put one of those leashes around their wrists like they used to do to me when we would go to Disney World when I was young! Sweet revenge!

As we were walking down the street we noticed people starting to gather around the actual street where cars drive. I got super excited because for the past few weeks we've been hearing, from natives, about these Easter parades in Spain where a local Catholic church brings out all of their big decorative things ( I don't really know what, whatever Catholics use to decorate their churches and use during services and ceremonies) and put them on floats - except the floats aren't pulled by motorized vehicles, they are carried by about a dozen people. Its crazy! These people start training months in advance to be in good physical shape to carry these heavy floats. So we joined in with the people lining up along the street and waited for it to begin. It was worth the long wait. It took a while for them to get to where we were standing because they would walk about ten feet then stop for about 3 or 5 minutes so people could get a good look at the floats. The first one had Jesus carrying the cross and was lavishly decorated with lit candles and flowers. There were also a lot of people, who were part of the parade, dressed in all black carrying banners and incense, little kids too! -Who were adorable by the way. The second big float was one with Mary on it. It was also lavishly decorated and you could even see tears on her face! It was intense, but so cool to witness because its a huge part of their culture! People were throwing rose pedals on the floats and clapping and yelling things, so interesting!



So then we decided we were hungry, and my parents weren't on Spanish time yet because it was a little early to be eating dinner but oh well. So I took them to a restaurant on Las Ramblas that I heard was good, and it was! We all got salads, well kind of. Dad decided it would be a good idea to order scrambled eggs with ham as his salad, what a weirdo! I had a chicken dish, mom had fish and dad had veal and we all shared a bottle of wine. It was a good meal! None of us could clean our plates, which is odd for a Spanish meals and the normal small portions. Even though we didn't finish all of our food we had to get desert! Good parenting skills mom and dad! We all split a chocolate moose. After dinner I took my parents to see a flamenco show. It was a half hour set and the lady was a really good dancer. I think they enjoyed it! After the show, dad was ready to go get another beer but mom was about to fall asleep while she was walking so we hoped back on the metro and I made sure they got tucked in bed.

The next morning I woke up early and got ready because we were supposed to meet at 10 for breakfast... well it was 10:15 and I still hadn't heard from them... so I called them and they were still sleeping! Glad I woke up early for nothing! So finally we got going around 11:30 and stopped at a nearby cafe for pastries and coffee. I had just planned on walking around the old part of Barcelona on Saturday so that's what we did. We just strolled around the narrow streets of the Gothic area and stopped in shops along the way. My parents really enjoyed seeing all the narrow, old streets with the European facades. For lunch I wanted to do traditional Spanish lunch so that meant paella and sangria. My mom and I had chicken paella and dad ordered a salad and a "Spanish ham" bocadillo (sandwich) and of course we finished a jar of Sangria among the three of us... we were all feeling a little buzzed. By this time it was about 3:30 so we decided to make our way back home. On the way I took them to La Boqueria, the market. It was packed! I have never seen so many tourists in Barcelona as I did this weekend. We also stopped in the official FC Barcelona (futbol team) store and got some jerseys. Then my parents went back to the hotel and I went back to my apartment where we relaxed for a while and got ready for dinner.

Before we went to dinner I took my parents to Plaza Espana where there is a fountain/light show to music. It was a lot of fun minus the fact that it was windy and cold - so weird for Barcelona! I think my parents brought the wonderful Indiana winter weather with them. Mike met us at the light show, yes, my parents met Mike.... I wasn't nervous for them to meet him, I knew they would like him and Mike is so outgoing I knew he wouldn't have a problem meeting them either. We then headed to dinner and since we did a big lunch I decided to take them to a dinner of tapas. I was told of this really good tapas restaurant that isn't as intense as the typical Spanish tapas bar where there are tons of people and standing room only - I didn't figure my parents would enjoy that so much. We ordered a bunch of different tapas and some wine and had a really good time. When we left the restaurant it was raining. Boo. There was a guy standing outside of the restaurant selling umbrellas for five euros. Dad, being the sucker that he is, threw down 10 euros and bought two, but they were well worth it because it started to pour. We made it up to a main street and caught a cab back. It was 11 and my parents were tired so I sent them to the hotel and Mike and I met up with some friends at a bar.

The next morning we went for breakfast and then headed to La Sagrada Familia, the big Gaudi church that still isn't finished after 100 years. It is absolutely unbelievably gorgeous. But once again there were a ton of tourists there so we had to wait in a long line to get in, but it went pretty fast. Once we were in we decided to take an audio tour which was so good and informative. We spent about two hours walking around the church and the museum in the basement. Mom was obsessed with the church and is now obsessed with Gaudi and that's all we heard about the rest of the trip. When we were finally able to drag mom out of Sagrada kicking and screaming (just kidding) we went for lunch at a restaurant nearby that has amazing goat cheese salads. After lunch, dad wanted to go back to Plaza Espana in daylight because he thought that one of the buildings was "so cool." So we headed back over there and walked around for a while. We then decided to go back to the apartment and chill out for a little bit because around 5 we were going to head to a Irish pub that I know of to watch the FC Barcelona game. We tried to get tickets but they were all sold out. So we went to the pub, but Chelsea (the Irish futbol team) was playing so they had that game on and not Barcelona - oh well. We still had fun. We ordered some appetizers and had some drinks. Mike met us again, he couldn't get enough of my parents I guess... haha. We had so much fun though. We were there for like four hours. I´m surprised they didn't kick us out. At 8 they started karaoke. I tried to get mom to do it with me but of course she wouldn't!

On Monday we once again met for breakfast and then went back to my apartment to pack a lunch for a picnic in Parc Guell, a Gaudi park. Mom was so excited. We made tomato and mozzarella sandwiches and took grapes and pears. We walked around Parc Guell for what seemed like forever had our picnic and then left. On the way back to the metro we had to stop at a Guadi souvenir shop for mom. It literally took her about 30 minutes to decide which campaign glasses she wanted to buy, my patience was running thin... imagine that! I wanted to show my parents the beach and the port but no one would make up their mind about when they wanted to see it, right after Parc Guell or later at night before dinner. Finally we just decided to go right after the park. So we walked around the beach and port for about an hour and by this time we were all really tired... or maybe it was just me? So we went back and took a long siesta. Very much needed.

For dinner we decided to just stick around the area near my apartment. There is an Italian restaurant two blocks away that we went to. It was really, really good. Since it was the last night they were there and my diet officially starts today, we all splurged. We all got salads, a meal and dessert! What fatties! It was a nice last dinner though. After dinner we went back to my apartment for a little but my parents had to get up early this morning for their flight so they went back to the hotel around 10.

I´m so glad that they fit me into their busy schedules and came to visit. We had a great weekend and I´ll always remember it. Thanks mom and dad! I love you!

First Cafe con leche in Spain

A store named after Grandma!

Enjoying some Sangria

True Tourists at La Sagrada Familia

All of us at the Irish pub

Our picnic at Parc Guell

At Parc Guell

Praha

We got off the night train and were unpleasantly met by frigid temperatures. Considering it was only 6 in the morning we were hopeful that it would get warmer as the day went on... WRONG! We started walking to our hostel because we didn't want to pay for a cab and it was only about a 15 minute walk- but it was in the cold and it was early so the walk seemed like it took forever! I wasn't sure how I felt about Prague yet, the train station was in the shady part of town, I didn't really think I would fall in love with the city- boy was I wrong! I absolutely love Prague. It is a place that everyone should visit at least once in their life. When we finally got to the hostel we checked in and then decided we were hungry for breakfast. Luckily our hostel served free breakfast... ha! It was coffee, tea, jam, bread and cheese - typical hostel food, but I guess we were lucky they had anything at all. Because of this breakfast though I am now obsessed with eating bread with laughing cow cheese and jam. Its delicious. You should try it.

We were all exhausted from our wonderful night of sleep on the night train so we decided to lay down for a few hours since it was only 730 by the time we were done eating breakfast. We got up around noon and got ready. We headed first to eat lunch... you are probably thinking that all we do is eat.... well you're right. We had a good meal, I had a salad that was delicious, with really fresh vegetables. We decided that since we were practically running around Budapest the day before we would take the day easy and just walk around, shop and do whatever we happened to find. When we left the restaurant we were shocked to realize that it was SNOWING. Yes, SNOWING. I was so not prepared for the weather. I knew it would be colder than in Barcelona but I didn't have any idea it would snow! We started walking and would go in and out of shops to warm up. While we were walking, Amanda ran into a guy she went to highschool with- small world. He was there visiting a friend from college who is studying abroad in Prague. They exchanged numbers and we made plans to meet up with them for dinner and the night.

We just spent the afternoon walking around the Old Center Town, which is gorgeous. I love the look and feel of the city. It is a mixture of pretty, feminine and strong and masculine. It looks like it belongs in a fairy tale. Its absolutely amazing. We happened upon a Easter festival which was a lot of fun! They had a bunch of vendors and food stands set up and there was a stage for performances. There were little girls up on stage when we found it and they were doing traditional Czech dances. It was adorable. We walked around the festival for a while and I got a nutella filled crepe. So fat but so delicious! And besides I only had a salad for lunch! We then continued to walk around Old Center Town and head back towards our hostel. We walked passed a Thai massage place and decided that we all deserved massages, so we went in and made appointments for the next day. We then went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner.

We met up with Amanda's friend Max and his two friends, Jake and Jeremy. They were such cool guys we ended up having a ton of fun with them. Jake, the one studying in Prague took us to a good restaurant where I had possibly the best beer I've ever had. It was a Czech beer and it was dark but so sweet. I had a salad for dinner too because I was stuffed from the crepe I had earlier, and I was feeling a little guilty about it too. Our waiter during dinner was cute and he was kind of flirting with me through broken English. So you know me, of course I flirted back and asked him what he was doing after work. He said he didn't know and wanted to know what I was doing. I was just trying to be a little funny and flirt with a Czech native but he was serious. I said I didn't know. He told me that we are all beautiful ladies but I am the best... haha and then we exchanged names, his was Zdneck (it sounds like Zednick) and I figured that would be the end of that.

We went to a bar, I forget the name but it was cool. It was very modern and they had huge drinks to share with the group. So we got a huge mojito that lasted about five minutes among the eight of us. We then decided we needed to try Absinthe. Its basically a grain liquor that tastes awful but its supposed to make you see fairies... such a lie. It did nothing but taste like absolute crap. But oh well, I guess I can say I tried it at least once. We then left that bar because we were basically the only people there and headed to a club that Jake liked to go to. Well, the club was closed considering it was a Monday night but there was a bathroom and some of the girls had to pee. So we all were standing outside waiting for them and while we were waiting, guess who walks by.... yea Zdneck. My mouth literally hit the floor. He had a huge smile on his face and said "Ashley" with his little accent. Out of control. I couldn't believe that we ran into him. He wanted me to come into the bar next door with him and I said well my friends have to come too, because I wasn't about to go off alone with him, although he seemd very nice. He bought me a drink, who could say no to a free rum and coke? And we hung out for a while... I found out hes 24, works as a waiter and lives with his parents. Wow, I think I met my dream guy..... kidding. He was really nice though. He wanted to take me out to lunch the next day but I said no because we had so much to see. We stayed at the bar for about a half an hour and then decided it was time for bed... and I was getting a little creeped out because Mr. Zdneck kept asking for a kiss. N-O buddy!

The next morning we didn't get up till almost 12... lazy. But we didn't have a whole lot to see necessarily so we didn't mind. We were all hungry but we didn't want to waste time sitting down at a restaurant so we got sausages from a street vendor. Sooooo good and totally worth the 10328403984 calories I'm sure it had. It had mustard, mayo, ketchup, onions and sour crout on it. It was so good!

We then headed towards Charles Bridge. I just kept marveling at the beautiful buildings on the way. The view from Charles bridge was out of this world. So gorgeous. You are probably laughing at me right now because everytime I go to a new city I fall in love with it and I always say the views were gorgeous. But its always true! We crossed the bridge over the Danube again and on the other side was the palace. It was more like just a walled in area. It wasn't that cool to see other than the fact it was up on a hill so you could see so much from up there. We walked around that area for a while and then headed back down because we had massage appointments!

The massage was a unique experience. I've never had a Thai massage and it was definitely different. There was no rubbing, just pressing and stretching. It was funny having a little Asian lady crawl all over me, contorting and stretching my body in ways I didn't even know were possible. I felt good after it was over though. After our massage we were hungry for dinner. There was a Tex-Mex (or should I say Tex-Czech? Haha I crack myself up sometimes.....) across from our hostel that looked really good. And it was.

This was my last night of traveling over spring break. And Jesse's too, so we all decided that even though we had to get up early we would go to the bar next door and have a few brews. When in Eastern Europe..... The guys from the night before, Max, Jeremy, and Jake met up with us for a little bit but we were all in bed by about 12.

The next morning was bitter sweet. I was sad that my spring break was over, well at least the traveling part. But I was ready to get back to Barcelona and I was super excited for my parents to visit me! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to the cities I did for spring break, who knows if I would have ever traveled to those cities if I wasn't here in Spain... I am so thankful to my parents for giving me this opportunity. Although on spring break I spent my own hard earned money and I definitely spent a lot of it... but I don't care because it was all worth it. You can't put a price on what I saw and experienced. It was such a good experience traveling to the different cities, having to navigate our way around the cities all alone, with different languages and monetary systems in each city - a trip I will never ever forget.

View from our hostel

Snow! WHAT?!

The delicious beer - Kozel

Bell Tower

Zdneck - The waiter!

View from Charles Bridge

From the Top - Artsy?

Don't worry - this will be going out in our Christmas cards.

Budapest

Have you ever seen all the important sites of a foreign city in one day? I have! Be jealous. Actually don't it wasn't very fun. We were pretty much running around Budapest on Monday. Since we didn't do anything on our half day in Budapest but get our train ticket bought and eat dinner we had a lot to see the next day. We got up early well like 9 and were out the door by 10. We first headed to the Parliament building. It was beautiful. Right away I decided that Budapest and Vienna have two totally different looks and feels. Vienna is very clean, pretty, crisp look and feel where as Budapest has a very strong, masculine, "try to knock me down," dark feel. At least in my opinion. But both were beautiful in their own ways. We then headed to the Chain Bridge that crossed the Danube in to the Buda side of the city. It gave us some great views of the city and the Danube is so pretty. Once we got to the other side we saw that there was a cable car type thing that you could ride up to the top of the mountain. We decided to do it. It was so gorgeous looking out over the Danube and the Chain Bridge, but the ride literally lasted about 5 minutes and it cost us like 700 forints which is like 3 Euros which is like 5 dollars. Not really worth it...but oh well...

When we got done with our looonnnngggg (lots of sarcasm here people.) cable car ride we walked around on top and found a little market. We smelled something absolutely amazing so of course we had to check it out... I mean we all LOVE food! We found it right away and it was called a baumkuchen - or in English, funnel cake, so fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar. Delicious. We all shared one though don't worry, we were huge fatties. Then we headed to St. Ivan's basilica and walked around that area but there was a lot of construction on the basilica so we couldn't see a whole lot of the facade.

So after that we hopped on the metro. Lets discuss the metro. It looked like it was from about 1920, just like everything else in the city. They write out your metro tickets by hand because the city is so far behind the times its not even funny. It is so obvious that it was under communist rule for a long time and that it hasn't been too long since the rule ended. They are not technologically advanced at all. I hardly saw any type of computers or machines anywhere. The one thing that was advanced and fast paced in the city was the escalators in the metro though. It was funny it went so fast you had to get a running start to get on pretty much so you could make it and you had to be ready to run off so you wouldn't fall. haha We loved riding them and I of course had to make a scene and put my hands up in the air... Anyways.... back to getting on the metro from the 20's.... we headed to Hero's square. I don't really know the significance of it and I really don't know why we bothered to see it. It wasn't that cool... just a monument in an open plaza... but oh well... haha By this time we were all dragging so we HAD to find some coffee. After we got our caffeine fix we were good to go.

We then hopped back on the metro to go to the oldest Synagogue in Europe. I was super excited because I had never been in a Synagogue before and this was the oldest one. It was beautiful inside and it was a nice change from all the cathedrals with the same Virgin Mary's and crucifixes - don't worry I'm not converting I'm just stating a fact. (Grandma's schlecker would go 1000 miles a minute and probably jump out of her neck! haha) There was also a Jewish museum attached to the Synagogue. It was so interesting. It showed all the different Jewish holidays and what things are used and why to celebrate and then of course there was a section about the holocaust. Such a mood changer but so interesting. When we left it was pouring, but the restaurant we were planning on going to was within walking distance so we put our big girl panties on and rolled up our jeans and started walking.

Our hostel recommended the restaurant and it was delicious! It was called Fatal and it served traditional Hungarian dishes. I had beef goulash. So good. I couldn't eat it everyday or anything but it was really good. It was like potato/egg noodles with beef and beef sauce. We decided that we would all eat a huge meal since we were getting on the night train and wouldn't be able to eat later, so that's what we did. We then headed back to the hostel to grab our bags and head to the station.

I was excited about being in Budapest because Joey's dad grew up there and yes we are broken up and we don't even talk anymore but I thought it was cool that I was there. So I wrote Joey an email saying that I was in Budapest the past two days and was really enjoying it blah blah blah... The whole time I was there I had an overwhelming sense of Joey's dad growing up there. It was weird. I could totally see him living there and being in the same streets that I was walking down. Well, a day later I got an email back from Joey that read: "I thought the email you sent me was a joke at first because I was in Budapest with my dad the exact same time you were." How freaking weird is that?! I guess my feeling of his dad being in Budapest was real! Crazy how small the world can be sometimes....

We grabbed the essentials - wine and candy and got to the train station with plenty of time. Of course our train ended up being delayed like 30 minutes but it was fine. I was so excited for the night train because I felt like a true Euro-tripper. Weird? So when we finally boarded and saw our room we were all wondering what we got ourselves into. It was pretty much a 6 x 7 room with six beds three on each side. It was definitely an experience. I of course got stuck on the top bunk because "I'm the smallest" - Thanks mom. We had a lot of fun though. We stayed up for about two hours eating candy and drinking our wine, getting enough of a buzz to put us to sleep. The train ride was ten hours but we all slept most of the way. When we woke up the next morning, at 6 am, we were in PRAGUE!! Sooooo exciting!

Praha (Prague) will have to wait... Sorry I'm tired and my parents are here so I have to actually get up early tomorrow and be productive, don't act so surprised. But at least you get some pictures since I have a computer that functions now!

I'm rich!

Basilica near our hostel

On the Chain Bridge

View from the Buda side

Pretty.

Beef Goulash

Wien!

No, not half of the word wiener.....dirty minds..... Vienna! We left early on Friday morning. Ok, well it was like 8:30 when we left our apartment. And of course we left a little later than we should have so we literally just missed the free train to the airport. Its ok though because there is also a bus from the same metro station that goes to the airport, it just costs 4 euros. So we hopped on the bus but just barely because it was so freaking full. Literally not one more person would have been able to fit on the bus. It got really hot and I got really car sick. I thought we were never going to make it without me puking all over the lady standing next to me. So when we got to the airport (free of puke I might add) we noticed that our flight was a little delayed so we all just kinda hung out and got some coffee... then all of a sudden we realized that our flight was changed back to the normal time and was on the final boarding call! They didn't even announce it over the loud speaker! So we take off sprinting to the gate, because oh yea, they changed the gate on us too. We made it luckily. The flight was good but when we landed in Vienna it was a nasty rainy day. We took the bus to our hostel, which was really nice - The Wombat, and got settled in the room. Three of the girls were hungry for lunch but I wasn't so Zoe and I stayed back and took a nap... well the other girls were supposed to wake us up when they were done with lunch but they didn't so Zoe and I ended up sleeping until 7. It was a wonderful four hour nap but I wasted a whole day in Vienna! So then Zoe and I were hungry for dinner so we went to get some food. We found this restaurant that looked pretty authentic and it was pretty good! I got like a chef salad and a pretzel. Oh and of course can't forget the Austrian Beer called Stigle. It was still raining so after dinner we just headed back. I was being lazy so I laid down and ended up falling asleep for the night. So lame I know.

Then on Saturday, we didn't wake up until 10:30. We suck. We only had one full day and we slept in really late. Oops. But we got up and going and headed to the Hapsburg palace. We didn't go in or anything and I don't even think its really a palace anymore, its more just a bunch of nice buildings in on area with gardens and stuff... I don't really know but the buildings were pretty! And the city is so clean! We were walking around this area and we stumbled upon a St. Patrick's Day festival - with GREEN beer! So of course we had to join in! It made me so happy. I always say that Ireland was one of the best trips I've ever been on and I want to go back so drinking green beer and listening to Irish music made my day! It was so fun! We then headed to St. Stephen's Cathedral. I am absolutely sick of seeing Cathedrals and was not enthralled what-so-ever by this cathedral, in fact I thought it was ugly and dirty if I can be honest. haha While we were sitting by the Cathedral, this cute little lady started talking to us because she heard us speaking English. She is originally from Vienna but has lived in D.C. for a long time. We finally had to say "well, we should get going, we still have a lot to see today" or we would still be sitting in Vienna on that bench in front of the dirty Cathedral talking to that little old lady. So when we ditched her we went towards Mozart's house. I was actually pretty excited about seeing this because when I was in middle school I had to watch a movie on him and the whole time I was in Vienna I kept thinking of that movie and picturing Mozart just walking and hanging out in the streets that I was walking around in. The tour of his house was actually pretty lame and I didn't listen to most of the guided audio tour, but I can say that I walked around Mozart's house! So after Mozart's house we headed towards the Ferris wheel- its the oldest standing Ferris wheel in the world! We rode it when the sun was setting so we had beautiful views! After that we headed back towards the hostel and ate dinner. I ate old Vienna Soup. It was good but it was basically just noodles, vegetables, and beef in beef broth. We then went to the bar that was located right in our hostel - the WomBar. We were making fun of it all day but actually ended up having a good time there! The bartender was amazingly good looking! I didn't know Austrians looked like that! Vienna was really nice and I had a decent time I just wish we would have had more time there. I feel like we aren't spending enough time in these cities but I guess at least I get a taste of them all....

This morning was bad. We needed to catch a train to Budapest but we didn't exactly know how to do it so everyone was screaming at each other and it was just bad. The only good thing was that our hostel had a pretty decent all you can eat buffet for breakfast for only 3 euros. So of course we had to do that first. We finally got the train situation figured out and left at around noon. It was a two and a half hour ride and I slept most of the way but every now and then I would wake up and have the most gorgeous views out the window - rolling hills with small farm houses and windmills. It was so quaint and cute. We didn't see anything today in Budapest because when we arrived we decided to take care of our train stuff for tomorrow to go to Prague - a 10 hour over night train.... that should be tons of fun! (I forgot to bring my sleeping pills... wonderful.....) And then we headed to the hostel. One thing I've already noticed about Budapest is that it is not technologically advanced at all. For instance, when we bought our train tickets the lady had to write out all the tickets and then we went to take the metro and their one electronic ticket machine was out of order and so you had to go to the one window they had to by tickets from and that lady had to write out everything too. Come on Budapest! Get with the 21 century!

At first I thought Budapest seemed dirty and not safe but that's just because of the are that the train station was in. Our hostel is in a really clean, nice part of town and what I did see on our way to the hostel and to dinner tonight looked very pretty. We went and ate dinner at a Lugar's, a restaurant that the hostel recommended to us. It was delicious! And the nice thing about Budapest is that its pretty cheap! We had so much food and in euros it was under 50 for five people, which in Spain would never happen for the amount of food we got. I had chicken with cheese and spinach. Delicious. That brings up another subject though, Budapest is not on the Euro. They have their own money which is called the Forint. Its so weird and driving us all nuts! Literally tonight at dinner it took us about 20 minutes just to figure out how to pay for our meals because they use numbers in the thousands and hundreds. Like for instance, I exchanged 50 euros when I got here and I received a 10,000 forint bill, I felt rich! Or at least the money looked like I was rich. And my glass of wine at dinner was 390 forints. Expensive wine, not. So cheap.

Anyways, tomorrow we have a busy day planned so we are all just hanging out in our hostel and going to bed early so we can get up and see everything. Then we have to get on our over night train so I won't be able to write for another day or two. Don't miss me too much! But just know I am having fun trekking across Eastern Europe!