Barcelona Bound!

So, right after we posted the last blog, we made several new friends at our hostel dinner, like we were hoping to do! Yippie! F is for friends who do stuff together :) We ate dinner in our super chic and ultra fetch hostel, I don`t know if we`ve said that enough already (p.s.- We found out that its the number one hostel...in the world...how spoiled were we?! very. Crepes for breaksfast. lets just put that in perspetive. simmer on that for a second...). It was DELICIOUS! It sounds like an ad for Olive Garden, but endless wine, bread, salad, and a codfish casserole with a dessert included too!!! WHAT could get better than that? We wined and dined and had wonderful conversation with people from Ireland, Austrailia, Brazil, England, Swizterland, Bulgaria, and other fellow Americans.

We decided to move the fun out onto the streets, so we hit the nightlife of Lisbon! The nightlife of Lisbon is much more different than that of America, because it is much more laid back, relaxed and chill. You can grab your beverage of choice take it outside and just talk. There is no dress code, so you can show up dressed looking like a hobo and people will still think you are the hottest chick in town! Bow chicka wow wow!

But the night was great. Cést la vie! We loved hanging and getting to know the people in our hostel more and more.  The more time we spent hanging with them and in Lisbon, the more time we wish we had in the wonders of this glorious city. UGH! Lisbon, why did you have to be so marvelous?! WHO KNEW?! Once the nightlife died down, we went to an overlook of the city at night, and saw Lisbon at night. It. was. gorgeous. We could live here. We will live here (trust me, we´re working on it) . But you could see all of the lights, hillside, and water of Lisbon at night. We then headed in and got some shut eye for our next day of seeing the sights.

Day two of our city love, Lisbon, included seeing Belem, which included seeing the Monestario de Jeronimo, Patiserie de Belem, and Torre de Belem. Monestario de Jeronimo was a huge catheradral that housed the tomb Vasco de Gama. Yea. We´ve read about him since like 6th grade, but who knew that he was buried in Portugal, and the coolest city known to Christie, Nicole and Tricia? After that we went to try some famous pasteries that are founded in Belem in Pasteries de Belem, and yes, they were a slam dunk. I could have those every morning for breakfast. I mean, woof, we scarfed them down with some wondeful cafe au lait and tea. But Belem was a wonderful scenic view of Portugal, with a wonderful view of the river (some river that we never could really get the name of).

We also had dinner in Alfama before we left for our sleeper car. Tricia had some cuttlefish, Nicole had some pork ribs, and christie had some codfish potato casserole. Dinner was superb. A bird did poop on Christieś plate, but Hey! That´s good luck!! We swapped out for a new plate and all was fine. It was a great dinner.

After a long journey through another night train and then another 3 hour train, we finally reached beach town Barcelona! Barcelona upbeat, perky, and beachy! Palm trees everywhere an...oh my lanta! We arrived and laid back by hitting the street of local street vendors and other shops. Shopping, its what girls do best. We then just had some dinner and enjoyed a local favorite, and ours now too (trust us, they are better local) churros and chocolate!! And enjoyed some Cava (Barcelona is known for their champagne).

Day two. We decided to enjoy the local culture of Catalonian that takes place every Sunday at noon. Locals gather to dance in circles. There were adorable old men swooping their feet left and right, we couldnt resist but to join in. Dont worry, we got pictures. It was so much fun.

We then...uhh...shopped a bit more.

And then enjoyed the Picasso museum where we got to see the works and expericence the life of Pablo Picasso. Def recommend to anyone heading to Barcelona. You know, for a night trip or what not.

Then, we traveled to the far corners of Barcelona to see Montjuic Castle and the location of the 1992 Olympic games, held in (none other than) Barcelona! We saw breathtaking overlooks of Barcelona, as well as the home of HELLO!! Olympians!!! I mean, I was 3 when the games went on but they were famous and amazing. And it was awesome I bet. Parents, you saw and watched. COOL!

Next I am about to describe possibly the best thing known to mankind...the light up Disney fountain. We went to see Font Magica, a fountain show at night that lights up and plays music as well. They played a hefty amount of Disney in Spanish, or atleast, the amount you could hear over us singing in engish was in spanish. It. was. awesome. They are competing with Disney world with this one. We topped the night with a long dinner and dessert before heading off to bed.

Today, we woke up and headed to take a free tour (we found a brochure in our hostel) to learn about the famous and revolutionary architect, Antoni Gaudi. We learned so much about the detailed buildings he designed all throughout the city, as well as his interactions with his clients. I mean, it was just mindblowing to see the detail he put into his buildings up close. You can truely see it in a church that he was working on and is still left uncompleted, and the work that still remains estimates around 25 to 30 years

We were so inspired by Gaudis work that we wanted to see more! So we grabbed some lunch at a local grocery store, and decided to eat in a park down the city. The park is known to house the longest bench in the world, that wraps in and out the main plaza (as seen below), and is designed by Gaudi! How neato is that!! Hes so awesome!

After all of our tours and such, and because we have such an early train to (Nice, France!) tomorrow, we decided to take an easy night tonight. So we were able to find a nice relaxing cafe where there was some live acoustic music. We ordered some drinks, some appetizers, and some tapas before we head out of Spain. We couldnt have left though without saying goodbye to the beach, so we walked down to the water of Barcelona and said our final farewells to Bar-th-lona! We have loved your culture...your fun dancing...your Disney fountain, rave on Gaudi! Its all awesome!!

But now on to the beaches in Nice!

....nice.

Love you all,

Christie, Tricia, and Nicole


(Sorry for the length, it has been a much needed update)

Lisbon Lovers

We are now writing from our hostel in Lisbon. We arrived this morning via night train from Madrid.

First off, our final day in Madrid consisted of touring the Museo del Prado. The museum had endless amounts of paintings from famous painters all over Europe. We also saw a lot of Neo Classical sculptures which all alluded back to Greek art.

The Museum wore us out. We snagged a couple cheap sandwhiches and a plate of Spanish cheeses and wandered off into the Parque de Retiro. The park was HUGE. It is basically the Central Park of Madrid. We had a picnic lunch and took a cat nap on the grass. We then went back to our hostel to book a few future hostels and buy our tickets to see the Statue of David in a few weeks! After a quick trip to the Mercado de San Miguel to grab some bread, cheese, and fruit, we packed up and took the train to the train station which would bring us to Lisbon over night.

The night train was a lot cozier than expected. We were actually really excited to try it out! Haha. We had our own room with 2 bunk beds and a sink. It was a tight squeeze alright. But when we woke up in the morning...we were in Portugal!

It's fair to say that we liked Madrid...but we LOOVEE Lisbon!! As soon as we exited the metro to smell the sea air and see the huge square over looking the water, the early morning lull we had had from the night train quickly wore off.

We dropped our stuff off in the hostel...which by the way is ballin' and very chic...and immediately ventured out into Lisbon. We wandered the windy hills of the sleepy sea faring town, admiring all of the brightly colored buildings and tilework. We toured the Se Cathedral. We then ventured alllll the way up the hill to the Castelo San Jorge. This was amazing. The Castle is only the reconstructed walls because it was devastated in an earthquake in the 1700's, but the view from the top is breathtaking. It overlooks the entire city. You can see all the red tiled roofs, the water with boats pulling up to dock, big white churches, people's terraces with laundry hanging over the cobblestone streets...everything. We briefly looked at the artifacts in the museum for the castle before wandering down the streets of the Alfama.

The Alfama is the Old Town of Lisbon. Because most of Lisbon was devasted by the earthquake, the Old Town is still mostly in tact. We just let ourselves get lost in the alleys. At the bottom of the hills of the neighborhood we found a place to eat lunch. Tricia and Christie had swordfish with potatoes and Nicole had a Portuguese meat called Isba or something...cant remember the name! But it was all delicious.

After lunch we were finally able to check into our hostel and shower..yeah..we were gross. We then wandered around the city and shopped. We bought some gifts at some street vendors...yes for you guys! Then we stopped for some pastries and coffee. The pastries here are AMAZING!! I believe Tricia has already had 4 and it is our first day here. Haha.

We're eating dinner here in the hostel tonight. It's an 8 euro dinner with unlimited wine, bread, a meal, and a dessert. Good deal! Hopefully we meet the people in our hostel. We have met people here from Australia and the United States so far. But one of the girls from the U.S now teaches English in Granada. After dinner we will probably venture out for some more pastries and maybe some drinks.

Tomorrow we are taking a tram, SO cute, to the district of Belem. Supposively there is a bunch of stuff the do and see there, and it is on the water. So we will let you know how it goes! We are already wishing we had more time in Lisbon. But it gives us more reason to come back!

Obregada!....thats the only Portuguese word we know!!! It means Thank You. Haha.

Love you all!
Christie, Tricia, and Nicole

Hola from Madrid!

We´re here! And everything worked out with the flights and baggage. We arrived safe and sound and gave a little cheer when our backpacks plopped down on the luggage belt unscathed. Our hostel is nice and quiet, and the people are friendly. We´ve already met folks from Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, and northen Spain. Last night after we checked into our hostel we walked around the main square (Plaza Mayor) near our hostel and sat outside at a cafe and enjoyed some local fare. We tried paella, a local rice/stew dish. It was quite yummy!

Today we walked around all of the historic sites in the city. We got to see the Palace Real (Royal Palace) and the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena. The cathedral was cool because the tilework and stained glass was definitely more Spanish looking than a lot of the cathedrals we are used to seeing. We also walked through the gardens next to the palace, and stopped at an Egyptian temple that is set up on a hill looking out over the city. It was donated to the city by Egypt as a gift. After grabbing a quick lunch, we walked through a market full of street vendors selling jewelry, hand crafted nicknacks, clothes, scarves, and our new favorite- genie pants! They are actually really popular hear and you see girls wearing them around the city.

We are taking a little siesta before heading out tonight. Madrid stays up late! Last night we were so tired from our travels we crashed early, but tonight we are excited to try some ''tapas'' and sangria!

We love you all and miss home, but are so excited to finally be here. I don´t think it has quite hit us yet. Madrid is definitely a European city and the architecture of the old buildings is beautiful, but there are times when it can feel a little like America. It´ll be fun to see some more cities in the next few days.

Next we head to Lisbon, Portugal. Hasta luego!

Christie, Tricia & Nicole

Hasta Luego!

Hello everyone!!!

Well, this is officially our last post from U.S. soil. We leave in an hour to head to the airport. Fingers crossed that Heathrow stays open (no volcano ash please!) and we can make our connecting flight to Madrid. We should get into the city tomorrow afternoon.

Christie... can't wait to try some Sangria and listen to a little Spanish music!

Tricia... I just found out that I'm taking over unhip gaucho (??) pants that spanish boys wear. Watch out, Spain! I'm going to wear them with pizazz. Oh, and I am oober excited for all the paintings, sculptures, and cathedrals!

Nicole... i don't know why we are blogging so much....we haven't even left yet. Obvi EXCITEDDD.

Christie... Nicole you're such a party pooper. Negative Nancy.

Tricia... Second! We love to blog :)

Well folks, we're off to a good start :) See you in Spain!

Love,
Christie, Tricia & Nicole

A little music to pump us up!

Let's get revved up, because we leave in LESS THAN 24 HOURS!! And plus we might hear this music a lot in Europe, so we might want to start preparing our ears.

And yes, Nicole and I just finished packing our packs and they are GI-NOR-MOUS! Hello $50 baggage overweight charge, because we are not light packers.

Now, it is very late, and we need our beauty sleep before the long journey that lies before us. You know. Before MADRID!! Woop WOOP! Thanks mom and dad!

Love Tricia and Nicole :)

Christie signing in!

I guess it's my turn! I'm so excited to spend 6 weeks adventuring with these ladies. I can't wait to post tons of pictures for your viewing pleasure, and I'm making it my goal to try a new food in every country we go to! I'm also pretty excited about tasting some European wine :) I'll be sure to tell you all about my favorites (and maybe not-so-favorites)!

Getting Ready!

This is kind of a test blog...haha but regardless...

We are home from graduation and trying to gather the odds and ends! Hostel reservations and train tickets are booked for Madrid and Lisbon. We are getting excited! Now...how to pack 6 weeks of stuff in one backpack....

test run

What is going on here. Is this thing working properly?