and the road continues....
I better finish updating everything about my trip before I forget it all. So after our stop in Bilbao to see the Guggenheim, we arrived in Burgos, an older, but really pretty city. Oh, I also forgot to mention that N.E.R.D. was staying at our hotel in Lisbon and we met them. Mucho exciting. The hotel in Burgos was kind of sketchy, and one of our days there we had this really bad tour guide who was difficult to understand and kept getting mad at us for falling asleep. We just sort of toured the town most of the days and took advantage of napping.
Because we were there on a Sunday and Monday night, the nightlife was pretty low key, but both nights we chilled in some Irish pubs and had a good time. In one of them I met this guy Brian, from Ireland, and his friend who raised money for cancer and were walking all over Europe for it. Brian was really sweet and I talked to him for awhile. Oh, yes, some of our group almost got arrested while trying to climb part of a castle that was unknowingly off-limits. So yay for the policia following our every move during our stay in Burgos. Our next stop was San Sebastian. Our hotel there was about a 5 minute walk to the beach. The beaches there are absolutely beautiful and the sky is so blue. We had a great tour guide there and the people are very fun and relaxed. The bars there were a lot of fun and we met some guys from UNC Charlotte and some guys from Australia. I had to indulge and spent one afternoon there lying on the beach soaking up the sun. Our second night in San Sebastian was date night, which Greg accompanied me on. Unfortunately, I ate undercooked veal and felt sick towards the end of the night, which resulted in me puking (the ONLY time I did puke on the trip). Next stop was Barcelona. I really like the city a lot, except on every street corner there was this awful smell. ALl the other cities we were in managed to keep their sewage under control, but I couldn't stand the smell of Barcelona. While were there, we went to this park where there was all this glass mosaic stuff, and we visited the Gaudi, which I should add I am seriously looking forward to seeing completed in the year 2027 (sarcasm) as well as the olympic village. The plaza area was a lot of fun and I love the human statue street performers that are everywhere. We checked out the H & M and Zara, which are clothing stores that are European chains that you can't find in America, and they're awesome! The nightlife in Barcelona was fun, but out of all the cities on the trip it had by far the most sketchiest guys in the clubs, probably because we were usually too cheap to go to clubs where you had to pay covers. The food there was pretty decent though and had some of the better paella. On our last day in Barcelona we went to a bullfight. I was a little leery about going, but all the girls got into it. We were on the 5th row and could see everything pretty clearly. Yes, they kill the bulls, but it wasn't nearly as bloody and gruesome as I was told it would be. There's a whole traditional process to the bullfight and it's not just stabbing it to death. In fact, one of the bulls was too aggressive so rather than killing it, they took it out of the arena to let him live. After the bullfight, we had to rush back to our hotel and load everything on the bus and we headed towards our night ferry, which took us to Palma de Mallorca, our last city. The night ferry was fun, but the rooms were so so tiny. Each room had bunk beds that folded out from the wall, and there wasn't even any space on the floor to put our bags. Fortunately, both Jessica and Sarah, my roommates that night, were tired and we all crashed pretty early, which was smart, because we had to be off the ferry by 6:30 am. We get off the ferry and take our bus to the hotel. Keep in mind, it's only 8 am when we get there, so the rooms aren't ready yet. Somebody notices that there are about 50 couches (I am not joking) in the hotel lobby, so without thinking, every single person on the trip claims a couch or chair and just crashes. It was so funny, everyone just plopped and was out. Finally Frank, our tour guide woke us up, and we went to our rooms. Jess and I ventured out that day, and walked by all these little shops that were on the beach. Mallorca is by far the mose beautiful beach I've ever been to. There are palm trees everywhere, the sand is so smooth, and the water is crystal blue. Jess and I both got henna tattoos and bought little knick-knack souveneirs. Mallorca is known for their pearls, but they were really expensive to buy. We took a nap in the hotel and then prepared for our last night. After dinner, Frank took us out by the beach and we went to this huge sort of outdoor/indoor type bar. It had huge tv screens playing the Euro Cup and there were people everywhere. The bar sold these buckets of Sangria and they gave you these enormous straws to drink out of. It tasted so great and they also had tons of great other cocktails. I had a Sex on the Beach and a Spanish Dream. They had dancers up on tables so a bunch of our girls took pictures with the hot guy dancer, and Jessica gets right up on the table and starts shaking it with this guy. It was so funny and turned a few heads from people in our group who couldn't believe it. We then went to the MTV beach bar or something. All the bartenders were in bathing suits, and Danielle and Jessica and I decide to use our free drink coupon for tequila shots. Tequila body shots. That was fun. The club was crazy, the bartenders would just walk around with bottles of vodka pouring it into people's mouths. At some point during the night, these three guys get up on the bar who are in sailor suits and they start dancing, and eventually rip off their clothes to reveal thongs. What a great way to end our last night in Europe. We got back to the hotel so late and only had a few hours to sleep before we had to wake up and go to the airport. We were all sad to gg but so tired. I slept most of the plane ride home and just chilled....
Overall, I'd have to rate this trip as being one of the better experiences of my life. I think I surprised some people, but more than anything, I surprised myself. I loosened up a lot and can say that for 2 weeks I was genuinely happy and soaked up every second I could of Europe. I don't regret anything I did on the trip, whether it was morally acceptible or not. That's the beauty of being in a foreign place, with only your instincts to guide you. Everyone should be able to experience that at least once in their life.
Because we were there on a Sunday and Monday night, the nightlife was pretty low key, but both nights we chilled in some Irish pubs and had a good time. In one of them I met this guy Brian, from Ireland, and his friend who raised money for cancer and were walking all over Europe for it. Brian was really sweet and I talked to him for awhile. Oh, yes, some of our group almost got arrested while trying to climb part of a castle that was unknowingly off-limits. So yay for the policia following our every move during our stay in Burgos. Our next stop was San Sebastian. Our hotel there was about a 5 minute walk to the beach. The beaches there are absolutely beautiful and the sky is so blue. We had a great tour guide there and the people are very fun and relaxed. The bars there were a lot of fun and we met some guys from UNC Charlotte and some guys from Australia. I had to indulge and spent one afternoon there lying on the beach soaking up the sun. Our second night in San Sebastian was date night, which Greg accompanied me on. Unfortunately, I ate undercooked veal and felt sick towards the end of the night, which resulted in me puking (the ONLY time I did puke on the trip). Next stop was Barcelona. I really like the city a lot, except on every street corner there was this awful smell. ALl the other cities we were in managed to keep their sewage under control, but I couldn't stand the smell of Barcelona. While were there, we went to this park where there was all this glass mosaic stuff, and we visited the Gaudi, which I should add I am seriously looking forward to seeing completed in the year 2027 (sarcasm) as well as the olympic village. The plaza area was a lot of fun and I love the human statue street performers that are everywhere. We checked out the H & M and Zara, which are clothing stores that are European chains that you can't find in America, and they're awesome! The nightlife in Barcelona was fun, but out of all the cities on the trip it had by far the most sketchiest guys in the clubs, probably because we were usually too cheap to go to clubs where you had to pay covers. The food there was pretty decent though and had some of the better paella. On our last day in Barcelona we went to a bullfight. I was a little leery about going, but all the girls got into it. We were on the 5th row and could see everything pretty clearly. Yes, they kill the bulls, but it wasn't nearly as bloody and gruesome as I was told it would be. There's a whole traditional process to the bullfight and it's not just stabbing it to death. In fact, one of the bulls was too aggressive so rather than killing it, they took it out of the arena to let him live. After the bullfight, we had to rush back to our hotel and load everything on the bus and we headed towards our night ferry, which took us to Palma de Mallorca, our last city. The night ferry was fun, but the rooms were so so tiny. Each room had bunk beds that folded out from the wall, and there wasn't even any space on the floor to put our bags. Fortunately, both Jessica and Sarah, my roommates that night, were tired and we all crashed pretty early, which was smart, because we had to be off the ferry by 6:30 am. We get off the ferry and take our bus to the hotel. Keep in mind, it's only 8 am when we get there, so the rooms aren't ready yet. Somebody notices that there are about 50 couches (I am not joking) in the hotel lobby, so without thinking, every single person on the trip claims a couch or chair and just crashes. It was so funny, everyone just plopped and was out. Finally Frank, our tour guide woke us up, and we went to our rooms. Jess and I ventured out that day, and walked by all these little shops that were on the beach. Mallorca is by far the mose beautiful beach I've ever been to. There are palm trees everywhere, the sand is so smooth, and the water is crystal blue. Jess and I both got henna tattoos and bought little knick-knack souveneirs. Mallorca is known for their pearls, but they were really expensive to buy. We took a nap in the hotel and then prepared for our last night. After dinner, Frank took us out by the beach and we went to this huge sort of outdoor/indoor type bar. It had huge tv screens playing the Euro Cup and there were people everywhere. The bar sold these buckets of Sangria and they gave you these enormous straws to drink out of. It tasted so great and they also had tons of great other cocktails. I had a Sex on the Beach and a Spanish Dream. They had dancers up on tables so a bunch of our girls took pictures with the hot guy dancer, and Jessica gets right up on the table and starts shaking it with this guy. It was so funny and turned a few heads from people in our group who couldn't believe it. We then went to the MTV beach bar or something. All the bartenders were in bathing suits, and Danielle and Jessica and I decide to use our free drink coupon for tequila shots. Tequila body shots. That was fun. The club was crazy, the bartenders would just walk around with bottles of vodka pouring it into people's mouths. At some point during the night, these three guys get up on the bar who are in sailor suits and they start dancing, and eventually rip off their clothes to reveal thongs. What a great way to end our last night in Europe. We got back to the hotel so late and only had a few hours to sleep before we had to wake up and go to the airport. We were all sad to gg but so tired. I slept most of the plane ride home and just chilled....
Overall, I'd have to rate this trip as being one of the better experiences of my life. I think I surprised some people, but more than anything, I surprised myself. I loosened up a lot and can say that for 2 weeks I was genuinely happy and soaked up every second I could of Europe. I don't regret anything I did on the trip, whether it was morally acceptible or not. That's the beauty of being in a foreign place, with only your instincts to guide you. Everyone should be able to experience that at least once in their life.