Word Vomit

Clearly I'm not so good at keeping this thing updated. (In my defense, I'm an American living in Europe. Do you expect me to want to be on my computer all the time?) This post is where I get you all caught up on my adventures from the last time I posted until the beginning of summer. (Summer break will get its own post of course.)

Barcelona
I had been looking forward to this trip since December. Not only is it where Cheetah Girls 2 - which includes the iconic song "Strut" - was filmed, but I was meeting my best friend from high school there! I had been dreaming of exploring Barcelona with one of my favorite people with this song running through my head the whole time for MONTHS:

Travis was in Barcelona for an acting program (remember him, he's going to be famous one day very soon!) and was still in class when I arrived in the city. So I got brunch at a cool Alice in Wonderland-inspired cafe and then wandered around the city center a little bit. I ran across Barcelona Cathedral and just stared at it from the outside for a good 10 or 15 minutes.

Then I found the Roman columns from the Temple of Augustus. They're kind of just tucked away in the middle of these more modern buildings that look like they might be apartments. Because it's totally normal to live in a place where you can look out your living room window and see columns that were built over 2000 years ago.

I tried going to a photography exhibit but it was closed. So instead I wandered around Parc de la Ciutadella. Fortunately Travis got out of class earlier than expected, so I didn't have to wander alone for long.

I have to admit something now before we move on: I didn't do a super fantastic job at "seeing the sights" during this trip. I saw a lot, but missed out on the two huge Barcelona attractions - Park Güell and Sagrada Familia. I know, I know. I'm ashamed of myself too. But at the same time, I'm not all that torn up about it because I figure I'll find myself back in Barcelona at some point in my life. I love traveling too much to think that this was my one and only opportunity to see this city.

Alright, moving on. I met up with Travis at the Arc de Triomf and the next few hours were just a blur of talking to my best friend, eating together, pointing out all the cute dogs we saw, and wandering around Barcelona. (And yes, I was singing "Strut" in my head the whole time.)

Phytophilia

aliens4sale

Travis had to do one last activity in the evening with his acting group, so I did my own thing for a few hours before meeting up with his group again at the Palau de la Música Catalana. I wish I could have seen the inside of this place because the outside alone was so intricate and pretty.

Doing our best Vanna White impersonations

Travis, his acting group, and I went out for a bit to experience some Barcelona night life. I didn't have that long though before I had to catch the bus to get to my couchsurfing place. Long story short, I didn't give myself enough time to go back to Travis' hotel room to get my stuff before getting on the bus. So I showed up at my host's place with no overnight supplies. He probably thought I was crazy. He was really nice about it though and ended up being the best introduction to couchsurfing that I could have experienced.

Travis' program was officially over, so we spent every moment together for the next few days. We went back to Parc de la Ciutadella, checked out the Arc de Triomf, found a cool thrift store where we fought over some of the same clothes (not surprising since we used to dress so alike in high school without even planning it that people told us we were like an old married couple), and found a flea market.

Making new friends!

Siesta, yay

Flea market

We spent a whole day exploring Parc del Laberint d'Horta. The park is a historic garden (what makes a garden historic anyway?) that includes fountains, statues, waterfalls, pavilions, and a labyrinth. It was up on a hill so we even got a chance to see Barcelona from above.

Spooning

Tiny door for tiny people (aka me)

I never wanted to leave. I love Barcelona. I love Travis. I love warm weather. It was indescribably great to see someone from back home. A year is a long time to go without seeing anybody from your core group of friends and family. I need more people to come visit me... Who's next?!?

Switzerland
Every week during the first week of Easter break, the family I work for goes skiing for a week in the Alps with some friends. (Unfortunately I can't be more specific than "the Alps." We spent a week there and I literally have no clue where "there" was.) These friends also have two children. I was asked to come along to supervise the four kids during their ski time (they stuck to the slopes near the lodge) while the parents went on day-long skiing adventures.

To be honest, this wasn't the most exciting trip for me. My days were spent sitting in small cabin/snack bar for a few hours in the morning while the kids were in their ski class, eating lunch with them when their class was over for the day, and then sitting in the cabin for another few hours while they did some independent skiing. I read so much during this time - I think I finished a book a day. Occasionally, when I felt brave enough to face the cold, I went on walks which were pretty spectacular.

On our last full day, I finally got to try out skiing. And guess what? I'm a natural! Not. I spent more time on my butt than on my feet. And falling is exhausting. It got harder and harder to get back up again. At one point I was so tired and had been sitting on the ground for so long, a stranger came over to ask if I needed help. The good news is that I was able to make a couple of passes down a blue diamond hill without falling before the end of the day.

I'm smiling but I hurt all over.

Skiing in the Swiss Alps is pretty rad. However, for me personally, skiing is not rad overall. I'm really happy I had the opportunity to try it out. But I think once is enough for me. I like to spend my free time engaging in less painful activities.

Holland
I have been dying to see the famous tulip fields in Holland for years now. So when spring hit, I was following all the "tulip watch" forums I could find. When they finally started saying that the tulips were blooming, Jane, Kayla, Chelsey, and I rented a car and drove to the Hague. We rented some bikes and hit the road!

We started on the beach...

...biked through the dunes...

Hi Chels!

...stopped for lunch on another beach...

Bonn squad

...biked through a neighborhood (I could live here!)...

...and FINALLY found some flowers!

They weren't tulips though. They were hyacinths and they smelled amazing.

I stopped to ask a couple people where we could find tulips. They kept pointing us in different directions. And then, biking along a busy road, we finally noticed a tulip field on the other side of the road! This is what it looked like:

Yeah. I was pretty disappointed. Actually, it's been six months and I'm still disappointed. After all that planning and following tulip forums and emailing tulip bike tour companies, I still managed to go too early. There were only a handful of colored tulips blooming sporadically, and one row of white ones barely in bloom.

The hyacinths were out in full force though.

So I still can't cross "see the tulips in Holland" off my bucket list. I guess the good news is that I completely LOVE the Netherlands and I wouldn't mind visiting again. Or living there for that matter...

Tot ziens! Until next time, Holland!

Luxembourg
Let me start this section by saying that Luxembourg did NOT turn out the way we were expecting. It was actually sort of a mess.

Jane and I decided to take a little weekend jaunt over to Luxembourg. The guy we were couchsurfing with met us at the train station and we assumed that we would go straight back to his apartment so that Jane and I could get some sleep and be ready for a full Saturday of exploring the city center. Not the case. This guy showed up with five of his friends and they were on their way out for the night. So we kinda got swept up in that somehow and ended up not getting back to the apartment until the very early hours of the next morning. I guess that's one bad thing about couchsurfing. Most of the time it's great, but sometimes you feel like you have to join the host in whatever he/she is doing.

Anyway, when we finally got up on Saturday morning (ahem, afternoon), we spent our time exploring the city center. With our limited time, it's a good thing that Luxembourg is so small. We met up with Martina, a girl we had met the night before, and she showed us around the city center and then dropped us off at the casemates.

 

Luxembourg motto: "We want to remain what we are."

The casemates are underground tunnels and passages that used to be part of the old castle. Now they're a UNESCO world heritage site and the lookout points provide some pretty cool views of the city. They are much more extensive than I thought they would be. Jane and I got lost in them more than once.

We met back up with Martina afterwards. The three of us walked along the casemates to see them from the outside, and then ate dinner together. Martina cooked for us while Jane and I napped. She's the best.

Meeting Martina was the best part of the weekend :)

On Sunday, we left the city center and headed to Vianden castle. It was built sometime before the 14th century but wasn't restored and opened for visitors until 1990.

After exploring the castle, we wanted to go hiking in some place that Jane looked up. Well public transportation doesn't run super often on Sundays, so we spent a lot of time waiting around at bus stops.

Help we're stuck at a bu stop and we're bored.

When we finally made it, we only had an hour or so to hike before we needed to get on a train back to Bonn. Maybe that turned out to be a blessing since we had all our stuff with us. My backpack didn't feel that heavy when I put it on in the morning, but it seemed to get heavier and heavier the longer we hiked.

Our Luxembourg weekend definitely did not turn out the way we expected. I guess that just comes with the territory of traveling though. You never really know what's going to happen. But hey, if you miss some things on your bucket list, it just gives you an excuse to go back, right?

Paris
Ahh, Paris. The city of light, the city of love, the city of aching feet.

I wasn't planning on going to Paris this year since I've already been. I thought I should stick to places that I've never been before. However I love Paris, and when one of your best friends asks you to go with her on a long weekend, you don't say no. Even after Kayla asked me to go with her and we planned out the trip, I still almost didn't go because of some confusion with our work schedules. We both ended up needing to cancel our train tickets and then start praying that we found a BlaBlaCar (a ride share that operates on a VERY last-minute basis).

Good news, it all worked out. We got to Paris, checked into our hostel, had a moment of morbid excitement when Kayla sliced her finger open on her razor and looked like she was going to pass out, and then (after Kayla recovered) hit the streets of Paris with another traveler, Paulina, who we met in the hostel. We started at the Arc de Triomphe and walked all the way down the Champs-Élysées toward the Louvre. I finally got the chance to go into the Louis Vuitton store which my mom wouldn't let me do in 2008. She thought I'd be tempted to blow all my money on something insignificant. (Silly Mom. She didn't take into account how cheap I am.)

After walking down the whole street, stopping at Place de la Concorde (with L'obélisque de Louxor and fountains), wandering through the Jardin des Tuileries, and admiring the Louvre, we set out to find Huré (the boulangerie that won the 2015 award for having the best baguette in Paris).

As suggested by my favorite French teacher in the world, Monsieur Ridgeway, we bought a couple baguettes de tradition, found a grocery store to get some cheese, and headed for the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't hard to find. We turned down one street and - BAM - there it was!

We concluded the night eating our baguettes et fromage while staring at the Eiffel Tower. I love this place.

Fun fact: when I went to Paris with my family in 2008, we never went out to a French restaurant to eat French food. We mostly cooked for ourselves, but the two times we went out to eat, we ate Greek food. Go figure. I finally ate French food - namely some kind of rabbit/pastry dish - the next day with Kayla at Le Clown Bar.

French food. So happy.

We spent a ton of time at Centre Pompidou that afternoon. And, since we have temporary EU citizenship, we got in for free!

After the museum, Kayla and I found Paulina again in front of Notre Dame, walked across the famous (and now nonexistent Lock Bridge), checked out the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and then started hiking up the Montmartre hill.

We really had to book it up the hill because we were trying to make it to Grenier à Pain, another boulangerie that has won the best baguette in Paris award in the past, before it closed for the night. One very important thing that Kayla and I have in common is our love of food. To say we were serious about the food part of our Paris trip would be an understatement. We were determined to get to that boulangerie on time.

After grabbing more baguettes de tradition and cheese, we headed up to Sacre Cœur to see the basilica and eat our super nutritious dinner while looking out over the city.

Eating > selfies

We started to head back to the hostel when it got dark because Montmartre is not a particularly nice area to be in after dark. We got distracted by a pub close to Sacre Cœur; there was a guy just outside the front door singing covers of famous songs while accompanying himself on the guitar. He was really good and had drawn quite a crowd. Kayla and I ended up staying until the end of his set. So much for leaving the semi-dangerous part of town before it got too dark.

The next morning, Kayla and I split up. She went on a street art walking tour, and I went on a self-directed walking tour. Okay, walking tour isn't a great way to describe what I did. Basically, I just wanted to see Galeries Lafayette and then shop for gifts for my family.

Galeries Lafayette is AMAZING. I don't know how people can even concentrate on the products that are being sold there when there is this beautiful architecture to stare at. Since I am not a photographer and I only had my iPhone to use as a camera, these pictures do not do it justice. Honestly, I don't even think professional pictures taken by professional photographers would do it justice. It's one of those things you have to see in person to fully appreciate.

When Kayla's walking tour was over, we explored Le Marais, a historic district of the city. At this point, my feet were killing me. (This is where "the city of aching feet" comment comes into play.) The combination of cobblestone streets and my terrible choice of footwear caused huge blisters and lots of pain. I couldn't even fake that I wasn't hurting and could walk normally. It's a good thing I'm not as easily embarrassed as middle school-Katie was; I'm sure I looked like a broken-down rusty robot hobbling down the streets of one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Middle school-Katie would have died of mortification. Current day-Katie just tried not to cry from pain in public. That being said, Kayla was probably embarrassed to be seen with me. Whatever, she loves me anyway. In other news, I'm a really great traveling companion who will never do anything to embarrass you in public in a foreign city. Who wants to join me on my next adventure?

Sunday was our last day in Paris, and we only had half a day before we had to meet our BlaBlaCar back to Germany. We spent the morning at the Marché aux Puces flea market. I didn't find anything I loved enough to buy, but we did find this cool painting of Stromae who is a really great francophone singer. (I recognized a foreign musician, how cultured am I?!)

After the flea market, Kayla and I bought more baguettes and macaroons for our trip home. Since it was Sunday, most of the grocery stores were closed and we had trouble finding a place to buy cheese. But good news! I remembered enough French from high school to carry on a short conversation with someone asking where we could find cheese. I am still disproportionately proud of myself for such a small thing. Just be happy with me. Don't judge me for being proud of myself over a conversation about cheese.

And that pretty much wraps up our Paris trip. I love the city and the language even more now. Who knows, maybe 2016 will find me living in France...