Boston

Thought this would be a good forum to put up pics from Boston:) Will write more later!

 

In the cemetary where Paul Revere is buried

                                                                  Boston Harbor

                                                                    Harvard

                                                         Me & Lexie!

Alicante

We took a train the next day to Alicante! It's a smaller city, and our hotel was really close to the beach!

Valencia

After three nights in Barcelona, we took a 3 hour train to Valencia (the 3rd biggest city in Spain).

We walked up a giant tower (207 stairs!) and got an incredible view of the city. From the top, you can see the surrounding mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.

City of Arts and Sciences

#SemanaSanta2013- Barcelona

Hello!

We got back Tuesday night from a great Semana Santa! For 10 days, Amanda, her grandma and aunt, and I traveled through Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Granada, and Madrid.

Our trip began with a 13 hour trip from Ponferrada to Barcelona! It was an overnight bus, so we arrived at 7am. Amanda and I left our stuff at the hotel and began exploring. We went to the port by the water, and walked up and down Las Ramblas, one of the main streets of the city with lots of shops, vendors, and restaurants. And of course, we found the beach!

We went back to the hotel and met up with Amanda's grandma Deb and her sister Linda. We went and got lunch at a cute plaza, and ate outside. 

The next day, we went to the Sagrada Familia, which Amanda and I had both been to before during our last trips to Spain, but this time we went inside and got audio tours. I honestly didn't know much about it, but had no idea the inside was so modern! It was really cool. It is still under construction, and they estimate it'll be completed around 2020!

With our cool headphones for our audiotour!

We also went to Parque Guell, a really cool park designed by Antoni Gaudi. 

Back in Galicia!

The journey back to O Barco was interesting and long. Our flight got into Santiago (about 2 1/2 hours driving to O Barco) at around 5 PM. Unfortunately, the only way to get back to O Barco in time to work on Wednesday was to take a midnight bus to Ponferrada, then take a 6 AM train to O Barco. Not ideal, but it was our only option. We spent about 6 hours at the mall in Santiago, getting Burger King and frozen yogurt, playing cards, and drinking large amounts of soda from the fountain to stay up all night. 

Around 11:30, we left for the bus station to catch our bus. Unfortunately, we got turned around and ended up lost, and couldn't find the bus station in time. We finally got close, and saw our bus pull away and take the highway away from us, leaving us stranded in Santiago. We talked to the information man at the bus station, and he told us about a cheap hotel close to the bus station. 

Luckily, the man working at the hotel was very nice, and our rooms were really nice, and very cheap. The only bus to go back to O Barco was at 3pm. So, we got to sleep in a bit, then went to a cafe to get lunch and kill time until our bus left. I had to miss school that day, which wasn't ideal, but I think (hope) my teachers understood.

En route to O Barco

Thursday, Sarah went with me to my elementary school. That was an interesting experience. The kids all really liked Sarah and called her doble Camille "double Camille", and kept whispering to each other (not so secretly) that we looked alike. Sarah went to my classes with me, and helped in the classroom. We gave a presentation about our friendship to the class.

 

The library

The kids liked to hang on Sarah

Us with the 1st through 3rd grade class!

Doing work

Friday early morning, we went back to Santiago on the bus. We checked into our hostel, then went to find lunch! A lot of places in Spain have "menu del dia", which includes 3 courses, plus bread and a drink. 

As my first dish, I was feeling brave and ordered octopus with potatoes (pulpo con patatas). 

A little nervous...

I could tell it was probably one of the best prepared octopus I would see, but it still tasted a little weird. Then the waiter pointed out which piece was part of the head, then I stopped eating... The potatoes were good though!

The rest of my food was good, I got tortilla (egg) with ham and tomatoes, and ice cream for dessert. I will definitely not be trying pulpo again anytime soon!

We went exploring around Santiago de Compostela. We went and saw the cathedral, the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC!)

Another USC!

Part of the University

We found the best chocolate con churros I've had so far! The churros were warm & had extra sugar on them!

Octopus on display....

Sarah flew out Saturday morning for Boston. We had a great time and I am very happy she could come visit!!