europeanflower

[europeanflower]

Sometimes the things we least expect are the best things to happen to us

Fall break was incredible. From start to finish. I didn’t write in the last post about this because I knew my boyfriend was going to read the post and didn’t wanna ruin the surprise, but I took a late afternoon train to Barcelona the day I last wrote and stayed in an Airbnb to surprise him at the airport. He thought I was coming a couple hours after he landed hehe. Well the surprise kinda got ruined anyway sort of because I was trying to mess with him and told him I missed my train so he decided to stay on a bench by baggage claim and I couldn’t think of a clever way to lure him outside so I just said “come out here!” It was really cute regardless. I missed him so incredibly much.

We spent 2 days adventuring around Barcelona. We checked out the Barcelona cathedral and it was pretty cool because from taking a few art history courses I’ve accumulated a decent amount of knowledge about architecture and art itself so I was able to point out some interesting things and teach him a little bit as we walked around. Then we went to Park Güell, which was heavily influenced by the artist Gaudi. We brought 2 bottles of wine and walked alllllll the way to the top of the park where we had an incredible view of the whole city, and stayed for the sunset. 

The next morning we had a REALLY early flight and it took us over an hour to find a taxi (it was 4:30am and my spanish skills are very very minimal so people kept hanging up on us or misunderstood where we were) so we ended up ultimately missing our flight to Paris. Then it was 170 Euros per person to get another flight that would’ve been 14 hours later... so we cut our losses on the Airbnbs we bought for Paris and bought train tickets to Valencia. We spent 4 days there. I showed him all of my favorite restaurants and the gorgeous riverbed that the study center is right across the street from, we went to Montforte gardens (beautiful), the aquarium, went up the Torres de Serranos (sooooo cool but I’m afraid of heights so towards the end I was not havin’ it), went to a jazz night at this bar called La Vitti (The Berkeley students put it on, every time it’s different musicians and every time it’s so good), and a ridiculously beautiful rooftop bar. 

One night while we were there we jokingly asked my mom, who was in Switzerland, if we could join them. They bought us a flight that day. So Last Thursday we hopped on a plane to Zurich, where we took a train to St. Moritz, where we spent 2 days. I’ve been wanting to go to Switzerland for a few years now and never had the opportunity to but let me tell you it was wayyyy more gorgeous than it looks in pictures. Everywhere we went it looked like a legitimate postcard it was insane. AND it’s fall so all of the trees were red and orange and yellow and just ridiculously beautiful and the temperature was perfectttt wow. We went on a couple private tours and went up this fernicular which is this little cart thing that takes you up a mountain and the view was to die for. It’s in the collection of pictures I put for this week’s post. The last two days of our trip were in Geneva. I liked it there, but it was more of a city and not as beautiful as St.Moritz. I’m so happy things worked out the way they did honestly, break turned out to be much better than I was anticipating.

This week has been weird getting back into the swing of school and everything. But thankfully the weekend is here, and my mom and stepdad are visiting until Sunday morning so it’ll be really fun to show them around and for them to meet my roommates and friends in the study center :) 

I have a lot of reading to do for my Hemingway class now. 

XOXO gossip girl

[europeanflower]

[europeanflower]

The days are long, but the years are short.

Travel, for me, deepens my appreciation for life. From my point of view, our life is defined by experiences. I read this quote once and it really stuck with me.. it says: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” Nowadays in the days of technology, social media, Netflix and constant communication/stimulation, I believe people see even less of the world around them. Today, those who do not travel really only end up reading a paragraph, if we’re going to continue using that analogy. The average American spends 15 YEARS of their life watching television, and 11 hours per day looking at a screen. That’s time you can never ever get back, and for what? To look at videos of cats and lame memes that you’re not even gonna remember past closing out of the app anyway? What’s even worse is some people who DO get the opportunity to travel don’t even pay attention because of these distractions, so they never step out of their comfort zone, they never truly immerse themselves in their diverse surroundings, they never look away from their screens whether they’re communicating with friends or loved ones or taking/posting pictures or even simply mindlessly scrolling through social media. It’s sad. I refuse to take advantage of this opportunity because there is so much beauty and history and diversity here.

Anyway.

Life in Valencia has been beautiful, per usual. Last Thursday (exactly one week ago) this huge medieval festival started right in front of the Torres de Serranos and a bunch of vendors pitched tents all along the bridge, where they sell everything from meat and cheese to jewelry to beautiful mosaic lamps (I literally electrocuted myself touching one, only me). On Saturday I explored the city with my friend Hayleigh and we found some cool little shops and this grocery store/”market” that has the largest selection of vegan food I’ve ever seen in my life. Disclaimer: I’m not a vegan, although I deeply admire the dedication of those people that are. I tried it for a couple weeks about a year ago and I’m sorry... I just love cheese WAY too much. Maybe if I found a vegan cheese that was semi-decent I would consider trying it again, but most definitely won’t happen until at least December. I digress. We had Monday off which was really nice, I did literally nothing all day which is something we all need every once in a while I think. Wrapped up a few exams on Tuesday and Wednesday and now, we’re officially on Fall Break :)

My boyfriend Connor gets in to the Barcelona airport early tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to see him and show him around, he’s never been to Europe so it’ll be really fun to kind of see everything from a fresh perspective. Over the next 10 days we’re going to Barcelona, Paris, and Valencia, where we’ll do day trips to Alicante, Alhambra, and Montanejos.

All is well.

[europeanflower]

[europeanflower]

First month Abroad

Ever since the first time I came to Spain when I was just 13 years old, I knew. I knew in my heart and soul that I would one day move to this country, if even for a short period of time. I just had to. I fell in love with everything about Spain: the culture, the architecture, the street art, the food, the people, the way the air is lighter and more breathable, the trees... literally everything. I came to this beautiful country two additional times after that (several years apart), and then flew here on the last day of August to study through Florida State University for 3 and a half months. And let me tell you, it’s only been a little over a month since I first came here and I know now more than ever that this is the place I want to be for a significant period of my life. I’m already extremely sad about having to leave this place in two and a half short months.

Every person in this program, students and professors alike, is so unique. Each person contributes something different and beautiful to each and every experience and conversation. To me, just hanging out with them in the study center and around the city of Valencia is an adventure in itself honestly. I’ve been here for 4 weeks and I’ve already established amazing friendships with people who are consistently making life so much more fun and interesting and who make me feel more at home, even though I’m ~3800 miles away from South Florida.

There’s a program at Florida State called First Year Abroad, which is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s where freshman can study here for an entire calendar year. Had I known about the program earlier, I 100% would have done it. I’m a little jealous honestly. At the same time though, I’m glad things worked out for me the way they did because coming here at this point in my life breeds the opportunity for a deeper appreciation for this opportunity, a more defined sense of independence, and let’s be real here I’m over the whole “OMG IM IN COLLEGE LETS GET DRUUUUUUUUNK” thing. So I feel like I have a completely different experience than 2/3rds+ of my 60 person program. But like I said, that’s just how things worked out for me. The freshmen here are very mature and can (for the most part) handle themselves in a way that I probably would not have been capable when I was 17 or 18 years old. So, props to them.

Since being here, I’ve done SO many fun and cool activities. I’ve been to Museu Oceanogràphic (the largest aquarium in Europe, no big deal), a soccer game (Valencia vs real Madrid)(0-0), Sueca (for a Paella festival, yum), a GORGEOUS rooftop bar where I saw the entire city of Valencia lit up just after sunset, Jaca, Camino de Santiago, the Pyrenees mountains, Loarre castle, and Barcelona. And like I said, I’ve only been here for a month. I could honestly write a full page about each of those places but for the sake of digestibility I’m gonna just summarize all of those experiences with one word: unforgettable.

This is an experience of a lifetime. Traveling has given me such a different perspective on life and people in general, along with an insatiable desire to see more and more of this beautiful Earth. Simply reading/talking about the experiences I’ve had or even watching a movie/tv show about it doesn’t even come close to portraying the diversity, beauty, and exhilaration that comes hand in hand with seeing varying parts of the world, varying lifestyles. Being here is... indescribable. It’s a legitimate blessing to be able to come here for this long and to witness this much culture and beauty halfway across the world.

Mom, if you’re reading this, thank you so much for everything!! You’ve given me the world, literally. I could never thank you enough for the experiences you’ve made possible.

[europeanflower]