Curious Cait

After went we on our little bar crawl the night before it was time to see what else Barcelona had to offer.  I found a cooking class that taught you how to cook paella and sangria. Paella is a Spanish dish that typically that of vegetables, seafood, rice and spices. We were in! Saturday morning consisted of homework and getting a quick workout in before hitting La Rambla.  We got to the bar that was hosting the cooking class and it turned out to be about 20 Australians that were doing the class as well.  Aussies are EVERYWHERE! It is their winter so they all leave and travel around, I am not complaining because they speak English; nice change compared to butchering a conversation in Spanish. The cooking class was awesome; the chef first took us to the open-air market and showed us how to buy the fresh produce.  We then went to the bar and the chef showed us how to prepare the meal, we were served endless sangria and tapas while he was preparing th...

I was so happy I had finally gotten a roommate and settling into the apartment was coming along very nicely.  Maria was a big help with how to get around, where the grocery stores were and had good suggestions for different restaurants.  I was starting to get excited for the course to start to have some kind of schedule to my very chaotic life.  I have class everyday and the typical day is from 11am to 2:30pm, if I am teaching I will have to come earlier or stay later.  This was not going to be a problem for me; I mean my workdays were much longer in Chicago! (the apartment building) (my little room!) So Monday, August 6 th rolled around and it was the first day of class, I did not know what to expect.  There are a total of 5 of us in the class and 2 more students would be joining us in 2 weeks.  I have never been in such a small class before!  No slacking off I guess!  My teachers are Stephen and Kerry; Stephen is British and m...

Saying good-bye to Anne in London was very difficult, we had had such an amazing weekend and I did not want to go back to Barcelona.  The flight went smoothly, I knew not to make the same mistake with trying to get on Ryanair with two bags; I just checked it right away.  I then took the Aerobus back to the city center and grabbed a cab to the new apartment.  The apartment was not exactly what I was imagining or predicted; it was quite a distance away from the city and it was a host situation. Maria was the host, meaning we lived with her and not that she was just the landlord.  At first I thought it was not at all the situation I wanted and that I wanted my own apartment to have freedom to do whatever.  Well I was proven wrong when I was in Barcelona for four nights by myself; Maria turned out to be a great friend and kept me sane.  It was a blessing to have someone around that could help me get around the city and to talk to.  Maria does not kno...

I have been in Europe for 3 nights and enjoying the sightseeing in Barcelona, but now onto my next city to explore. London!  My good friend from high school, Anne, who currently lives in Paris, France wanted to go on a trip; so why not London? We did a lot of planning and decided to travel during the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics.  And this is how our trip unraveled. My flight from Barcelona was at 6:00am on Friday, July 27 th .  I planned on leaving for the airport around 4:00am, just in case I ran into any more hiccups.  So of course that meant I did not sleep at all that night, a mixture of excitement to see Anne and nervousness because I had such back luck traveling so far.  I was flying Ryanair and they are very strict on the amount of bags you can carry-on and to check luggage would cost more than the ticket itself.  Unfortunately for me, since I did not have my apartment yet, I had to bring more than was necessary for this trip....

July 23/24 th , 2012 I don’t think I have ever had a longer day.  It all started with O’Hare Airport and ended along a cobblestone streets and centuries old bars.  Saying good-bye to my family was by far one of the toughest things I have ever done, yes even more stressful than college finals or the LSAT.  However, I know this is a great experience and I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity I have.  Or that is what I thought when I first got on the airplane in Chicago.  The next few days were, let’s say, like a rollercoaster.  I had a lot of ups and downs all within 48 hours. I arrived to Barcelona safely and everything was going great.  The people I was sitting next to on both planes reassured me that I was going to love Barcelona and love traveling and very fortunate.  The flights were quicker than I thought and I did not sleep an ounce.  By the time I actually arrived to Barcelona I was running on excitement, which was...