Curious Cait

September 21, 2012. I have been planning to visit Paris since before I had my plans for Barcelona.  Finally that weekend was here!  Anne was nice enough to be the tour guide and her two Wisconsin friends (Marc and Justin) were nice enough to host us at their apartment for the weekend.  What a nice change from staying in a hostel- most excited about not having to wear flip-flops in the shower! I have become a frequent Ryanair flyer, so everything went smoothly getting to Paris.  I then had to take a 1-hour bus ride to the city centre to meet up with Anne.  We both were running late and luckily found each other without a phone.  How did people use to live without a phone?!  We then took the metro and met up with the boys. We decided that we first must have a picnic at the Champ de mars which is the lawn behind the Eiffel Tower; so we went on a hunt for a baguette, cheese, pastries and wine!  All of which were very simple to find....

Valencia was my first stop.  I decided to take the train for this trip, that way I could see the countryside of Spain instead of flying over it.  I took the fast train from Barcelona to Valencia to Madrid and back.  It took about 3 hours for each leg of the trip.  The trains went about 300 km/hr or 200mph; it did not feel that fast and I slept a lot of the time.  (Valencia Cathedral) Once I got to Valencia and checked into my hostel I decided to walk around.  I was staying at a hostel right in the heart of Valencia in a room with 6 people.  I decided to do a little tour of my own and then go for a walking tour later that day.  But first stop was so lunch! (Plaza de La Virgen) I went to a little Irish Pub, I have a lot of time in Spain, so Spanish food was not a necessity!  While I was sitting there an older Valencian man approached me and started talking away!  He wanted to show me around Valencia, since I looked ve...

Host apartment no more!  As much as I liked Maria and her drinking habits it is nice to have our own place.  No more late night bus rides that take an hour just to get back to Maria's or having to plan our day around the bus system. We live right in the heart of Barcelona, a 10-minute walk to Las Ramblas and a 2-minute walk to the metro.  The area is amazing! Filled with little cafes, restaurantes, shops and bars.  It reminds me a lot of my first apartment in Chicago.  There is a gay area very close to where our apartment is, which reminds me of Boystown and all their shops. The people are very friendly here and I feel very comfortable in our new area. (Living room with lots of couches!) (Bedroom looking out my GIANT window) The apartment is pretty big as well!  There is a big dining room, family room and 2-full bathrooms.  All the bedrooms are double beds and pretty good sized.  Right now it is only Nic and I, however ...

My course has been completed and I decided I needed to get out of Barcelona for a bit, and on top of my list was Rome.  I decided to take a 3 night, 4-day trip by myself to discover the ancient city. After traveling to London and with everything that I would have done differently, I now know how to pack and travel lightly.  I know how the airport functions and that I do not need to be there 2 hours before, like O’Hare.  So everything went smoothly on my trip to Rome.  No glitches!  That was feat and I was so happy about it. So I arrived in Rome on Monday, September 3 @ 10am.  I made it to my hostel and everything went smoothly.  I decided I wanted to go see the Colosseum first since it was nice out and I would be mainly outside when I was touring it.  It was OUTSTANDING.  I cannot believe that I was walking around the inside of the Colosseum.  Only about 30% of the building remains, meaning that this was a HUGE buildi...