First, I went to Barcelona for four days. We arrived at night and went straight to a flamenco show with a dinner of paëlla and sangria. We figured out Barcelona's metro system, which is a lot like the one in Paris...and also could be where I lost my cell phone. The next day, we went to Park Güell, which is a huge park designed by Antoni Gaudi who created many of the most famous sights in Barcelona. It has palm trees, caves, and sculptures all around it. We walked around, had a picnic, and observed the many pigeons (just like Paris!). Then we went to the beach! It was a beautiful, sunny day and much warmer than Paris, and it really felt like vacation. I found Liz on the beach after many text messages and confused phone calls, but after a few weeks in Barcelona, Liz learned how to find the beach! It was so great to see her, and she spoke Spanish for us and invited us to an American bar to watch the Super Bowl that night. I did not expect to watch the Super Bowl in Spain and I wouldn't have been sad to miss it (except the commercials!), but it was very different to watch it in Spanish and great to meet some more people studying in Barcelona for the semester! Then we had another day at the beach, dinner with Liz, and visits to the Temple de la Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas, the main walking street with lots of shops and things to see. Then it was already time to go back to cold, cloudy, beautiful Paris.
After a few days and after unpacking and repacking my little, kind of Ryanair- and Easyjet-approved carry-on, I went to London! Chelsea and I arrived on Valentine's Day, which is also Chelsea's birthday! We found Katie who is studying there and went out for cider. I think it ruined me for beer forever. It's that good. Then we visited the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and Piccadilly Circus. We went on a day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath where the Roman baths are. Stonehenge was my favorite part even though we weren't allowed to get very close to it. I think I need to go back for the summer solstice, which is the one day of the year when you can go inside the stone circle. Still, it's the closest thing to the seven wonders of the world that I've visited (it almost made the list!), and it was really cool! Then it was back to London for cooking in Katie's apartment, Covent Garden, and Camden Town. Then we flew from London to Edinburgh/Edimbourg, which I still don't know how to pronounce in French or English. We visited Edinburgh Castle and climbed the mountain/volcano called King's Seat or Arthur's Seat. From the top, we had great views of Edinburgh and the mountains in the distance and a chance to sing, "The hiiillls are aliiive with the sound of muuusic!" The next day, we took a train to Glasgow. In just a few hours, we saw St. George's Square, St. Mungo's Church and the cemetery, Buchanan Street, and a lot of the city, which was a lot like Edinburgh but had its own river running through it like Paris and London!
After taking the train back to Edinburgh and waking up reeeally early the next morning, Chelsea and I flew back to Paris. After a week of speaking English, hearing British and Scottish people all around me, and being called "lovie" all the time which is adorable, I had completely forgotten how to speak French! It was the strangest feeling to hear myself say "Merci" to people at the airport instead of "Thank you" and "Pardon" instead of "Excuse me." And I almost cried when the voice over the metro speakers spoke French and didn't politely tell me to "Mind the gap between the platform and the train." But I got over it, and after about one day of being in Paris and going to a three-hour-long class in French, I think it all came back to me!
Keeping with the title of this blog, I had another not-so-intelligent-while-involving-my-host-family moment after my three weeks of vacation, which overlapped with Victor and Laurene's vacation from school and Madame's vacation from work. While I was in the UK, they went to Barcelona for a cousin's wedding. I had a few lovely days at home alone before they got back late at night. The next morning, I went upstairs to say hello and happy birthday to Madame because it was her birthday. She gave me a strange look and told me that her birthday is March 26th, not February 26th! Paris, je t'aime.
