Greetings from Europe!
Hi everyone! *waves* Hope everyone is doing great! My trip is almost over--ahh! Only one more full day and then I fly back home Monday morning. It's been a roller coaster ride with highs of being completely awestruck and lows of being totally exhausted and stressed out, but overall it's been fantastic. Allison and I (Allison being the friend I was traveling with--and I say "was" because she planned to head back to the States before me, so we've parted ways by now) were trying to sum up each place/country we've been to with one adjective, and between what the two of us thought up, I think I've decided on the following: Paris is cultured, Lisbon is charming, and Spain is scenic. LOL.
Lisbon was definitely the big surprise of this trip. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't have many expectations for it since we were only going to be there for two days and I barely knew anything about Portugal, but it was absolutely amazing. We stayed at a hostel in the historic downtown area. The hostel was made of awesome--cleaner than any of my college dorms, lol, with a super friendly staff, and beautiful interior design (hee!). It's like someone from that Extreme Makeover show set it up or something. And with all of the college aged kids just sort of chilling out there, it made me feel like I was in Never Never Land (the place in Peter Pan ... not Michael Jackson's ranch ... ;p) but for young adults.
Okay, that was a lot about a hostel, but it kicked ass! And the city itself was so picturesque ... all of these winding cobblestone streets, mosaics on the sidewalks, beautiful old pastel colored buildings, some with walls covered in painted tiles, all with red tiled roofs, and right at the water's edge. A saint's festival had just taken place before we arrived, too, so the streets were all decorated with rainbow colored streamers entwined with strings of bare light bulbs. Once I get pictures uploaded, there will be pic spam of this ... massive pic spam, lol ... There were lovely castles and cathedrals and monuments to see, too, but I think the best part was just wandering aimlessly and soaking in the atmosphere of the city. :)
If Lisbon was great, then I'd say Spain was a bit of a disappointment. This wasn't really Spain's fault (I don't think, lol); the place we were staying just happened to be kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was on the Costa del Sol, literally a stone's throw away from the Mediterranean, which was gorgeous, but we were at least a half hour away by bus from the two nearest cities, so everything we did was severely cramped by the bus schedules. I think the entire Spanish experience can be summed up by the fact that the most exciting part of it was going to Gibraltar--and Gibraltar is British, lol!
Gibraltar was incredible, though. To actually think that I was at the Pillars of Hercules was pretty damn cool in itself. The view from the top of the Rock was stunning, with the Atlantic on one side, the Mediterranean on the other, and the North African shore in the distance. And there were monkeys! Well ... apes, actually (I think). They were so friendly! They jumped on the tour van and pulled on the shiny things dangling from Allison's skirt and tried to steal our belongings, LOL. You can expect pic spam of them, too ...
Also, to get into Gibraltar, you have to walk right through the middle of a live runway, and when the planes are taking off, they stop all foot/car traffic (sort of like at a drawbridge when a boat is going through). My Richard White muse (who has been more vocal because of my DCFAW fic ^_^) was highly excited by that. *grin*
And then there's Paris, which has been just as wonderful as I expected it to be. :) I started my trip here two weeks ago, left for Portugal and Spain, then returned this Wednesday since this is where my flight leaves from. Paris is chock full of things to see--I feel like every block has a new fountain or church or museum to check out! And aside from the great sight seeing, it's been awesome for two other reasons.
One, I actually know some French; trying to use it has almost been as fun as seeing the city, even though my attempts are completely hit or miss (with more emphasis on the misses ;p). And two, I have a friend who lives in France (Carina) with whom I've been staying. I know how stressful it can be to have visitors, and she's been an amazing hostess, so I can only hope I'm not driving her too crazy, lol. She was a graduate student in the lab where I currently work, and is doing her post-doc in Paris. We've spent a few evenings hanging out with her new lab-mates, lol, along with some other friends she's made here, so I've gotten a nice little glimpse into local life to add to the tourist experience. It's made me feel much more like I'm part of this city instead of just passing through--even though I am just passing through. ^-^
Anyway, that's the end of my babbling for now! I miss everyone in LJ-land, and I hope you're all having fun, especially with the DCFAW and the Superman movieverse awards (which I still need to nominate things for ... I have one week left! Right?). Erm, and I got two of my DCFAW claims half-done on train rides and what not ... it shouldn't take too long to finish them up once I'm home ... *crosses fingers*
Well ... a bientot! *waves again*