Yesterday was palm Sunday andI went to the Vatican and was up close for the mass led by the pope.. Igot really fun pictures it was actually a really cool experience even though I am not Catholic. Also I went through all of the ancient city, palentine hill the roman forum and went in the colosseum.. Last night there was an earthquake!! Of course I didnt feel it because I sleep like a rock. I have already checked out of the hostel and I am getting wierd looks by the desk people who are waiting for me to return the laptop so I promise to fill this in later
I am safe and having a blast!

ROMA! :)

Just trying to get some notes down while things are fresh...
I am typing on a computer smaller then my hand that I have checked out from the hostel so if there are any typos I appologize ahead of time and will clean this up later!
Our hostel is really cool and clean.. my friends and I basically have a private room with the girls I am with plus one random man from Belgium. He is really nice and respectful- we love him but I am sure he hates us since we got up at 730 am and had 5 blow dryers going. Last night was Winnies birthday so we went out to a somewhat nice dinner and had fantastic chianti wine. All of the food here is amazing especially after Barcelona's wierd meat.
Also last night at the hostel they had free beer pong to make it look like a cool place because a photographer from the NY Times was coming to take pictures and promote this hostel in the travel section. he took about 800 pictures of just me and one was mid winning shot.. so keep your eyes out for me in the ny times.. he said it should also be online.
Yesterday we went to the old city... It was fantastic!
Today we went to the Vatican City I was actually a little disappointed because my expectations were so high and we just walked in a HUGE HERD of people through the whole thing. The artwork was amazing though and I took a ton of great pictures We also went to the spanish steps and the pantheon! It was unreal I felt like I was on a movie set
The weather has been fabulous-- 70s and breezy
I absolutely love Rome and cant wait for the rest of this trip also :)

day 88 (3.30.09) last catching up

The day Chris left Annie and Rachel came. Their plane had landed before Chris' took off. I had about a 15 minute waiting period between the two, it worked out perfectly. It was a wierd feeling becauuse I was sad to see Chris go and really excited to see my friends and I had only slept for 4 hours so I was really emotional and drained. The first night we went to one of my favorite bars, the second night I went to my homestay because I had a final the next morning, and after that we went out the rest of the week to bars and night clubs. I showed them Apollo, the nightclub I took Chris too and we also went to Opium a night club on the beach. Some of our best pictures came from the Ice Bar we went to where everything including the bar, the glasses, the walls, the seats, was made out of ice! It was expensive and freezing so although it was really cool we didnt stay long. I got to wear the really ugly camo coat!!! wooo!! I think the girls had a lot of fun and they got to see a lot around the city as well they went to the Picasso Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Barceloneta, La Pedrera, Park Guell, La Segrada Familia, Arc de Triumf, Parc Cituadella, Port Olimpic, and Placa Espanya. It actually worked out perfectly because I have class every afternoon from 3-5 and during that time annie and rachel were able to go see art museums and other sight seeing that I did not want to repeat for the 10th time. Unfortunately they did not get the same exceptional weather that Chris had when he was here. It was pleasant and sunny every day but the air was colder and it was windy. They both packed lots of shorts and skirts which stayed in their suitcases for the most part. It was tons of fun and I
miss my friends already!! But, I dont miss sleeping on a couch in their hotel room that was half my size! Their hotel was really cool in a cool area of the city "L'Eixample" but the man who worked at the front desk was evil and hated us. I dont really know why.. Oh and Rachel broke a glass in the room, as well as the pully hard blind curtain things outside the window. Hopefully the girls dont get charged for that! Oh, and the funny picture of Rachel in different colored socks is her modeling the latest fashion trend here.. we call them "diaper pants"

day 88 (3.30.09) more catching up

My boyfriend Chris came for a week starting on the 15th. It was a lot of fun. I took him to my favorite club, apollo on Monday where we met tons of random Spanish people, (notice the picture of chris and 3 random drunk spaniards!) and the rest of the week I showed him some of my favorite bars like Ovella Negra, Chupitos, George Payne, and others.. We went to the light show in Placa Espanya on Friday night (his last night) which was really convenient because it was across from the hotel. The hotel was called "Hotel B" and he got a great deal. It was an amazing hotel with a cool pool and lounge on the roof. Being with Chris in Spain was really funny because he is always hungry and the portions here are very small. We were constantly going to the grocery for snacks and stopping and the kebab places on the street. Chris randomly ran into some of his frat brothers at an irish pub on St. Patricks Day! It was pretty cool. He really like the beach, and overall I think Barcelona really impressed him. He got to see almost everything and he got lucky with perfect weather the entire time!

day 88 (3.30.09)

So much has happened since I last wrote. These past few weeks have been absolutely crazy. First thing that happened was the wine tour. CIEE took a group of us to Penedes (a wine region close to Barcelona) to the Torres vineyard. It was really fun, we were able to tour the vineyards in a cool trolly and see the cellars and learn all about how the wine was made. Afterwards we did a wine tasting-- which was basically the same technique that we learned when we did the beer tasting at the Estrella Damm factory in Barcelona. It was a really fun trip but there wasn't much to see since the grapes werent on the vines. We did see 5 porsches in the parking lot though.

day 67 (3.9.09)

I got back home from Ireland yesterday, it was amazing. We left early Thursday morning and got back to Barcelona Sunday afternoon. The first two days we spent in Dublin which was incredible. I was suprised by how small of a city it was, atleast the central area. The only thing I didnt like about Ireland was that it rained the entire time, except for the first half of the first day. They have a saying in Ireland if you wake up and look out your window and see the hills its going to rain later, and if you can't see them- it's raining now.
A few of the fun things we did and saw were Trinity College, St Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, the Liffey, and my favorite-- the prison Kilmainham Gaol. It was where every political prisoner was held, and all the poor were held during the potato famine. It was cool to see because it has been used in over 70 scenes for various movies.
Other then the ones I just listed, there weren't that many sites to see in Dublin, especially compared to Paris which was nice for three reasons 1, it was simply a relaxingvacation. 2, it was raining and since we weren't on a schedule we just took cover in the pubs. 3, we had a third day free so we were able to take a trip into the countryside.
The trip we took lasted all day and although it was raining the entire time it was lovely. We went to where the movie P.S. I love you was filmed. (to be continued-- have to leave for class.)

day 59 (3.1.09)

Today I went on a train to Montserrat, which is about 1 hour outside of Barcelona. It was amazing! I would have liked to go on a clear day because apparently from Montserrat you can sometimes see the Pyrenees and Mallorca. But, today was verrrry foggy. It was really awesome that we went on a Sunday because we were able to see the last part of mass, and the famous boys choir performed at the end of it. It looked like there were about 20 young boys (probably between the ages of 9-13). I think the only people that live on Montserrat are the 80 monks and the 25 boys who are in the choir and go to the boarding school for music that is also located in the montestary. After that we hiked around because that is really all there is to do on Montserrat. Although we didnt get to see the views we did get a really creepy cable car ride up the mountain through the fog.
This week is going to be horrible because I have 3 exams and an 8 page paper due. But, LUCKILY I am leaving for Dublin on Thursday morning :)

day 57 (2.28.09)

Tonight I went to Placa Espana because they finally started the famous light show at the palace. The pictures didnt turn out too well because with a flash it looked dark and far away and without it was blurry-- but I thought they were good enough to add here :) I havent been as good at keeping up so I am trying to keep some entertainment on this site!! Last night my friends and I bought cava (champagne) and hung out on the beach. It is amazing out here.. and finally warm enough at night to hang out right by the water! I absolutely love this city! I slept at my friends homestay because her senora was out of town and said she could have me over-- her homestay is SO nice.. and right in the center of EVERYTHING. It made me very jealous! Tommorrow I am planning on taking a train to Montserrat and hiking so hopefully I will have good pictures if the weather colds out! hasta luego!