Spring Break

Wow, I can't believe that week is over. It was a long one, but a good one, so this is going to be a long one too, so get ready. Well, actually, maybe not too long as I am exhausted from travel.

Spring break went like this: Prague for four days, six hours in Paris, Barcelona for three and a half days.

So Prague. It is a myth. I still do not believe that Prague exists, and I was there for four days. In the cold. Did I mention that? It was freezing. It snowed twice. Like blizzards. Very cold. But I walked into the hostel and saw Helen on the bed and everything was perfect. Despite the cold the city was beautiful. Everywhere you turn is something old and ornate. The castle is unreal, especially since we happened to walk in during the changing of the guards. I like the Eastern European atmosphere. It is very different than Western Europe. I just wish I had brought a huge really warm sweater, the kind I saw several Czech people wearing. Prague is so old and so beautiful that is does not quite feel lived in. The snow just made it more surreal. So basically Prague does not exist. I don't know what that means for my own existence...but Prague is not real.

Onto Paris. For a couple hours at least. I have to say I am very proud of myself. I got Helen and I from the airport in Beauvais to Porta Maillot in Paris, then to the Eiffel Tower, and from the Eiffel Tower to Charles De Gaulle airport. All with only a couple words of french and almost no knowledge of the city. But Paris reminded me of DC. The way it is layed out is so similar. And metro systems are pretty similar everywhere. After seeing the Eiffel Tower we headed to lunch, where we ate baguette sandwiches and creme brulee. The best creme brulee I have ever had. And madeliene cookies. Mmmmm....

So then we reached Barcelona. Oh Barcelona. I think it is my favorite place I have visited. We went to the Fundacio Joan Miro. It was amazing. There was this mural exhibit, which was really cool, it was several artists from all over the world. This one from great britain was like strips of wall paper falling to reveal other pieces, and weird paintings. Then there was one from Thailand that was all red with little white dots making up the picture. To get to the museum you have to go through this park. It was so pretty. There were foutains and old vine covered stairs, and avocado trees. Best of all there was an amazing view of the Mediterranian. It is the bluest sea I think I have ever seen. The we went to the Picasso Museum. It was organized chronologically, so that the viewer sees his progression, along with the history and what other events were happening in his life at the time. There was a good selection of his blue period, which is my favorite. They also had a lot of his sketches, and doodles from his school books which I thought was amazing. I love seeing things like that. It kind of reminds me that famous people are just people too. I felt like I really got a sense of Picasso the man, you know. The whole thing was great, really great. Our last night there this singer/songwriter I like, Tallest Man on Earth, was playing a show. There were only five tickets available at the door and Helen and I got the last two. I am so glad we did. It was one of the most amazing shows I have ever been to. He was just so adorable (and very tiny by the way.) The monitor almost exploded but he just kept playing, and was so kind to the sounds guys as they tried to fix it. It was great. The perfect last night in Barcelona.