paella, travels, and ancient rome

My roommate Nicole and I traveled to Spain last weekend. It was amazing.. flew to Barcelona Friday morning on a whim (decided to go about 8 hours prior to takeoff), but surprisingly found pretty decently priced tickets. Unfortunately, they dont speak much spanish in Barcelona.. the locals understand and can speak it, but the majority speak Catalan (a regional dialect thats kinda like french meets spanish meets portuguese..?). I dont know it.. so that was interesting.

That weekend involved many firsts for me: going to Spain (and Barcelona), flying RyanAir (they suck but its cheap), trying paella (mine had eyeballs and the crawfish looked like it was gonna jump off my plate and attack, it was overwhelming!), drinking some authentic Sangria, trying absinthe (tastes like nasty liquorice), going to a gay club (that was interesting.. but fun- no aggressive italian men trying to grind all over me).. and prbly some other things but I forget. We went to the Picasso Museum and I have a newfound respect and admiration for his work! On Satuday, we had amazing weather (so warm I could just wear a t-shirt) and I think that I actually got some sun :)

It was a great weekend.. and this weekend I'm going on a field trip through my program (we got to chose 1 of 4 locations and its included in our program fee). I'm going to the Amalfi Coast- which includes a tour of Pompei and we visit Naples, Positano, and Sorrento. We should see some amazing things and not to mention the priceless view of the Mediterranean!!! Gorgeous.

I'm excited, but the weather doesnt look like it will be pefectly ideal. It really needs to start warming up here in Italy.. comeon! I was freezing my butt off all day today and yesterday at our field studies outside at the Roman Forum and area. But it was awesome to finally get a grand tour inside the forum and the ticket got me into the Colosseum today for free :)  It really makes me appreciate living in Rome. It still boggles my mind that this city is so old. I absolutely love coming across some random ruins or other amazing sight.. just walking along a narrow alley and then BAM! There's the Pantheon, or all of a sudden you are walking along the street and there's just some ruins right next to you, normal.. you know.. everyday stuff here in Rome.