Author: Stephanie Larkin

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn’t post last week, I was extremely busy with midterms and an essay that I had to finish. It totally slipped my mind in the chaos that was happening both here and in the USA last week.

I finished up my midterms last week. Well, kind of. I have one due Wednesday, which we were supposed to take last Wednesday. My professor walked in the classroom, deemed us all too preoccupied to take it after the election results, and told us we had a week to finish it. He’s a cool dude.

This weekend, I got the chance to travel to Morocco!! I went with some of my friends that I’ve met abroad that live on the west coast. I got to ride a camel, sample traditional food, and haggle for souvenirs. It was an amazing experience, and I’ve included some photos. The blue city (Chefchaouen) was especially cool because all of the buildings are painted, you guessed it, blue.

I 100% agree with what Bethany said in a post last week, GO STUDY ABROAD (or at least travel). This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Even when I feel uncomfortable or miss home, I am so glad I chose to do this. I mean, I got to go to AFRICA this weekend. I’ve been able to travel, meet people that live across the country (which I’m learning is like a different world), and improve my Spanish so, so much. With only a little over a month to go here in Spain, I realize how lucky I’ve been to be here.

So proud of everyone on the team for killing the 2k! Congrats to everyone that PRed! Can’t wait to be erging next to people who know how to (because believe me, no one at my gym does)!

Que tengáis un buen día!

Bix

Hey everyone!

Let me fill you in on what I did for my last weekend of break. I met up with a few friends in Barcelona after spending 24 hours in Lisbon. The first thing we did was go to see the Sagrada Familia, which is soo much bigger than I expected it to be. Also, it’s not even finished! Throughout my semester in Italy, I have been visiting a lot of churches with my art history class and on other school trips. The Sagrada Familia is so different than anything I have ever seen before. From the outside it looks like a drippy sandcastle, which is very different from the marble facade of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Walking into the Sagrada Familia, it felt like walking into a hollowed tree. The columns and supports near the ceiling reminded me of branches. I thought it was really interesting how there were no paintings on the walls. The stained glass windows were just different colors that seemed random and not arranged in a way that were images. We had better weather the second day in Barcelona so we went to Parc Guell. Instead of paying to take a picture on the bench with the overlook, we decided to climb to the top of the park. It was really windy and definitely not the best time to be wearing a dress, but the view was worth it! On the last day in Barcelona, we walked to the Arc de Triomf and spent time in Citadel Park. The park was crowded with people out for a Sunday morning stroll, kids playing, and street performers doing tricks! It felt very tropical with palm trees everywhere (and there was definitely a big temperature difference compared to Prague a few days earlier).

The food in Barcelona was soo good!! We went to La Boqueria food market and tried the fresh juices, artichokes, tapas, and other foods including a plate that consisted of rice, beans, peppers, chicken, ribs, guacamole and a really yummy sauce. It took 3 people to finish the mountain on the plate. We also tried the fish and chicken paella for dinner one night. Of course we had to stop for donuts when we passed this donut shop (how can you not…just look at them).

After getting back from break and having to live in the same 3 outfits for 10 days, I have been happy to stay in Florence. The past two weeks here have pretty much consisted of me doing homework, working on presentations and final papers. The end of the semester is coming up very quickly and I still have things to do and see! One night I decided to go for a walk around the center of Florence and I saw a movie in an Art Deco theater (it reminded me of the Campus Theater in Lewisburg). Stay tuned because I am going to Milan this weekend!

This week is fall break for my program, so I have been traveling around Europe with Bix and my roommate from Florence! My travel plans included Amsterdam, Cologne, Prague, Lisbon, and Barcelona.

Amsterdam was definitely my favorite city so far. Biking is the easiest way to get around. It was a little scary at first because  I didn’t know where I was going, but once you get the hang of it it’s super fun! Bix and I went on a river cruise tour, took pics at the I Amsterdam sign, and rode our bikes through Vondel Park. Of course when we got to Cologne (Köln) Bix made sure we went to a hockey game. The fans were really loud on both sides with each having drums and chants. (Köln won btw). 

Prague was next. I met my roommate in the city of a hundred spires. We had two full days to explore the old city, Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, the Lennon Wall, the Astronomical Clock, and other attractions. The architecture was pretty incredible because there are so many different styles all in the same city. It also felt a lot colder than I had expected so we ended up getting some hats to keep us warm. 

Today I woke up at 3am to get to the airport for my 6am flight from Prague to Lisbon. Even though we only had 24 hours in Lisbon, my roommate and I made the most of it and were able to take the tram to some scenic overlooks and have lunch in a tropical park that had the biggest ducks I have ever seen in my life. Tomorrow morning we are headed to Barcelona where we will meet up with some friends! I’m super excited to visit a 5th country/city this week to finish off fall break!

Stephanie