Weekend in Paris

Hi family and friends!  Sorry I've been lagging a bit on this blog... things have been fairly busy here in Spain but now I am on spring break!  I will be in Sevilla for the first 5 days and then I am going to Italy!  Anyway, a few weekends ago I met my friend Trisha from high school in Paris.  When I arrived, she surprised me with the most delicious macaroons!  I had one of every flavor; raspberry, pistachio, chocolate, and lemon.  After settling in we took a walk over to the Eiffel Tower.  Since it was nighttime it was all lit up and sparkling in the moonlight.  It was such a breathtaking sight and all I kept thinking was “Wow, I’m in Paris” and “I can’t believe I’m standing in front of the Eiffel Tower right now.”  I’ve wanted to visit the city for so long and to I was so elated to be there, standing in front of the famous monument I’d formerly only admired in pictures.  We also walked past the Arc de Triumph and then we went to bed. 

            On Saturday we set out to the Louvre and the D’Orsay.  The Louvre has the most magnificent architecture and such a wealth of beautiful art to see.  It is absolutely enormous to the point that it is overwhelming, so we really had to pick and choose what we saw.  We saw a lot of sculpture and some brilliant paintings, and of course Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.  I had heard that it is really small and disappointing, but I disagree with that entirely.  It’s not large but it is certainly not small.  Of course, it was jam-packed but the advantage of being small is that I could push right through and stand in the front.  It was an awesome experience to have such a famous painting right in front of my eyes.  After the Louvre we went to the Musee d’Orsay, which housed in an old train station and contains the finest collection of impressionist art in the entire world.  I preferred the structure of the Louvre to that of the d’Orsay but I liked the paintings within the d’Orsay more.  I love the Impressionist movement because I’m an outdoorsy girl and impressionist artwork depicts nature and people enjoying themselves in the outdoors.  I’ve seen so much beautiful artwork in Europe and I certainly appreciate it, but so many paintings I’ve seen reflect religious settings.  I enjoy seeing paintings like that because they show what was important during the periods in which they were painted, but I don't personally relate to them.  So the works of Millet, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Claudel, Rodin, Sisley, Pissarro, van Gogh, and Courbet were more my cup of tea.  I was so excited to see the works of my favorite artists Monet, van Gogh, and Renior. 

In most museums you are allowed to take photos without flash except in certain exhibits.  There was one exhibit where it said to not take photos but everybody was anyway, mostly on their iphones.  I decided to be a little bit of a rebel and take some on my camera.  A man who works at the museum came up to me and started yelling at me in French and I had no idea what he was saying but assumed he was saying I can’t take photos so I put my camera away.  Then he continued to yell at me and flail his arms!  It was stressful because I couldn’t understand what he was saying.  Finally, Trisha said maybe he was saying that I had to delete the pictures.  I took out my camera and deleted a couple of the pictures that I took from that room and then he came behind me and stood over my shoulder and kept yelling something which I assume meant “delete again” or “more” or something along those lines.  It was incredibly rude and he was making a huge scene.  I deleted about 15 pictures until there was a blurry one and I told him that it was the last one, pulled away and put my camera in its case.  It really put a bad taste in my mouth but I refused to let it ruin my d’Orsay experience.  I know that he was treating me like that because I am American, because he didn’t make anyone else delete their photos and there’s no way that he didn’t see anyone else taking taking them.     

After the museums we stopped for a snack and I had the most delicious ice-cream cone of my life.  It had nutella in it, strawberries, a scoop of raspberry sorbet, and whipped cream on top.  After our yummy snack we went over to Notre Dame.  If you climb to the top you can see a gorgeous view of the city but it was pouring so we didn’t do that.  Instead, we walked in and saw a service which was really cool.  Of course I couldn’t understand anything they were saying but it was a really moving experience. 

The following day we went to Versailles, which I can barely begin to describe, as its ornate beauty is unparalled to any site I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  Versailles is surrounded by golden gates which set the tone of luxury from the very beginning.  Every room is so unique and rich in color and architecture.  We also went to the apartments which were AMAZING.  The fact that people actually lived in such a beautiful, grandiose place is mind-boggling.  The one downside there was that there was another person who was rude to us.  A woman at the apartments kept yelling at Trisha and I in French and pointing to her watch to tell us that we didn’t have a lot of time left but we knew that and I was getting frustrated that people were treating us so unkindly.  After we saw the apartments we walked through the gardens, which I’m sure are beautiful when it’s not pouring out.

That night we went and got a delicious dinner and went to bed early so that we could wake up and climb up the Eiffel Tower.  On our way there I was absolutely freezing so I stopped to buy a beret and a scarf and then got a free mini Eiffel tower!  Like I said, we walked up and it was quite a workout!  We climbed all the way up to the second floor and saw amazing views of the city.  Right after that, Trisha had to catch her flight so I did a little exploring on my own.  I went across the city to the Saint Chapel, a tiny chapel with two floors.  Literally everything in there is stained glass, and it is so charming and beautiful.  I got lost on my way back to the metro so I asked a woman for directions and she walked me there.  She spoke English and was so kind, telling me how much she wants to visit New York one day.  It was refreshing to be treated kindly by a Parisian after having been talked to so nastily in the days prior.  She got me to the subway and I finally found home, packed up my stuff, and headed to the airport.

I had a wonderful weekend in Paris and really loved the city, but it made me happy that I was studying in Spain.  I hated not being able to speak the language and felt like a jerk every time I would speak to someone in English.  Paris is beautiful, but it doesn’t have the laid-back and friendly nature that Seville does.  Everything is so absurdly expensive as well, like 15 euros for a salad or a bowl of pasta.  I’m so glad I visited though, and it is a place I’d love to go back to at some point in my life.

Thanks for reading.

Au Reviour! (One of the few words I know in French)

Elyssa

Madrid!

Buenos días, familia y amigos!

I have been promising to write about my trip to Madrid for about two weeks now so it’s about time!  This past week has been fairly stressful because I had midterms and no internet in the apartment.  In Spain, there are only two tests a semester and a very limited amount of work.  It’s such a welcome change from having to manage 4+ hours of homework and studying per night on top of 4+ hours 7 days a week of rehearsals for music and theater.  But because there are only two tests, it is so important to do well.  Therefore, I was really stressed about these exams but I just finished them and they went well.  

            Now, about Madrid!  Let me begin by saying that it was an absolute blast.  It was definitely one of the best weekends I’ve had since I arrived in Spain.  My friends Ciana, Dana, Rachel and I decided to take a long weekend trip since we didn’t have class on Tuesday due to an Andulacian holiday.  We stayed in a hostel called the Cat’s Hostel which was a 17^th Century Palace that was converted into a Hostel.  It was my first time ever staying in one and I had a great experience.  We stayed in a co-ed room of 10 people.  The first night we were split up into different rooms but got to stay in the same room for the rest of the trip.  We met really cool people from Connecticut, Westchester, and Canada who we became friends with and ended up spending time with.  Since coming to a foreign country, I feel connection with everyone who speaks English, especially if they are from America or Canada.  The friends we made were just like us; young students eager to explore and enjoy the city.

Madrid is very different from Sevilla.  It is much bigger, much more metropolitan, and much more contemporary.  Many more people speak English and there are English menus at almost every restaurant.  We to two famous art museums, the Reina Sofia and the Prado.  Both were unbelievable.  The Reina Sofia has pretty modern art while the Prado is very traditional.  We saw a lot of Picasso while we were there and got to see the Guernica, his famous painting that depicts the tragedies of war.  It’s based on the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German forces that who supported the Nationalist Movement of Franco during the Spanish Civil War.  The Guernica has traveled all over the world, between France and Paris and Spain.  Franco wanted the painting to return to Spain but Picasso refused to do so until Spain had a republic.  It is so cool that now it is back!  It was amazing to be in front of such an epic painting. 

I loved the Prado as well.  It has a varied collection that is beautifully presented.  It has some of the most amazing masterpieces in the entire world.  I only wish that we had spent more time there; a couple of hours in the Prado is not nearly enough to see everything.  However, I am thankful that in the short time I did spend there I saw some amazing pieces by Picasso, Rafael, Van Gogh, and others.  We didn’t get to see as much Goya as I would have wanted, but that’s okay, I know I’ll be back.  My favorite thing there was the earliest copy of the Mona Lisa, which has more vibrant colors, a more detailed background, and because of the different hues, the woman in the painting’s eyes are even more enticing than Da Vinci’s masterpiece.  Nobody knows who painted it.  It’s really cool. 

            We also went to the Botanical Gardens, which was a huge disappointment.  I am sure that in the spring it is absolutely stunning when flowers and plants are in full bloom, but at the end of February it was mostly just dirt and bare trees. 

             Our last night in Madrid we did a lot of shopping and went to a delicious dinner at a great restaurant.  I was sad to leave and go back to Sevilla, but at the same time, being in Madrid made me realize that I chose the right city in Spain for my semester abroad.  Sevilla is much more traditionally European, the life is much slower-paced, and I really feel like I'm immersed in a different culture.  Madrid, though amazing, doesn't quite have that charm.  

Anyway, I am off to cook dinner.  Hopefully I will be able to blog about my recent trips to Paris and Morocco before I head off to Barcelona.

Hasta luego!   

Elyssa