Monthly Archives: April 2011

Spring Break in Croatia!

It is springtime in Paris and with springtime comes one of the most beloved spring traditions of all; SPRING BREAK! As many are well aware, the French take their vacations seriously.  They have time off for Christmas, winter break (yes they are separate), the month of August, spring break and even Easter (again, separate). So naturally, in light of the French traditions of leisure and travel, Roby, Peter, Zach, Cassie, Kelly, Sam and I decided to embark on a spring break adventure of our own to the mysterious land that is Dubrovnik, Croatia.  After a few quick Google searches and 5 minutes on easyjet.com, it was decided that the Pearl of the Adriatic was to be our spring break destination 2011.  We set off on Sunday, April 10th to Charles de Gaulle to catch our flight from Paris to Zagreb and then Zagreb to Dubrovnik. We knew very little about where we were staying, just that it had a high rating on hostelworld.com and had an airport pick up for 8 Kuna (about 1 euro).  

We arrive at the airport (after literally the most scenic landing I have ever seen) all a twitter about the beach week that lay in store for us in Dubrovnik. We see Ivica (the proprietor of our hostel – pronounced eeveetza) waiting for us at the airport with Kelly’s name on a sign and pretty much instantly knew that this trip was going to be special.  He launched into a very in depth, factual exploration of what makes Dubrovnik’s history and culture unique, pointing out a lot of interesting things about the region, the cuisine of the area and its fascinating (and recent) war time interactions with it’s neighbors.  Nothing, however, could have prepared us for the amazing and continual generosity that we would be greeted with during our stay at the Dubrovnik Backpacker’s Club.  We arrived at the hostel (which was really a condo overlooking most of Dubrovnik, including the beautiful Franjo Tudman Bridge) and were met with an appetizer platter featuring cheeses, meats, fruit and cookies from the region, as well as homemade honey brandy and fresh home made fruit juices, all to accompany our check in process.  Ivica then told us that he wanted to take us on a tour of some of Dubrovnik’s war sites (which quite sadly occurred during our lifetime – 1991-1992), so after watching a film about the siege of Dubrovnik that was a fantastic complement to our week of history and culture, we set out to the fortress that Napoleon had initially built in about 1806.  This fortress not only offered a fascinating glimpse in Dubrovnik‘s rich and multifaceted history, it also offered some of the most breathtaking views of the Old City as well as the Dalmatian Coast at sunset.  We had a great time taking pictures, looking for shrapnel and tasting all of the wild herbs that Ivica kept finding everywhere and we stayed up there for about an hour basking in our excellent decision to visit this magnificent place.  We then drove down the mountain and to another promontory to watch the sunset over some distant island, again taking a good deal of photos.  After this amazing welcome and introduction to the city, we walked down the pedestrian promenade and went to dinner at a place called Pizzeria Scala where we had octopus pizza, tasted the local beer “Ozujsko” and a few other less exotic dishes.

The next morning we woke up and meandered upstairs for the breakfast that was provided by the hostel for 20 Kuna (2.50 €!) to be yet again, pleasantly surprised by what awaited us.  We were presented with DELICIOUS home made french toast, marmalade, honey and fruit juice, as well as coffee and cereal, all in the beautiful adriatic sun on the terrace of Ivica’s family’s apartment on the top floor of the building. This was truly one of the things I enjoyed most about my trip, as I really felt at home and like a welcomed guest. Ivica’s mother even learned the names of all of the guests and in true Slavic fashion; practically force fed us more french toast, coffee and juice.  After breakfast we decided to hit the beach, it was not incredibly hot and even a little windy, but that didn’t stop us (and it certainly didn’t keep anyone from getting sunburnt), but we all had a fabulous time, chatting, swimming and soaking up the sun. We spent pretty much the whole day at the Copacabana Beach basking in the sunlight and enjoying the gloriously cerulean water that was just a stone’s throw away (and yes, stone, the beach was all pebbles).  

The next day we woke up to our now habit forming breakfast at the hostel and to a stark change in the weather from the day before.  It was incredibly windy and eventually started to rain, but have no fear, the wine tour is here! We had signed up for a wine tour when we had first arrived, so it was very fortunate that this was the rainy cold day, as we would be spending most of our time inside. Much like the day before, Roby, Peter, Kelly, Zach and I all set out in the van, making our first stop at an oyster restaurant along the way.  Yet again, the oysters were delicious, but this time they were accompanied by many aphrodisiac jokes due to the signs that were posted everywhere that proclaimed, “Eat Oysters Love Longer.”  After this minor detour and our first 2 glasses of wine (was it 11:30 am too) we continued our drive out onto the Peljesac peninsula to our first stop at a wine and liqueur manufacturer who has been working for over 150 years. We drove along, past the Great Walls of Dubrovnik (for a long period, the second largest walls in the world after China) and arrived at a somewhat dreary looking vineyard where we descended into the musty basement to taste a variety of wines, likers, grappas and brandies.  We must have tasted 8 varieties including walnut liqueur, lemon liqueur, raspberry liqueur, honey brandy and several kinds of wine.  I even met the 85 year old man who started the business (I forget his Croatian name now). After some historical fact sharing we moved along to our next spot for lunch. We enjoyed our meal of various kinds of fish that came fresh out of the Adriatic nearby. After we were done with lunch we drove back along the coast and much to our pleasant surprise there had been a complete 180 in the weather, we were now basking in the beautiful afternoon Mediterranean sunlight and soaking up the beautiful scenery that was all around us. About an hour after we started our drive we reached a botanical garden and an old castle and took A LOT of pictures, especially of the water and the setting sun. It truly was the perfect ending to a day that started out rainy and gray. We arrived back at our hosteol and were again met with an amazing home cooked meal of Gulaš(goulash -basically stewed brisket) and ate until we were full to bursting. We relaxed in the hostel lounge, watched Despicable Me and went to bed. Again, a glorious day of culture and cuisine.

Unfortunately the next day was to be our last in our home away from home, Dubrovnik.  Very fortunately for us though, it proved to be spectacularly sunny and definitely one of the most picturesque of the whole trip!  After breakfast, Peter, Kelly, Cassie and I decided to walk the walls of the Old City of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Old City is a historical and cultural gem and it was literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. All of the orange terra cotta roof tiles juxtaposed with the turquoise blue waters were really a sight to behold and I took probably 200 pictures that day alone. We walked all the way around the walls and then had lunch at a place called Poklisar right on the water of the harbor. It was a great day and I am so glad that I got to see the Old City.  After our walk and lunch we returned to the hostel, said goodbye and headed for the airport to spend a night in a grungy, noisy hostel in Zagreb.  But we made the best of it and went out to a delicious Thai restaurant for dinner, then headed to a local bar for a couple hours before going to bed. Overall this spring break will live on in my memory as one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I highly recommend Dubrovnik for your next vacation destination.  It was truly amazing.

Stay tuned for my blog about Florence, Pisa and Cenque Terre over Easter weekend!

Here are some photos of our beautiful trip!

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The Spring Break Gang on top of the Mountains of Dubrovnik

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Beautiful Mountains

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Hello gorgeous sunset

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Cassie Me Sam on the beach!

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Amazing pebble beach

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Exploring the City Walls of Old City!

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the lagoon

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I want to live here

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View of the city from climbing the walls

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first stop on our wine tour with the best oysters

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Where the magic happens …. and then the wine tour group!

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Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Mount Monserrat, Spain

Tuesday Collin, Chris, Sam, Allison, and I were all suppose to go climb Mount Montserrat. The 2 guys and myself ended up going. We stopped at the super market and bought bocadillos (6 to 8-inch long portion of baguette, sliced in half and filled with sausage or another kind of cold cut of sausage) for later. Then we took a taxi about 45 minutes outside of Barcelona to get the mountain. We thoroughly enjoyed the 2.5 hour hike up along with the many site, the sites where the best part of the day! I was super excited when we saw the Pyrenees Mountain range covered in snow, they border France and Spain. At the top of Mount Montserrat is a beautiful Monastery and a young boys boarding school. We toured the Monastery and then had to catch the train down the mountain. I would have rather climbed down than mountain but then we would have had to call and wait for a taxi which would take too long.

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Me, Chris, and Collin part way up the mountain.

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TA-DAH, finally got to climb a mountain!

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Colin and I in the court yard of the Monastery. 

At the end of the day I got a “Man Badge” from Chris and Colin for not wimping out and climbing a mountain! I’m suppose to keep it up to date as well……


Location: Barcelona, Spain

Parc Güell

Monday in Barcelona begin with a cup of coffee and croissant from the wonderful caf� (De Casa, yummy) below Colin’s apartment and ate breakfast on the balcony. After breakfast we finally went grocery shopping and got food for the following 3 days. Then our mini adventure started to Parc G�ell. We took the metro to the bottom of a huge hill and then took multiple outdoor escalators to the top of the hill to Parc G�ell. The park was inspired by Count Eusebi G�ell and Antoni Gaudi carried out the idea and designed parts of the park. The park has amazing views of Barcelona and the main terrace has a caf� embedded in one of the terrace walls. The terrace also has the very comfortable Serpentine Bench (picture below) that overlooks the city and 2 park houses designed by Gaudi. On the way back the 4 of us did quite a bit of souvenir shopping.  

parc guell escelators bench  

rock coffee

Coffee out of a rock, kind of.


Location: Barcelona, Spain, Parc Guell

The Clampetts Come to France

The Sunday after I went to London my family came to visit! My mom, dad, brother, aunt, and cousin all came to stay for a week.

I first met them at breakfast, and then we headed over to the Cluny Museum (since it is free on Sunday). On the way we ate macaroons, also known as little hamburgers. Then we went to Notre Dame in the rain because that is the only time I go there. Sadly the fighting irish didn’t have a game that day. For dinner on Sunday we went to my favorite restaurant in Paris. It just happens to be Italian and it is called Casanova. It is about 2 blocks from my house.

On Monday after class…. I took my family to the little creperie by my school and we had lunch. Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for creperie.bmpThen we went to get their metro navigo passes, which is much cheaper than buying tickets every day. We had to take everyone’s pictures for their passes in the metro photo booth which was quite an adventure. Next we had to go off to my apartment to play arts and crafts and put them together. Afterwards we went to L’orangerie in the Tuilleries Gardens to see Monet’s water lilies.Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for water lillies.JPG Then we went over to Montmartre to see Sacre Couer. We walked to the top rather than taking the tram.Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for sacre coeur.JPG When we went inside though and Blair tried to take a picture he got yelled at by a not so happy church man. Apparently you are not supposed to take pictures but when I saw a Sainte Margarite Marie sign I had to. We climbed down and ate dinner at this adorable little family place called le bon boc. The food was amazing and no one stared at us for being loud. The metro ride home though they stared.. a lot.

Tuesday I went to class and had a break from 1-4 when I met my family at the Eiffel Tower. This was my first time up to the top Eiffel Tower since I have been here and my first time to the 3rd floor ever.Thumbnail image for towe r2.JPG Blair and I split a glass of champagne at the top. Then we walked the entire way down. That night my mom finally got her seine boat dinner. I guess 3rd time’s the charm. It was a very nice trip and we had a great dinner and the even took portraits of all of us sitting before dinner was served. Blair won for best picture.claw.jpg Closely followed by my mom and dad doing their kissing picture. I guess it is customary for all couples on boat cruises to have the photographer take their picture kissing. Afterwards we went to the Shannon Pub next to my parent’s hotel to celebrate my 21st birthday at midnight. Thumbnail image for birthday.jpg

Wednesday after class I met my parents and we went on the covered passage ways tours of Paris that my architecture teacher took out class on. Then we headed over to the Madeline church and got something to eat and got on the metro and headed to our respective homes to get ready for my birthday dinner. We all went to dinner at l’orenoc and had an amazing dinner. Then half of us went to Charlie Birdy on the Champs Elysees followed by the Shannon pub where a quite drunk French man sang me happy birthday.

On Thursday during my 1-4 break we went to the catacombs of Paris which are right by my school.skulls.JPG After that the girls went to lunch near my school and the guys went off to eat snails. escargot.jpgAfter class I headed over to their hotel and we wandered around looking for a place to eat. Matt picked this really cool restaurant with seafood. The kind where you pick your lobster out of the tank. Me and matt split the biggest lobster I have ever seen. lobster.jpgAt one point the waited picked a fish out of the tank and was carrying it on a plate and it flopped off. I was sure that it was going to hit my mom in the head. Then they tried to make me kiss it. After that I was scared the entire time that they were going to sneak up behing me with some kind of fish.

On Friday we went to Reims (pronounced REEEENS) we got to ride the train there which was Blair’s favorite part. train ride.jpgWhen we got there we saw l’hotel de ville and the cathedrale and the TAU palace. Next we went to lunch and then had an afternoon of champagne tasting. First we went to Martel. Then Veuve Cliquot (my dad’s favorite). Here we had the whole tour and all that jazz. Then we headed back towards the train station and had some beverages. Then we rode the train back and had Chinese food for dinner. My first attempt at Chinese food in Europe.

wine tasting.bmpSaturday I slept in and met my parents at their hotel around 12 30. We went to a little street market near their and bought some souvenirs. Then we headed over to the printemps shopping center and window shopped. We had lunch in the restaurant under the dome. After we went to Place de Vendome, walking past the Opera house on the way. Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last dinner together in Paris. We went to Le Sensing and had a very French meal. Tip: don’t eat the plate decoration… sometime it’s a pile of salt. We finished with my 21st birthday present from my dad which was my bottle of 1990 Chateau D’yquem.

lunch paris.jpgIt was a great visit and Aunt Kris was never actually lost for more than 10 minutes. Therefore, a very successful trip.


Location: Paris, France

London/Ring of Kerry/Sweden/21st Birthday

I have been hardcore slacking on the blog train lately.  Sorry about that!  

Quick captions:
LONDON
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^Our hostel was based out of a bar…aka reception was at the bar…which I had never seen before.  Thus, making this 11am drink well worth it.  Cool place.
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^The London Eye!
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^Outside of the Buckingham Palace
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^Just found this wandering around. Thought it was neat :]
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^Harry Potter tour = awesome. Ended at Platform 9 3/4 (though the real one is under construction, so we had to deal with the makeshift one. Sigh).
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^The shop was CLOSED or I would have def bought the HP money set. haha
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^DUCK TOUR DUCK TOUR DUCK TOUR! (Seriously, though. Coolest thing ever.)
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^Finishing with the generic Big Ben pic!
ON TO RING OF KERRY!
(The reason I am studying in Ireland, of all these beautiful places in Europe.)
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^Hello ocean. Hello beautiful blue sky. Hello Ireland :]
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^Again, Ireland is just gorgeous.
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^My friend, Danielle, checkin’ out the view.
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^Meagan making her way down to the beach.
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^Beach!
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^Looks like a fairy tale.
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^YES! Baby lambbb!
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^Not sure who this chick is. But I liked the photo!
OFF TO SWEDEN!
Went to visit one of my best friends, Claire, in Sweden.  She moved there last year and is living in Uppsala.  All I wanted to do was spend time with her and see the ice bar in Stockholm.  Mission accomplished.
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^Ice bar in Stockholm! Me + jellyfish ice sculpture + drink = wonderful.
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^Friends :]
BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY!
Both Erin and my birthday was over our Spring break, so we decided to celebrate beforehand, while everyone was still around.  We were VIP at the one club here, Angel Lane, which landed us free champagne and the club to ourselves for the first two hours.  What a wonderful night with wonderful people! :]

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^Erin and myself! The birthday girls! Woohoo!
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^The ladies at the club :]
So there is that mad update.  Sincerely sorry I haven’t written in ages, but with essays and finals all around me, other things have trumped blogging.
I spent the past 10 days in Italy for spring break…and that calls for a blog of its own (hopefully it will go up within the next two days).
That is all for now!
Cheers,
Melanie

Location: Stockholm, Sweden

waterfalls!

 

Just a quick update today with a video of me cayoning!  This was the last waterfall that we climbed down.  My friends made me go first, too! haha.  This was also after I had jumped off a waterfall (because we had to) and completely destroyed my shin on a rock!  It didnt feel too good, but it’s been a few weeks now and it’s healing up quite nicely. 

Okay, that’s all for now!  I have so much to do with final papers and projects right now, it’s crazy–only 2 weeks left until i’m headed back to the states!

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Location: merida, Venezuela

Easter vacation

We recently had 6 days off of class for the Easter holiday (as Sweden celebrates 4 days in a row!), and I managed to make the most of my time. 

For starters, my best friends Kaila and Elesa and I, along with our friends Pawel from Poland and Oscar from Mexico, spent a couple days traveling around Stockholm! The Scandinavian capital is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. As college students, we were somewhat short on funds, so instead of actually visiting museums and famous monuments, we enjoyed the 65 and sunny weather by attending an outdoor Turkish festival, eating at an outdoor cafe and enjoying each others company. We also stayed at one of the nicest hostels I think I have ever seen and met a lot of interesting international travelers!
After Stockholm, we decided to relax in the 70 AND SUNNY weather of jonkoping for a few days, before heading off to Granna, the candy capital of Sweden, for the day. They are famous for their peppermint sticks, and they are truly delicious!
The break was a much needed time off from school, and gave us the perfect amount of rest time before we start our student teaching on tuesday! I look forward to teaching, although am slightly nervous about the language barrier! 
Sorry for the short nature of this blog, but I seem to have thought I really was on vacation! The next one will be juicier and longer i promise! 
peace, love, and sunshine <3

Location: jonkoping, sweden

Malta…….?

So I haven’t written a blog in a while. The reason for this is because my school, University of Sussex, uses the tri-mester system, so we had a month and a half off from school. One would think that I would use that time to travel more, but I decided that I would take the opportunity to return home and make sure my mom hadn’t fallen into a depression due to my absence. Anyway, I did take a trip with three friends of mine, John, Abby, and Allie. John and Abby were beginning a pseudo-tour of Europe, and their first stop was Malta. To be honest, I didn’t know what the hell a Malta even was when they mentioned it, but I decided to tag along. Good decision. Malta is a small country off the southern tip of Italy. I figured, the weather would probably be nicer, and I wasn’t going home for over a week, so I went.

It was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. It was a nice break from the rainy UK weather, and we got a hotel instead of a hostel, which is always a plus.In addition, you wouldn’t think Malta would have great nightlife, but it had a few streets that was full of bars and clubs. Obviously a huge plus. Also, the food was way better than I expected. They had a great variety, including McDonald’s (obviously, and thank God). Not only that, the night clubs (and gentlemen’s clubs….why not, right?) didn’t have a cover charge. Drinks were cheap, and it was overall a good time. So without further adieu, here’s some pics:

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Location: Malta

The Wall of Greatness

The Great Wall of China.  A Wonder of the world.  Continuous in its run through the hills of China (false), the only man-made structure that can be seen from space (false), and filled with the lost lives of those who paid the ultimate price to build it (also, false).  Now that we’ve gotten some misconceptions out of the way, we can start a real assessment of this wall that is considered so great.

The drive is about 2-3 hours from Beijing via bus.  Upon arrival I was immediately rushed by a bunch of xiaofan, or souvenir vendors catering to the “needs” of tourists.  They followed us for a whiles on the hike but we paid no mind to them.  In terms of how the Great Wall of China actually is, I can only really say it’s exactly what it looks like in the pictures: majestic, breathtaking, a pain in the butt. 

Compared to Tiger Leaping Gorge, I suppose it wasn’t nearly that bad (I didn’t contemplate suicide!),  but there were times I was definitely in want of rocket boots, a Segway, or a weird hybrid contraption that serves the needs of speedy horizontal movement with the capacity to jet me up and down those the parts of the wall that goes up and down.  Despite being centuries old, most of the wall looked pretty intact, until I realized that those were the renovated parts.  As we traveled further along the wall, hitting around 30 towers check-points along the way, the intactedness of the structure disappeared, only to be replaced with crumbling stone bricks, ledges that must be carefully crossed like in the video games, and fragments of walls and poles that once held the archers who fired at the invading Huns.  It was actually pretty cool.  Visually, it looked ancient.  I revered the Wall’s antiquity and cultural meaning.  I didn’t appreciate the hiking, which as we’ve already establish, I don’t care much for. 

Through the arduous hike, we took breaks and rested alongside the wall’s edge.  Most of the landscape was barren.  The deforestation that took place centuries ago to fuel the brick making had been devastating to the surroundings.  I can only imagine with my eyes closed how cool it would’ve looked if there were dense, thick forests on both sides of this giant stone snake.  It would’ve been really cool, I think.

As we walked, those darned xiaofans kept bothering us so I eventually caved in a bought a Great Wall photo book, which I am pleased to say I bargained down to a decent price.  The xiaofans also collected our empty bottles, which apparently they could cash in for a measly 3 fen (about half a cent).  I’ve noticed this phenomenon elsewhere.  People, often fish through trash bins looking for plastic water and soft drink bottles and collect them in hug bags.  I always wondered if they traded those in for money, and if it was really worth all that trouble.  I learned that it is humiliating and difficult, but for some it is scraping together a living.

We entered a forbidden part of the wall, and it was totally awesome.  I felt like Kratos from God of War, except less muscular and less adept at jumping, ledge hopping, and walking along narrow bridges.  Eventually, we ended up in a small village near the wall where we would be homestaying for the night.  They had the best kung pao chicken I have ever tasted in all of China.   


Location: The Great Wall of China, China

Half-way point

Officially at the half way point now. But once again, it’s been ages since I’ve written anything.  I feel like I’m always so busy here that its impossible to sit down long enough to write a blog that actually tells people anything! In my last blog I know I said I was going to Thailand this weekend, but unfortunately that didn’t happen 🙁 But there’s been lots to do anyway! After we got home from MT, it was a pretty normal week.  My friends and I went bowling one night, and it was just as you’d expect.  Normal bowling with a lane and ten pins (there weren’t any bumpers which I thought would be bad, but I still won – 129!) Bowling wasn’t something I thought I’d do in Korea, but it was still fun!

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We took lots of pictures while we were bowling, but some Korean lady yelled at me… She told me we were “disturbing” her. Not in the disruptive loud way, the “you’re scaring me” way.  She told me our group didn’t understand Korean bowling etiquette and if we couldn’t learn it we should probably leave the bowling alley.  So instead we stopped taking pictures and just finished our game.  
Later in the week some girl friends and I searched for the Hello Kitty Cafe. We found it in some scary alley, but the cafe itself is soooo super cute.

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Everything inside is pink and if there is some sort of Hello Kitty appliance or picture or anything, this place has it.  You can buy coffee and snacks here and all of that has Hello Kitty on it too.  Even my coffee!
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Everyone else in the dorms thought the Hello Kitty Cafe was so cool that they arranged a group coffee date there on a Friday night! Kinda funny to see all the boys getting excited about anything Hello Kitty related.  After we were at the Hello Kitty gathering, we walked around Seoul a little bit.  The weather is getting really nice out now, and last week the Cherry Blossoms were blooming, so we decided to see them while they were out.  While we were walking we stopped at a street vendor to get a real meal (kind of) and there’s this really popular street vendor who makes chicken and people make huge lines by his stand.  Its basically a chicken kebab, but he puts all sorts of sauce and cheese and stuff on it. 
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I’m sure its absolutely terrible for you but people here love it.  There are four different flavors you can get, and they’re measured by spicy-ness. 
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I tried the level 1 🙁 still a little bit spicy. But it was pretty good! Most of my friends got the level 3, but one of my friends asked for the level 4 (the hottest one they make).  The guy who was making the food tried to talk her out of it, but she kept telling him it was okay and that she liked spicy foods.  Well she tried it, and was in so much pain she had to take a taxi home.  So if you come to Seoul and are looking to try some street food, stay away from the number 4.  
The cherry blossoms in Seoul are so so pretty, but unfortunately they’re only out for about a week or so, then the trees just look sorta like normal trees.  Some friends of mine went to Osaka for the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival – unfortunately I couldn’t go, but the trees in Seoul are just as pretty! 
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The cherry blossoms are everywhere, actually.  I thought you’d have to go to one area to see them all, but they line the streets in some areas.  Even my campus has them all over the place.
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They’re so pretty, but like I said before they only last for about a week.  They are already gone now, but at least that means summer is coming! The past week I spent a majority of my time studying and trying to get ready for mid-terms (starting Monday the 25th) and packing for my trip to Jeju Island – the Hawaii of Korea! 11 friends and I went to Jeju for the four day Easter break and we had such an amazing time.  We left on Wednesday night and we got a flight to Jeju for only 17 dollars!!! Once we got there a little after 9pm, a friend of a friend met us at the airport and took us to the pension house we stayed at the first night.  We had a good time talking and just relaxing that night.  A couple of us walked around the island a little bit, but it was late and sorta chilly and it smelled pretty bad in some areas.  We really wanted food, so we walked for at least two hours trying to find something to eat, and eventually we flagged down a cab to take us to a convenient store to get some things to take back to the house with us.  We got in the cab and the driver asked where we were from, I told him America and he turned the light on and pointed to himself and said “Nelson Mandela”.  He did look strangely like Mandela once he pointed it out.  
The next day when it was nice out, we stopped at a small convenient store to get breakfast and it was right across the street from the ocean.  Jeju Island is a volcanic island, so there’s lots of volcanic rock there.  The north part doesn’t have very many beaches, but the coast still looks pretty!
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We rented a 15 person van for the 12 people and all our luggage, and used that to drive around the island. So after breakfast we drove to the lava tunnels and on the way there we stopped at a small field of flowers. They were really pretty and there was nice white sand.  I only got a couple pictures there, but it was just a place we stopped at on the way to the tunnel. Anyway once we got there we bought our tickets and went into the cave.  The cave was formed by lava a long long long time ago, but its kinda hard to see anything inside, so I only got a few pictures. After the cave, we went to U-do, an island off the north coast of Jeju. We went there with the intention of riding scooters around the small island, but unfortunately a normal drivers license wasn’t enough to rent a scooter – you need an international drivers license – so instead we just rented bicycles and rode around the island. The weather was nice and the bikes were cheap, so it was a good way to get around the island.  While we were riding bikes, we saw a group of older women sitting in the rocks on the coast, but we couldn’t figure out what they were doing.  
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We finally found out they were picking seaweed out of the rocks, and eventually they sell it in huge piles along the street.  Sounds a little gross to me, but a lot of people do it so I guess its popular.  It was really hard to take pictures while I was riding my bike, so most of the pictures look like this where they’re a little bit blurry, so most of them aren’t worth putting up.  There’s another spot on the island that is a popular beach spot, but it was way too cold to swim. But the water there is so incredibly clear its hard to believe its ocean water.
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After we went to U-do, we went back to the main island and got dinner.  Black pig is a Jeju Island specialty (one of the only Jeju-foods that aren’t fish) and we ate it Korean bbq style.  It was really really really good, and it was nice to have a full meal finally.  Later that night we went to a place called Love Land.  It was one of those things thats really difficult to explain, but it was definitely shocking.  If you’re really interested, you can google it, but I think its best if I don’t post any of the pictures I have from there. After that, we were all exhausted so we went to our pension for the night and crashed.  The next morning I made breakfast for everyone.  We took our time getting ready because it rained all day so Friday turned into museum day.  We went to a Teddy Bear Museum (cute, but not cute enough for $7.00) and Chocolate Land (has nothing on Hershey) and we also went to Jeongbong waterfall and Cheonjiyong waterfall.  These were definitely my favorite parts of the trip.  

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               At Jeongbong waterfall, trying not to slip and fall on the wet rocks.  
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Cheonjiyoung Waterfall. So so so pretty. This was definitely my favorite spot on the whole island.  The area around the waterfall was so nice too. Just a beautiful place all around. Something you can see all around the island are these tiki-like statues.  I’m not sure what they are called in Korean or what exactly they represent, but they’re all made out of volcanic rock from Jeju. I bought a tiny little one as a souvenir for my desk when I get home 🙂
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Got a group picture at the waterfalls too!
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As a finale to our museum day, we ended things at the OSulloc Jeju Green Tea Garden.  It was raining and cold at this point, so we stayed outside long enough to take a picture of the tea field and then we ran inside to buy some hot tea to warm up.  
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After a really long day of sightseeing, we spent the night at a friend of a friend’s house in Jeju City.  It was so nice of them to offer their house to 12 college students for the night and we had a really great time with them.  Couldn’t have seen as much as we did without them!! The next day they took us to the Samyang Blacksand beach.  The beach itself was really pretty, and the sand wasn’t actually black, but it was pretty dark (volcanic island).  The boys all swam, but it was way way too cold to even think about swimming, so we sat in the sand and watched the boys freeze.  
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The day started late since we finally got to sleep at a house, so after the beach, we grabbed a quick lunch then went back to the house and slept for a little bit.  We ended the day and the trip with a walk to the top of a mountain in Jeju City to watch the sunset.  Sitting at the top of the mountain to see the coast and the ocean was so nice and relaxing. However I think we were some of the only people who were there to enjoy the sunset.  At the top of the mountain there are all sorts of exercise machines… monkey bars and stretching posts and benches for crunches… its basically an outdoor gym. Anyway, we sat on a bench and just watched the sunset.  Perfect end to a busy but exciting and fun trip!
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Now I’m back in my dorm in Seoul – I keep calling it home! I know its not, but at least its starting to get more comfortable 🙂 I have midterms tomorrow, and I’ve done about as much as I possibly can to prolong studying, so now I’ll start studying for political development.  Midterms done on Wednesday, then another long weekend 🙂 Hope this enormously long post makes up for the lack of posts the past few weeks!!! Miss and love all my family and friends! <3

Location: Jeju-do, South Korea