Sunday Church Exploration #6

Woah. Talk about lucky. I went to church here, at La Sagrada Familia. The entire service was in Catilian and it would have probably helped if we had grabbed the pamphlet that explained some things that were going on in English. But we didn't see the English Pamphlet until after the service was over. Because I didn't actually know what was going on in the service I basically just reveled in the architecture and the blatant tourists that took pictures during the service! The spires were so huge and gorgeous. The sight was just jaw dropping. It was quiet surreal to be in the church at the service and to actually accept communion at La Sagrada Familia. Woah is right.

Barcelona*

Barcelona* was an awesome trip filled with culture and history. We arrived Friday night and after getting to the city centre we wandered around a street called La Rambla til we decided that we should find our hostel so we don't get pick pocketed. After finding our hostel (which was a cute little place a few blocks from La Rambla) we put our stuff in our lockers and headed out into the night to enjoy the sights and sounds of the busy Catalonian city. We passed quite a few restaurants that were hopping at 2300 which was strange to us. There was awesome music coming from one of the dance clubs we passed, playing Latin dance music.

The way was so narrow that I could almost touch!

After getting a good nights sleep (as good as you can get in a busy hostel room) we planned out our day over breakfast. There was a free walking tour around the Gothic quarter of Barcelona* that we had planned and then...we would see where the wind took us. While packing for the weekend we looked at the weather and were really excited to see weather above 10 degrees C but Saturday was a very rainy day and the walking tour plans did not include staying indoors. Either way the tour through the Gothic Barrio was very interesting and our guide (who was apparently Swedish) did well to inform us of our surroundings and what historic happenings went on here. At the end of the tour we ended at a bar where we could get 1euro sangria's. Needless to say we could not pass that opportunity up to have a cultural drink!

The market we found

On our tour we met a couple in their 60s from the States, but had been living in Germany for the past couple of years. We bonded with them and so after the tour we decided to get lunch together! The restaurant we decided to go to was nice inside and it served tapas. Our guide told us a trick with tapas bars (go in order the patatas bravas and if they are good order more, if not move on) so this is what we did as well. The patatas bravas were delicious but instead of ordering more we decided to get the check and head over to the hopping pizza place right around the corner. Food in Barcelona* is all good and I wish I could go back to just eat more food! Once lunch was done we decided to walk around the little shops and a market we found off of La Rambla that had some cool nick-knacks and food before we had to be back to the bar for our cooking class!

Our cooking instructor

Our cooking class was so much fun we had a delicious range of tapas and then the cook of the bar came out and showed us how to make seafood paella. Our teacher was from Argentina and spoke really fast so what I did was just watch what he was doing, I got a lot more out of it then listening to what he said. While the paella was simmering and the rice was finishing cooking we got another lesson. We learned how to make Sangria's (a little bit of this, a little bit of that) which consisted of brandy, red wine, half a cup of sugar, fresh cut fruit, Fanta Lemon, and some orange juice. It was delicious.

 

View of Barcelona* from Park Guell

Sunday after checking out of our hostel we got a day pass on the metro and went to lots of different places including Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and the Mediterranean Sea! Even though it was cold and windy and people on the beach were bundled up in coats and scarfs Em and I still went in to the sea just so we could say we had been! Park Guell was designed by the architect that also designed Sagrada Familia. There was a great view from the top of the park and delightful walking trails. All in all a wonderful weekend away from the windy, cold city of Edinburgh.
*Please add an exaggerated 'kissing hand explosion" hand gesture.

London

Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Beatles Walking Tour, Ghost Tour, RAIN, our lovely hostel (NOT). Tony our tour guide on our walking tours. Walking through Hyde Park, finding the Marble Arch, Peter Pan Statue! Hamley's (full stop, the best place ever on Regent St, because it definitely reminded me of Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which is a great movie). We took the Hop On Hop Off Bus all around, but because of the traffic, all around didn't take us very far. We saw the Changing of the Guards at the Palace (after running 1.5 miles through Hyde Park in 20 minutes so we could get there in time!). There are so many things that I did in London, it was an awesome experience and I can't wait to take my brother there! Ellen and I took the night bus to London and the afternoon bus back to Edinburgh. Its such a long bus, nine hours is a long time on an uncomfortable bus. But still it was LONDON! Enjoy Life America!

Empty Thoughts

My business major requires me to have two internships before I graduate. I am fulfilling course requirements being here. On the weekends once I have finished all my internship hours and class hours if I have time I explore Europe. Because this is probably the only time I will be in Europe so close to all this history and crazy sights. I have been to Oktoberfest, Dublin, upper Scotland (fantastic scenery), and London so far. This weekend I will be Barcelona in warm weather! Not this cold, rainy, and windy Edinburgh weather. All this traveling has made me appreciate the city I live in so much more. Every time I come back I am just so happy to see the streets of Edinburgh, and the castle in all its glory. I am really grateful for this experience and love being here exploring everything. My internship has been frustrating at times because there are times when I feel like its a good experience and that I am learning a lot. Other times I just feel like they are using me for my 'cheap' labour. The office assistant at work is a young girl that makes my internship so worth going in when I just don't feel like going into work. She is always cheerful and can make me smile when filing gets to much for me to handle. Tfish told me the other day that I needed to come back to America immediately because I am now adding 'u' where that letter just doesn't belong. For example, 'neighbour', 'flavour', 'colour'. I also use words such as "skive", "mingen", "cupa" and sometimes take my tea "white with a fussy half. I also use the phrase "half six" for time meaning six thirty. I know that some phrases coming back to the States won't be transferrable and I will have to remember people don't 'speak my language' for a little bit while I adjust back to "Amurika". Keeping up with the news back home is hard to do but I try to open the newspaper website from home and check at least once every couple of days. I can't wait for Sean to call me sometime this week so that we can plan out what we will do when he gets here in 28 days!!!!

Stay Classy, America!

Mallaig

Last weekend I rode the Harry Potter Express (the Scenic Route) over the bridge that is always featured in the movie! The train ride to Mallaig was quite long and half way through it went dark outside so reading a book was the only thing to keep me sane! Arriving in Mallaig around 5:30pm was disconcerting because no one was around and the shops were all closed not even the bars were open yet! Emily and I go off in search of our hostel and discover it on the second floor of the cute little cafe. We are shown to our room and because it is off season we get the room to ourselves which is a really nice change of pace for us.

Mallaig is a little fishing village on the northwest of Scotland. Its the cutest little port town I have seen. Once Emily and I settle into our surroundings we go see what the town has to offer us. Once we step outside the hostel we realize that nothing is open still. We walk up and down the one road town and wait for 6 to come around so that restaurants/bars open so we can eat some fish! Fish n Chips in a fishing port is the way to go. That was one of the best tea's (dinner) I have eaten in Scotland! After dinner we decide to see where everyone else in the town hang out. We quickly discover that there is only 20 people out all over little town. Ridiculous? I think so. We decided to stop in at a bar that looked like there were more then 3 people in it including the bar tender. When we step into the bar everyone stops talking and just gawk at us. then one of the fishermen shouts "Hey your not from around here!" (No poop Sherlock) But we stay and chat with the fishermen and watch a game of pool.

At one point the subject of why we are here comes up and we say we were hoping to go to the Islands of Skye but because of the Ferry and the weather we are not able to complete our goal. One of the fishermen say "Well why not just join us! We are heading to Skye to drop off some fish and then coming back tomorrow. You are more than welcome to join us." Unfortunately we had to turn them down because they couldn't be sure if they would get back the next day before the train would leave. Even so we were flabbergasted that this fishermen actually offered to take us over and let us stay in the spare cabin (with a lock on the door) and have a free meal or too prepared by the cook on the ship.

The next day after getting a lovely breakfast we decide to take a walk. Unbeknown to us, the walk consists of walking through wonderful scenery, mountains (which we climb), and wading through a swamp to get to a beautiful loch. The markers to help us find our way to the loch was "sparsely" placed. Once you found a marker you saw the next marker on the skyline in the far distance. Good eyesight was a must on this crazy walk. We saw sheep! The walk took us through people's personal property but because of the glorious laws of Scotland there is no such thing as trespassing. You can definitely go explore all over the place in Scotland, just leave the gate how you found it so the animals don't get out! The picture below is the end result of the walk!

Sunday Church Exploration #5

A Full submersion baptism. Not like the one we saw.

I actually went to this church twice and both times I forgot to take a picture. The church is called Charlotte Chapel and is located on the far West End of Rose Street. Its a baptist church and the inside is basically an auditorium. The first Sunday Emily and I went there the message was on Titus. They were doing a whole 5 week in depth look at the Book of Titus. The second Sunday Em and I went we were amazed with all the goings on during the service. Three people were baptized by full submersion, two couples were said goodbye to as they headed off to their respected missionary areas, and the message was still on Titus! That Book is only three pages long and five weeks is a long time to spend on a three page Book. After the service there was tea and coffee served. We stayed after and lunch and a bible session was held for the young adults. It was awesome to meet other people our age and to read and interpret what the Bible was saying to each and every one of their hearts. The sad thing about the lunch was when we had to leave, we had a paper to write for our History class and so we had to leave to finish them. I love Sunday's and wish that they could be this awesome all the time. Hope everyone is well. I am trying to get caught up on blog updates but its rather hard when I do so much!