Attempting to Catch Up!

So I have been extremely busy lately, and I just can't seem to find the time to blog between traveling, laying by the river, and what's that thing called? Oh yeah, homework. :) However, due to my recent grounding in Sevilla because of Mt. Eyjafjallajokull (or something like that) I seem to have more free time than I know what to do with! On the positive side, it is Feria de Abril this week which is a huge festival in Sevilla that consists of, according to all my professors and my family here, of drinking, drinking, drinking, some eating, more drinking, and a little flamenco dancing... sounds like my kind of festival. However, the last couple days have been rainy and gloomy, and that is making it hard for me to enjoy my time here, everything there is to do is essentially outside! Oh well, I'll start recounting weeks and trips now...

Jonathon, Sharon, and I headed out to Amsterdam on Thursday March 25th. Our flight our of Sevilla was delayed about 45 minutes and we only had an hour layover in Madrid! By the time we got off the plane in Madrid, our flight to Amsterdam should have been boarding, we sprinted through Madrid airport (the second time I've been able to partake in such fun at Madrid airport) and arrived at the gate to find that our plane to Amsterdam was delayed for another half an hour due to maintenance... at least we got out exercise in for the day. haha Anyways, we finally got to Amsterdam and I absolutely LOVED it. I thought the city was so pretty and I loved the canals! Our hostel was fine, aside from the putrid smell our bathroom let linger into our room. We went to the VanGogh Museum one day which was interesting, but 14 euro to get in!... Amsterdam was crazy expensive! We also went to Keukenhof an awesome tulip garden, unfortunately everything wasn't in bloom yet, but I still loved it there! We also took a boat tour through the city on the canals which was really informative. And of course, we went to the Heineken Brewery, which I thought was a lot of fun too. We obviously checked out the IAMsterdam sign as well... see pics of all that was mentioned below:

We then headed to Barcelona on the 28th for a couple days. We went to Montserrat our first full day. Monsterrat is located on a mountain and there is an ancient monastery there, and the Virgin Mary appeared that as well. It was gorgeous and I loved walking on the paths around the mountain! We also said a prayer and lit a candle for Popsie there which meant a lot to me.

We got home late that night and got some dinner and headed back to the hostel. The next day we explored the city and went to all of Gaudi's finest works: Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and the three houses he built throughout the city. I loved seeing his work it is soooo different and fun! That day was a lot of walking, but it was worth it to see everything I wanted to! We had back to Sevilla really early on the 31st and spent the day watching the Pasos from Semana Santa and just relaxing . The next day they departed for the US and I was extremely upset, but later that night I went to watch a Semana Santa Paso with some friends.

Semana Santa is actually Holy Week, and it is extremely important here. There are what are called 'pasos' and that is a procession through the streets with hundreds of people in an outfit, that oddly enough for Americans resembles the KKK outfits, and then there are men carrying the paso itself. The men walking in the terrifying outfits were walking to repent and some of them went as far as not wearing shoes! They did this is a promise to Jesus. The pasos last for HOURS and they walk through the ENTIRE city! I just cannot believe the hard work that goes in to them. Sometimes there are even small children walking in the processions! Also, the men who carry the pasos practice for weeks ahead of time by carrying planks with slabs of concrete on them! The pasos are so heavy and so intricate! Each procession has 2 pasos, the first is always of Jesus (representing the stations of the cross), and the following is always a Virgin, usually specific virgins to Sevilla. The pasos at night were much prettier to me, because all the candles were lit! It was extremely interesting, but frustrating at the same time because these pasos caused streets to be shut down and the crowds through the city were UNBELIEVABLE! I enjoyed watching the pasos, but I can't say I was mad when Semana Santa was over! Side note, not ALL of their outfits are all white, there are all different color combinations of hoods and robes, and each church has different combos. Check out some pictures:

SOOOO MANY PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Barefoot!

The following weekend I headed to Paris which was beautiful! I absolutely loved it there too! The first day we walked around the entire city! My feet were so sore and we saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and went inside the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. It was quite the action packed day! The next morning we headed back to the Eiffel Tower so we could go up. We waited in a loooong line, but it was worth it! I just cannot believe I was actually in the Eiffel Tower! My life seems fake these days. Then we went back to Notre Dame and went in this time. It was gorgeous and so intricate! After that I headed to Musee d'Orsay, an old train station turned museum. They had pieces from Monet, Renoir, VanGogh, and many more! The VanGogh exhibit was unfortunately under construction. That night I went to the Eiffel Tower AGAIN, so I could see it all lit up, I think it is 400 times prettier at night! I LOVED looking at it, and I took waaaay too many pictures! haha. The next day we went to L'Orangerie to check out the circle rooms with Monet's paintings of the lily pads form sunrise to sunset. Monet is one of, if not my favorite artist so I LOVED looking at these. His paintings were remarkable. Then that afternoon we went on a walking tour of part of the city and saw VanGogh's house, Picasso's studio and where he would paint to receive free meals. It was really interesting, and ended with a free glass of wine! WOOHOO! Other than all of the main landmarks, what I liked best about Paris was the CREPES!!! haha they were DELICIOUS! :) We headed home on Sunday night and I jumped right into the week of classes.

Thursday rolled around and that's when I heard about the volcano. Now, I'm just stuck in Sevilla with rainy weather. It's supposed to stop raining soon, and we are potentially going to head to Costa del Sol for a couple days, assuming bus tickets aren't sold out. Travel is so chaotic out here it is unreal. I unfortunately already booked tickets for my two-week travels after my program ends, I'm hoping I'll still be able to go... the last time this volcano erupted was in the 1800s and it went off for an ENTIRE YEAR!!!!!! eek. Stay tuned!