Rome and Home

Hello! Today I'm posting some pictures from Rome, and about some of the touristy and not-so-touristy things Daniel and I did while we were there. I'm going to keep it brief, because there's more things I want to talk about afterwards.

We stayed in Trastevere, which is a neighborhood in central Rome, but across the Tiber river from all of the tourist attractions, so it's very quiet. It's also known as the restaurant district so we ate most of our meals there for really cheap, and they were DELICIOUS.

Our first full day, we went to the Vatican at about 9 in the morning. The first time I was in Rome with my family, we didn't buy tickets online (WHY MOM??? WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO US) and we had to wait outside for 2.5 hours in that blistering hot Roman summer sun. It was awful. But no, I refused to do that to Daniel and myself again (even though it's not hot anymore) so we bought tickets online and just walked right in.

St. Peter's Basilica! This was taken while standing in line. It's super long but it moves pretty quickly, plus you can't complain about that free entry. However, if you want to do the dome climb, you have to pay. It's 6 euros to take the stairs and 8 euros to take the elevator.

We took the stairs... it was much more difficult than I anticipated. I had to take multiple breaks haha

Overlooking the Vatican museums

This is the view I've been waiting for! It's the picture that goes on all the Rome postcards!

Do I even have to caption this picture? Also, Daniel, if you're reading this, you look very cute in this picture

An awesome feature of our AirBNB was that they gave us vouchers for breakfast at a nearby cafe, so we were able to do this every morning for free! Shoutout to Pietro.

The last thing we did in Rome was go to the Porta Portese flea market. It's named after Porta Portese, one of the old city gates of Rome. It's also in Trastevere, so we walked through it on the way to the train station to go back to the airport. I totally skimped on the pictures in this post, but there are more on Facebook and on my instagram if you're really that interested. We eventually made it to the airport, but then we had to wait in the ridiculously long security line. They had amped up the security checks because of Paris, and I really thought I was going to miss my flight. I started seriously freaking out and once we got through security we BOOKED IT for our gates. In the end, it didn't even matter because my flight was delayed...

But Gyyoung, why is this post called "Rome and home"? Because, my friend, I'm also writing about the things I have come to really miss about good old Maryland. I'm also going to write about some things that I know I will miss once I'm back in the United States. I only have a few weeks left in my semester here, so I've started to contemplate things like that more often.

What do I miss from home?

1) KOREAN FOOD. Oh god, Korean food, how I miss you. So delicious and abundant and (relatively) healthy. I will never again take my mom's cooking for granted. This is, in fact, the longest time I have been away from Korean food in my ENTIRE life, and I hope I never have to do it again.

2) Chain restaurants, namely, Chipotle. I miss Chipotle SOOOOO much. I could list so many more... Blaze, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Cafe Rio... it never ends. I guess what I miss is being able to hop in my car, go through the drive-thru, get my food, and be back at home in less than twenty minutes. Plus, take-out is a new concept in Europe, and only a handful of restaurants actually offer it. If you want to eat out, you gotta commit to finding a place, going all the way over there, and sitting down for a 1.5-2 hour meal. But I guess that just shows that I'm not made for the relaxed, take-it-slow lifestyle that Spaniards are accustomed to. I want my food now! And I possibly want to eat it at home while watching Netflix!

3) Spicy food! Yeah, I know, all I've mentioned are food-related things... I just love food. But yeah, the Spanish don't have the word "spicy" in their culinary vocabulary. You would think so, right? Wrong. Turns out it's just a Central/South American thing. I have yet to have anything spicy in Barcelona, and when it is spicy, it's Mexican or Cuban. I kid you not, I had to ask my mom to bring me a Costco sized bottle of crushed red pepper flakes because you just cannot easily access that stuff here. It was the funniest thing when she was like "Alright, here's the stuff you asked for... your favorite lipstick that you left in your room... some more socks... some deodorant... and.... crushed red pepper flakes...."

4) Which brings me to my next point, I really miss American grocery shopping. It's just not the same here. There is no such thing as Costco here. Even the Safeway in Olney would seem enormous to Europeans. Also, I cannot wait until I'm back home and my parents do the grocery shopping and I just wake up one day and there's magically more food in the fridge. 

5) I really miss driving. I feel like when it comes to driving, it's either something you just do, or something that you LOVE to do. I am one of the latter. For me, driving to a place is just as enjoyable as the place itself, whether it's the mall or someone's house, etc.

6) TV! I haven't watched TV in forever. I'm seriously behind on all my shows! Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder (although people have been telling me that the second season is bad...) etc. I'm just really glad Game of Thrones is coming back when I'm back in the US. Not that it really matters because I watch that online anyway... I also miss Food Network.

7) Free water with meals... there is no such thing here. On the other hand, there's no tipping here, either. You win some, you lose some!

Alright, now what will I miss about Barcelona/Europe?

1) The food. I'm just gonna list all the food items I'm going to miss that I can think of right now...

Patatas bravas (Spain)

Milka products, especially the oreo chocolate bar (Europe)

Real stroopwafels (Netherlands)

Paella (Spain), although I'm determined to learn how to make it

2) Accessibility. It's so easy to get anywhere because the public transport in every city is extensive and affordable. I'll take any chance I get to stick up a big middle finger at the DC Metro. I've definitely gained weight, but my legs are much stronger than they were a few months ago because of all the walking and stair climbing I do now.

3) Independence. This is the most self-sufficient I've been in a long time. It was terrifying at first but now it's kind of nice.

4) How easy it is to pay for your meals as a group. They come to your table with the credit card reader, and if you want to pay cash you just give them your money, but if you want to pay with a card you just give your cards to them and tell them how much to charge on each one. That way people can split the bill but still use their card and not have to Venmo each other any owed amounts! It's awesome.

I think it's obvious that I miss more things about the US right now... but I'm sure that when I'm back, I'll start to think of more things that I miss.

11/10/15

I can't believe I have five weeks left in Barcelona. Although I feel like I've been here a while, it also feels like I just got here. Soon, I'm gonna have to be packing my stuff up to leave my apartment! And then I'm going all over Europe for about three weeks, and then I'm coming back home. Which is honestly the craziest thing. This semester has seriously flown by faster than any of my semesters at Maryland.

For some reason, I still feel like school has just started and we're in that beginning period (I suppose the equivalent to syllabus week) where nothing matters and you don't have to take it seriously. There are WAY less assignments and studying. For example, the average amount of work I do on a school night is like two exercises in my Spanish book and that's it. Oh, and I also occasionally have quizzes in my Spanish art and cultural heritage class. The one trivial yet annoying thing I have to complain about; there are no regular notebooks here!! Like in the US, the norm is a nice, 150 page, college ruled spiral notebook. Here, the norm is like some freakishly huge (and by huge I mean the actual pages are huge) spiral that is only like 50 pages, and it's grid lined instead of regular lines. It makes taking notes a lot more frustrating, but I don't care anymore because it's not like I'm studying here like I do back at UMD. I think I stress more about the impending workload I have to inevitably go back to in a few months, rather than the actual workload I have here.

This weekend, I'm headed back to Rome after visiting almost three years ago and I'm also meeting Daniel there for my 21st birthday! Hurray! I should be way more excited about turning 21 than I actually am, but the truth is, I really don't care haha. I'm just excited to spend it with Daniel in one of my favorite cities in Europe. I am a little bummed that I won't be able to spend it with my family, but you win some, you lose some. I heard that the Trevi fountain (one of my favorite attractions) has been under renovation for 18 months but it just reopened to the public last week, and it looks spotless, so we got really lucky. Lots of Rome pictures coming next week!

Just checking in (airport pun not intended)

It's been a few weeks since I posted on here. I haven't been particularly busy or anything (besides last weekend but I will explain that soon), I just totally forgot that I have a running blog. So if you care enough to keep reading, you shall be informed of what's been going on in my head/life.

Last weekend, Daniel flew down from Amsterdam to visit me for the weekend. After a chilly week in the Netherlands with him, it was time for him to become acquainted with the near-tropical city that I've called home for the past few months. It was honestly the most fun I've had in Barcelona since I got here. Not because we went out to the beach clubs or did crazy things, but it was just really nice to be in this city with someone who knew me as well as I knew myself. A big reason why we have been so close over the years is because we have a LOT of shared interests, so he's definitely my favorite person to explore new places with. When I first got here, I had a hard time adjusting for that exact reason; I didn't have anyone physically here with me who knew me very well, so it was hard for me to find things to do with people because I'm pretty introverted. It's still hard sometimes, I'll admit, but I'm much more adjusted and happier now. 

Me being the type A personality that I am, I had an extensive itinerary planned out for Daniel's stay. I'm proud to say that we were able to go to every single one of the places that I chose for us to visit. Granted, Barcelona is on the smaller end of the spectrum when it comes to major cities, and the public transportation system is second to none, so it wasn't exactly difficult. I am really gonna miss the metro here when I'm back in the DMV. I LOATHE the D.C. metro with a burning passion, just like every other sane person.

Our weekend was pretty much perfect, until the very end, when I dropped him off at the airport and we said goodbye. I made my way home, was having some nice relaxation time with some tea, when I received a text from Daniel at one thirty in the morning (his flight was supposed to be at 9:45) saying that he was still in Barcelona and that he had to come back to me because his flight had been delayed with no further information. So, at 3 AM, I made my way down to my lobby to let in an exhausted Daniel as he got out of a cab from the airport. We slept for about five hours, then trekked back to the airport again to figure out what to do. Long story short, he was finally on his way back to Amsterdam 24 hours after his scheduled flight. It was seriously the biggest headache, even for me, and I wasn't even the one stuck in the wrong country! I applaud him for his never-ending patience and composure in situations like that.

Below are some of my favorite pictures from this weekend. (Bear in mind that most of them are just pictures of us smiling in various locations. I don't know how Daniel puts up with my love/obsession of taking pictures. If you're reading this, you're great)

Daniel said this looked like a scene out of GTA. I have to agree...

The beaches north of Barceloneta are so quiet and calm. This was at Playa Bogatell off the Poble Nou metro stop. To each their own, but I don't know why anyone hangs out there. Not to mention the fact that the odds of getting your stuff stolen increases exponentially...

I am definitely aware that I'm not posting as often on here anymore, and I've come to terms with that. When I started this blog I told myself I was going to update at least once a week, and that's clearly not been the case. I have two reasons for this: I am lazy. Plain and simple. My other reason is that I don't want to walk around the city while constantly thinking about what kind of pictures to take to put on here and what I'll write on here about my experiences. You might think that's silly, but once I commit to any kind of project, it's constantly on my mind. So I decided it was okay to cut down on how often I post. I think I'm just rambling on at this point, but if it makes sense to at least one person who reads it, then I'm good. 

In other news, I registered for my last semester of undergrad a few days ago! It's surreal. No, really, it hasn't hit me yet and I refuse to accept it. I actually got a very good schedule, including an art studio class that I've wanted to take but could never get into. Sweet victory is mine! I think I'm more nervous than excited that my time at College Park is coming to an end. It happened way too fast, and the idea of life after graduation is a little too close for comfort. But, I'm in Spain, and I'm not going to worry about that right now. I have exactly two months until I'm back in the United States, and I'm going to enjoy it, damn it.