Eurotripping : Spring Break Style

Me and the girls took a trip around Europe hitting Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Rome for spring break. I’ll start off by saying sickest adventure yet. And I also wanna be sappy for a second and thank my Mom and Dad because without them none of this would be possible.

So, here we go. We leave early one morning to fly to Rome to catch a 15 hour bus to Prague. I know you’re thinking, ‘why the hell would you do that?!’ Well we through this program that sets everything up for you and they leave from Rome so we had to meet there. All six of us are in the cab on the way to the airport and everyone’s all like, “Omg I feel like I forgot something, I feel weird, meh meh meh.” It’s 5 o’clock in the morning and I’m sitting in the back seat saying, “Guys, I feel good about today. This is gonna be a great day.” Pulling into the airport and what do I realize? Forgot my jacket. We’re about to go to the 3 coldest cities in Europe and I forgot my fucking. jacket. Claps for this girl, all she’s got is a sweater with holes in it. So we get to Rome and now I need to buy a jacket because it’s about to be 30 degrees in Prague. Underrated that the only thing I could find was a black trench coat and I wore it for the entire 12 days. My life’s joke.

About 24 hours after the trench coat purchase we arrive in Prague. We get to our hostel and find out we’re thankfully all together in one big room with an extra bed. Now, you guys know from our London story that we don’t have the best luck with hostels. So we were pretty stoked that we finally had our own room with even extra space. That first day we took a walking tour of the city and it was one of the most beautiful things I ever saw. It was so different and more unique than any city I had ever seen. The streets were so old and everyone got around by these tram cars that drove through them. We went at a great time because there were Easter celebrations everywhere. There were all these different booths that sold sausage, desserts, hand made gifts, clothes.

After the tour we went back to our hotel to get ready for bar crawl. As we walk in all of us are talking shit about we’re so thankful we don’t have an extra girl in our room and that if there was some one in the room we would bully the shit out of them. Well, Kelly crawls up into her bunk and what does she find? A girl sleeping in the bed. She was so caught off guard that she nearly fell off the bunk. I was laughing so hard I had to leave the room. Just our luck, right? Needless to say the rest of Prague was pretttyyy awkward.

The next day in Prague we saw the medieval castle and the John Lennon wall. Castle, sick. John Lennon wall, average. Did you know he never even went to go see that wall? And that they paint over it and start new every couple of years? That’s some bullshit. That means the inspirational Lil Wayne quote that I wrote on there will be gone soon. That ain’t right.

Next stop, Berlin. Not much I have to say about Berlin except for the fact that it was really, really cold. I did enjoy the city a lot more than I thought I would. We saw the Berlin Wall, Check Point Charlie, and we got to go to a concentration camp. That was a surreal experience. My time at Sachsenhausen concentration camp was very eerie. It was more of a museum so it had none of the gas chambers or anything like that but still had a huge impact.

The next city we hit was Amsterdam. Oh, good old Amsterdam. Perfect way to describe it: fairytale land. I’m not even a smoker and I enjoyed it. There’s no rules in this city. Walk in a coffee shop; buy some weed. Look in a red window; buy some sexual favors. It’s great. We went on a walking tour of the city but there’s really not that much history to it except for Anne Frank’s house and the Heineken Factory. The Anne Frank house was amazing. It was the actual house where her and her family hid during the holocaust. Oh! Wait, how could I forget. The food in Amsterdam was AWESOME. Munchie food, what more could you expect. We went to this waffle house that had any type of waffle you could ever dream of. My waffle of choice: bacon, egg and cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Finally we arrive to Paris! All I’m thinking about is the Sex and The City episode when Carrie follows her man to Paris and she’s all glamorous smoking cigarettes around the city. Let’s just say it’s not as  glamorous as I pictured. The tour we took was great. The city’s beautiful but, I don’t know I was expecting more out of Pari’. We saw all the good stuff; the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, Notre Dame, the infamous lock bridge, and of course the Eiffel Tower. The Louvre was ridiculous. The museum itself is a work of art. It would take you 4 days to see all of the artwork inside we kinda just skipped straight to the Mona Lisa. I saw it, and therefore I am an educated and cultured individual…sike, it was average. I don’t get the hype, but that’s just me. At night we went to the Eiffel tower with bottles of champagne and had a grand old time. One of the best experiences in my life. Six best friends sipping champagne under the Eiffel tower as it lights up. Do I have the life or what? Afterwards I experienced the ugly side of Paris. We were looking for a night out on the town but saw some pretty scary shit. On the way to the bar I saw at least three woman on the street with their children. INFANTS. Like 3 year-old kids in blankets sleeping on the streets. They looked like little dolls propped up on the side walk for sale. It was hands down the saddest thing I ever experienced in my life. Needless to say I gave them all the change in my wallet and had to be held back from taking the kids with me. As we were leaving the bar we almost got caught up in the biggest brawl of African men I have ever seen. It was scary. Then we were waiting for a cab and I watched a French man open a car door and punch the man inside in the face. What’s up with the violence, Paris? Where is the love?

The following day we had a tour of the Palace of Versailles. At this point, we were all sick and tired of tours. Every tour we went on we started in the front, paying attention for about 5 seconds and then like clock work, we made our way to the back and start acting like jerks. Talking loudly over the tour guide, straggling, tripping each other, punching each other in the face, you name it we were doing it. Ya know, normal 21-year-old stuff. But the tour of this palace took childish to a whole new level. Me and Dina are walking through the rows and rows of beautiful flowers and gardens and fountains, and I come up with the brilliant idea that this would be a great spot for a rap video. That’s it. Ghetto Sam and Dina emerge from the word works. I’m not gonna go into detail because it’s pretty embarrassing for the two of us but let’s just say a rap about Louis the 14th was made. Besides that the palace was incredible. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

SO, that’s our Euro trip. I know it was long, but a 12 day euro trip is pretty hard to condense  Since I didn’t really add any of the crazy/funny things that happened to us on this trip.

From Barca To Ibiza

Last weekend me and the crew took our last trip of the semester. And what better way to top it off than by going to Ibiza?! I know what some of you already-abroad-people are thinking; Ibiza isn’t even open yet. Well guess what, we have sick promoters that opened it up just for us. They planned a trip of about 500 kids (mostly Barcelona students) and set up parties and clubs and hotels for us. It was like spring break Bahamas all over again, except for big kids.

I’ll start off by saying the island was BEAUTIFUL. I’m actually sad I didn’t get to explore it more. There’s all these beaches and mountains that I didn’t get to see. Def making a trip back there at some point in my life. Second thing I want to say is that Michele and Dina were hands down the drunkest girls on that island. Like no doubt in my mind or anyone elses. The first day we woke up at 9 a.m. and crack open a bottle of Absolut, finished by about 11:30 a.m. Few hours later, the beach got packed with all our friends and we’re all waiting for some ‘paint party’ to begin. Dina was so damn excited about this paint party it was all she could talk about. Welp, she got too drunk and completely missed it. Instead her and Michele frolicked in the water.

We’re all having a grand old time until we saw people crowding around this one beach chair, taking pictures of something. It’s Michele. Passed out. Classic Winters. We try and get her up but she claims shes ‘just tired and wants to sleep’. Well Mich, ya can’t do that in the sun. So our guy friend actually had to pick her up and carry her all the way up to our hotel room. Good night Michele.

Next crisis: some kid and his girlfriend were sitting on Dina’s chair with her my stuff on it. Kelly goes over to get them off but they wouldn’t budge. That’s it, all hell broke loose. Kelly throws her drink on the kid and I start screaming in the girl’s face. Full on verbal brawl on the beach, for Dina and my chair. Where do you think Dina was when all this was happening? Playing in the sand, with not a clue as to what’s going on. Typical.

Next thing I remember is waking up from my nap to go to the club. The only problem was that the buses left in about an hour and none of us were showered or ready. While everyone else got their shit together, Dina  kind of just stumbled around debating if she could even make it. When she finally got an outfit on she looked at us and said, “Guys, I’m ready to go.” There was Dina with her hair in a messy bun with no makeup on. “You’re going out like that?” We all shouted back.  She was mad at us at the time but looking back I am pretty sure she’s thankful we stopped her. So finally Dina decides it’s best if she just went back to sleep and wow did she miss out on a incredible club. The club we went to was called El Pardais and it was nothing like I’ve ever experienced. Not only did the club have a unique look to it and played the latest and greatest house music but it also turned in to a water party past a certain hour. So basically when the clock strikes 4am water begins to shower everyone on the dance floor. This was truly something I’ve never experienced before. Basically the water went up to everyone’s knees.. The dance floor was pretty much a swimming pool. 

When we finally got back to the hotel we found a letter from Dina underneath our hotel room door.  The letter said “Help me, my life is in shambles – Dina”  We then all laughed for about 30 minutes. I still can’t get over the fact Dina was that drunk so early in the day.

The best part about this is that Dina did not even learn a lesson. The next morning she once again cracked open a bottle of absoult. The bottle was basically finished by 11 am. But this time she was not the only one drinking. Her and Michele were once again the drunkest girls on the beach. We all kept yelling at them because we knew both of them were not going to be able to make it on the booze cruise we had planned for us later in the day. Well we were sort of right.. Michele got too drunk and missed the best booze cruise I’ve ever been on. The booze cruise had unlimited beer and sangria. The weather was beautiful so we all partied in our bathing suits for a couple of hours. The cruise was basically filled with a bunch of drunk girls dancing and falling all over the place and of course Dina was one of them.  Dina was so drunk she didn’t even realize I accidentally spilled my entire drink on her. That night we went to Ibiza. Pacha Ibiza > Pacha New York times 100 million. The music was a little different but it was still a great time. Packed to capacity too. 

The next morning it was sadly time for us to go. As we were waiting for the plane we’re all recapping the weekend. We all agreed that Ibiza was by far one of our best trips. We’re not usually this out of control, I promise. You would do the same if you went to Ibiza for a weekend too, mark my words. Adios!!

Study Abroad in Barcelona!!

Since my time in Barcelona is coming to an end I thought it was only appropriate to share reasons why I think others should also study abroad in Barcelona. These past four months have been the greatest months of my life. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to spend these four months in Barcelona and traveling around Europe. Some of my greatest memories were made in this city. I would encourage everyone to study abroad. It is a once and a life time opportunity that you do not want to miss out on. I’ve made relationships, experiences, and memoires that will forever be apart of me.

There is no other I would of dreamed to study abroad besides Barcelona. This was the best decision I ever made. I learned so much about the culture and myself during these last four months. It is really going to be hard to leave this city. Here are the top seven things that made my stay here so incredible.

What You Didn’t Know About Barcelona Nightlife

It’s a Monday night at 2 AM and you are all dressed up in your nicest clothes ready to hit the best club in town – Opium. By 6 AM you are stumbling out of the club not remembering anything that happened the past 4 hours. Yes – this is a typical night in Barcelona for aboard students. Barcelona is known as the partying capital of Europe. This makes it a very popular destination for abroad students, as many college students are looking for the next big party. With so many bars and clubs there are endless options of things to do in Barcelona…or are there?

Lets talk a little about the business behind the nightlife in Barcelona. There are basically three promoters that run the show. Kyke with a “y”, Kike with an “I” and “Michael Jordan”. Basically, a bunch of greedy men that try to suck all of the money out of the abroad students. Every night the whole abroad crowd decides to go to one of the clubs that one of these promoters endorses.  These promoters use social media as a way to reach out to the young adults. Each one of them has their own private Facebook group to update students on what the ‘happening’ club of that night is going to be.  The notifications from these groups turn into an annoyance quickly. Realistically aboard students do not need to be reminded of what party is going on that night.. It is the same every week.

Here is a little run down of all the promoters. Lets start with “MJ”. Michael Jordan (who changed his name just so Americans would remember him), has a couple big nights each week. A majority of the abroad crowd goes to CDLC on Tuesday and Opium on Friday. However ladies, be careful he tends to get a little touchy with his clients.

Then we have Kyke with a “Y”. This promoter also has a fake name. He used to work for De Lis Group (owned by Kike with an “I”), but rumor says he decided to break off and steal Kike’s name in order to rob some of his business. Kyke has one good night during the week – Sutton Wednesdays. When the same group of abroad students go and drop thousands of dollars on a table each week. He also used to host ‘Loco Lunes’ at Otto Zuts on Mondays until he was destroyed by the competition of ‘Hello Mondays’ at Opium.

Finally, we get to the only respectable man in the industry. Kike Barcelona Rodriguez. At 22 years old, Kike started the De Lis Group as a promotion group in Barcelona. Since then he has continued to grow his business and now promotes some of the biggest nights in Barcelona. Some include ‘Hello Mondays’ at Opium, ‘Bling’ Wednesdays, ‘Taste Me’ Thursdays at Opium, and Sotavento Saturdays. One major thing that really separates him from the competition is that he seems to be the only stand-up guy. There has never been any story of an abroad student being misled by him and he always makes sure that everything is going as well.  In other words when you go and spend thousands at the club he is promoting, he will make sure you are treated right.This year Kike started the first annual “Abroadfest”. He brought three of the top DJs in the world to Opium on March 7th and marketed towards the whole abroad scene. Barcelona literally became a madhouse that weekend. Everyone from everywhere was there. People from all over Europe and America flew into Barcelona to stay with friends and see this performance. It was a genius idea with a genius title. What person abroad doesn’t want to go to “Abroadfest”???

Keeping the momentum from Abroadfest, Kike decided to put together TRIBIZA Spring 2013. This is a trip exclusively for abroad students, in which they are opening Ibiza especially for this event. Again, with genius marketing he figured out that every person studying abroad in Europe is dying to go to Ibiza. Kike definitely has this promoting thing figured out.

Cutting the promoting drama aside, the Barcelona nightlife is actually a lot of fun. The party goes until sunrise, the people are hot, and the weather is warm. No matter if you are going to Kike, Kyke, or MJ’s events you know you are going to have a great time getting wasted with your friends in a foreign country.

There are over 20 nightclubs in Barcelona itself; however there are only about 6 nightclubs aboard students actually go to.  Opium is the most popular club amongst this group. When asked why, majority of abroad students say opium plays the best music and has the best vibes. Students also love the characters that run around and the violinist that plays on Thursday nights.  Kelly an aboard student who has been to several clubs in NYC explains why she believes Opium blows them out of them park..

So now you have a behind the scenes look of Barcelona nightlife for an abroad student. If you ever have the opportunity to study abroad in Barcelona, take advantage of it.. You will not be disappointed.

A Messi, Messi, Weekend

Recently, a story about a bunch girls hanging out with FC Barcelona players has been going around CEA. I must confirm that this story is true because, my friends and I are the girls everyone has been talking about. Yes, I must say this story should go down in abroad history, but before I get into it I must explain the entire weekend…

This same weekend was not only my roommate Dina’s 21st birthday, but also the Justin Beiber concert. We all planned a bunch of activities for her so she can have the best birthday weekend possible, however she was determined to get to that Justin Beiber concert. She has been talking about this concert since before we even left the US. A couple of weeks before the concert she even started tweeting at Beiber begging for tickets. Dina knew the concert was out of an aboard students budget and we all thought she would eventually accept the fact that she was not going, but boy were we wrong…. The day of Dina’s birthday we all went to the infamous club Opium. We were all having a great old time until we notice Dina sobbing in the corner. Now we are all surrounding Dina trying to figure out what she could possibly be crying over on her 21st birthday, but she refuses to tell us. After begging her to tell us what’s wrong, she finally admitted she was upset that she could not attend the Justin Beiber concert that was the following day. I could not help but laugh in her face. I could not get over the fact that Dina was crying over Justin Beiber!! From that point on we knew the perfect gift to get Dina for her Birthday.. we all decided it would be a great idea to chip in and get her a ticket.

After and very long and exhausting weekend of celebrating we all agreed to take it easy that sunday night. It is a tradition to go to the W Hotel for everyone’s birthday and buy a bottle, so we knew there was no staying in. As soon we get to the hotel Michele  notices that Messi and his crew are standing right in front of us. We all try to play it cool and not act like embarrassing fans, so we decide to  pretend we did not see Messi at all. When we finally go up to the club inside the hotel and into the VIP area we noticed the table we reserved was right next to Messi. Once again, we quietly freak out because we do not want to scare Messi and his friends away. Eventually we all start slowly working our way towards Messis’ table and before you know it we are all partying together. YES I said it, my roommates and I all partied with not only Messi but Sergio Busquets as well! I don’t know about anyone else, but I think this is a pretty big deal.. I mean how many abroad students can say they got to take shots with Lionel MESSI, the best soccer player in the WORLD..  They even invited us to a private VIP area.. Unfortunately, Messi would not allow us to take any pictures of him.. but we were able to get a couple of shots of Busqeuts .. Here are a couple of pictures from that crazy weekend

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Restaurants I Recommend in Barcelona

When first arriving in Barcelona my roommates and I were excited to try the restaurants around our apartment building. Little did we know, there was a rule about which restaurants to eat from in Barcelona. We do not live in a touristy area so all the restaurants pretty much suck in our neighborhood. Before we knew about how bad the restaurants are around us and the certain rules you must follow when picking a place to eat, we ate some pretty foul tasting things. One of the most important rules to follow by is DO NOT EAT AT RESTAURANTS WITH PICTURES OF THE FOOD. These restaurants are seriously an American tourist trap. One would think these restaurants are a good idea to eat at because the pictures look so tasty, but in reality they actually suck and your food comes out looking nothing like what the picture did. Another rule I came across so far is the eat at restaurants people recommend to you. Seriously, when your a poor college study aboard student wasting your money on a meal that is just below average absolutely sucks. Therefore, here are a couple of restaurants I’ve been to and loved!

Bo De B.. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to thats been to Barcelona always recommends this place. Similar to subway, you are asked the toppings and sauces you want to put on your sandwich  The line is usually long, but do not be discouraged.. IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT

For the best italian food in all of Barcelona, one must vist Da Greco. The menu is a little pricy and your options are pretty limited, but I promise you anything you order will be delicious. One cool thing about this place is that they bring out a little side dish of other people’s orders. There you get to have a little taste of everything.

The last place I am going to recommend for now is the mexican restaurant Rosa Negra. This place is also a litte pricey, but is defiantly worth it. Rosa Negra has delicious burritos and incredible tapas. What I recommend you to order is the nachos and croquettes.

My Trip To London Was Just So Average…

My trip  to London was automatically was set up for failure from the way beginning. My best friend Sarina and I are clearly traveling rookies. We arrived to the Barcelona Airport around two hours before our flight was boarding. We figured we had all this extra time, so we decided to eat at a restaurant and go shopping. Sarina and I thought the best time to finally walk towards our gate was thirty minutes right before it was about to close.. ( I know we are geniuses!!) As we begin to walk towards our gate we are stopped by airport attendants because we never got our boarding passes stamped.. Who knew this even needed to happen, but apparently if you are not a resident of Spain you need to go to the Ryan Air office and have your boarding pass stamped… So now our gate is about to close and we are running through the Barcelona Airport, with what feels like a 5 ton bag, like crazy women. I swear I never sweated and ran so much in my entire. After a brutal traveling experience, we finally arrived to our hostel in London. Just when we thought our journey could not get any worse, we realize that our hostel does not only have our three other best friends who were

The bunk where the sketchy woman lived

waiting for our arrival, but also a random 40 year old women. Now this 40 year old women hated my friends and I, and we were never totally sure why.. One day we heard her complaining to her mother that she was in a room with five young girls, she was always slamming the doors after she left, and to top it all off she ended up stealing mine and Michele’s naked palette. For those of you who do not know, a Naked Palette is $50 eyeshadow palette. To top this all I spent around $600 in London, without even knowing it. Lets just say the American dollar is worth absolutely nothing in London. I think 100$ is around 63 Pounds. Every time I thought I was buying myself a cheap meal, I would convert it to american dollars and realized I spent a fortune. One meal at Burger probably cost me around $20.. On a more positive note, I did have fun on the London Eye and at  Madame Tussauds. The London Eye is this huge ferris wheel where you can see pretty much see the whole entire city of London. The views were beautiful and it was pretty cool to get to see the whole entire city of London lit up. Madame Tussauds is the wax museum in London. Got to take a lot of nice pictures with some celebrities there. My roommate Dina is also obsessed with Justin Timberlake , so it was pretty funny watching her reaction to the JT wax figurine. Here is a slideshow of my experiences in London.

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21st Birthday in Espana

As you all may know turning twenty one in America is a huge deal but in Spain the age twenty one is pretty insignificant. Which is exactly why I was a little nervous about how my twenty first birthday was going to turn out here. My birthday technically  landed on a Monday but since we all go out so late in this country I knew I had to celebrate on Sunday. This again freaked me out. Who the hell was going to want to go out on a Sunday night? My roommates and I began to do our routinely facebook group search to see what promoters were doing Sunday night. I once again began to freak out, not one promoter posted anything about the night, and that just never happens.. Finally after a couple of hours the promoters began to post what is going on for the night. After browsing through every option I decided on The W Hotel. When we finally arrived at the hotel everyone was amazed how beautiful it was. The club inside was chic, classy, and had an amazing view. My generous friends decided to splurge and get me a table. We danced the whole night in VIP. We alson ended up getting free birthday shots from the manager. My Dad and step mom also made a surprise visit. We taught my dad how to take a tequila shot, which think is pretty epic. Overall thanks to my friends and family I must say I had an amazing 21st birthday. I am truly so thankful to have such great friend and family. Here are some pictures from my birthday weekend..

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FC Barcelona vs Getafe

Let me start off first by saying I absolutely hate sports; I think they are boring and pointless. The only time I attend sporting events is use it as an excuse to party and socialize with my friends. However, since I’m in Spain I figured I check out a futbol game. Wow, was I surprised when I saw how many people actually go to these games. What I found really weird was that alcohol is served at pretty much every place in Barcelona but at the futbol  stadium.  In America people get wasted at sporting events.  It was a cool experience to see how the two different cultures act during a sporting event. Every time Barcelona scored a goal the crowd would sing and cheer. It was refreshing to see how much pride Barcelona takes in their futbal team. Even though our seats were terrible it was still nice to be apart of a crowd the was so alive. Overall, I am glad I decided to experience a futbal game while in Spain.

A Weekend In Valencia

This weekend my roommates and I took a trip to Valencia through our study aboard program. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, after Madrid and Barcelona. Valencia is well known for their fish and paella dishes. Knowing this, my roommates and I were extremely excited to taste the paella all the tours guides were bragging out. We were walking along the beach and found a random restaurant that seemed pretty questionable, but decided to give it a try anyway. We obviously ordered the seafood paella. The waiter brought out this huge platter of food. It was absolutely delicious. Even my roommate Dina, who hates fish, enjoyed this meal.

  

 We were taken on a walking tour where we were shown many cool things about the city of Valencia. This is a picture of the narrowest building in all of Europe,  which I thought was pretty awesome.  There is absolutely nothing in this building; just empty space.

After the walking tour we were taken to The City of Arts and Sciences. The City of Arts and Sciences is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia. There are several  buildings within The City of Arts and Science the IMAX cinema, a interactive science museum, an aquarium, and a plaza were sporting events and concerts are hold.  It was by far the prettiest architecture I’ve seen so far in Spain.

 

Overall, I must say my trip to Valencia by far exceeded my expectations. The weather was great, the locals were friendly, the food was amazing, the scenery was beautiful, our hotel was nice. Can’t say I have any complains about my trip. Looking forward to traveling around Spain some more!