Hello all!
Liz here! I am ashamed at how terrible I have been about the blogging lately. Since my last post, I have had a lot going on- My family came to visit and we went to Oporto for two nights and then spent the rest of the time in Lisbon. I think that Kitty and Sean loved Carnivale 
We had an amazing time and I was so lucky to get to see them all. Then, Rina came to visit for Spring Break which was so much fun. We went to Cascais for two nights and spent some time catching some sun and R and R on the beach. Otherwise, I have been super busy with school. I had classes six days a week for the last month, but guess what- last week was my final week of school ever!!! I cant believe it! Last Friday (after I finished up my last day of classes) I went straight to the airport to fly off to Nice!
Here is a summary of our trip so far:
NICE
Jess and I met in Nice last Friday night and went out for some fantastic Italian food. The next morning we headed to the train station so that we could book our overnight train for Barcelona…but once we got there we were told that there was no overnight train (contrary to what it said online). So, we had to decide if we wanted one extra day in Nice or Barcelona. The weather was a bit dreary in Nice so we decided to pack the city into the rest of that day. We went to the Matisse and Chagall musuems which were incredible. Jess and I both knew that we loved Matisse, but we were pleasantly surprised at our new love affair with Chagall (goats and donkeys and all). We walked along the water front and drooled at the most ridiculous yachts ever. We spent the rest of the day and night in Vieux Nice, wandering the street and peering into shops. The next morning, we headed to the Nice train station to embark on our journey to Barcelona…or so we thought…
BARCELONA
We got to the train station only to learn that the trains were “retard indeterminante” (the French way of saying delayed) due to a train hitting someone in Nice that morning. Our train got off to a late start and our connecting train in Montpellier was unwilling to wait for 20 minutes. So…we got re-routed through Port Bou from Montpellier and ended up taking a Barney Rubbles train that would be better served transporting coal. It was terrible. We didnt end up getting into Barcelona until past 10 p.m. We had some interesting adventures along the way, including some French bums jumping onto the train with their dog, they offered us smokes, were busy drinking “ocean spray,” and one of them was bleeding from his hands and kept spitting on his wounds (it was really hot). So, anyway, we arrived in one piece in Barcelona.
Barcelona was beyond incredible. We both fell in love with its charm. There is an artsy display around every corner and the architecture is unbelievable. First we went to Parc Guell, which is a crazy park designed by Gaudi. There are beautiful stone structures and mosaics everywhere. Its very mad-hatterish. Then we went to Las Ramblas, which is a long boulevard full of street vendors and street performers. Along the way, we found the Museu de Erotica, which we went to, obviously. After taking in some interesting exhibits (which we can post some pictures from later), we were back to the streets to take in the sites. We walked down to the water front and made our way to the beach. We also wandered around dozens of incredible squares and gazed at many monuments- both historic and modern. We had fantastic food and did a little shopping…overall the highlight of the trip! This morning we headed to the train station to shuffle to Madrid…
MADRID
We planned on getting on the 9:30 a.m train this morning so that we would have a full day in Madrid. We got to the train station at about 9:30 and ended up having to get the 11:00 train. We decided to pass the time by reserving our train to Morocco and grabbing some breakfast…but after we got our tickets I looked up and realized that it was already 11:00…Jess and I started sprinting in a panic towards the train platforms. A uniformed man held us back (it was very dramatic). It took us a few minutes to realize that our watches were an hour off and that we had actually arrived at the train station at 10:30. We were pissed to find out that we had to repurchase our tickets, but we definitely deserved it- all the signs pointed to the time change (the clock being “off” in our hotel room, the shops closing/opening at the “wrong” times, the 11:00 train in blinking lights, etc.). So, we finally got onto the 12:00 train to Madrid- our train had technical difficulties and stopped in the middle of the Spanish Mountains so we didnt get in until 3:30.
We tried to do Madrid in 5 hours and did a pretty decent job. We hit the Prado musuem and then wandered through five or six squares. Our favorite area was Oriente Plaza across from the incredible Palacio Real. We were so exhausted that all we wanted to do was get some McDonalds and a bottle of Champagne and head back to our hotel room early. We have spent the evening watching CNN – oh how I miss television in English. Tomorrow morning we head back to the Madrid train station to ride to Algeciras, Spain where we hop on a ferry to Tangier, Morocco. We will give you an update from there!!!
We love and miss you all, and we are both really excited about coming home soon!
Love,
Liz and Jess
P.S. Pictures will be posted soon (I dont have my connecting cords here)
