London, England

"I even saw TWO hooligans!"

Okay, so London is incredible. But getting there, not so much. Let me tell you a tale.

Chelsea and I originally wanted to take the Chunnel to London from Brussels, but we waited too long to buy tickets and the price went up like crazy! So we found an overnight bus for €35 less than the train and figured we'd save money on a hostel that night, as we would sleep on the bus. We assumed that the bus went under the Channel as the train does. We were wrong. We assumed that a "7-hour bus ride" meant that it would be moving for seven hours. We were wrong. Here's how it went down:

On the night of 28th, we barely made it to the bus station in Brussels on time. We got a little lost at the actual station and the bus driver made it seem like they had been waiting for us before departure. Um? We still got there ten minutes before departure time, so get off your high horse, pal. Then, of course, there were no two seats next to each other so none of us got to sit together. Which sucks because trying to sleep next to a stranger is always awkward. So the bus moved for about an hour and a half then made a stop to let people off and take on new passengers. Then it moved for another hour or so and by 2 a.m. all the bloody lights came on in the bus, blinding me. Everyone was getting off. Confused and exhausted, I asked aloud, "Are we taking a pit stop?" A British gentlemen heard me and kindly answered, "No, this is border control. You need your passport." GREAT. It's 20 degrees outside and I have to get out (I've already removed all of my layers) and wait in line. It gets worse.

We waited in line with our passports and Spanish residency cards, as our student visas stapled in our passports have expired. When we finally got up to the front a Brit grabbed Chelsea's passport and said, "You're a Caldwell? Have you ever met another Caldwell?" She responded, "No, just my family." "Well, now you have!" So we thought this Brit was going to be all nice and funny. Nope. Then the questions began. Mind you, during all of this, a Portuguese man was being denied entry at the table next to us. We could see the guard looking at his passport then at the man and saying, pointblank, "This isn't you." So we were a little concerned. The man then drilled us and here's how it went (to the best of my memory):

"Where are you from?"
-"California."
"Why are you coming to England from France, then? Why not from America?"
-"Well, we were in France, then Belgium and now we're entering from here."
"Why are you traveling?"
-"Because we're students and it's Christmas break."
"How are you paying for this?"
-"Well, we study in Spain so we can kind of afford to travel around Europe because it's cheaper than flying from the States TO Europe."
"You didn't answer my question."
-"Um. Student loans. Financial Aid. Our parent's love." (I made the mistake of joking with him.)
"Fine. Read up on their documents."

We then realized he was training the new guy at the table and he let us in after examining our papers. As we were leaving, I heard the Caldwell fellow tell the newbie, "You see, it all paints a picture. You've got to ask the right questions." Brilliant. Then we had to wait another two hours at a rest stop area (indoors, thank God) for the fairy to be ready to take the bus on board. Then, we had to get back on the bus for 5 minutes to get off the bus to ride the fairy for an hour. We were beyond exhausted and grumpy as hell. Once the fairy landed, we re-boarded the bus and drove for another hour into London. By 8:30 a.m. we were at the bus station in London and just wanted to die in our hostel beds. We had to wait until 11 a.m. to check-in once at the hostel and we napped for a good two hours. Well, they napped. I fought off the worst cough I've had in a while, but I got some medicine and it helped for the rest of the trip. We explored a bit that night...






I was sure to stop at every single World War II monument or memorial (even though it's all British) to take a picture for Papa Moke. When I stumbled upon the Women of WWII monument, I got really teary eyed. Chelsea saw and said, "Oh! Do you want me to take a picture of you in front of it?" "Please!" I am such a spaz sometimes.

Then we walked to Buckingham Palace and took that in at nighttime:



This picture is pretty sweet, if I do say so myself:


We were all pretty much dead and decided to go back to the hostel and cook dinner there. To save money (knowing how bad the conversion rate from dollars to UK Sterling was) we bought pasta and sauce in Brussels to cook at the London hostel, which we did that night. Us about to play some Tres in the hostel (which Arisa and I later taught to some folks we met, also from California):


The next day, we all went our separate ways to explore. I had a lovely morning at a Starbucks where I read the New York Times IN PAPER and caught up on my American life a bit. Then I walked up to the Camden Town Markets and had a field day. I didn't know going into it, that you can bargain for everything. So once a guy tried to lower a price to get me to buy something, it was all over. I am the Queen of Bargain Hunting in the States, as we all know. So I somehow made it out of Camden town with a pair of boots for ₤15 instead of ₤30. A shirt for ₤10 instead of ₤12. And a vintage belt for ₤8 instead of ₤10. (I could talk about this belt for an hour, but it's a white, waist belt with a glazed ceramic white and gold butterfly buckle modeled after those made by Chanel in the 1960s. It's amazing.) I was so proud of myself. The belt I found at a place called St. Cyre (pronounced like the word "sincere"--very cute). That was all vintage clothing and of very good quality. It was family owned by this adorable older couple who gave me tips for the rest of my time in Camden Town. Just awesome. Here are some shots from the day, including the inside of this one store that I am going to model my closet and/or bedroom after one day:






Later that day, we made it over the Imperial War Museum, which I had been DYING to go to for some time. It did not disappoint, but again, pictures of that will come in the "museum blog entry." The following day was our last full day in London all together (Arisa and I stayed a day longer than Alex and Chelsea) so as usual, we got as much sights in as possible. First we went to Hyde Park/Kensington Park to see the Peter Pan statue and have a picnic in front of it. We also saw a beautiful monument for something else on the way, but didn't have time to go and read the inscription:



Museum of Natural History:


The London Tower and the Tower Bridge were breath-taking. They found lion skulls behind the gates of the Tower, so if you somehow made it past the archers and moat, you got eaten alive. Awesome.



Then, we crossed the London Bridge to go see the London Eye and Big Ben during the day. The London Bridge is a big old disappointment as the real bridge is in ARIZONA first of all. Secondly, the fake bridge that is there now is not very pretty or extravagant. But I crossed it! And it did not fall down. I saw a special on the London Eye on some travel channel when I was a little girl and have always wanted to go up and drink champagne and view the city, but it's, like, ₤25 just to go! ₤25 that I didn't have, nor did the rest of us. So we took pictures of it and the lovely Big Ben during the daytime. One day, when I am filthy rich, I'll come back and do it all:



On our way to TATE, the London Museum of Modern Art, we stumbled upon this naval museum and monument for Sir Francis Drake. We had to laugh, because he is so revered in England. But back in Spain, he is a bastard pirate that is punished in every Spanish history book. So interesting to me.


I loved London. A lot. I could easily see myself living here one day. More so than any other place I've been ... except maybe Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam, too. Anyway. Aside from the stressful entrance, London was incredible. Arisa and I survived the overnight trek home only to arrive to the dozens of changes I mentioned in the Casa, Casa Dulce entry.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Museum entry when I have the energy to blog again!

Bruges, Belgium

(Yes, like the Colin Farrell movie, "In Bruges.")

This city is amazing! It's a well-preserved medieval city in Belgium with some incredible views. It was magical. It reminded me of Grandma Bon the whole time. I feel like she would have loved this place with the old trees and canals and brick and stone.





There was this one area in Bruges that UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) named a world heritage site. They were these old stone houses that nuns lived in. These nuns protested against the corrupt church and created their own monastery, more or less, where they took care of children and created a type of orphanage and basically did amazing stuff that the hypocritical church wouldn't do. (And just for the record, the entire city of Granada in Spain is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It's that cool.) The houses and surrounding area:



Then we found the church in Bruges where the famous "Madonna with Child" by Michelangelo rests. It was incredible to see it just sitting up there. I am constantly reminded by how much history surrounds me here. It is nothing like the States.


Then we meandered to the 83 meter (about 272 feet) tall Belfry. This is the same bell tower in the movie "In Bruges" that sets the most intense scenes.


It is 369 steps to the top and no, there is not, nor will there ever be an elevator. Once at the top, you get a panoramic view of Bruges and the surrounding areas. On a clear day, you can see the North Sea from the top. The tower is crooked and leans over 1.5 meters to one side. Hah! It was €4 to climb to the top. I was the only one of group that wanted to go. So I paid the fee and climbed all 369 steps. They started out as stone, then turned into wood, spiraling all the way. Sometimes the steps were 5 inches apart, sometimes a foot. There was, occasionally, a rope to hold on to as you climbed. At some points, I had to use my hands and feet and pseudo-crawl for a bit. It was crazy! So worth it though. Even though it was a snowy day, I could see so much! Incredible view.



The rest of the day we leisurely walked around the canals and snacked on Belgian waffles.



I liked the last scene because of the dark purple house that Chelsea pointed out to me. If I live here one day for a period of time, it's going to be in that exact house. I decided.

Brussels, Belgium

After an hour and half train ride at the crack of dawn from Paris, we arrived at Brussels. It was still incredibly dark at 9 a.m. and freezing cold. We weren't unprepared for the amount of snow on the ground, but it was still a little surprising. We locked out stuff up in the lockers at the Generation Youth Hostel and explored until our 2 p.m. check-in.

We found a little restaurant off the main drag in downtown Brussels for some Belgian waffles and tea! 'Twas amazing. Then we went off with a handy student map we got at the hostel. It had all kinds of great tips like a parking structure we could sneak to the top of for an amazing 360 degree view of the city. It also told us about some great beer bars (aside from the famous Delirium Cafe, which we will get to soon enough). Some of the sights we saw on the way to the Winter Wonderland downtown:



Then we found the secret parking structure the student backpackers' map told us about, which was awesome. No cars park up there because of the snow, and no wonder! It was 9 inches thick in most spots!



Then we found the Winter Wonderland that Julie, our Belgian roommate told us about. Julie is from Leuven, which is a little over an hour outside of Brussels. Eventually, we are visiting Julie in her hometown after she moves back in February. She said she'd take us horseback riding. Yeah. She's amazing.


In the Christmas festival, there was this vintage carousel. I fell in love with it. Rather than horses, it had a rocket ship, an antique-looking hot air balloon, a pterodactyl to fly on, lions, a submarine and much more! It was incredible. That dark style I am so fond of.


That same day, we walked over to a beer bar called Moeder Lambic. It was suggested that rather than ordering a beer (no matter how well-read you think you are in Belgian beer) you ask them what to drink. So he asked me a series of questions like if I prefer dark or light, sweet or bitter, strong or not. And he came back with a Tournay Noel (a Christmas guest) and it was incredible. Over the course of three days, these are the following delicious Belgian beers I tried (with the help of beer aficionado Alex Ibarra):

Tournay Noel
Chimay Triple (had to say I had one IN Belgium)
Petrus Winter (one of my favorites)
Jupiler (simple, so we drank it at the hostel, hah.)
Delirium Tremens (the Delirium Cafe brew and Chelsea's favorite beer for years)
Floris Strawberry (too sweet for me; not even beer)
Delirium Nocturnum (right up htere with the Petrus Winter. Loved it.)

The very classy Moeder Lambic bar and I:



The following day, we went to Bruges, which will be the next blog entry, but the 28th, we explored Brussels more. As usual, on our last day in a city, we did some heavy but basic sightseeing. First stop? The famous HUGE atom. Yeah. Go Brussels.


Chelsea and I are so weird. We had moments this trip where we were laughing so hard we were crying and no one understood what we were talking about. Typical. It made me miss Collette so much though. That's a regular occurrence for her and I. Then we found a little castle called the Halle Gate which is now a center for Urban Culture and a museum. Go figure.


Then, we went from a castle to a palace. The Royal Palace of Brussels which is the center of the nation's capital, but the kings don't live there anymore; they live in the Royal Castle of Laeken. Oh yeah, we have several palaces, but we'd rather live in this one. No big deal. Royalty! Across from the Royal Palace is a park which is nationally known for hosting a lot of gay sex at night. So naturally, we went over there (during the day) to see what the big deal is. We were sorely disappointed to see nothing but tourists and runners. Sigh.


Once it was late enough to not look like alcoholics, we went back to the very famous Delirium Cafe for a beer before our overnight bus from Brussels to London. On the way, we saw the cathedral near the city center. At nighttime around the holidays, they get these massive projectors and have this intense light show on the walls of the cathedral. Chelsea got a recording of it, so hopefully I can post that soon. But it was very cool and very creative! Great little show on the way to the bar (picture of bar taken earlier, during the day):



Then, we ran back to the hostel, grabbed our luggage from the lockers, barely made it to the bus station on time and began our AWFUL journey to London... But details on that later. Up next? Our day trip to Bruges, Belgium!

Paris, France

(In case you thought I was referring to another Paris.)

Here we go with the first of many blog entries for my recent EuroTrip. I am going to create a separate blog at the end for the museums I visited, so please excuse the lack of photos from the Louvre in this entry.

You may have heard of the God-awful storms in the UK and parts of continental Europe a couple weeks ago. Amazingly enough, they didn't affect our trip too much. Our flight from Málaga to Paris was delayed by about three hours, but it could have been worse. So we got to our hotel in Paris around midnight and were dead. After a night's sleep, Arisa and I left Alex and Chelsea to couple-y activities and we explored the city. First stop? The Eiffel Tower, of course.




This is the view from up in the first level of the Tower. We wanted to go to the very top, but the ticket holder (who spoke limited English) said, "You can't go to top today. It is like this today..." And he picked up his cellphone which had a picture of a polar bear on it. Yep. It was snowing, so we only made it to the first level But it was still some 180 feet high.


Then we went over to the Louvre and spent three hours exploring that glorious museum. Arisa and I went our separate ways because I am very particular about how I look around museums. Hah. Here's the outside of it. Again, I will post internal shots later.


On Christmas Eve, we went to Disney Land Paris! It was snowing and made the whole day seem like a Winter Wonderland!



And I was a super happy camper when I found the French version of my favorite ride: Haunted Mansion!


Christmas Day was our final full day in Paris. So we saved the main sights to see for that day. Alex, Chelsea, Arisa and I set out at 10:00 a.m. with a heavy to-do list. We wanted to see the Arch de Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge, the Sacré Cœur church, Notredam, the Lock Bridge and the Eiffel Tower at nighttime. The Arch was first up:



There is a tomb of the unknown soldier for France as well. It lies under the Arch:


Then we went to the famous Moulin Rouge. I am obsessed with the movie, so this was a total treat for me. Chelsea and I were so excited. Right after, she and I attacked a crepe next door.



Then we went over the Sacré Cœur church. The church is set on a huge hill which we had to climb up to see the building. There were some nine flight of stairs to the top. Totally worth it! The view from the top is a 360 degree view of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, Notredam and the River Seine. There was a sign on the outside of the church that read, "For 145 years, someone has been praying in this church, night and day." It blew me away.



We hopped back on the Metro and headed for Notredam. Since it was Christmas Day, there were many masses going on. But it was lovely. We saw nuns and nicely dressed French church-goers.



Chelsea was not about to leave Paris without going to the Lock Bridge. There are several of these locations around the world where couples go and attach locks to the bridges (often with their names on them) to secure their love, then throw the key away. In this case, in the River Seine. So the couple found a padlock and did their thing. It was very sweet. But the bridge itself boasted an incredible view.




Final stop of the day was the tower at night. Chelsea had heard that every hour on the hour after sunset, the tower sparkles. While we were waiting, a man in his thirties heard us talking and said, "Oh! Americans!" with a very American accent. He asked if we would take a picture of him and started chatting us up. He was a total sweetheart who had just moved to Paris from London. He was originally from West Hollywood and worked in the film industry. He was so helpful to us and gave us tips before our trip to London. It was such a refreshing encounter from all of the loudmouth Americans you typically run into in Europe. Then the show began. The tower before and after the light show:



We then dined near the tower for our Christmas dinner. It was one of the very few meals we ate out; we usually bought groceries and cooked them at the hostels we stayed at, but that was a little more difficult in Paris where we stayed in a hotel.

And contrary to popular believe, Parisians were ridiculously nice and helpful. They were funny too and tried their best English with us, which was kind. I am annoyed by peoples' judgement of the French when I have yet to meet a rude French person.

Keep your eyes posted for part three of our trip: Belgium!

Casa, casa dulce.

Home, sweet home!

After 11 days of running around Europe, I am safe and sound in Granada and it feels lovely. Over the next few days, I will hopefully be posting several blogs, chalk-full of pictures from Paris, Brussels, Bruges, and London. Also, I will be sending out some major postcards to the States soon. I tried to mail them yesterday (yes, the day after I got back) but the post office was out of stamps. I tried again today, still to no avail. I can't decide if it's because everyone is mailing things for the holidays or if Spain is closer to the verge of economic collapse than I thought it was. In any case, family and friends will be receiving postcards in a couple weeks, fingers crossed.

Before I start organizing photos and anecdotes to post, I want to talk about my Granada life for a minute. There have been many changes in La Casa de los Locos (our loving nickname for our house on Calle Jesús y María). Tony and Fernando had a kitchenette built upstairs to alleviate the mad traffic in the downstairs kitchen. Also, Tony has a full kitchen in his flat upstairs that he has now opened for use to the top floor and myself (who lives between floors). While I was gone, they moved my kitchen stuff upstairs and were sure to give me all top shelves as I am "Laurita la Alta" (Little Laura the Tall). So now I cook upstairs with most of the Californians, Yuri from Japan, Julie from Belgium and Hamza from Morocco.

Speaking of Hamza, there are new additions to our house as Bryant from Seattle and Sara from Italy have moved home. Paco (a Spaniard) has moved in downstairs. A woman named Laura (a Spaniard) will be moving in soon. Hamza (from Morocco) will be moving in upstairs in a week or so. He was really good friends with Bryant from Seattle who just moved out, so we all already know him. Xanthe changed rooms, so now Natasha has her room and Brandon's new roommate (who used to be Natasha) is going to be Hamza. So the house is in all kinds of chaos right now. There's still a bit of construction going on upstairs, as doors and archways are being altered to fit the new lifestyle up there.

The majority was completed before we all got back from our vacations, but we're still looking forward to some total calm in the house. Chelsea is battling some kind of awful chest/coughing/throat illness and is going to the doctor today. Arisa is still battling her cough. And I, too, am trying to clean out my lungs and get rid of this nasty cough. But! Gracias a Dios, we have 5 full more days of winter break before our winter course starts. I hope we all heal and relax by then.

Next Monday, I begin my "Autores Granadinos" course (Authors of Granada). It is with the same teacher I had for Renaissance and Baroque Literature, so I am stoked. Then in February, the real Spring Semester starts. But more on that when the time comes.

In any case! It felt so good to get back home! However, my trip was amazing in every way imaginable. I will try and get started on a Paris blog tonight for you guys!

Happy New Year!