Mind the Gap!

On the weekend of January 20th, 3 of my friends and I set off to London! We arrived at the airport early Friday morning. This time, nobody decided to indulge in an M&S chocolate milkshake (see blog post "Welcome to England" 2018).  We quickly figured out the tube and the train and headed into the city. Our first stop was a pub to enjoy a traditional meal of Fish and Chips. 

 

After lunch, we went to check into our VBRO where we got ready for a fancy dinner. Dinner was filled with great food and great conversation. 

After dinner, we met up with some other friends who were visiting London at the same time. Around 9:30 we took the tube home because we knew we had a big day Saturday and wanted to get our sleep. 

Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed a coffee, and head straight towards the London eye to board our hop-on hop-off bus. The last time I was in London, Big Ben was under construction so it was cool to actually see it this time. We spent a few hours on the bus seeing sights like Tower Bridge, Big Ben, St. Pauls's cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. 

After the bus, we headed to Borough Market for Lunch. We enjoyed sampling a lot of different foods- the mussels were amazing. We then found a spot to sit down and have some burgers- also amazing. 

After lunch, we walked over to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It is a pub that has been around since 1538. It was rebuilt after the great fire in London and is known for having famous customers including Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. It was super cool and cozy inside. 

Next up was Kings Cross Station. Something I was extra excited about. Being a Harry Potter fan, it was necessary to pay a visit to Platform 9 and 3/4. 

It was time to go back to the vbro. We stopped and got some cheese and bread to have while getting ready. Then we headed back out to go see Wicked. The show was amazing and we had a great view despite our nose bleeds (balling on a budget). 

After the show, we met up with some friends and went to enjoy some live music. It ended up being one of my favorite/most fun nights abroad so far. Mira even got the drummer's drumstick as a souvenir. 

Shoutout London for all the fun!! Up next, Amsterdam!!

 

BCN + Mallorca Update

Hello fans! 

Sorry for the delay in blog post I had an unfortunate experience a few weeks ago that left me phoneless, therefore blogless. Luckily, thanks to my parents and friends everything has been sorted out and I can return to the blog! 

Barcelona:

Since the last update I’ve started classes. They include Spanish, intercultural communication and leadership as well as international business and management courses. This is quite different from my typical accounting and finance courses back in Madison. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the city better and hanging out with friends in Barcelona over the past 2 weeks. A major highlight was a fútbol game at Camp Nou!! 

Mallorca:

This weekend me and 6 of my friends ventured to Mallorca, an island off of Spain. Tbh we went there because it was bank account friendly and the beaches looked pretty. It ended up raining a lot of the time we spent there but it was still fun and Mallorca is a beautiful island. Friday night once we got in we enjoyed tapas (some of the best I’ve had so far), on Saturday we attended a very educational wine tasting and explored the city. Then we stayed in a cooked pasta for dinner at our air bnb. Sunday morning we had a great brunch and walked around some more before coming home. Not much content from this trip unfortunately.

Wine tasting

This is ensaimadas- a local pastry only made on the island. 

Ashley’s amazing abroad takeover - week 1

Hi blog fans. I’ve decided to take over anseth family adventures as I spend the next 4 months studying in Barcelona. I’m going to try to update weekly or whenever seems like a good time. This will be a recap of week 1! 

January 2-3 

Started the morning of the 2nd finishing up packing and I then headed to MSP. Sat on the plane to Paris next to a fellow blogger moving there to start her her blog career. Unfortunately I did not sleep more than 15 minutes of this 7 hour plane ride. I read a book and then watched top gun instead. We had a quick layover in Paris. Thankfully, customs were quick and easy. We then grabbed a coffee and boarded a flight to Barcelona. Once we arrived we were taken to a hotel for our first session of orientation and then sent to unpack at our apartment. 

We had a few hours to get settled then we headed out for sangria and paella. 
The jet leg caught up to us afterwards and we fell fast asleep.

January 4

Today we woke up, got coffee and spent the majority of our morning at CIEE orientation. But first we were tasked with getting metro passes and learning our way around. Luckily the metro is much easier than I expected for someone who is directionally challenged. After we walked around and explored the Boqueria, which is like an indoor food market.

 After that it was time for a siesta before heading out for tapas and such. 

January 5

Today we had yet another orientation, this one more academic focused so we learned about our class policies and all the fun stuff. After this we hung out at home before going to the Cabalgata Reyes Magos (wise men parade). It was super cool to see a lot of people gathered to celebrate the night before three kings day. 

January 6

Three kings day! The whole apartment slept til around noon- still getting used to the Spanish lifestyle and timing of things. We knew we wanted to hike what was called the “bunker” at sunset so we decide to explore before hand. Our first stop was walking around the arc di triompf. 

Roomie pic! Me, Darby, Holly and Taylor

Next we made our way to the “bunker”. We were met with a 20 minute hike of only stairs on a steep incline. We wanted to look cute for pics but it became clear to us that jeans were the wrong choice. When we finally made it to the top the view of sunset over the city was very much worth the physical toll.

Some guy drew this picture of us at top. 

Next, we decided to head to the “tik tok famous” Dow Jones bar. Basically, the drinks fluctuate based on supply and demand and a few times a night, the market crashes, bringing all the drinks down to their market value. 

After a few hours, we decided to head back to the apartment and get ready for our day trip on Saturday.

January 7th 

Today we had signed up for a day trip with our study abroad program to Monserrat. It was about an hour drive up the mountain, then we went on a hike and tour. Monserrat is a monastery and home to the Black Madonna, a version of the Virgin Mary. 

January 8th 

We all slept in once again. Then me, Darby and Taylor spent a couple hours shopping in the gothic quarter before visiting a rooftop near the cathedral for drinks. 

Not much else from Sunday. Just kinda hung out in the apartment.

Ok well that all for now. I apologize my blogging isn’t as great as my dad’s but I will work on it! Class starts for me this week so that’s exciting. Check back next week for another update!