I´ll have a glass of sangria, por favor

Whelp! We ended up staying two extra nights in Paris because it was so great! I´ll elaborate:

Originally, we planned to stay an extra day in Paris so I could see the Pompidou Modern Art Museum and to visit Versailles. It´s our trip and we can do whatever we want! However, the following day, a Tuesday, the museum was closed. We stupidly neglected to check the opening times listed on the wall and completely forgot that practically all museums are closed on Tuesdays in Paris. Also, it was raining and cloudy and cold per usual, meaning Versailles was out too because we wanted to walk in the gardens without be drenched. Plan B was check out the Notre Dame (which was pretty cool inside), have more crepes at another adorable cafe and then go see a movie. I can´t believe I went to see a movie while in Paris... I hate to admit it, but the movie Inception was awesome and it was raining, so really, there was nothing else to do, right? That evening, the sky had cleared up considerably and we went walking around the quaint, quiet neighborhood we did two nights eariler. It is the highest point in Paris and the view was spectacular. Without the rain, people were out exploring the tiny shops and patio seating to savor their espresso. We had dinner outside on a quiet street corner too and greatly enjoyed ourselves. Dinner seems to take us hours now as we sip our wine and talk. I´m going to miss this so much...

The next day, we managed to cram in modern art and a grand palace in a neighboring city. Each of these could easily have expended a day on their own, but we are pros at sighseeing now and mastered them in one. Granted, it didn´t start out that way- we intended to take the night train to Switzerland, but intentionaly missed the train to take an afternoon trip to Versailles because it´s our trip and we can do whatever we want. I (and Elise) am very glad we missed our train to spend time in Versailles. The garden was beautiful!! There was no way we were going to spend 15 euro to see the inside of the palace with only 45 mins until close, so we took our time exploring the manicured gardens and wandering between the 12ft hedges. They were breath taking, not only because they were very pretty, but the sheer size of this place was unfathomable. I would not want to be the gardner, that is for sure. Elise especially liked the animals.

The best part of the day, however, was walking through the Pompidou. I know I have hyped up all of the other museums we toured, but this one was by far my favorite. As a modern art fan with most of my schooling post WWII, I was in the perfect museum. The entire top floor was dedicated to feminist artists! Considering I spent 4 months writing about feminist artists for my senior capstone, I was giddy with excitement. And, I saw, in person, with my own eyes, the piece I featured in my project. I could have cried. And that was only the top floor, there were two other floors full of Matise, Picasso, Calder, Nevelson, Brancousi, Moore.... the list goes on. I think I used up half of a camera memory card taking pictures. Unfortunately, we only spent 2 hours walking around (an hour longer than originally planned) because we knew we needed time to get to Versailles and still make our train. As you now know, that plan was scratched, and we are so glad for it. When I come back to Paris, I will dedicate an entire day to the Pompidou. Elise was even impressed and was glad we went to one more museum also. All-in-all, it was a well spent last day in Paris. Plus, the sun finally decided to make an appearance so that was nice too.

The following morning, we took our time getting ready, wrote some postcards, sipped our hot chocolate (which has become a staple in our diets now), and went to the train station to make reservations to take us to Switzerland. After talking and joking with the extremely friendly and helpful train ticket employee, he told us we only had an hour to rush back to the hostel to grab our stuff and then book it back to the station to make the train. So, we spent the rest of the day admiring the countryside by train. While the views are amazing, it is frustrating to designate an entire afternoon, sometimes day, to just travel alone. The distances covered are comparitively short in relation to traveling the U.S., but, there are places to see and food that needs to be tasted-I don´t want to lose that time on a train!

We arrived in Switzerland around 9pm and it was cold! We counted our blessings once more because again we were helped out by extremely friendly people who generously provided us with vital information in helping us find our hostel. We had to take a bus and then a lift to get to the TINY town we were going to stay. Tiny is translated into: there are only 100 people who live in Gimmelwald. We had to take a lift to get there because it is so high up in the Alps a road would be inefficient! It was awesome. Our hostel, appropriately named Mountain Hostel, was extremely quaint and the hostess kept the bar open later than usual for us and the talkitive, funny group of guys we befriended. Sipping more hot chocolate (+peppermint schnapps, especially for the chilly mountain air) with lively conversation is a perfect recipe for a good night.

The next morning when I woke up and I stuck my head out the window to see for the first time where we were exactly, I actually gasped in awe. We had arrived in the pitch dark and the anticipation to see the mountains in the morning was killing me all night. The view was unbelievable! Dad, you need to see the Swiss Alps- I will take you! We spent the day hiking up (I mean, UP! The trail was very steep) to the next town, Murren, nestled a couple of miles away. Again, it was a tiny town with little shops and friendly faces. I wouldn´t call it a sleepy town because I feel that would give a slightly dreary feeling and it was anything but dreary. It had its shops with hand knitted children´s bibs and a couple of tourist shops selling Swiss army knives and handpainted cow bells, a tiny grocery store and houses with private flower and vegetable gardens. From this town, we bought a very expensive lift ticket to the peak of mountain we were climbing. Unfortunately, weather has decided to hate us on this trip, and it was terribly cloudy at the top. We could hardly see anything! However, the 1968 James Bond movie was filmed on top of this particular mountain so there was a lot of souvenir items to browse through at the restaurant and gift shop.

After the lift ride down, we stopped for more hot chocolate and sat in the sun for a while soaking in our surroundings. Yes, the sun was out for most of the day, just the moment we decided to go to the summit did it decide to get cloudy at the top. Although, considering how high in elevation we were, there was bound to be low cloud cover, especially with our luck. After breathing in as much fresh mountain air as we could, we had to start making our way all the way back down the mountain to make it to the train station so we could leave for Spain that night. As we walked down, I couldn´t help but feel completely enveloped by the mountains. I felt so small walking through them. Yet, at the same time, the feeling of being in such a magnificent place made me swell with joy. The view was almost too much to take. I wish so badly I had more time to spend there. It was extremely peaceful and a much needed break from the busy cities we´ve been staying in so far.

We´re in Barcelona now. I love it! It is creative and artsy and relaxed and busy all at the same time. With the beach just a few blocks away, we went from one of the highest places in the world to sea level in less that 12 hours. I was wearing four layers of clothing a couple of days ago and now I´m throwing off the blanket because it´s so warm. Last night when we arrived, we walked around the Gotic district which is just the older part of town. There are many shops and restaurants that are all enticing and I want to see every single one of them. While it is swamped with tourists, we are staying in a great part of town with mom and pop shops selling handmade goods, a futball store selling World Cup jerseys, tons of art galleries, musicians playing in the streets, and we walked past a coin and stamp collector fair today. There is so much to see here in the narrow streets. Barcelona was actually ruled by the Romans for a while, so the architecture and the layout of the older part of town in very similar to Rome. Then art nouveau hit big in the early 1900s and every single apartment building has a decorated, elaborate iron balcony railing with Gaudi´s impressive, fanciful, organic style thrown in. It really is a beautiful city. We walked pretty much the entire city today. We saw the church Gaudi drafted and then to the other side of the city to see his park, Park Guell-he´s a big deal here and for good reason! We just ate dinner (at 10:30pm) at Princess 23 which we thought was pretty awesome with it having the number 23 in it. We gorged ourselves on nachoes with salsa and guacamole, two food groups (yes, they are goups) that we have been craving! I am almost hesitant to put on my swimsuit tomorrow because I am sure I will still have a food baby in the morning from eating so much tonight. We are going to spend my last day in Europe relaxing on the sand and soaking up the sun. I can´t wait! I am extremely sad it is my last day in Europe, but I think Barcelona and the beach is the prefect way to wrap up a wonderful trip!

This will probably be my last post until I get home. I don´t want to leave!! Since I will have a week of nothing to do because all of my family and friends (you people) are back in school or working, I will be able to finally upload pictures and tell you all of the wonderful stories that go along with them. I hope all is still great with you. See you state side.