After a 6 hour bus trip from Sevilla to Madrid and an overnight sleepover in Madrid’s airport, I finally was off to Athens, Greece which would be the amazing entry port to my Greece experience. As I have found in many European cities, modernization has seemed to consume every corner leaving very few neighborhoods to spare. Of course, the city like atmosphere gave us our welcome between our bus and subway rides to our hostel and all the people who seemed to be in a rush to get nowhere (much like New York). Nevertheless, we found our hostel on a little street fairly close to the subway stop, entered the room and officially declared it our worst hostel experience in Europe (little did we know, Mykonos’ Paradise “Resort” would give that title a run for its money, more on that in my next blog post). The woman seemed like she had no idea we had a reservation, how much we were supposed to be charged, or when we were scheduled to arrive/leave. Secondly, there is one key for our 6 person bed room, for us to share with complete strangers. Supposedly the system is that the last person in the hostel leaves the key at the front desk and the first person to go back in to the hostel retrieves it…this must be a Greek system because every hostel we stayed at in Spain would never suggest such foolishness. To make matters worse, as my friend Tammy sat on the bottom bed of one of the bunk beds, a wooden board fell from the top bunk bed and hit her on the back of the neck (no worries, she’s fine), we weren’t exactly pleased. Then the random hip hop songs being blasted by other Americans in the morning trying to “show off” their American culture to our Greek receptionists…I was about ready to cuss some one out! But we toughed it out, it was only three nights and we were too excited to be in Greece to let anything or anyone ruin it. So the following day, we did our site seeing around Athens, visiting the amazing Acropolis, Ancient Agora, and Temple of Olympian Zeus. As you’ll see in the pictures, the history in Athens is absolutely amazing, and definitely something I recommend for anyone traveling to Europe.

Now I had to start a new paragraph for this because yes it’s that serious, GREEK FOOD IS DEEEEELLLLIIIICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok had to be dramatic, because for the first time in months I experienced great customer service and great food. The Spanish are far too lazy to deliver anything close to American customer service, so being in Greece was refreshing. I ate an awesome Greek omelet for my first breakfast with FRESH fetta cheese, tomatoes and sausages. For dinner, I had the tenderest lamb cutlets wrapped in ivy leaves with fetta cheese and mushrooms in the middle, delicious gravy of olive oil and something the chef wouldn’t reveal, potatoes and rice. I literally felt like I had to be rolled away from the table and Greeks have this custom of giving free dessert after every meal, so it’d be rude not to eat it when it’s given to you. Let’s just say, I was STUFFED by the time I backed away.

Our last day in Athens was fairly simple mostly because we just went to the ship port, picked up our tickets, ate another great meal, and then returned to our hostel. We were way too excited about leaving for the Greek islands because after you see all the ancient history in Athens, it’s just another city like New York. In all, I have to say site seeing around Athens was one of the highlights of my abroad experience, it’s something I’ll be able to tell my kids that I saw and hopefully one day they’ll get to revisit it and continue the traveling legacy.

Since Cordoba is literally 40 minutes from Sevilla, I figured I’d take a day and go see the famous Mesquita/Catedral (mosque/cathedral), the Synagogue (one of only three left in Spain) and its other historical monuments. Cordoba is a rather interesting town, it’s river looks like a reflection of sand, but it has a cute little streets and a beautiful royal garden…very old, just how I like Spain!

I think after seeing at least 50 cathedrals, I am over the awe factor. Cordoba’s mosque was really nice but the Alhambra in Granada was WAY better.

pics below, enjoy!

The university system in Spain is weird. We have a week break for Holy Week aka Semana Santa and another week break for Feria, a Spanish cultural festival. So for our first break for Holy Week, Tammy and I decided we would finally go to Valencia and its islands of Ibiza and Palma Mallorca off the east coast. Valencia was the one place that was recommended to me by all my friends that studied abroad in Spain and in my opionion it is my favorite city other than Sevilla (I still love my little town and am SO glad I moved).

The islands were relaxing of course, nice beaches, cool yachts, the usual…but Valencia was just great. The old buildings, the new futuristic aquarium and facilities, plus the awesome park African dance performance, I was in culture heaven.

I enjoyed myself though and if I had to pick one city other than Sevilla to check out, it would be Valencia hands down. Greece is next for our Feria break, pics of Ibiza, Palma Mallorca, and Valencia below!

So after a thousand movies, books and films that romanticize the city of Barcelona, I arrived and was like HUH???? The city is a splitting image of New York City, which was such a disappointment because I was expecting to see more small old streets with winding passage ways and black gated balconies, but perhaps maybe I watch too much tv. Since my expectations were so high, after touring the city I was kind of confused, but I have to say the region of Catalunya as a whole (the region in which Barcelona is located) is BEAUTIFUL. Catalunya is engulfed by mountains and small villages with Barcelona being the city of its center. Thanks to Tammy’s uncle we got the chance to stay with one of his business clients whose family goes back generations living in Catalunya, hence he knew all of the less visited tourist spots that he thought we’d love to see, and we LOVED it.

We visited the Montserrat, the oldest school of music in Europe (perhaps the most prestigious) and its gorgeous cathedral. Interestingly enough, two of his nephews are attending school there and just to give you an idea, approximately 50 students (its a boys only school) are accepted into the school and it ranges from ages 10 to 14 across various grades. His family was probably the most interesting part of my trip. Between meeting all of his musical genius nephews, nieces, and sisters to talking with his parents about their FIRST HAND experiences with Spain’s Franco era, I couldn’t have had a better time or more culturally enlightening experience. And of course, all the hospitality/accomodations were free and we got a ton of free dinners, lol, student bliss.

Anyway, he also took us to Nuria, which is this awesome ski resort up in the mountains. It was SNOWING!!!! How cool, I drank fresh mountain water from a rock (thought of you Uncle Bruce and your hatred of bottle water lol) and then played in the snow like I was 8 again.

In all, the trip was amazing, but recommendations to all who are planning to travel to the region, spend a day in Barcelona and AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Pics are below, love ya!

The first trip my friend Tamaro (aka Tammy) and I took after we moved from Madrid to Sevilla was to Granada, which is still in Andalucia (the region is Spain which I live). It’s a small little urban town, kind of reminds you of something in Canada, surrounded by mountains, gorgeous blue skys and a lot of grass.

We made the trip essentially because Tammy was invited to a Muslim’s women conference there and she invited me to tag along. I promised myself that after moving from Madrid to Sevilla, it was time for me to be open and attentive to new experiences and what God wanted to show me during my abroad experience in Europe. Granada’s history of Spain’s Muslim rule, the Islamic architecture, and sense of community amongst muslims in the town is phenomenal. We were actually invited to stay in a woman’s house who was from America that decided to move to Granada literally after visiting it once. She converted to Islam and never went home, true story. It’s completely understandable though because the laissez faire lifestyle and muslim community just support a spiritual, free life.

Everything was provided for us for free, not just accommodation wise, but food too. What amazed me was although everyone new I wasn’t Muslim and in fact a Christian, I was treated with such kindness and taken care of in so many ways. I was delighted to experience such a feeling of community and never a sense of being an outsider. In all, Granada was incredible, the people, La Alhambra (the most famous muslim monarchy ruins in Andalucia or maybe even Spain as a whole), and the small city.

hope you enjoy the pics!

After every experience surfaces the inevitable question upon your return to your homeland, “How was (blank)?” Well, how was London…hmmm I had to ask myself. What exactly did I think, feel, and if I had to do it again, would I go back? London was interesting…that seems to be the response I have given everyone who asked. I like to call it a beautiful launching pad for exploring more about yourself and the world. The language is convenient for english speakers, the universities and their resources (at least at SOAS) are great, and the people (well most of them) are actually pretty nice. I really enjoyed myself in London, honestly. I enjoyed being away from New York, away from my friends (even though I love them), and having the ability to be in solitude when I felt like it and yet still build wonderful relationships with the friends that I met. London was everything I  needed but the travel experiences it gave me actually was more. Although I only visited Wales, Portugal, and Italy, each site gave me a new story and a new sense of growing wisdom about my life. It gave me a sense of humility about my position in the world and truly made me realize how amazing God is in general and for giving me this opportunity to travel. I think that all of this came together during my last few days in London. I must admit, I was not ready to go home especially since we met ALL THE COOL YOUNG BRITS 3 days before we left. But we still made some pretty cool friends at my “uni” (university) since I was primarily attending the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) instead of just NYU’s London campus with the rest of the American students. There is so much that can be learned as a young person in college and I can’t even imagine how much I am going to grow over the next six months between my spring abroad experience in Madrid, Spain and in South America during the summer. As a result of all my experiences in London/my fall travels and their positive impact on my life, I have become addicted to traveling and placing myself in new contexts. Funny, because just when I thought it was over, I realized that getting on the plane home and eventually returning to Europe in January was solely the beginning.

“The mind I love must have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two, a pool that nobody’s fathomed the depth of, and paths threaded with flowers planted by the mind.” – Katherine Mansfield