Well, I may not be the first to exploit the "Czech"/"check" pun, but it's a good one, nonetheless.
Stuck in the Barcelona airport, I seem to have found a good moment for an update. As many of you may know, a volcano erupted in Iceland, causing mass chaos in Europe. Flights are grounded, people are sleeping in the airports, and I just want to go home to Granada.
With that being said, let me backtrack to Spring Break! I'm going to skip the usual request for forgiveness at my lack of updates..I'm in Spain! "Hay que aprovechar!" It has been about two weeks since spring break ended, and a large part of me wishes to go back (I know, I know..I can't have Senioritis until next year).
First stop...El Reino Unido!
I took a RyanAir flight (which wasn't so bad, since they haven't yet started charging to use the on-board bathrooms) alone from Granada to London and headed straight to my hostel. The place looked like a cross between a cold war bomb shelter, a cargo hold of a ship, and an underground maze. It was packed, huge, and insanely intimidating. Because of this, I decided going straight to bed was the best option. The next day, I met up with the infamous Hannah Silberman (for those of you who don't know, Hannie and I go back to the Athenian days). Though she is now studying at the University of Warwick in Coventry, she just happened to be in London at the same time as I was! Que Suerte. As my more-or-less local tour guide, Hannah took me to the Tate Modern, King's Cross station (for the first stop on the Harry Potter tour), Leister Square (to buy half-price theater tickets), St. Paul's Cathedral to feed like birds (like in Mary Poppins), and to the America Embassy...Starbucks!
The weather was...well...London-like, so we spent a good chunk of time sipping chai and catching up. When the skies cleared a bit, we wandered around the city and I found my way back to my hostel.
That night, I journeyed to the Sheer Theater (or "Theatre" as the English would say) and saw a great production of Chicago. One of the highlights was the couple I ended up sitting next to. I noticed that they were speaking in Spanish and decided to strike up a conversation. They were extremely warm and excited to meet an American who could speak to them in Spanish. After answering the usual questions ("Since you're from California, do you know any famous people?" and "Do you like Obama?"), they told me that they live on the Canary Islands. They described their modest home as right on the beach and, like the Spaniards do, offered it to me as a vacation spot. We exchanged information, gave each other the customary cheek kisses, and are now friends on Tuenti (the Spanish version of facebook). I know that if I'm ever fortunate enough to go to Las Islas Canarias, I'll have two friends and a place to stay!
Allyson arrived the next day (from Germany where she is studying) and we began our tourist activities today. From minding the gap, to riding the night bus and using the phone booths, we took some great pictures and had a wonderful reunion! We went to Camden Market (which felt like a mix between Pike Place, Telegraph Ave, and Fisherman's Wharf), saw the Rosetta Stone, and took a rainy walking tour. Robin finally came back to London on Sunday night, as she had been visiting the Lake District for the weekend.
All in all, we did a LOT of walking, a fair amount of sightseeing, and a ton of laughing! Next we headed to St. Pancras Station (not to be confused with the Pancreas!), took a train to the airport, and caught a Wizz Air plane on to PRAHA!
Oh Prague...The City of Spires...and good beer. Robin, Allyson, and I had a great time here. We ate delicious bagels, sausages, and goulash, made friends with Katka (our Czech-American tour guide), explored the Jewish Quarter on Easter Sunday, and saw the psychedelic John Lennon Peace Wall.
One day in Praha, we were fortunate enough to meet up with the wonderful LEBBY family! Kacy and her parents were in town one night that overlapped with our stay and so we took advantage and went out! We ate dinner in a place that you could picture perfectly if you try and imagine a "beer hall". We had great traditional Czech food and beer! The highlight of the trip for me was probably this dinner. I couldn't have asked for better company and haven't laughed so hard in months.
My trip back to Granada was long, but painless. I walked across old-town Prague to the Metro, took the Metro to a bus stop, took a bus to the airport, flew to Madrid, took the Metro to the bus station, took a bus to Granada, and caught a cab back to #12 Avenida del Sur, Granada.
Spring break was nothing short of a whirlwind, and all in all, it went by way too fast! I miss my friends already, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel...I see Robin in less than two weeks! Together with some friends from my program, we will head down south to Morocco! Also, let the countdown begin for home (if you can believe it): 44 days!
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