Wait for it, wait for it....I'M BACK. It's nothing like #23 rockin #45, but I am happy to say that I am sitting on my terrace (yep, it's completely finished) posting this blog from my computer (that means I am back on the MacBook Pro, and there is solid internet in our apartment). So, where was I...
After finishing up midterms (grades are in, and classes in Florence have lived up to the bill of having easy teachers, not to say I am not learning anything, because I really am) it was time for spring break. Unfortunately our early bus forced us to skip our Thursday chinese, but Jeremy, Jon, Marc and I were ready to get to Barcelona, which was our first destination. After arriving Thursday afternoon, we checked into our hostel and began to explore the city. Our hostel had a great location just a block off La Rambla, a fun street with many street performers. After having our first off many paella, we met up with my friend from school Jason Yale for the night and had a great time experiencing the Barcelona nightlife. Friday, after taking a walking tour of the gothic district, we met up with more of my friends from school; Ben Blumenthal and Josh Feiger and had another excellent dinner highlighted with the largest dish of paella that any of us had ever seen. Saturday we did some more walking around the city (actually a lot of metro-riding, as Barcelona is a GIGANTIC city) and ended up spending the afternoon at Tibidabo, which is a nice area that looks over the the entire city of Barcelona. After that we met Lisa and her boyfriend/ my good friend from school Jon Levy (who was in for his spring break) for dinner before heading to one of Barcelona's biggest clubs to see Girl Talk in concert. The concert was unbelievable and it was definitely one of my many favorite nights abroad. After checking out Park Guel and getting one more dish of paella, it was off to the airport with Jon and Lisa to head to spring break stop #2: Granada. Despite not even knowing where Granada was until Lisa applied there, this was one of my favorite stops in Europe so far. After putting our stuff down in our hostel, we went with Lisa to her favorite Tapas bar for dinner. It really is a phenomenal concept. One minute after ordering a beer (only 2 euro!) the waiter brought out a plate of sandwiches and french fries, and the tapas experience began. Monday, Lisa had us up bright and early to spend the morning at Ahlambra. This former palace/fortress that sits on the top of Granada was truly beautiful, and the views (sorry, forgot to charge my camera before this day) were breathtaking. After Ahlambra, we went to lunch where Lisa handed us over to our friend Lee for the afternoon as she had class to go to. After lunch and exploring the streets of Granada, Lee took us to the other great view of Granada, at the Mirador San Nicolas. After another night of Tapas and fun, it was off to Berlin to visit some of our friends from school who were on an Alternate Spring Break trip through Chabad. Since it is not easy to get out of Granada, we had to connect in Barcelona, and as Marc and I were sitting waiting for the plane, we got a text from one of our friends in Berlin saying that it was snowing. After spending the previous 4 days in the Spanish sun, the sound of snow really tempted Marc and I to switch our flight and fly directly to Marbella (where we spent the final leg of spring break), but despite the snow, Berlin was phenomenal. It was really good to see my friends Alex Dobkin, Seth Birkan and Steve Klein (all kids a year younger than me in my house) as well as Marc's sister Jori. After a fun night in Berlin Tuesday, Marc and I took a great walking tour Wednesday afternoon. I have never been so intrigued by the history of a city as I was by Berlin. This was a city that was the heart of Nazi Germany and the home to Hitler for the almost two decades, and then became the center of the Cold War for a few decades after that. Imagine finally being free of Hitler, and then being under the rule of Stalin. Not exactly a dream situation. Wednesday night, which was the last night for the Chabad trip, we were fortunate enough to be invited to have dinner with them at the beautiful, new Chabad in Berlin. After another night in Berlin and saying bye to our friends, it was time to return to the Spanish Sun. After a long weeek of traveling and sightseeing, relaxing by the Pool in Marbella for a few days was a great end to a phenomenal Spring Break.
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