Look at the Stars, Look How They Shine for You {Lucca}

This Saturday, Becca and I took a day trip to Lucca, Italy! Lucca is a gorgeous Tuscan city about a two and a half hour train ride away from Siena. It was a nice confidence-booster after the crazy weekend in Spain. We spent the morning and afternoon wandering the streets and circled the town by walking around the medieval wall.

A view of the wall from the outside of the city, with the tower of San Martino church

A big gate, which we walked through to enter Lucca

Robin-egg blue bus (my favorite color) 

Such a quaint town! :)

People would park their bikes along the sidewalks, often without locking them. This bike owner was lucky I had a conscience: I might have stolen this bike! It was so cute:)

Lucca felt very safe. It was still touristy, but it still felt like people actually
 lived there too, a feeling that you don't get when visiting big cities like
Florence or Barcelona.

I'm obsessed with every door I come across! I'm thinking of doing just a
post of "the doors of Italy" :)

San Martino cathedral

Little postcard stand/bicycle. Lucca loves their bikes!

Window from the back of San Martino cathedral

Back of San Martino cathedral. Look at that blue sky in the background! We got so lucky for the beautiful morning/afternoon because as soon as we got on the train to go back, we could tell a storm was about to roll in.

An old lady feeding pigeons. As much as these creatures freak me out, this warmed my heart.

Market in front of one of the many churches with lots of handmade crafts.

We came across a vintage car show and all the drivers were revving their engines continuously. I guess asserting your masculinity is a universal thing;)

A little merry-go-round. Not even close to the Salem Riverfront's, but it was still adorable.

Church of San Michele in Foro

So much color!

Tower of the Chiesa di San Frediano (yet another church)

Charming little flower shop

Impressive mosaic on the Chiesa di San Frediano, made mostly of gold leaf

Anfiteatro, a square built on the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater. A garden show was going on and the smell of spring was in the air.

Climbing Guinigi Tower

Then we climbed the Guinigi Tower. Notice the oak trees growing on the top!

Stairs from about the middle of the tower up. Not nearly as claustrophobic as Siena's tower!

Love seeing the branches from the trees on top peeking into the frame!

The tough climb is always worth the view! Spectacular.

Just beyond the city: beautiful countryside and mountains

Stroll Around the City's Medieval Wall

After climbing the tower, we headed toward the city wall and walked halfway around the entire city back to the gate where we came in.

Again with the door obsession! I tamed it for the blog. I might have a problem;)

Either someone's very elaborate backyard, or just an awesome public building

Many tourists rented a bike and rode around the city. We opted to walk so we could soak it all up and get some great pictures too.

Cute public park

The Oregonian in Becca and I loved seeing all the green. It even smelled like home!

So it's kind of hard to see, but someone wrote a line from one of my favorite songs: "Yellow" by Coldplay.
It says "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you." It was cool to see that words that hold a lot of
meaning for me, are also meaningful to someone halfway across the world.

Another view of the wall

Cool looking church outside the city walls

Trees were blooming everywhere. Becca said, "It smells like allergy season!"

Our trip to Lucca was wonderfully uncomplicated, a big difference from our trip to Barcelona. Next week, we head to Rome for the first time to meet up with my brother, grandma and aunt. Then they come to Siena. I'm very excited to explore Roma with them and show them the city I've been living in the past month.

España (Girona & Barcelona)

When Becca and I left for Spain, we were equipped with nothing but the clothes on our back and a book on Barcelona (Thank God for Rick Steves!) There were some good times, and some really tough times, and they are woven together to form memories I will never forget.

Girona

We flew out of Pisa airport to get to Girona, Spain airport at 9:30 pm. A bus dropped us off at the Girona bus station, which was closed, so there was no one there to point us in the direction. Becca and I said a prayer, looked at a map, and headed out into an unknown city at night to try and find our hostel. Eventually, we found two friendly looking guys who looked up the address on their phones and were able to point us in the right direction. We found the hostel! Hallelujah! We woke up the next morning and explored Girona, a little town we just happened to fly into, but ended up falling in love with. Quaint and full of culture, it was a wonderfully unexpected surprise.

Exploring the streets

The Onyar River, which runs through the center of Girona

The hostel experience was an interesting one. You sleep in a room with 4 or 6 people,
men and women. Thankfully, bathrooms were divided by gender, but changing and
showering was much tougher than it is in a hotel. You are given sheets when you check in,
but renting a towel and other amenities costs extra. We eventually adjusted fine, but the
first night was very weird. Luckily, our hostels were very well-kept and the
people were super nice.

Buildings in Spain were gorgeous, but had a much different look than Italian ones

So colorful! I especially loved seeing the ducks playing in the water.

The red and yellow flags were everywhere in both Girona and Barcelona. It is the flag
of Catalunya, the region of Spain where we were

I loved all the trees that lined Girona's streets

Cathedral and Good Friday Activities

We were in Girona on Good Friday, so while we were checking out the church, we just
happened upon a parade of floats which covered all the stages of Jesus' life. This is one
thing I love about traveling: happenstance occurrences. It always makes me feel like
I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.

It took a big group of people to push the floats into the square in front of the cathedral,
where they were being put on display.

The spectacular cathedral, which is fairly new compared to the others we've seen. The ancient cathedral, which sat on the same site, was converted into a mosque, and then either heavily remodeled or entirely rebuilt. 

The square, where all of the different statues of Jesus were being put on display. Full of tourists and locals alike!

Another float with fresh flowers

Another view of the cathedral

It's kind of hard to see, but the cathedral sits on top up a hill. On the top step you can see the bell tower of another church, and the mountains off in the distance. Breathtaking!

Me in front of the cathedral. Before the trip, we were warned about the large amount
of pick-pocketers in Spain (Barcelona specifically) so I took my trusty money belt,
which I wore under my shirt. You can hardly tell, but that's what that extra bump is under
my shirt. I rolled my eyes at my mom when she told me I should take it because it was
"dorky" but looking like a dork is better than getting your money/passport stolen.

Becca and I in front of the cathedral. We asked a group of Spanish men to take our
picture, and they proceeded to ask us out for a coffee. We politely declined:)

Happy Trails

After the church, we stumbled upon a public park, with gorgeous walkways and views

View of the church's clock tower from the park

The park sat on top of a hill and overlooked a beautiful neighborhood

Back of the cathedral, with its flying buttresses, a type of architectural support system

Picturesque window through the wall of the park overlooking part of Girona

The beautiful Girona. I feel so lucky to have stumbled upon this wonderful town!

Barcelona

The journey from Girona from Barcelona was probably the most difficult part of our trip. We got to the bus station and bought a ticket for a bus to Barcelona. We went outside to wait for the bus and got our ticket out. This guy from Africa, who was particularly interested in Becca, pointed out that the ticket we had purchased was for the train, not the bus. Great. The ticket office was not clearly marked, nor was the attendant helpful. 

We proceeded to the platform that we thought left for Barcelona. This Spanish guy, who was a little too friendly, said that he thought that we were on the wrong platform. We went to check, partly to be sure and partly just to get away from him. We must have looked confused, because as we were checking the platform list, another man with rotting teeth and dirty clothes came up and asked us if we needed help. Becca declined, and he smiled a great toothy grin, grabbed her head and planted a huge kiss on her cheek. We were equally confused and traumatized. However, we eventually found the station we were supposed to be at, and hopped on.

This little guy warmed our hearts after our train station ordeal. Apparently, dogs are
allowed to roam freely on public transportation here. He seemed completely comfortable
on the train, sniffing around and making friends with all the people in our car. 

After we arrived at the Barcelona train station, we had no idea where to go next. A guy on our train tried to help us, but he didn't speak a word of English, so it wasn't very productive. We headed to a street on the map that looked like a main thoroughfare, and followed the street signs to the tourist information office. Our hostel was across town, and we had to take a metro to get there. We stopped for a McFlurry at McDonald's (mainly because I was on the verge of tears,) and planned out our route.

Luckily, I had experienced the metro in Paris when I was with my grandma in Paris, and it was very similar to the one in Barcelona. I was able to navigate us to our station. We walked to our hostel, and eventually found it! I've never felt so relieved in my life, but the relief was short lived. It just so happened that the wifi in our hostel was not working, which meant that their credit card machine wasn't working. Neither Becca nor I had enough cash on us to pay for it up front, which meant we had to venture out again to try and find an ATM. We left the hostel, and I broke down. I tears were streaming down my face all the way to the ATM. Of course, the ATM we found wasn't working, so we had to walk back to the hostel and insist that they let us put a little money down and pay the rest later when we could find an operational ATM.

After an hour or so at the hostel, we decided to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go exploring. We were in Spain, for gosh sakes! We went exploring along the beach, had a great dinner, and recovered from our crazy afternoon.

Mediterranean Sea

Segways were a popular way for tourists to get around. Becca and I laughed at them, partly because they looked hilarious, and because deep down, our tired feet were jealous.

My trusty Keds and a ledge with the water just below. That's another difference I've noticed in Europe: railings are not really a thing. I guess personal responsibility is more important here than in the US :)

The port of Barcelona

Palm trees were everywhere!

A mini-amusment park in the park which lined the beach

The Mediterranean Sea! Craziness. Our first day there was actually beautiful, as you can see. During the summer, this beach is PACKED with people.

Me in front of the Mediterranean Sea. Crazy!

Delicious burger restaurant close to the beach. We had our first hamburger since leaving
the States and a much needed glass of wine

La Rambla

La Rambla, a famous road full of shopping and little cafes. While we were walking along, a man approached Becca and asked, "would you like to have a sex party?" Haha! We definitely aren't in Oregon anymore.

Wandering the streets

A plaza full of pigeons and balloons

Barcelona's cathedral

In front of the cathedral. Look how many people there are! Because of Easter, Italy
has a national holiday on Friday and Monday, which makes it a perfect weekend for
travel. I'm not sure about the rest of Europe, but it seems like everyone seemed to
have the same idea as us!

Picasso Museum

We went to the Picasso Museum. Barcelona is where he spent a lot of his formative years, and their collection includes a lot of his earlier works, but also some of his stereotypically strange works of art. No pictures were allowed in the museum, but here are some of the highlights:

Science and Charity: one of his most famous early works

The Wait (Margot)

The Offering: You can definitely see the evolution of his work in these three paintings. His work evolves from very realistic to very abstract.

The museum also had a temporary collection of pieces in which other artists react to Picasso's work. In this piece, the artist takes Picasso's advice quite seriously:)

Chocolate Museum

This was our ticket to the museum: a bar of chocolate! Perfection.

Old advertisements for chocolate

Chocolate sculptor of a Barcelona lamppost

"Up" house made of chocolate

Walk to the Arc de Triomf

Most of the graffiti in Barcelona was an eyesore, but I really like this! I think it added beauty instead of detracting from the beauty of the street like most graffiti.

In front of the Arc de Triomf

We couldn't find anyone trustworthy-looking, so we improvised with a selfie:)

Public Park

Balloon salesman with the Arc de Triomf in the background

We turned the corner in this park, and stumbled across this spectacular fountain.
Another happenstance occurrence, my favorite:)

View from on top of the fountain

Little lake in the park where people could rent row boats. So sweet!

The Barcelona Zoo boarders the park. We didn't want to invest the time or money to get inside, but we did stand on a park bench to get a picture of these cuties!

As we were leaving the park, a ping pong tournament was taking place. From what I could tell, the tables were a permanent fixture in the park. All that's needed is a paddle and a ball!

A Taste of Home and Sagrada Familia
The next morning, we grabbed a coffee, and then headed to Barcelona's most famous landmark. 

You have no idea how excited Becca and I were to see a Starbucks. Never has my Chai Tea Latte tasted so good!

This cathedral, called Sagrada Familia, was designed by Gaudi. Construction began in
1883, and still continues to this day

This side of the cathedral was even more covered by scaffolding. It was kind of a bummer
that we didn't get to see the outside without the construction work, but it was still
pretty darn incredible.

Entrance to Sagrada Familia. Much more modern figures in comparison to the other
churches we've seen

The stained glass in the church was absolutely unreal. It reflected off the white
marble interior, making the entire church a giant rainbow

Spiral staircase and elevator(!) Much more modern, which makes sense since it has been
under construction within the last century.

Ceiling

The alter of the church

While we were touring the first floor of the church, Easter Sunday service was going on down below. Bacelona was such a touristy town, this was really the only sign of Easter we saw all day. I was glad that we got to experience the Spanish Catholic culture of Easter while we were in Girona.

Back of the organ and the rainbow reflection

One entrance to one side of the Sagrada Familia. So much detail!

Bus Tour
After checking out Sagrada Familia, we decided to give our feet a break, play tourist, and rode the bus tour around the city. We surprised ourselves, because we had seen a lot of the city on foot the day before, which explained why we were so tired. It was a nice way to see the city from a different perspective.

Casa Batllo, also designed by Gaudi, the same guy who designed the Sagrada Familia.
It was very eccentric and colorful, I loved it!

Buildings in Barcelona were quite a bit different from those in Italy.
Still gorgeous, but just in a different way.

My trip to Spain was definitely the most challenging part of my study abroad adventure, and probably one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life thus far. According to one of my favorite country songs right now, "nobody hangs hard times on the wall," but I want to be absolutely realistic here: this trip challenged me in every way possible, and at times, it really, really sucked. However, we were able to overcome the obstacles and soaked up all Spain had to offer. Because of this, I will look back on this trip with self-confidence and a little more faith in God's power to protect me.