Well, once again, I haven't written as often as I ought to.  What can I say....it's hard to keep up with a "daily" blog when travelling!  I'm going to pick up right where I left off and try to cover our activities day by day, as I did last time I wrote.

Thursday, January 13:  Cortney and I spent a nice, relaxing morning and early afternoon in the hotel.  The rest and break was much needed!  We ventured out of our room and down the street to a nearby grocery store, where we bought some healthy supplies and two very large cases of water.  As we trekked back to the hotel with all our loot in tow, I managed to drop my water not only once but twice, breaking the case and denting each bottle.  We finally made it back without too much more trouble!  It was an adventure shopping in the little French grocery store, especially as the employees didn't speak English.  Although it was tricky to pick out the right things with the labels written all in French, we managed to do just fine.  Once we were ready to head out to the city again, we gathered our things and took the metro to The Louvre.  What an incredible experience!  By the time we arrived it was about 3:30, and the museum closed at 6:00.  We didn't have as much time as we would have liked (the Louvre is SO huge!  Our tour guide told us that if you looked at each piece of work for one minute, you'd have to spend 24 hours a day for 24 days at the museum.  That's over 34,000 pieces of artwork!!!), but I wouldn't have traded the few hours we spent there for anything.  Our method - since we had so little time in such a gargantuan museum - was to start with the three most famous pieces and then work our way around the Italian, French, and Northern paintings from there.  The first thing we discovered is that the Louvre is quite confusing, with all its different rooms and sections and hallways.  I still can't get over its size.  We started out by searching for the Venus de Milo, the famous sculpture from Ancient Greece.  It took us awhile to find her, but it was more than worth it.  Our next stop - and one of my personal favorites - was the Nike of Samonthrace, or Winged Victory.  When we studied her in my first art history course, I fell in love immediately with her expressive pose, graceful drapery, powerful wings, and emotional appeal.  Seeing her in the Louvre was a dream come true!  I have to admit that I got a little teary-eyed when I first saw her placed at the top of a grand marble staircase, which isn't something that happens to me much!  But the moment was just so powerful to me:  here I was, a lowly art student at USF, walking through the deeply lavish and highly historical halls of the Louvre and looking up at one of my favorite sculptures of all time.  Eventually, we moved on to the last of the three pieces we absolutely couldn't miss....the Mona Lisa!  She was just as lovely in person as in every other place her mysterious face appears, of course.  We snapped a few photos of each other with da Vinci's secretive woman, then turned our attention to Veronese's "Wedding Feast at Cana," just across the room from the Mona Lisa.  It was almost humorous to see the contrast in size between the two paintings; da Vinci's is a very small piece (30x21 in.), while Veronese's covered the entire opposite wall (it's 262x390 in.).  Yet, despite the fact that Veronese painted a much larger and more intricate piece, the crowds still flock to the solitary portrait by da Vinci.  I'm not trying to discount the Mona Lisa by any means - she's absolutely beautiful in every way!  I just couldn't help seeing the irony in the situation.  After paying our respects to those three famous pieces of artwork, we sped around the Italian painters until the sun started setting.  At that point, we left the paintings for a view of the Tuileries Gardens before darkness fell.  While they were lovely, I couldn't help wishing it were summer so I could see them in their best form.  When we went back to seek out the French and Northern galleries, we had just missed our chance; the galleries had closed just minutes before we arrived back.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat, then decided to find a metro to take us back to the Eiffel Tower.  We wandered around in search of the station, but missed it....so we just decided to walk.  Although it was quite a distance along a mix of Paris's busiest roads by the Seine River and some of its back streets, we really enjoyed seeing those parts of the city from a different angle.  The tower was closed when we arrived - it was too windy to take people all the way up to the top - but it was well worth the walk to have one last glance at the iconic piece of Parisian architecture.  Exhausted from all the walking, we decided to get a metro back to the hotel.  When we arrived at the station, we were serenaded by two sweet buskers playing an accordion and a trumpet; they were so kind and friendly that we would gladly have given them a few coins, but we were stuck on the other side of the tracks.  We waved to them through the window as we drove off, looked at each other, and promptly decided to go back and find out a way to the other side of the tracks.  When we made it back a few minutes later, we were overjoyed to see that they were still sitting on the side of the station!  Luck was against us again, however; they got onto the train a little farther down right after we had gotten off, so we had wasted our time for nothing.  It made for good memories, in any case, and we were still smiling when we arrived at the hotel an hour or so later.  It had been a very long afternoon, and we were overjoyed to get to bed!

Friday, January 14:  On Friday, most of our group opted for a guided tour of the palace at Versailles, home of Louis XIV, the Sun King.  Again, this was an experience I felt to lucky to have!  It was nice to leave the city for a few hours and feel clean, fresh air and see a smaller town.  The town of Versailles is absolutely lovely!  Our tour guide told us that it's the wealthiest city in France, and I can certainly understand why.  Versailles is a lot like the Paris that I had imagined in my head, with quaint streets and pretty houses and such.  My mood was soaring high as the sun peeked out of the clouds for the first time since our arrival in France, and it stayed high as we viewed room after magnificent room of the rich Louis' palace.  The decoration was so lavish, it's almost impossible to describe.  The Hall of Mirrors, of course, was particularly ravishing.  The entire palace was covered from floor to ceiling in gold leaf, crystal chandeliers, velvet cushions, expensive fabrics, and the paintings and sculptures of several master artists.  I couldn't even begin to imagine living in such a residence.  The gardens were also incredible, groomed and trimmed to absolute perfection.  I loved strolling through the greenery at a leisurely pace, just enjoyed the peace and solitude that only nature can bring.  Again, I wish I could have experienced Versailles at its absolute best - in the summer - but it was a wonderful visit.  The bus dropped us back off in the center of Paris a few hours later and we ate a quick lunch, then headed to the d'Orsay Museum, home of the work of many French painters.  The d'Orsay - fortunately for us - isn't half the size of the Louvre, so we were actually able to see just about everything, although we had to move at a pretty good clip.  The highlights of my visit there were seeing some real, live paintings by Claude Monet (although I was disappointed that the d'Orsay only held three of his pieces) and several paintings by Manet and Courbet that we had discussed extensively in my most recent art history course.  It was so cool to be able to walk into a room and say, "oh!  I recognize that.  That's ____." or "hmmm, I haven't seen that piece before, but that really looks like the work of _____" and be right about it!  After spending a few hours at the d'Orsay, we took the metro back to the Opera district of Paris and bought some sweet treats at a gourmet candy store, then hurried to make it back to our hotel in time to load our luggage onto the bus.  Dinner was at a very unusual restaurant down another back street of Paris.  We were lead through the upper level of the restaurant and then down a winding staircase into the stone basement, which had the feel of a historic and cozy dungeon.  Maybe you've had a chance to visit Touch of Europe in Sioux Falls - the atmosphere was quite similar!  We were served flam, which is a traditional food from the north of France.  It's made of a cracker-thin pizza crust, a creamy cheese sauce, and various toppings (we had mushroom or ham, then chocolate and banana or apple for dessert).  I wished very heartily that I could try some, but my lactose intolerance held me back once again.  As soon as we finished dinner, we were whisked off to the station to catch our overnight train to Barcelona.  That was another experience in itself!  The cars are actually quite nice; each one contains a sink, luggage space, and four beds that fold up to provide four seats.  The journey wasn't the most comfortable one I've ever had with all the rocking and swaying of the train, but I was able to get more sleep than on the plane, to my relief.  We rolled into Barcelona twelve hours later, stumbled off the train and transferred to the bus, and then started the next stage of our tour in Spain!

Saturday, January 15:  Saturday was another very busy day.  We were met almost immediately by a tour guide, who introduced us to Barcelona from a high hilltop at the very outskirts of the city.  On the way back down, she took us through several of the most famous sights in Barcelona:  we got to see the stadium where the Olympics were held in 1992 and a few houses designed by the one and only Antoni Gaudi.  We got off the bus and explored Gaudi's highly unique Parque Guell for awhile, then continued on to the incredible La Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  Once again, I am at a loss for words!  I can't even begin to imagine how Gaudi created SUCH an intricate, ornate, and entirely different cathedral.  It's no wonder he estimated that it would take 200 years to build!  Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside - during the month of January, the city decided to open up the inside of the cathedral for free.  The line was wrapped around the entire huge structure twice and tailed so far back you could hardly make sense of it, so we settled for a good, long look at the outside.  We arrived at our new hotel for the first time around noon and were excited to discover how wonderful it is, both because it's very nice and because it's so well-located.  After a quick turn-around, we headed to exchange some more money and then meet at the metro, which is just less than a block down the street from where we're staying.  We went in to the center of the city, where Cortney and I did some more shopping.  We both found some good deals - although we didn't buy anything that was strictly necessary - and then made it back to the hotel in time to shower before our late dinner, which was at 8:00.  And what a dinner it was!  We were taken to a beautiful little restaurant right on the port of Barcelona.  I loved seeing all the sailboats tied along the dock, as well as smelling the fresh sea air and feeling the cool breeze.  Once inside the restaurant, we were treated to a DELICIOUS three-course meal that started with a yummy pasta salad (fettucini, olive oil, carrots, mushrooms, and spices) and a simple - but incredible - platter of toasted bread rubbed with fresh tomatoes and olive oil.  Our main course was made up of delicately spiced potatoes and tomatoes and what was probably the most heavenly piece of salmon I have ever tasted.  It was cooked simply - just with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, onions, a little basil, and maybe just a bit a of salt a pepper - but so well; it was succulent, fragrant, and rich.  My mouth is starting to water now just remembering it!  Dessert was a creamy Spanish version of creme brulee that looked just as delicious as every other part of the meal, and I ate a luscious dish of fresh fruit.  All in all, it was quite a treat!  After dinner, we came back to the hotel and relaxed for an hour or so before slipping into bed.

Sunday, January 16:  I'm going to write about our experiences so far today just so I don't have quite so much to catch up on, but I'll have to finish the rest of this afternoon and evening when I get a chance to write again.  We were treated to a nice, long sleep last night, which was MUCH needed.  Breakfast wasn't until 9:30, and it was absolutely fantastic.  Not being a breakfast person, I only ate a warm roll, but there was quite the selection of fresh fruit (I grabbed a kiwi to save for later!), pastries, croissants, and eggs.  By a little after 10:30, we were on our way back to the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, where we were able to actually get inside La Sagrada Familia for a fee of 12.50.  It was worth the money - the inside of the cathedral is just as uniquely beautiful as the facade!  Unfortunately, my camera died a few minutes in, but I got most of the photos I wanted to take.  The nave was so tall and graceful, and the stained glass windows were burnished and glowing in the warm Barcelona sun.  I was struck by the height of the nave in relation to its length; it almost seemed taller than it was long!  We were also able to see inside a school that Gaudi had built so that his workers could attend classes as they worked on the cathedral.  We then walk down a staircase to observe a Catholic service going on in a smaller chapel beneath the main church.  It was also beautiful, but in a much more traditional and Gothic sort of way.  Our next stop was the Ramblas, or a market of kiosks set up along one of the main shopping streets in Barcelona.  We saw many various street performers dressed up in remarkable - and sometimes highly grotesque - costumes - and lots of unique candy and souvenir shops.  I ate a warm chicken sandwich and piece of carrot cake for lunch, which wasn't very Spanish of me, but it was quick and cheap and hit the spot.  We spent most of our afternoon shopping, then decided to come back to the hotel room to rest our sore feet and catch up on a few things like packing and blogging.  Hence my opportunity to write before I let another day slip by!  In a few minutes I think we're planning to head to the beach for a little while, and then we'll come back to get ready to go to a real Barcelona football game.  Tomorrow we're off to Pamplona and Bilbao!

So far, I'm loving Spain.  I had planned on enjoying Paris a whole lot more than Barcelona, but I've been surprised to discover that it's the other way around.  Maybe it's because our hotel room is quite a bit nicer and more spacious, or because Barcelona - although it's a very good size - isn't as large as Paris.  The air is so much more fresh here, and the pace of life just seems more leisurely.  I'm sure that a big part of it is because my mood is so much improved; with the sun, cloudless blue sky, and early spring-like weather, it's hard not be be joyful.  I do miss knowing parts of the language, however few those parts might be....the two main languages in Barcelona are Catalan and Spanish, both of which I know nothing!  Still, my opinion of Barcelona is very high, and I would love to come back someday.  Paris holds more of the kind of art and music that interests me, and I know that I need to spend another few days there sometime in my life, but for now, I'm more than content to stay in sunny, charming, Mediterranean Spain.  =)