the end

Adios,

As I sit here looking at my half packed luggage I am overwhelmed with emotion. Tears are running down my face as I reminisce my experiences. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to experience this once in a life time opportunity. I have grown so much as a person and I have a new outlook and appreciation to life and those I love. I have met the most amazing people here and it hurts to say good bye. Most of them live in California, so for those it was not goodbye, but I will see you soon. The lessons I have learned and the independency I have experienced has a profound impact on me. There is an endless list of things I have learned and grown form. I have learned who my true friends are. I have learned to live solely on my own and cook my own food. I have learned to travel the world and make all my own plans. I have learned to be strong and make smart decisions. Barcelona is my new home and it is hard to say good bye. I'm leaving my home for the first time and I wont be coming back. I am thankful for the people I have met, the places I have been, and everything I have learned in between. Coming home will be hard for me, I am so excited to see everyone but I fear reverse culture shock. When I arrived to Barcelona I instantly fell in love and did not experience this culture shock. Barcelona is the most amazing place I have been and I hope that someday I will come back. My time here has flown by and its my time to return home with no regrets.

I will see you all soon. xoxo

Kelly Courtney Barcelona

• On top of the world! More like on top of the castle, so pretty!

• The lovely castle

• Us at the half way point to Montjuic

• View of the port from above

• View from the finicular, Las Ramblas is the snakey line filled with trees. It used to be a river that divided the city.

• Just after I bought my stunner shades.

Hi again,

The other week Court and I had a Vicky Christina taking over Barcelona experience. It was a big touring day, and we got to see so many sights that I have been wanting to see! We first walked all the way down La Rambla to Port Vell. There were tons of fish so we decided to feed them. We took the bridge over to the Maremagnun (a mall) and I bought yellow sun glasses from a vendor! haha. Courntey got white. We did a little shopping in the Maremagnum. We found this cute little jewelry/bead shop and we decided to make friendship bracelets! hah they turned out very cute. We continued our journey to Buenos Amigos, a delicious little eatery with pizza on foccacia bread. It was delicious. We continued to walk along the port until we reached the entrance to the finicular. This finicular offers amazing views as it streams across the port up to Montjuic. Once at the top you have a view of the entire city it is absolutely spectacular. Further up Montjuic there is a castle that overlooks the port and ocean. We made our way up there and enjoyed the sunset. This adventure made me appreciate Barcelona so much more, it is gorgeous and has so much to offer. I wish my vacation wasn't coming to an end so soon! :(

• HAHAHAH Courtney getting bit by the horse in the Jewish Quarters

• The famous Charles Bridge

• Enjoying our hot wine and the view of the city! :)

• John Lennon Wall 

• My favorite part of the wall.

• Enjoying our first sight of snow in over a year! :) It made is so happy

Hi family and friends,

I am so sorry that I have been so horrible in keeping you up to date with my life. I have been stressed about all the work I to do with finals, papers, and presentations. The fact that I'm leaving Barcelona on the 20th is hitting me strong. I have been having the time of my life, but there is so much more I want to see and experience. This last week I'm trying to balance work and fun, but there is a lot of work! I aslo have to pack soon, and Leash, and Jenny are coming in two days! I am so excited, but I hope I can get everything done before they get here. Anyways November 22-24 I traveled to Prague with a bunch of my girl friends. Our first day there was a mellow sight seeing day that ended in a white xmas! The snow was absolutely beautiful and it peacefully fell from the sky. We tried caching the flakes in our mouths and throw snowballs. We were taken back to our childhood. In the main square where we were, there were tons of little stands that sold sausage sandwiches. Since Prague is known for their sausage, I had to try it! It was sausage and onion on a baguette.. absolutely delicious! The next day was our main touring day we crossed the Charels Bridge and headed over to the old side of the city. We made some purchases of enormous furry hats and headed over to the John Lennon wall. This was one of my main highlights of the trip. There are so many quotes and deep thoughts, people have so much to  say and this allowed a small portion of the world to see it. I tagged up the wall a little bit just putting my name and fall 08. After admiring the wall we proceed up the hill to the Lobkowicz Palace, and went inside the Cathedral. We got some hot wine and enjoyed the view of the city from a top. The view was spectacular, the buildings covered in snow, the sun shining down, and the water glimmering. That night we wanted to experience a typical Cezch meal so went to the first one we saw. We were told that the beef goulash is a must, so we ordered that. It was absolutely delicious, the beef goulash came in a big pot in which you spooned it out on top of crackling and bread dumplings. I wasn't sure what I was eating nor did I want to know, but it was fenominal. After the bartender suggested we try Becherovka, which is the Nations alcohol.  The only known spice is cinnamon and the other is unknown. Of course and I were trying it out, but no luck. The drink tasted like xmas in an alcohol form, it was tasty! Our trip to Prague was a success, I absolutely loved the atmosphere, the people, and the beautiful scenery, and the good food was a plus too! haha. Definitely a place to see. That's all for now I will try to write more before I'm off. Love you all and I hope all is well

xoxo,

ME