Pine

Barcelona... one month late

Soooooooooo these pictures are from a month ago. 

I've been home in Arizona for a couple of weeks now and just haven't had the chance to blog. Oops. 

I went to Barcelona over my birthday weekend/Easter with some of my other language assistant friends. This was my second time in Barcelona and I saw a lot of the same sights but much more in-depth (finally went inside Sagrada Familia). I also got to see family on my birthday -- my cousin happened to be chaperoning a school field trip in Europe -- and it was wonderful! Family, friends, the architecture, the food, the sangria, yum.

Easter candy

Train to Barcelona

Barcelona

Chocolate b-day cake

Ma descente dans les gorges de l'Ardèche

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a boat down through the canyons of the Ardèche River (Gorges de l'Ardèche) and it was by far one of the most amazing experiences I've had in Europe. For tourists, it can be difficult to travel beyond large cities to see the natural beauty of Europe, but I've been incredibly lucky to have my host family to show me around to beautiful places I would never have seen without them (specifically, here and here and here). I only hope I can return the favor someday.

Google Map of the river

I left with Mme. T at 8:30 in the morning, despite the fact that I hadn't gone to bed until 1:30 or 2 am due to a very, very late going-away dinner with Kayley's professors (8pm to 12:30 am!). Fortunately I forgot about my sleepiness as soon as we stumbled into our rowboat. In the boat, there was me, Mme. T, an elderly woman, another younger girl, one boatman with a brace on his entire left leg, and two able-bodied boatman to row. In total, there were about forty or fifty people in our group, the majority of them employees, their families, and co-workers of Mme. T. The main objective of the excursion was to see how the river had changed since the winter and to get an idea of how the summer tourist season might go this year. At times the water level was very low, but most of the boatmen seemed enthusiastic anyway.

Proof that I was there

The take-off

Lyon, Prague, Budapest, and London: The photos I was too lazy to take

More Lyon photos, courtesy of Anna

Thank you for your consumption! Love, Budapest

I found this gem while going through one of my purses the other day. 

How did the Hungarian restaurant owners find out that I had tuberculosis in the 8th grade?

Gastronomy - Czech and Hungarian Food and Drink

Prague. The best beef goulash I've ever had. I think it was the bread bowl.

Budapest. Turkey covered in cheese. Surprisingly good.

Prague. Beer. Apparently lots of foam is a good thing because it proves that the beer is "fresh."

Prague. Super colorful food. This is Hungarian sausage... not sure why I got Hungarian sausage in the Czech Republic. Oops.

Prague. Bagels! It was delicious.

Budapest. Apple cinnamon strudel at the market.

Budapest. Hungarian food at the indoor market. I ate potato for 2 out of 3 meals this day. 

London Calling or That Time I Saw the Peter Pan Statue

A few photos of our short stay in London.

The view from the apartment we were fortunate enough to stay at with a friend of Anna's mom

In front of the National Gallery

Anna in the National Gallery

A quick shot in the National Gallery before I got yelled at for taking pictures. Oops.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Protests outside of St. Paul's

Italian Gardens in Hyde Park

The one place that I had to see in all of London was the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. It may sound a little silly, but my main attraction to London is that, in my opinion, all the best children's authors are British and many of their stories take place in London to some extent. Peter Pan, Harry Potter, Narnia, every Roald Dahl book, etc. Thus why I needed to see this statue.

First photo attempt, but someone's adorable child did not want to leave that bunny on the bottom of the statue alone

Tower of London

Tower Bridge