Barcelona

Barcelona topped the must see list for both Christine and I.. our original plan was to see the city during our fall break... last minute decision with lots of peer pressure from our friends and on Wednesday October 5th we booked a trip to Barcelona, leaving the next evening! With a little more than 24 hours until departure we had to attend our Thursday classes, fill out paperwork and pack for a what was sure to be a wild weekend in Barcelona!

Our bus departed Firenze at 7pm Thursday night and was to arrive in Barcelona at 8am Friday morning... which means a LOVELY 12 hour bus ride. The ride there was not as horrible as I thought, it was full of movies and sleeping. We arrived in Barcelona, the capital of the Cataluya region of Spain and the second largest city with 1.6 million people.

Barcelona is said to be one of Europe's cultural epicenters and most progressive cities with lively streets, tapas, beaches, and absurd nightlife.  Barcelona is known for the wild nightlife as well as sights such as the Sagrada Familia cathedral, Parc Guell, La Pedrera - all landmarks of famed architect Antoni Gaudi.  We dropped our luggage off at our hostel and then spent our first three hours in Barcelona touring the city. 

post 12 hour bus ride - some happy, some not so much

our hostel 

We embarked on a walking tour of the city to see some of the incredible sights. Our first was Las Ramblas- one of the most famous pedestrian boulevards in the world! Its crowed with tourist, people dressed up as statues, food stands, and even has stands where you can buy animals! Off of Las Ramblas was St Joseph's Market, known as la boqueria- people come from all over Europe to go to this food market and I understand why! There was fresh fruits and food EVERYWHERE - some of the most delicious fresh fruit juice too!  

Las Ramblas

person/ statue

market!

my pictures from inside the market are some of my favorite from the entire weekend! here's a few, I'm sure you'll understand why people travel from all over to go there...

freshly squeezed juice

so much candy!

From Las Ramblas we walked through Barcelona's Gothic Quarters is the center of the old city. Many of the building are from Medieval times and has a labyrinthine street plan where many small streets open into pedestrian friendly squares. We walked from the Gothic Quarters to the Mediterranean Sea, well the main port and marina of Barcelona for some lunch. Where I was able to have my two favorite Spanish foods gazpacho and sangria <3 Finally it was late enough for us to check into our hostel and take a much needed nap before venturing out into Barcelona's wild night life.. which started at IceBar Barcelona.

girls all dressed up & yes that's the beach!

  

Ice Bar 

thank goodness for the coats & gloves

Barcelona was also a mini Bentley reunion with about 25 of us spending the weekend together.  We started our Friday night at IceBar Barcelona where everything was ICE. no joke even our glasses were made out of ice. After the ice bar we had about an hour to kill before dancing at the club.  So me and three other girls decided to get some Sangria at a local restaurant, little did we know it was served in a tower! 

After we finished out sangria we went to Shoko ( http://www.shoko.biz/ )a giant crazy club on the beach.. where we stayed until the wee hours of the morning! Barcelona is known for many things one of them unfortunately is pick-pocketing.. that night alone two of the girls and one of the guys I was with got pick pocketed in the club... put a little damper on the night - even with that, everyone had so much fun.  Saturday we decided to see more of the sights Barcelona had to offer - right down the street from our hostel was some of Gaudi's most famous works, we ventured back to the market for some more juice..then we trekked it up to Parc Guell, created by Gaudi its an area that has some incredible views of the city

Gaudi house

the girls admiring the architecture

escalator up to Parc Guell

view of Barcelona

band playing in the park 

Saturday night half the group bought tickets to Sensation White - is an absurd "house" music dance party. All attendees are requited to wear white and the arena in which it is held is decorated to match.  It started at 10pm and did not end until 6am... no one I knew stayed at entire time, but they said it was one interesting crazy experience. Since I did not go, and haven't done it justice in explaining what its all about, here's the website if you're curious as to what its all about http://www.sensation.com/spain/en

For those who did not partake in sensation white we decided to take another shot at Barcelona's night life, this time staying away from the club.. since people had little luck there. We knew there was a bar called Dow Jones  in which the prices of drinks at the bar act like stocks! (where else would a bunch of Bentley Students end up?) The prices rise and fall depending on whats being purchased and every once in a while the market crashes, and all the drinks go to a minimum price - people literally run to the bar to take advantage of the crash! We stayed there most of the night, thoroughly entertained watching the "stocks" go up and down. After Dow Jones we walked over to a place called Chupitos - which translates to Shots.  They have over 300 different kinds of shots many there was lots that were set on fire.. It got pretty packed in there so we left, walked back to our hostel and waited for our friends attending Sensation White to get back. Thinking were were going to be up for a while and they walked in ten minutes after us- said it was a little too wild!

outside Dow Jones

Bentley Ladies

shots on fire

Our time in Barcelona ended with breakfast at the hostel, a short walk to kill time and then  a miserable 12 hour bus ride back to Florence.  Out bus drives did not understand the art of driving smoothly, I felt as though I was on a roller coaster the entire ride! Finally we reached Florence, walked home and got some much needed sleep. Barcelona was a world wind of fun and I would highly recommend visiting the city. 

Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano, and Pienza

Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano and Pienza for towns in Tuscany to visit in two days. We departed (on bus) saturday October 1 from Florence around 8am. We had roughly an hour bus ride to our first town, Arezzo.  Arezzo - home to some of the greatest Italian artist, such as Petrarca, Piero della Francesca and Giorgio Varsai.  We arrived to Arezzo and had a guided walking tour of the medieval town.  We saw were some of the famous artist lived as well as where the very famous Italian film "Life is Beautiful" was filmed. While we were in Arezzo an insanely large and interesting antique fair was happening. SO we were able to see antiques from all over Italy! believe it or not, a lot of the things for sale were probably found in 10 white hill at some point in time. 

Arezzo is a beautiful medieval town filled with CHURCHES. We saw 8 on our 2 hour walking tour of the town.. After having some free time for lunch we got back on the bus and departed to Cortona.   Cortona is a etruscan town that overlooks Val Dai Chiana, a Tuscan valley rich in vegetation.  Our professor gave a walking tour of the town after we settled into our hotel accommodation. If familiar with the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" then you have seen Cortona! On our tour of the town we saw many of the sights from the movie. We visited the Medieval fortress, then dinner at the hotel.

view from Cortona

view from our hotel

Dinner that night was a three course Italian meal at the hotel.  We had the night to explore Cortona on our own. Sunday we had breakfast at 8am and then had to be on the bus by 9am to head to Pienza.  Pienza was a "Utopian City" built by the Pope Pius II in the XVI century to have the perfect place for human life.  It is famous for Pecorino cheese, a sheep milk cheese that is produced in Pienza.  We had a short walking tour of the village  then we were able to visit a local cheese factory to see how Pecorino cheese is made.  After learning how it was made we had cheese, salami and wine for lunch.

After seeing more cheese than I ever thought I would... We left Pienza for Montepulciano. This town is world famous for its red wine "Vino Nobile di Montepulciano" which is considered one of the best red wines in the world.  It is a preserved medieval town with working medieval wine cellars.  We had a guided tour of the Cantira Redi a wine cellar that is considered the "Cathedral" and one of the most impressive cellars in the world. Montepulciano is also where New Moon from the Twilight series was filmed. 

New Moon 

Escaping to Tuscany for the weekend - Chianti

Upon our arrival to Firenze and orientation at Lorenzo de Medici we learned that one school trip was included in our program.  Our trip was called Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano, and Pienza - the best food, wine and movies with "Under the Tuscan Sun and New Moon." The trip aimed to "assist students in developing knowledge of some of the most interesting Tuscan sights and towns.  During a two day tour, students will see artistically and historically significant villages and cities... 

We have been used to traveling from Thursday night and returning late Sunday, this weekend was a slightly slower and relaxing pace.  Exciting thing about not leaving until Saturday morning? We got two more home cooked dinners with Ana Maria (Thursday and Friday night) and we had a free day Friday! Naturally, I wanted to talk full advantage of the day and was pleased to be in contact with Monica who was at the end of her 3 week stay in Italy.

Friday morning Christine and I got ready and called a taxi to bring us to meet Monica and Claudio for a day in Chianti.  We Monica and Claudio in Impruneta, which is a gateway town into Chianti. Our first stop was to the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.  

The cemetery and memorial site in Florence covers over 70 acres on the west side of the Greve.  Between the two entrance buildings, a bridge leads to the burial area where the headstones of 4,402 military members that represent. They represent the 39% of the U.S. 5th Army burials originally made between Rome and the Alps.  Many died in the fighting that occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944.  Included among them are casualties of the heavy fighting in the Apennines shortly before the war's end. On May 2, 1945 enemy troops in northern Italy surrendered.

apartment

After stopping at the military cemetery we stopped by Monica's and Claudio's apartment that they were staying at. It was tucked away in the Chianti country side on a private vineyard. A beautiful location for a get away weekend!

view from the apartment

delicious wine grapes!

Next we went to lunch - Monica and Claudio wanted to take us to a restaurant where we would experience real Tuscan food... One of the best meals I have had in my life. We started with some appetizers, of a Tuscan crostini plate of proscuttio, salami and bruschetta - a shrimp and calamari plate - and truffle appetizer. Monica  described the Truffle taste as a love or hate relationship. I thought it was delicious, different, but i would like to try it again! We had some Chianti wine and was off to our next  course.  A Florentine steak - with sides of mushrooms and potatoes.  The steak was served on the bone for all four of us and was cooked to perfection. Desert was a traditional desert of Italain cookies with nuts and chocolate that you dip in a sweet wine. 

potentially my favorite restaurant in Itlay!

The afternoon was spent driving through Chianti and stopping at the various small towns to look at the incredible sights. Claudio and Monica drove us back to our house and it concluded a wonderful day in the Chianti countryside.  we then had to pack for our weekend in Tuscany! 

Oktoberfest

where to BEGIN?! how about a little background information on what Oktoberfest is... Oktoberfest held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany and is a 16-18 day beer festival.  It starts in late September (not October) and goes until the first weekend of October. It is considered the most famous event in Germany and is the world's largest fair in which over 5million people attend every year.  Although many cities hold Oktoberfest celebrations, Munich Oktoberfest began way back in 1810.

Only beer that is brewed within the city of Munich is allowed to be served.  There is a certain criterion, called the "Reinheitsgebot," in which the beer must pass before it is designed Oktoberfest Beer. Almost 7 million liters of beer are served during the event. This year there were six Munich Oktoberfest-breweries. There's 14 beer tents to choose from, each serving a specific beer. Some of the most famous tents include Hofbrau, Armbrustchutzen and Paulanergarten.

Okay now for the goods, my Oktoberfest experience! I could sum up my weekend in one sentence. We looked into prices to go back this weekend.

Over the summer some girls that I knew from freshman year, and that I am currently studying abroad with decided to book two trips ahead of time. We booked the Amalfi Coast (which was incredible, and if you didn't catch my post about it.. I suggest you go back and look and some of the beautiful pictures from the weekend!) and Oktoberfest. We decided to book the second weekend of Oktoberfest, September 23-25th. Little did we know that all the Italians go to Oktoberfest the second weekend! I think I spoke more Italian the first day in the tents than English! Florence to Munich is roughly an 8 hour bus ride, our bus left at 11:30pm on Thursday September 22 and arrived in Munich at 8am Friday morning....

Checking into the hostel wasn't an option.. check in time was at 3pm. So we freshened up (yes all 120+ kids raced to the bathrooms) locked up our luggage, ate some breakfast and had the day to do as we pleased. Some people ventured into Germany, some on a bike tour of Munich, others straight to Oktoberfest. Friday there were no lines to get into the tents (since it was still a work day for all the Germans). Walking to the festival we were told that it looks like an adult Disneyland. this was no exaggeration.. 

Sanja & Christine at the entrance 

Cody decked out & ready to go

We started out Friday morning at one of the largest tents, Hofbrau tent( yes that giant building is referred to as a "tent") The Hofbrau tent is the biggest beer tent at Oktoberfest, the only tent with a standing only area and has a capacity of 4,500 people. 

little old ladies still going strong

1st Oktoberfest Beer!

some cute Canadian boys we met

Oktoberfest isn't all about drinking beer in the tents, it involves lots of dancing, singing, meeting new people and eating. Common foods in the tents were giant pretzels, sausage, chicken, and bratwurst. 

 Day 1 in HB tent was a huge success, a lot of us left around 5pm, and got dinner some ventured back to the tents to experience oktoberfest at night while some went back to the hostel to get some shut eye since we had set a goal to get into the Hacker tent for Saturday. To hopefully accomplish this goal we had to leave the hostel no later than 7:15 Saturday morning. Saturday is the rowdy, crazy day - all the Germans come out in their traditional dress and are ready to drink! We were outside the tents by 7:30 and couldn't even get in line for the Hacker tent. So we had the option of waiting for the HB tent to open again or get in line somewhere else! Although we practically ran, we were in the begining of the line for the half hour wait to get into the Paulaner tent. 

Day 2 - first beer @ 9:10am

The Paulaner tent was so much fun, we took over three tables that we up right by the band. People were literally running into the tent trying to grab tables, and make sure they had room for all their friends. 

inside the tent

another view of the tent

"cheers!"

demonstrating how the glasses break 

everyone getting into the singing

We thought day 1 was fun - day 2 was a whole other level of fun and pure entertainment. Some people left with beer bellys, my abs were in pain from laughing all day! Sunday the boys headed back to the beer tents and the girls and I headed to Dachau Concentration camp to more of an educational experience. Located about a half hour outside of Munich Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany. 

The camp, established by the Nazi Party, opened in 1933 and served as a prototype and model for other Nazi concentration camps.  Sources say that in the twelve years of operation the camp held over 200,000 prisoners and over 31,951 were believed to have been killed at Dachau. Unlike Auschwitz there is no record of mass murder occurring at Dachau, poor sanitation, deprivation of medical care, withholding nutrients, medical experiments, beatings or shootings would lead to death. 

Dachau Concentration Memorial

foundations of barracks 

memorial in front of the museum

After touring the Concentration Camp we headed back to Munich, swung by the Oktoberfest for a final goodbye stein. Then jumped on a bus for the 8 hour trip back to Florence. Driving from Germany to Florence during the day was completely different than at night. The views we had of the Alps were incredible! I will find my way there at some point this semester, just wait!