8.19.14 London --> LAX

Holy moly last official day in Europe! It was kind of a blur. We landed in Gatwick Airport, stayed at the Marriott, drove to Heathrow Airport, and were on our way home!

Traveling tips:

• Bring one large suitcase and leave the other small one for souvenirs. Or else you will be miserable rearranging your things. 'Cause that's what we went through LOL. :(
• Bring a tablet/laptop/journal to blog while on the plane! Though you have movies and food, you're going to be so bored and it's best to be productive while you're in the air. Also so you don't have to scramble to finish your blog when you get back to the States like me haha. 
• Buy souvenirs from EVERY city you go to! Even if it's just a postcard. No ragrets. Not even a letter.
• Try not to buy such fragile items (ahem shot glasses) if you aren't willing to wrap them up carefully. 
• Your friends and family will appreciate super touristy gifts so don't worry if it seems dorky to you when you're buying it -- pretty much anything with the Union Jack on it, any form of the Eiffel Tower, a postcard with a nice picture, etc. etc.
• Take pictures!!! Even though I wasn't able to save up enough money for a DSLR, I totally wish I brought some kind of digital point and shoot camera to take nice photos instead of relying on my iPhone. 
• Capture every opportunity (yes I am channeling some Eminem), even if you think you're "tired." You're definitely going to remember seeing different parts of the world than you staying in bed and watching Netflix, 'cause you can totally do that at home. 
• I think that's it for now! I have a crazy urge and desire to travel more, no matter where the destination may be. I hope to return to Europe one day to tackle Germany, Austria, more Paris and Nice in France, and Greece (oh baby Santorini). W A N D E R L U S T yeah! 

Shoutout to #SigEChi and Sam&Tony for being such crazy cool travel buddies! :) Wouldn't have been an adventure without you guys. <3 

8.18.14 Barcelona Day 3

Oh my gosh, last day in Spain and unofficially last day in Europe! :(

1. Sants Railway Station
- Sam had to buy her ticket to Paris/Rotterdam. I spent that time practicing my Spanish at McDonald's and at the bookstore when buying stamps. The owner said I can hold a conversation really well! ^_^ *blush* 
2. Casa Mila
- Disappointed that you had to pay a ridiculous amount to go inside and they even covered the outside. I wanted to see the waviness because that building always showed up in my old Spanish textbooks but I guess this isn't what dreams are made of. :'(
3. Casa Batllo
- House of bones?! Yes. Amazing.
4. La Sagrada Familia
- Under construction like always. But still fabulously impressive. 
5. back to Barceloneta beach 
- to take in the waves for one last time, grab some gelato for one last time, and to say goodbye to Sam as I departed for the airport :'( 

8.17.14 Barcelona Day 2

Slightly more relaxing day as compared to yesterday. All I have to say is: BEAUTIFUL. Like really. I didn't even know it could get better than the day before. 

1. Park Guell
2. Barceloneta Beach
3. Picasso Museum
4. Parc de la Ciutadella 
5. Arc de Triomf

It feels pretty good to be able to put my Spanish to use here! Although it is a little different from the Spanish I learned in school, because the Barcelonians mix a bit of Catalonian in there! Their accents are also a bit thicker. 

Park Guell and all the prettiness it has to offer :') Mosaicos for dayz. 

Failed jumping attempt. W hotel in the back! Ahh! :) 

Finally got my Sangria ayyy!

Prettiest park ever and a great job once again by Mr. Gaudi.

Because the city was filled with tons of squares and plazas like this! I love :)

8.16.14 Barcelona Day 1

Oh gosh, so much done in one day! I had flown in the night before with Amy, Emily, Michelle T., Dustin, and Calvin, but due to booking issues I stayed with Sam :) which wasn't an issue because our hotel was down the street from the FCB stadium! Woo!

I honestly can't believe that there's so much to do in Barcelona. Planning out our itinerary was exhausting but totally worth it, so instead of talking about it I'm just going to list all the places we went to:

1. La Boqueria en La Rambla (outdoor market selling fruit and other yum yums)
2. Plaza de Catalunya
3. Gothic quarters
4. La Catedral Barcelona
5. Jardins del Teatre Grec
6. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
7. ate some paella in Plaza de Espanya 
8. Olympic Stadium
9. Magic Fountain of Montjuic

Since Tony had already left for Germany, it was great girl time for Sam and me! We ran into the other group all 3 days, too, so it was super fun. :) I'm just in love with how MESMERIZING this city is! 

Yes, there are a lot of photos of just myself. There was only two of us so it was difficult okay?! 

8.11.14 Remember the Units

'Twas a bittersweet day as it was our last day of labs! As much of a pain as they were, it was such a fun and challenging experience that I enjoyed so much. And I couldn't have done it without my lab partner Elizabeth, whom I instantly clicked with on Day One! The AT's and coordinators of this physics program are so enthusiastic of what they're teaching and that has definitely ignited my love for physics even more. I will definitely miss it!

We were working on an electricity lab today, and that tiny box next to us is a power supply of 500V! Crazy. Sad that we couldn't get the rest of the other cool equipment in the picture though. Also, if you're wondering what I'm holding, it's a tiny pink pink that says "UNITS" on it. The British has a quirky sense of humor. :)

Also here's a picture of my new favorite study spot! I'm usually in the library everyday, and as modern as it is, it's just your typical library. Falmer House is actually a coffee house and is open for students to lounge around to study together, converse, or just relax. Love! :)

8.8.14 London Round 3

It was our last real weekend in England, so we decided to make one final trip to London, and to make it good! 

On Thursday night, we decided to head to a club in Westminster called Heaven. It was an interesting experience and we met a few interesting characters! Interesting. 

Friday morning was a lovely cultural day. We went back to Pimlico Fresh for breakfast, finally got Sam and Tony their Platform 9 3/4 pictures, derped around at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, observed the #BBC, spazzed at Shakespeare's Globe, and ended the night at London Ice Bar. <3

The Ice Bar was super fun! Albeit expensive (around $30 for 45 minutes), it was pretty cool wearing the thermal Eskimo coats and gloves, and drinking out of glasses made completely out of ice. OH did I mention everything in the room was made out of ice too?! Fab. 

8.6.14 Timeout

Treated myself to a nice jog around my campus today, because it was almost time to leave and I still hadn't explored all the running trails yet! Sussex University wasn't my favorite place in the world, but I did leave behind some incredible memories and I am always grateful for this opportunity to study abroad with all these brilliant minds.