Mardi Gras

Last night was brilliant! Bex is dating an American guy named Ian who is in the Air Force and last night he threw a Mardi Gras party at his house. He lives in the most adorable town called Harrogate, about half an hour on the train from Leeds. It was such a good time because most of his friends are American and it was a proper house party, keg and all, but really relaxed at the same time. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, bbq chicken and he decorated to the extreme. I felt so happy to be at an American house party with my British flatmates. I think they really enjoyed it as well. Some highlights:
-Talking to a British man who lived in America for 5 years as a carni (yes as in carnival) living in 28 states. He was pretty rough but had a really cool story...I mean how often do you meet a carni at a house party?? He dubbed San Fransisco the best place in America because of its sarcasm and British like sense of humor.

-Playing and co-winning twister with Rachel.
-Having a good ol American hot dog.
-Watching Daniel do a keg stand which lasted about 5 seconds. (His first, never even seen it done before, and he volunteered as soon as we arrived at the party)
-Beads and masks!!
This morning we woke up and walked into Harrogate and went to the cutest tea room. It's called Betty's and it was so delicious. As we sat in the grassy park, we heard wedding bells from the church and watched as people made their way to the celebration. I'm so upset I forgot my camera because it was beautiful.

Harrogate:

My exams are all finished now! I only have a reflective logbook due on Tuesday for my theatre performance class and then my third year of academics is done and I will officially be a senior in college. Pretty cool eh? I cannot believe I only have a week left in Leeds!! Ahhhhh. Mixed emotions...so sad to leave these wonderful people yet excited to see loved ones at home.
Get pumped y'all I'm comin home!!

Gaudí-Land

Barcelona

So I've been thinking about past trips and getting excited about future ones (June is full of Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, and Greece!!) and I decided to put up pictures from one of my favorite trips...Spain with Kelly. I encourage you to read Kelly's blog about our trip because she's excellent at recapping, unlike myself. I prefer pictures to words...anyways, Barcelona was beautiful and full of work by the architect Guadi. I couldn't help but get a Dr. Seuss vibe from all his work though. The catedral- Sagrada Familia was amazing and still unfinished. The park was gorgeous and worth the hike up to it. We also tried delicious paella and chocolate and churros. Our hostel situation was quite interesting, with people coming and going in our 4 bed room. First two rocker German guys, then two proper Frenchmen and lastly a couple from Canada. The hostel was full of Californians for some weird reason. Many of them studying abroad like us. We went out with them one night, but were disappointed by the costly club and terrible music. Guess I've been lucky in Leeds. My other favorite moment was our market adventure. We wandered into the market one night and were so impressed by the beautiful food we decided to stay in for dinner. We got some meat, cheese, tomatoes, wine, fruit and ate tapas at the hostel.
The best thing about Barcelona was that even when I built something up in my mind, or heard "oh its so amazing" over and over, my expectations were always exceeded. One such example is the Magic Fountain. It's a huge, colorfully lit fountain that does a water show on certain nights. It was actually magical, to be sitting there in Barcelona overlooking the city, surrounded by so many different kinds of people with one that I truly cared about by my side.
Aside from the Californians, we met a bunch of Aussie's that all knew each other from traveling. We met Rick on the walking tour and then kept running into him all over town until we finally just decided to make one group. Then he saw some of his friends he met in Rome and our group expanded even more. We spent one nice evening out with them, sitting outside drinking beer while listening to their travel stories.
Enjoy the pics below! :)

Park Güell:









Sagrada Familia:









Paella:




Catedral with GEESE! (i love them):



The Dock:



Tapas, Tapas, Tapas!!

Walking Tour:

where Picasso first had his art shown...how cool!

Chocolate and Churros: The Market:




The Magic Fountain:



Out with the hostel crowd:
Our hostel and surrounding artwork: