2 Month mark & Beach house in Huelva, España

Two weekends ago was awesome for a few reasons: 

1.) It marked my two month mark of officially arriving in Spain.

2.) A few friends and I traveled to a city just an hour out of Sevilla to our Spanish friend's beach house.

3.) It marked the day that I fully realized how ridiculously lucky I am to be here.

2 months?! (now almost 3) Get out of town-- It seems like just yesterday I was sitting around a table with three strangers, eating strange food, who were rambling strange words. People are typically a little reluctant to choose the home-stay option, but I'm so happy I did. I really lucked out with my family. They are SO sweet and patient. I really wanted to do something nice for them for the two-month mark, but I wasn't sure what was appropriate for a husband, wife, and little kid. I ended up buying my host mother a bouquet of flowers. When I gave them to her she was so surprised and grateful that she almost cried. "Por qué, Nicole (knee-cole)?!" What for Nicole? (It's really not common to do that here, I guess). They actually are still on the table, slowly dying haha. SO.. two months was a crazy reality check. And not to mention thinking about the fact that I have only known my friends here for a little over two months? It truly feels like years. (They are great and there shall be a post about my family and friends soon, I promise). 

Thursday and Friday were just awesome days-- walking around the city and such. Finally tried this one restaurant we've been dying to go to, Eslava. Super good. Stumbled upon this little place one night and it was the most perfect, tranquil night ever. The reflections of the Plaza de España on the water were crystal clear. Pretty breathtaking. 

The Cathedral, Eslava, and mi amigo Jon

Islantilla Beach- Huelva, Spain

On Saturday morning, my friends Alex and Nicole, and I went to our friend's beach house in Huelva, Spain. When we arrived, we were extremely excited! It was like a little resort right on the beach. The best part about it was that it was so peaceful and empty because it's March and the summer weather isn't quite here yet. Also, I didn't have my phone or any connection to the outside world which it made it even more of an experience. 

So it was us Americans with four Spaniards from Sevilla. We pretty much only spoke Spanish the whole time, which was very fun/interesting. Half of them know English so they really tried to help us practice and learn different things. It was SO much fun. Of course we thought that we were pretty much fluent when we left. Alvaro made us some delicious Paella, a typical Spanish plate. We then went down to the beach and relaxed. It was a gorgeous day. We also walked around the little town and it was so quaint and cute, it kind of resembled the Lake George village area. 

Later that night, we had burgers and relaxed on the balcony area. We played some games and spoke a lot more Spanish. Alvaro then took out his guitar and played a bunch of new Spanish music that we LOVE. I told them about my nickname, "Coco," and they loved it. They even dedicated a song to me, naming it, "Cocquito's song." It was great. We really wanted to learn some Spanish dances, so Carmen taught us how to dance Sevilliana, a typical dance from in Seville. We had a great time.

How often can you really say that you packed up a car and went to your Spanish friend's beach house when you were abroad. We were so happy we went. Not only did we have a ton of fun and practice our Spanish, we really got a taste of the true Spanish culture. I'm so glad I got to do that. We love our Spaniard friends!

Most importantly, there shall be a post on my complete manifestation with Seville! 

Dublin, Ireland! PC Edition

So the following weekend I made the trek up to Dublin! February 28 was a holiday for us here in Spain, El Día de Andalucía, so I was able to make a long weekend out of it. Megan and Dodie are studying at the University of Dublin and Meg so graciously hosted me (Thank you). I was super excited to see them. Annnnnd not to mention...Michele and the girls were coming for PC's spring break! 

It was just SO nice to see them, it didn't matter where we were. Of course, it felt as though we never even left each other. It was great to catch up with everyone throughout the trip. Also, I love that I've gotten the chance to see the lives my friends lead abroad! 

Meg and I did a ton of exploring throughout the city. Dublin is pretty much just as I pictured it! Everyone is SO sweet and willing to sit and have a conversation with you, or physically walk you in the direction you need to go. It was great. At one point Meg and I were walking down the street and I had sushi rolls in one hand, soy sauce in another, my camera hanging on my shoulder and my bag pretty much open. An Irish man stopped us and said, "Where abouts in America are ya from? I got to give ya some advice, ya need to be careful." Is it SO obvious we are Americans? Not to mention, he was definitely the person who would be stealing your stuff. He said, "Especially if you're disorganized, and this one looks like a mess." And pointed to me haha. We were dying. (definitely one of those funnier-at-the-time moments)

Downtown Dubin is so much fun! There were so many shops and restaurants. There was also live music on the streets, which will always be a plus in my book. And some real good Irish music at that! The River Liffey is the river that runs through the center of Dublin. All the coolest cities have rivers :)

River Liffey

So we went to the Old Jameson Distillery, which was really fun and interesting to see how it was made and how much they pride themselves on their whiskey. They constantly made jabs at Americans, saying how the types that are too weak for the Irish would be way too strong for us. Had my first real Irish Coffee, yum!

One of my favorite parts about the city were the colored doors all over! 'Colored Doors of Dublin.' Blue, red, yellow, green. It was fantastic.

So of course just to be that person, I asked Meg if there are really little munchkin leprechauns in Ireland. Of course she starts laughing and calls me crazy. Come to find out, I see about 5 midgets throughout the weekend. The next thing you know, I saw a little leprechaun. So I will validate the myth here--there ARE, in fact, leprechauns in Ireland...

A little Wilde in his hometown

Finally the Providence girls arrived and I was simply thrilled to be with everyone! We had a great time exploring the city and the George's Street Arcade market. I wish I could have gotten to spend more time with them, but I enjoyed seeing everyone. It was so nice to hang out with Dodie, Bridget, Jenna, and Erin because I never get to spend much time with them at school. We had a ball! Michele is just as funny as ever. She was also told that "There are no other girls in Europe quite like her." God I love her.

We ended the incredible weekend at the Guinness factory with sky bar overlooking the city. The band played our song, "Galway Girl" and it was perfect. To say that I was sitting overlooking the capital city of Ireland with two of my best friends is one of the greatest feelings ever.

Just necessary

  "Galway Girl" at the Guinness Factory

Dublin was just awesome. It was everything I pictured and more. I couldn't be happier that everyone is enjoying their respective places around Europe (and down under, Cay) (and the Northeast haha, suckers) I think everyone made the right choice on where to study. I know Dublin is perfect for Megan and that comforts me :) Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me! 


Erin go Bragh!

Granada, España

Ahhh! Now let's get back to the positive posts. I'm sorry I haven't kept you updated on my latest excursions. I've been too busy falling in love with the rest of the world. 

A ver... (Let's see)...

A few weeks ago, my friends and I visited Granada, a beautiful city in Southern Spain. I was pretty excited about this because up until now I have done most of my traveling by myself! I have come to love traveling and I do not mind doing it alone a single bit. However, it is nice to have some company sometimes. A ton of us trained it over to Granada (3 hours) on Friday morning.

Granada was awesome. The whole city was surrounded by mountains, most importantly Sierra Nevada. I would have loved to ski or hike there but unfortunately we didn't have time and the weather was difficult. Up until now I was fortunate enough to have a friend in every city I have visited, so this was my first hostel stay and it was awesome! This one had a cool rooftop area, a bar, kitchen, and outside patio. At night the people made Paella for everyone and people from all over ate together and got to know each other. Then in the morning there were some breakfast food out and you could serve yourself and eat with all different residents of the hostel. Then after you would do your own dishes. Call me crazy but I thought it was cool haha. I'm a nerd. It's the simple things for me :)

Our hostel (Oasis Granada)

So obviously you can't go to Granada without seeing the beautiful Alhambra! For those of you who live under a rock, the Alhambra is a beautiful palace/fortress in Granada and one of the most important sites in all of Spain. There are so many different parts to the Alhambra and it is extra beautiful because it is located on top of a hill and surrounded by the gorgeous Sierra Nevada mountain range. Also, you could overlook the entire city. I am so happy that I got a chance to see the Alhambra while I was in Spain because I've learned about it for years.

Later in the evening, we went to Plaza de San Nicholas. It is a super cool spot to watch the sunset over the city. Take the beauty of this picture and multiply it by 100. The mountains in the background were probably the coolest thing. It didn't even look real. The Alhambra looked like some crazy, Medieval fortress you see in the movies.

I loved the hill-y layout of the city

Rooftop Sunrise in Granada

I had a fantastic time in Granada. Ate lots of Babel, went to a cave bar overlooking the city, stayed in my first hostel, had some 3 a.m. french-fries covered in Kabobs/mysterious sauces, saw a sunrise and a sunset, as well as some of the most spectacular architectural sites in Spain, anddddd got to spend it with all of my new friends (a.k.a. the people that my parents paid to hang out with me for a semester). 

I love Granada.

Forever Changed By Who You Are & What You've Meant To Me

For my avid viewers.. (crickets) If you saw my 'bad news' in my Italy post, let me inform you. I haven't actually let it sink in yet and I don't intend on it until I get home. But I want to remember everything about this trip so it's important. Sorry to get personal.

When I left in January, saying good-bye to my family was hard. However, it was especially hard to say good-bye to my grandparents, as it always is. They are probably my favorite people in this world. This time was particularly hard because not only would I be gone for five months, I'd be halfway across the world. I never imagined it would be a the last time I'd see her. 

So naturally I fell in love with Spain. I would talk to my grandma often and she would always be extremely supportive. No matter what was going on with her or at home, she never wanted me to worry (of course I always did). Since I'm the one in the family who is always away from home (Providence, Spain), my family always tries to hide the bad stuff from me. It's a pretty funny joke because I ALWAYS somehow find out. When I was in Florence, I asked my mom to skype my grandma and she didn't really want me to because she didn't want me to upset me. Of course I insisted on it. That was  the moment when everything changed. My grandma, the person who taught me the art of conversation, could no longer speak. (starting to get emotional) (So happy I was with my friends for this). This was the worst thing that I've ever experienced because I was so worthless from 3,000 miles away. I spent every minute of every day thinking about what I would say if I had one more conversation with her. Out of the millions of conversations we have had, none of the right words came to mind. I wouldn't even know where to start. I could attribute everything I am to her. 

Something pretty special happened that week. My family was by her side at all times and the last few weeks sadly consisted of her not speaking logically/at all. One day I wanted to try to talk to her so I started talking. She then answered me and said, "Hi Nicole I love you so much." She also spoke about Spain. It was this break-through little miracle moment that meant the world to me. She hadn't talked for a while and she remembered ME. It made me so happy.

I knew, however, that she wasn't doing well. My parents booked a flight for me to go home that upcoming weekend because they knew that she didn't have much longer. It was the sweetest thing they could do because they knew how much it meant for me to say good-bye. I know most people may not understand, but I didn't think twice about this. However, just as fate worked in my favor on that wonderful day she spoke, it worked against me that weekend. My flight was for Friday evening but due to the storm I couldn't fly into JFK until Sunday. I arrived on Sunday afternoon and a Lincoln Navigator with a driver was there to pick me up. At first I thought it was strange but my mom is always late so I figured that was it. After some riding around and meeting up with my cousin, my mom and Danielle finally got there. When I got in the car with them to go home I said, "Pheww, I thought something had happened to gram." They looked at me with sad faces and we all started to cry. She passed away that morning. Clearly God had a bigger plan for us because my flight was cancelled and otherwise I would have been there Friday with her.

This was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. It's still not real to me. My parents let me say the Eulogy and this was so important to me. It went really well. A little trembling here and there, but my dad came up halfway through. I made people laugh, think, and cry. According to Jimmy V that is what we should do everyday. 

Here are some bits and pieces of the Eulogy:

"My grandma taught us the art of conversation. You never really take the time to realize how important that is. And not just talking, but more importantly, listening as well. Often times I would admire my gram from afar, the lovely way she would make conversation with ANYONE, anywhere. It truly is a beautiful quality to have. She once wrote in a letter to me on my 16^th birthday.

Be the best in loving- Let your love show in the gracious way you greet everyone; in the smile you give to those you know wand to those you have never met; look people in their eyes when you talk with them and let them know you are interested in them and in what they are saying. Be a listener more than a talker."

"I will say...if I am 80 years old, sitting next to the love of my life and playing cards, then will I consider my life successful. They had the purest, funniest, loving relationship. Nothing warmed my heart more than the two of them trying to take care of each other. They would stay up until 5 a.m. playing Rummy. Of course, my gramp would take 15 minutes in between each turn, but she was always patient. I thank God for the day that the stars aligned and allowed my grandparents to meet. This year would have been their 30^th anniversary, and 30 years ago my gram gave him life again."

"I think the best kinds of people are the kind that inspire you to do and be better. I know that my gram has always had that affect on all of us. In everything we do will continue to work harder, pray longer, and love stronger. We are forever changed by who you are and what you’ve meant to us."