Cassidy in Paris

Cassidy came from Barcelona to visit me last weekend! I loved having another presence in my one-person studio apartment and showing her around the city made me explore the city even further. In the short three days she was here, we managed to squeeze in a Vampire Weekend concert, three museums, countless sights, and a lot of good food. I discovered the zeal of Paris during the holiday season and rediscovered the charms of Paris by night.

Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig! (from my instagram)

View of the Tour Eiffel and Obélisque de Louxor by Place de la Concorde.

Jardin des Tuileries:

Roue de Paris.

"These chairs look so relaxed." - C

Shamefully, these photos mark only my second visit to the Louvre:

The Code of Hammurabi.

Art students taking advantage of the closing-time lull in Louvre traffic.

In the apartments of Napoleon III.

View from the top of the Musée d'Orsay

We took a long stroll along the Seine River one night and visited the Pont des Arts, the bridge on which lovers traditionally put locks to symbolize their eternal love for each other. We saw everything from regular square locks to giant heart-shaped, gilded locks to long bike locks, and the light of dusk was incredibly cooperative. I had to stop myself from filling my entire memory card with photos of the bridge.

Charming.

The view from the bridge was amazing as well.

The flower markets on the Île de la Cité

Arc de Triomphe paved by the Christmas lights of the Champs-Élysées. 

Barcelona

Taken by Cassidy!

Barcelona was everything that Paris has not been: warm, colorful, and full of Brown frisbee friends! The weekend I visited Barcelona happened to be the weekend every other Brown student abroad decided to visit Barcelona as well. On top of the group of Brownies actually studying in Barcelona, there must have been at least ten of us visiting. Even though it was raining for 75% of my trip, I had a lot of fun exploring and eating in this exciting city.

The day that I arrived was what appears to have been the last day of beautiful weather in Barca. After chorizo sandwiches and plenty of Cava, we went down to the Playa de la Barceloneta where I experienced the (freezing) waters of the Mediterranean and witnessed the most amazing sunset.

Taken by Cassidy!

The next day we visited the two houses and church in Barcelona designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudí. The Casa Milà and Casa Batlló are both very cool and Gaudí's church, the Sagrada Família, is the most amazing structure I have ever seen. Gaudí took over its construction in 1883, but died in 1926 before it could be completed. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2026.

Casa Milà

Casa Batlló

The tiniest dog scuttled by me as I was looking at the outside of the Sagrada Família.

On our last day we did a lot of walking in the pouring rain. Highlights included Barca's cute red Arc de Triomf and the El Borne Centre Cultural.

El Born CC 

Even in the rain, Barcelona remains colorful.