During our fall semester we had a 10-day fall break during which my friends and I decided to explore the Eastern parts of Europe. We flew to Krakow, Poland where we toured the Wawel Castle and from there we bussed and trained everywhere else: We went to Auschwitz and Birkenau for a day to learn more about the concentration and death camps and were almost stranded there. Luckily, we kept our cool and managed to get the last bus in the bitter cold night from Auschwitz back to Krakow from where we took an overnight train to Prague.

As Rome is so close to Pisa, we of course could not let that chance slide to see the great deal about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I must admit that it is absolutely incredible to see this absurd and slightly worrisome phenomenon in person. Far more entertaining, however, is to see the endless tourists trying to take the perfect picture with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This has become such an attraction that many tourists are unaware of the other things Pisa has to offer.

We arrived in Florence on a Friday noon and got incredible paninis at arguably one of the best sandwich places in Florence – All’Antico Vinaio. Strengthened by this delicacy we made our way to the Uffizi Gallery, in which we marveled at the incredible collection of paintings and sculptures, as well as the view of the Ponte Vecchio. After our tour through the antiquity and renaissance we toured the famous cathedral of Florence and climbed atop the Duomo, from where we had a magnificent view.

As my days left in Barcelona tick down, I can’t help but reflect on one of the most important aspects of my trip: the people I’ve met and interacted with. I’d like to take the time here to formally thank them for their role in my life during this semester.  

Here's a confession I never expected to be making on a school-sanctioned blog: I have depression. I've shared my life with the Monster for over eight years now and I will live with it for the rest of my life. Some days it's barely there, like an extra suitcase I can keep tucked away under my bed until I have to go home, and some days it's a tsunami, 500 feet tall, washing away all the progress I've ever made like a cruel reminder that it will always be bigger than me.

Marrakesh is a crazy city . . .  even for Morocco.

But I loved it.

Maybe it was the vibrance. Maybe it was the chaos. Maybe it was the dancing. Maybe it was the addictive fresh orange juice, I am not quite sure what drew me in so quickly. But, since this was our last excursion in Morocco, I think this was the best way to end.

Marrakesh presents the traveler with all the best parts of Morocco:

As my time in Barcelona is coming to a close, I took some time to reflect on my experience here. A part of that was thinking about things I wish I would have done, or would have done more often during my stay in Barcelona.

1. Traveled more throughout Spain than other countries. Spain is very diverse; I found this out when I traveled to Granada. I wish I had seen more of Spain and that way I would have also practiced speaking Spanish more often.

Instead of one week full of finals, my finals were split up into two weeks: last week and this week. Last week I had my more stressful exams (theater performance, art history oral at the University of Nantes, and French final), so this weekend my friend Marie and I took advantage of our last free days here and decided to go out for a seafood dinner at Trentmoult, Rezé (a town - and former fishing village - across the Loire, south of Nantes).