Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona

I got back from our 9-day field-study trip to Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona a few hours ago. And I thought I would tell you about it mostly in pictures. Here we go:

This pic is on the train that we took from Germany to Rome. It was one of those night trains where you get a little cot to sleep on and such. But there were five of us guys crammed into one tiny little compartment. So it got a little stinky by morning. No big deal. This pic is actually when we were almost to Rome, as we all had to get into business formal clothes for our first academic meeting in Rome.

This is at the Roman Forum. It's basically a ton of ruins and such from the Roman Empire. Oh, and here's something somewhat interesting. It's actually not that easy to get around Rome. Their metro system is terrible, mainly because every time they go to dig a new metro line, they hit more ruins. So you have to get around mostly by bus, which takes forever.

Colosseum of Rome. I'm sure you all know what this is. It was an absolutely beautiful day when we checked this out.

This is inside St. Peter's Basilica. It's absolutely beautiful inside. And it's basically all mosaic, so you can take flash pictures inside. Awesome. And it's fricken HUGE. I saw a ton of churches in Rome. I didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel though, because it was closed on Sunday. Lame. Next time.

Trevi Fountain in Rome. We chilled here for quite a while and just talked and watched people. And a guy proposed to his girlfriend in front of the fountain while we were there.

In front of St. Peter's. Vatican City actually became the 10th country that I've been to. Pretty exciting, huh?

This is the Tiber River in Rome.

The Pantheon. It has a giant hole in the roof (an oculus). I think it's the world's largest concrete dome that is not reinforced by anything else. Anyway, it had rained before we got there, and there was water on the floor in the middle of the Pantheon. Pretty cool.

Now we are in Spain! Madrid, to be more exact. Plaza Mayor, to be even more exact. It's basically one of the main plazas in Madrid.

This is at the Real Madrid soccer match that we went to. The stadium seats like 80,000, so it's fricken sweet. And I sat in the 5th row for just 17 Euro. Madrid won 1-0, but they were actually eliminated from the King's Cup because they had lost their last game to the same team 4-0. Anyway, I bought a Real Madrid jersey. Because why would you not. After all, they were named the most successful soccer club of the 20th century.

This is at a park in Madrid. I don't know the name of it, but a few of us guys went there and played soccer for a few hours one afternoon. It was a lot of fun.

This is me and the main academic adviser in our program, Thomas Staub. He's an epic baller, as you can see by his pink shirt, striped tie, and the look on his face in this pic.

Barcelona! This is at the beach, obviously. We played soccer on the beach for like three hours and went swimming in the Mediterranean. It was awesome.

Haha. This is at the ice bar that we went to in Barcelona. It's -5 Celsius at all times, and the walls, bar, sculptures, chairs, and glasses are all made out of glass. They give you this huge shiny parka when you get in there, and it's a lot of fun.

This is at the Magic Fountain in Barcelona. It is probably the sweetest fountain I have ever seen in my life. It had an intense water/music/light show. Epic.

Anyway, those are some of the highlights of the trip. One more quick side story. This guy tried to steal my duffel bag on the Barcelona metro. It was sitting on the floor in front of me, and he tried sliding it across the floor and taking it. I saw him doing it though, yelled "Bro, you serious?" pretty loud, and then grabbed my bag back from him. The train was stopping at a station at that exact moment basically, and he hustled off that train pretty fast. It was hilarious.

So basically all of my field trips are done for the semester now. The next five weeks are going to be very, very busy with readings, homeworks, papers, presentations, and finals. I definitely think I will be ready to go home by the end of that.

Also, I can't end without saying congratulations to my sister on her engagement!