Europe Adventures!

Just came back to Boston and I'm too scared to check my bank account.

But it was worth it, the whole package of Europe, from the historical sites of London, to shopping down Reagent street, to the tapas of Barcelona and the beaches in Valencia!

In London we hit all the tourist spots including Tower of London, London Bridge, Big Ben etc. We ran into Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Train Station! And guess who joined us and gave us an exclusive tour of Westminister Abbey? The one and only Jamie Voros! We visited some friends in Cambridge University where I tried my hand at punting down the Cam River. For those of you who haven't heard of punting, you take this really long wooden stick, throw it into the bottom of the river and then push off the stick to move the boat. Much slower than crew boats but it's a thing in Cambridge. 

Then we went to Barcelona to see some MISTI-Spain friends. They took us for om noms at a tapas store. Tapas are basically small plates. Most of the tapas we had were some kind of seafood on bread. We then saw the Magic Fountain and a musical fountain show and spelled out MIT in front of it. And of course we visited the beaches where it was apparently ok for girls to walk around topless and boys without pants so we had our fair share of giggles. 

Next stop: Valencia, my fav part of the trip! We went to Valencia and met up with 20 other MISTI kids to celebrate San Juan. None of us understood the significance of the fiesta except it's for the summer solstice. And what do the Spanish do to celebrate the longest day of the year? Party and bonfire on the beach all night! Apparently the government issues out firewood where people wait in line for them, but us being silly Americans we didn't know it was a thing so by the time we realized, there was only mulch left. So we put on our puppy faces, begged around for fire wood and scavenged through the recycling bins for cardboard... Valencia brings the worst out in us. Our pity stories yielded a myriad of cardboard boxes, blocks of wood and even a wooden table top! We eventually started the fire and bonded over a giant campfire game of never have I ever. When midnight came around, tradition is that everyone jumps over the fire "to cleanse body and soul" and then jumps over 7 waves to "wash away evil spirits" for good luck.

Photos below: Our primitive search for things to burn; Starting the fire; Me jumping over the bonfire (this is probably on the list of dumb injuries, but in my defense the fire was really small); MIT jumping over waves at midnight.

Of course now that I'm back in Boston... time to workout! And as a reward for all of you who have been following this blog and also working out in the boathouse I'm bringing some British gummies (just for you Cpotts) and leaving them by my locker. Up for post workout grabs!

<3 Carol