"If you're traveling in 
city, and the promises made to them when 
"No...Do" insignia prompts Sevillanos to raise their heads high and puff out their chests with pride. Theirs is a city that has been crucified and resurrected, seen the worst of times but rebounded and clawed its way back into the best of times."William Washabaugh (professor at UW-Milwaukee)
posted by Erin @ 5:14 AM
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posted by Erin @ 6:09 AM
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Wednesday and Thursday night we stayed in a 1* hotel called Gran Hotel Magenta. With the red wine stains on the beds and toilet that didn’t flush, I would hardly call it “gran.” But with a deck of cards, the Initial Game, and some French wine, we made it work.
Thursday, we were determined to eat crepes. We stopped at the first creperie we saw and ended up paying $15 each for a crepe and a cappuccino... both sub-par at best. We walked through the Latin Quarter to the
Nate, Sarah, and I headed over to Notre Dame and climbed the 400 spiral staircase steps to the top. 
Happy Thanksgiving...we ate dinner in the Chinatown of Paris. A Chinese menu in French is a challenge and a half. We were those kids...pointing and nodding at our neighbor’s food to our waitress. Worth it. DELICIOUS. Most non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever had, but it was great, and I’ve already thrown in a request for a real Thanksgiving meal when I come back to the
Our friend Kim flew in and met us Thursday night, so we just hung out in the hotel again.
Friday, we woke up pretty early and headed to the 
For lunch, we stopped in this little hole in the wall Jewish-run sandwich shop that had to rearrange everything to accommodate us. The man making our paninis was the jolliest guy I’ve ever met, and our sandwiches were so good. We also stopped for some hot chocolate because turns out, it’s really cold at the top of the
We walked over to the Champs-Elysees, the famous shopping street, which was all decked out in Christmas lights. We admired some 16,000 euro bags in the 5 story Louis Vuitton store. We made friends with “Paul’s Bakery.” I think we kept them in business this weekend.
All we wanted to do was find the Longchamp store, because we all wanted a bag for our souvenirs. We asked everywhere and got sent in so many different directions, so we eventually gave up and decided to head towards to the Louvre and introduce ourselves to Mona Lisa. About five minutes into our journey, we actually found the Longchamp store. Success! We didn’t meet Kanye West while taking pictures of the Mona Lisa, but it was still pretty cool. The new entrance to the museum was pretty sweet as well. We headed back to the apartment, which was conveniently located between the
Saturday, we took a daytrip to see the chateau of 
Because of the public transport strike, the metro had been kind of sketchy...sometimes you had to pay, and sometimes the gates were just open. Well, we were able to just walk onto the train to get back to
Tried to find a cheap pub Saturday night but gave up after walking in 2 bars with 20 euro drinks and then getting chased down the street by a homeless man bleeding from the face.
Sunday, we gave crepes another try. Glad we did, much better. When I reached my hand out to take the crepe, the man who made it took my hand, kissed it, made a growling noise and asked me if I loved him. We hopped on the Metro and checked out Moulin Rouge and the Opera, took one final lap down the Champs-Elysees, turned down an opportunity to meet Kylie Minogue at the Virgin Megastore, and went back to the apartment to pack up our stuff for the airport.
It was strange to get to the terminal and feel relieved to be able to understand what people were saying again...and not in English. We were kind of worthless all weekend because not only do we not speak French, we don’t even know how to pronounce it when reading something. Made getting directions and food a challenge/surprise. Three more weeks of Spanish. Can’t believe I’m almost done.
posted by Erin @ 5:37 AM
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"In Nablus, on the West Bank, there live two friends who've known each other for years. Said and Khaled, two Palestinian people, who've experienced living under another nation's rule for their whole lives. They feel oppression, humiliation and consider themselves prisoners in their own land. As soon as a friend presents to them an opportunity to avenge their way of life, the filmmaker follows their steps as they prepare themselves for their final act of resistance, a suicide mission in Tel-Aviv..."
posted by Erin @ 3:25 AM
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I think the highlight of the day may have been watching the street vendors selling fake Prada purses and watches getting chased by the police. Our friend Mike ended up getting a free watch because the vendor had to flee.
posted by Erin @ 3:43 AM
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