Farewell Europe

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

It seems like yesterday that I arrived in Barcelona, unsure of what a euro even looked like and with the one sole worry of how to get from the Barcelona airport to our hotel for the night. As I sit here writing this post in the Barcelona airport at 1:42 in the morning on hour 8 of our 30 hour journey back to the U.S., I’m happy to go home and see my friends, family, and Lucky (of course), but I also am really sad to leave the city that’s become my home during the last 4 months and the people I grew accustomed to spending hours with hanging out in the dorm’s dens singing “Call Me Maybe”. While I won’t miss anchovies, ham, Spain’s general lack of efficiency, communication barriers, and the constant fear of being pickpocketed, these past 12 days of traveling through Amsterdam, Prague, Venice, Florence, and  Milan have made me realize the attachment that I already feel to Spain, specifically Barcelona. It’s going to be weird to get used to leaving bars at 2 rather than 6, eating dinner at 6 rather than 10, actually having to study again, and not using Facebook messenger to make all my plans. As much as I hate to leave my life here though, I still find it unbelievable that I ever had this opportunity at all, and I know with certainty that someday, somehow, I will come back here. So I refuse to say goodbye, but rather, until next time, Barcelona.

Ciao.

Ashley