Bienvenidos a Barcelona!

Since arriving to Barcelona, life has been crazy and time has passed so quickly; I can't believe I have already been here for over a month. I have been doing lots of walking, exploring, visiting, eating, and just enjoying life. It was quite surreal when I first arrived here seeing things, hearing sounds, and smelling scents that are from a time in my life that feels like so long ago. I realize that 6 years isn't a long time in the grand scheme, and I recognize that I'm still very young; however, my mind associates all of these places and spaces with a time in my past. It has been fun rediscovering Barcelona and all of its beauty. Words can't do justice to how grateful I am for this opportunity, and how thrilled I am to be out of Helsinki (no offense Finland). The classes I am taking are also pushing me to re-learn Spanish at a rapid rate, and to also expand upon my otherwise very limited vocabulary. I'm excited to see how far I can get with expanding my knowledge in the next few months. 

Here are some pictures of what I've seen in my first month here...

I was so excited to be back at the Boqueria, the world's prettiest marketplace I have ever seen.

I naturally wanted all of it..

My second weekend here Valeria and I went on a hike to the nearby 'mountains' and it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday. Thumbs up for agave rather than snow!

I thoroughly enjoy succulents!

Cherry blossoms blooming in February, I dig it.

Valeria took this really pretty photo of the Catalan flag on the hike.

An admittedly crappy panorama of the view from the top of the hike. Barcelona is below, and then the sea.

There have been lots of sunny walks.. lots of sunny walks.

And you find lots of funny things along the way, usually.

And lots of getting lost in tiny streets.

And lunches at the beach :-)

The Sagrada Familia looks no more complete then when I was here last, but that doesn't mean it isn't any less stunning.

Arco Iris - Beautiful architecture and beautiful rainbows.

We also spent an afternoon wandering about the Picasso museum on a random free day. I snapped this when the guard wasn't looking - too bad there is a crappy glare.

Valeria took this pretty photo of our school. One more semester to go!!

Oh and our school has birds of paradise flowers - I'll take it!

There are always festivals for one saint or another. We enjoyed the festivities for Santa Eulàlia; kids swinging around bottle rockets to drum beats.

Favorite store front.

As you can see, February treated me pretty well. And lastly there is a fun story to tell regarding the next two pictures. Long story short, a Canadian girl is living in the city, and is trying to build up her portfolio for her photography business. She is in need of families and couples to photograph, because she is mostly interested in wedding/engagement photography and/or family photography (mostly because this is where the money is). Valeria promptly suggested that we were cousins and got us a free photo session.. it was hilarious pretending to be cousins, but yet so much fun wandering the streets while someone snapped our photos. We've only gotten back two of the pictures, but they're quite fun. I was trying my hardest to not act like I felt really awkward being photographed, and I think I did alright. I am quite eager to see the rest when we get them. 

Candid laughter.

Just a couple of cousins, stoked on life.

Well March has already been great, and is only going to get better. I promise to update at the beginning of April. In the meantime, enjoy this splendid photo from my new balcony as of March 1. I couldn't be more pleased about being able to see the sea from my new apartment! Bienvenidos a Barcelona!!

Abisko!

My return to Scandinavia was spent in beautiful Abisko, Sweden. Dave is working in a really great place amongst really great people and I am beyond grateful for getting to explore the sights and sounds of Abisko. I flew into Kiruna, and then made the journey west to Abisko for two weeks of snowy adventures. Lots of walks on frozen lakes, warm beverages, sauna-a-plenty, movies, two lovely trips out to cabins, and some spectacular northern lights made the trip one to remember! I also got to see my first live moose/elk, so amazing! And I got to see my first reindeer, sadly it was dead, but seeing nature at work is quite interesting. Next trip to Lapland I'm guaranteed to finally see an arctic fox, I figure, and hopefully an alive reindeer. Pictures can show you my trip now, but bear in mind that I took the 6 crappiest ones, all of the others are Dave's doing, naturally.

The views from the plane were incredible! Welcome back to Lapland!

I think it was my second morning when this guy was just outside the window, having breakfast.

The view from Dave's bedroom, pretty spectacular.

And again.. it's hard to be upset about the sun setting at 2 when the sky is brilliant shades of pink and blue.

Lapporten, the gateway to Lapland.

Yup, it's frozen.

And so are my eyelashes.

And a tad closer for dramatic effect.

The first cabin that Dave took me to was along the Kungsleden, or the Kings Trail. It was a lovely area called Abiskojaure. We spent an evening by a fire, watching for northern lights, but to no avail. The company was what mattered though ;-)

Good morning from Abiskojaure.

On the lake just leaving Abiskojaure.

I'm a friendly skier..

Dave's hostel also organizes dog sledding trips, and they were very gracious to let he and I try it out. It was really good fun, despite the fact that I fell a couple of times. The day we went was quite cold, but made for some good pictures.. 

I think this is me and my pups.

My eyelashes freeze over quite easily, what can I say?

Dave and his pups!

Frozen eyelashes for everyone!

The second trip we took was to an equally as beautiful destination, Karsavagge. What I learned on this trip is that I'm not great at uphill skiing, but nothing that can't be perfected with practice? Sadly I was plagued with a migraine shortly after we arrived, so I missed the northern lights that were out that night, but I did get to see the sea of stars when I went to the loo and wow! It was on the way back to Abisko the next morning that we saw my first reindeer, so maybe click past that picture quickly if you're uninterested in how mother nature unfolds. We also saw a family of moose, but they were too quick and distant to snap pictures of, but it was incredible to see them roaming about. And a flock of willow grouse!

Views of Karsavagge.

!!!

This is what I missed :(

He makes the best breakfast.

The work of possibly a lynx.

Lynx tracks?

I was also unbelievably lucky to see the northern lights in truly spectacular form! I had been fortunate to see them last year, but this year it was like how everyone describes it, and how they picture it in magazines! It wasn't just a beam of green across the sky, but rather it was a swirling party in the sky and it moved and danced like nothing I've ever witnessed before. It was jaw dropping and something I will never forget. It carried on all night and was enough to make you not care if you didn't have on proper attire, because you could lay down in the snow and watch the sky perform without any care in the world because you knew you were witnessing an incredible event. If you were quiet enough you could even hear it whispering.

Brilliant shades of green.

I was so excited!

I like him.

And so concludes my whirlwind adventure to Lapland. I am so thankful to see what all I saw, but it was time to move on to my next adventure.. BARCELONA! Goodbye Arctic and Scandinavia, it's been a pleasure, but my heart is set on warmer, sunnier landscapes for now. 

My last snowy view, for a while. I flew over the Swiss Alps on my way to Spain.

Winter Break

Trips home are always good for the soul. I was so thankful to be able to go home for 6 weeks this holiday. My trip started and ended in Arizona, where the sunshine surely warmed my bones! As did all of my family :) I spent the first two weeks of the trip working for a few pennies during the day, and hanging out with my family by night. I mostly only have lots of pictures of the dogs, sun, palm trees, and a couple from Christmas, but here they are.

First day back home, lounging poolside with my favorite pup! 

Alex and Lauren's front yard on a 'cloudy' day.

Hikes with Alex and Lauren amongst the cacti!

Alex, Lauren, Seven and Soda and me decided to take a new family photo for mom and dad. It turned out pretty snazzy I think.

Christmas day pizza making.. Soda doesn't realize I'm not so good at sharing.

The day after Christmas Alex, Lauren, and I headed to Indiana for a visit with our friends from home. I had intentions of also going to Chicago on this two week stint in the midwest, but Polar Vortex had other plans for me.. Katherine, Craig and I got snowed in together for days. Thank god for puzzles and boxed vino, because otherwise we might have gotten severely annoyed with each other. Just kidding, it was so much fun to be snowed in, we all slept a lot, watched a lot of movies, and ate all of the food we could scrounge from the back corners of the cupboards. But before the wrath of the Polar Vortex hit, a day trip to Louisville was had, a friends' feast was enjoyed by many, a 1920s themed New Years Eve party ensued, followed by a gorgeous New Years Day hike to start out 2014 right, and then the snow came...

I finally got to meet the newest Conway babe, Miles! Julia and Henry, Me and Miles, Shola and Julia!

Louisville to see Liz and Gabe!

Walks along the Ohio River with Gabe and Liz.

This is what Friends' Feast looked like before heading out to karaoke.

A Very Gatsby New Years!

Elloree and me feeling the beat!

Happy New Year!

New Years Day hike at Shades State Park.

Besties!

Someone etched this devil into the rock in the 1920s, according to legend, crazy!

I'm creeping through the reeds.

Hard stance.

This is what a snowball fight during polar vortex looks like.

This is what Katherine, Jeebus and Jessica taking a walk to avoid cabin fever looks like.

And otherwise our time was spent like so.

It's a Circle City classic.

 And then it was back to the desert for one final week before heading to Scandinavia. My last week was spent half with good friends that flew out to see me, and half with my family. Trista, Sara and I had a really nice visit together, exploring and catching up. And then my last few days after they left were also great, with a nice walk with my mom to an arboretum, and just soaking up my last bits of sunshine for a while.

South Mountain.

The view of Phoenix from South Mountain.

Day trips to Sedona.

Friends in Sedona!

Sara and me!

Trista and me with an Arizona sunset!

We went out to Club Downtown, only to realize upon arriving that there are no vowels.. que interesante!

Boyce Thompson Arboretum hike with my mom! So beautiful!

So much desert flora and fauna!

And so concludes my whirlwind winter break! I never knew that 6 weeks could pass by so quickly. It was a wonderful trip for which I am very grateful. But now it's only one more semester of school, and then I'll be free as a bird! I am looking forward to my next visit home already, whenever it may be. Thank you to everyone who made my winter holiday what it was, I am so thankful to have the best friends and family in all of the land.

P.S. I arrived back in Helsinki to this girl with my first ever airport sign! I dig her! It made my return back to this continent slightly less overwhelming.