La Ciudad de Luz

So this weekend, we went to Paris. It's still amazing to be able to just hop on a plane for a three-day trip... to France! Paris was a beautiful city, and I really enjoyed it. The historian in me loved all the sights I'd heard about in textbooks for so many years, and everything was beautiful. Although we didn't have the best weather, we still managed to have a great time.

Our trip started Thursday after school, when we set out for the airport. By the time our flight got in and we checked into our hostel, we decided to simply get dinner and turn in for the night. One of our friends, Ally, who is studying in London this semester, met us there, and it was awesome to see her.

Friday was a day packed with sight-seeing. We saw everything I had always imagined seeing in Paris. Here's the list:

-the Bastille monument, where the French Revolution got its popular start
-the Pantheon, where some of France's finest are buried. This includes Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, Dumas, and Marie Curie, among others. Also, Foucault's pendulum is located here.
-the Catacombes, where the bones of plague and Terror victims have been placed. It was pretty creepy to see the well-organized femurs and skulls arranged in patters, lining wall after wall of this former quarry.
-Notre Dame, which doesn't need much explanation. It was beautiful.
-the Arc d'Triumph and Champs d'Elysees, Paris's famous monument and main street
-the plaza where all the guillotine executions took place during the Revolution and Terror
-the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Hammurabi's Code, and tons of other amazing art
-the Eiffel Tour, where we went to the top at night for a beautiful view of the city as midnight came and it became Valentine's Day

Then, on Saturday, we spent the day at Versailles. It absolutely lived up to all the stories of its opulence and beauty. It was a beautiful day, too, if a little cold. After Versailles, we had a few more hours in Paris before we had to head back to the airport, and we did some eating, exploring, and resting.

Since our return to Madrid, things have been great. Catching up on school work has been necessary, but Emily and I sat in a cafe all Sunday afternoon to finish things up. Thanks to one of my Spanish class assignments, I got in a conversation with the bartender about immigration in Spain. It's so fun to actually be able to communicate with real people in this language... what an awesome opportunity.

To top off a weekend filled with dozens of wonderful things, Em and I attended a new church. It's an English-speaking church, and their traditional Anglican services come closer to the Lutheran church I'm used to than anything I've run into so far. After the service, we chatted with some of the members. As an international church, it pulls English-speakers from all over the world together in fellowship, and we had the chance to talk to people from England, New Zealand, and even Nigeria who currently call Madrid their home. I can't wait to get to know the people better and go back to the church. Jumping around between Spanish masses has been interesting, and in many ways an awesome experience spiritually, but the great sermon and hymns at St. George's hit a little closer to home.

Other than that, we headed back to class today, where great discussions in my Ethics and Philosophy courses have been keeping me on my toes intellectually. As midterms approach, I might have to start working a bit harder, but I'm looking forward to it. It's hard to believe we're almost half-way through the semester. With Lent, lots of travel, and a visit from my mom and aunt just around the corner, I have so much to look forward to. As a whole, life couldn't be better.