Blaine


 * Yay. **

** 3 days later **
 * It was a dark and stormy night, and I was sitting on my butt watching my favorite television show ANTM (if you do not know what that is, good job you have a life) when on the bottom news bar it said that Billy Mays was soon to be brought back to life, he was brought back because they found a cure to hypertensive heart disease and death, and that they were currently defrosting him. **
 * He’s back! My favorite infomercialer is back! As soon as I heard the news I went to the infomercial channel and there he was, Billy Mays. The product he was selling was the: All-Expenses-Paid Free Trip to Europe. He said, in his booming voice, “Hi, Billy Mays here,” and continued, “Are you sick of Michigan?” and I said, “Yes.” Then he said, “If so, here is the product for you. Today I’m selling the All-Expenses-Paid Free Trip to Europe. To get this product all you need to do is call 1-800-555-5555 or contact your local world cultures teacher and pay a small fee of 42 payments of…” I turned off the T.V. and immediately called the number. When the guy picked up he started talking in a weird accent so I hung up. I decided to talk to Mrs. Greve. She gave me all of the details and I was headed to the first country of my choice Spain. **

** Spain ** ** Day 1 **
 * I arrived at Barcelona El Prat Airport in Barcelona on April, 21 at 6 AM and I was full of energy. **
 * The first thing I did was go to Mount Tibidabo and I saw a great view of the hilly city and saw the sun rise. From there I went to the Tibidabo amusement park which was a lot of fun. **
 * After that I took a bus to Barceloneta Beach on the Mediterranean, and on the bus ride there was an annoying tourist who kept talking about history of Barcelona, and the  Phoenicians and Carthaginians who founded the city. **




 * At the beach it was about 70 ****  °F, which was hot for the month of April according to the annoying tourist, who must have done his research unlike me (Shh, don’t tell Mrs. Greve) and the ocean was amazing. At the beach I swam, went to the boardwalk, ate at a delicious restaurant on the boardwalk called 7 Portes and ate their famous traditional Spanish paella, and sat there thinking how happy I was that Billy Mays was back. After the beach I went back to the Arts Hotel for a well deserved rest after a long day. **



** Day 2 **

**I slept in until about 10:00 then had a great breakfast at the hotel and then at about 12:00 I took a bus to Estadio Camp Nou, Barcelona FC’s stadium, to watch the game between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The bus ride was supposed to be a 16 minute drive, but the traffic was terrible and many people were already getting to the game so it took more than 16 minutes to get in my seat, anyway, the bus ride was pretty boring but we did see the SEAT car manufacturer, which I heard was one of Barcelona’s leading industries, and when I got to my seat that was in the third row it was 1:16. The game started at 2:30 so I saw the warm-ups, but that was nothing compared to the game. At the end of the game it was 2-1, Barcelona winning on Xavi’s game winning goal in the third and last added minute. Messi and Ronaldo scored the two other goals.**

** When I got back to the hotel I just rested until 7:00 when I went to Moments, a restaurant with traditional Spanish and Catalan dishes. I had susquet de peix, a catalan fish casserole, Escalivada, catalan style vegetables, and for dessert I had wonderful crema catalana. ** ** Then I went back to the hotel and had a great sleep. **

** Day 3 ** ** My last full day in Spain was a good one. I woke up at 9:42, had breakfast. Soon, I found out that it was a holiday, St. George’s Day. On that day people give roses and books to loved ones. ** ** First, I went to **** Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, which was not in my plan, but since St. George’s day was the only day it was open to the public I went. Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya is the house of the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya and was decorated with roses in honor of St. George. **

** Afterward, I went to Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is a very large Roman Catholic Church. I found out that the church began construction in 1882 and is scheduled to be finished in 2026 or 2028. While I was viewing the church I met back up with the annoying tourist, and guess what, he was annoying. The whole time I was there he was babbling on about the church. I’ll admit he knew a ton about it, but he wouldn’t be quiet. ** ** Finally, to end my day I went to La Rambla, a popular boardwalk-ish pedestrian street. On St. George’s day many flower and book stands were setup and there were a bunch of street performers. There I spent the rest of the day watching street performers, looking at the markets, and for dinner I had food from the street vendors. **

** Overall, it was a great day. Time for France. **

** France **

** Day 1 ** ** I arrived in Paris late last night at about 11:30 and arrived at the Hotel du Louvre to sleep. As soon I woke up, I had the stereotypical French breakfast, a crepe, at the hotel then walked to the Louvre museum. I already knew that art is important in France, but this was great. I saw the Mona Lisa, which I thought was kind of boring, Venus de Milo , much better, and Liberty Leading the People , but my favorite thing there was the pyramid. There was so much to see that I was at the Louvre until 4:00. **

** Right after the Louvre I went to 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level of the Eiffel Tower. The food was very good. Then I looked at the Eiffel tower a little bit, thought about Billy Mays and came back to the hotel a bit early so I can get a good sleep for my big day tomorrow. **

** Day 2 ** ** Woke up at 6:30 to go to the airport to head off to ****// Nice la Belle //**** or just Nice, but I had plenty of sleep because I got to bed early last night, and arrived in Nice at 10:30. The weirdest thing though was that the annoying tourist from Spain was on the plane sitting across the aisle and was as annoying as ever. He must have known Mrs. Greve because he was almost as knowledgeable on European history as her, but much more annoying. He told me that France used to be on the territory of Gaul, that France was derived from Francia which means “country of the Franks”, and that France is the world’s capitol of tourism and fashion. Something funny that happened on the plane was that a guy tried to buy some airline food with a Franc, the old currency of France that was replaced by the Euro in 2002. **

** When I landed in Nice I was starving because the plane food was terrible so I went to a café. After the café I went to Promenade **** des Anglais and the beach. Promenadedes Anglais is a boardwalk along the beach. The beach was on the Mediterranean and had a wonderful view. I stayed and swam at the beach for a while and then went to a popular town square, **** Cours Saleya. At the square there were some street musicians **** and animal acts, and my favorite was a monkey riding a dog. I was getting hungry so I went to a Nicois restaurant and had ratatouille. Right after that I went to the airport for my trip to Mount Blanc. ** ** The flight to Geneva was short so I got out of the airport at around 10:00. Geneva is in Switzerland, but I only went there because it was the closest airport to Chamonix, France. Then I went straight to my hotel in Chamonix by bus. ** ** Day 3 ** ** I woke up and was ready. I was going to go skiing on Mount Blanc, the highest mountain in France and in the Alps. (Note: In real life if I did this I would be dead at the end of the day) Anyone who’s anyone knows that before you go skiing you must eat a nutritious, wholesome breakfast of corn flakes and a McRib, so I did. After that I got my boots and skis on and went skiing. ** ** My first time, I hit a jump and did a double McTwist. Yeah, I’m that good. The rest of the day flew by, and I was in my hotel room getting ready for Poland. **

** Poland ** ** Day 1 ** ** Day 2 ** ** Day 3 **
 * I just arrived in Gdansk, a large Polish port city, from Geneva at 9:00 AM on Sunday. I went to St. Mary’s Church first, which is a Polish brick Gothic style of church, and had a great service there. After church I had a hearty Polish meal of pierogis and kielbasa. After my lunch I went to the Long Market and saw the famous Neptune’s Fountain, and I went to Artus’ Court and saw the museum there. The most interesting thing that I learned there was that Gdansk was the first Polish city free from Communist Soviet control. The last thing I did was go to Centrum miasta. The architecture was really great and my dinner of kaczka z jabłkami, roasted duck with apples, kompot, a drink made of boiled fruit sugar and spices (I had to pass up on the vodka), and **** krówki, a Polish fudge, was even better. After dinner I got ready for Krakow and went to the airport. **
 * I’m breathing in the fresh air of Krakow. This is one of the most amazing things so far on my trip, thanks to Billy Mays. It was the **** Wieliczka Salt Mine. From the museum portion of the mine I learned that salt mining is a major Polish industry and that this mine produced table salt until 1996. That wasn’t the good part, though. The good part was the sculptures. They had dozens of sculptures and a whole chapel… made of salt. My favorite was da Vinci’s The Last Supper, and all of the chandeliers both made of salt. After the mine I got lunch of Chinese food, and then went to the artificial Kościuszko Mound. I was starting to get creeped out because on the way to the mound the creeper tourist (O_o) was there again. I was polite to him and listened to him because each time I saw him he told me something I could write in my world cultures assignment, and he told me that Poland’s main exports were transportation vehicles and that many Poles converted to Roman Catholicism when their first leader did in 966 AD. Back to the mound. I climbed up the serpentine path and got to the top. At the mound I saw the Vistula River, which is one of the main rivers in Poland, and I learned that the mound was erected by the Cracovians in commemoration of the Polish leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko and was modeled after the prehistoric mound of Krak. It was almost time to leave, but I was really diggin’ the Chinese food so I got some more of that, then went to my motel to get a quick sleep, and finally, I went to the airport and was off to Warsaw. **


 * Someone once said, “Warsaw was raw” I’m not so sure about that, but I do know that the sausage I had for breakfast was (I really shouldn’t of trusted a restaurant called the Bloody Pig), and that Warsaw is the capitol, and the largest city of Poland. When I got to Warsaw the coat of arms popped out at me because it was one of the first things I saw at the airport. It was my last day so I wanted to see a lot. The first thing I saw was the Warsaw Barbican. I learned at the information post that it is a semicircular outpost that was erected in 1540 in place of an older gate to protect Nowomiejska Street, but its only time it protected the city was during the Swedish Invasion. It was mainly destroyed when the Nazi’s invaded and then was rebuilt. I then went to old town and saw Sigismund’s column. I learned from a guide that he was the king who moved the capitol from Krakow to Warsaw. After that I went to Royal Castle. A flyer told me that it was the residence of Polish monarchs. The castle was my last visit in ** **Old Town. I had a lunch of pirogis and potatoes, a common dish, and then I went to Saxon Garden to have a relaxing end to my day. At the garden my two favorites were the Palm House, a greenhouse specializing in growing palms, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It commemorated all who died in WWI and in WWII. I would then go back to the hotel to prepare for Macedonia.**



** Macedonia ** ** Day 1 **


 * I just landed at 8:30 AM in Skopje, Macedonia; the last country in my trip. First, I went to the Skopje Fortress that overlooked the Vardar River, the longest and most important river to the economy. It was built in the 6th century AD by the Byzantine Empire and was recently rebuilt because of an earthquake that damaged it. I stayed there for about one hour exploring the fortress. **


 * After the fortress I went to the Skopje Zoo, which was recently renovated. My favorite animals were the Siberian tiger cubs. I then ate a lunch of tavče-gravče, a Macedonian bean dish and also the national dish, and for dessert, tulumba, fried batter soaked in syrup. After lunch I went to the Skopje Aqueduct, and on my way there I saw the Millennium Cross, the largest cross in the world that was sponsored by the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the official religion of Macedonia, in celebration of 2,000 years of Christianity. I arrived at the aqueduct and I thought that it was a really great piece of architecture. I also learned that no one knows when or who made it. The three theories are that either the Romans, the Byzantines, or the Ottomans made it. After the aqueduct I spent the rest of my day at the Museum of Macedonia where I learned that Macedonia recently gained independence and that it has been controlled by the Greeks, Byzantines, Bulgarians, and Ottomans , and then slept at my hotel. **

** Day 2 **


 * I arrived in Ohrid, and had a very relaxing day. First I had breakfast at a restaurant and then had a great day swimming in Lake Ohrid, the deepest lake in Macedonia. The beach I went to **** was Slavija Beach. I relaxed on the beach and swam until 2:30 then I went to Samuil's Fortress which was the Bulgarian capital in the Middle Ages. I then took a bus to Mavrovo, pitched my tent in the national park, and got a good sleep for my next day. **

** Day 3 **


 * My last day on my European vacation was a good one, except for the fact that the annoying tourist had pitched his tent right next to mine. So, when I woke up I found out that he was still sleeping so I ate my breakfast quietly and got out of there quick so he could not follow me. I went hiking through the forest and saw native Macedonian animals such as the bears, wild boar, wolf, fox, squirrel, chamois and d eer, and I saw various different plant species as well. I really liked the scenic mountains, especially Mount Bistra. **

"Barcelona - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .
 * The last things I did was swimming and fishing in Lake Mavrovo, but there was one more eventful thing. I went back to the campground and I saw Mrs. Greve. When she saw me she quickly put on a mask and she was the annoying tourist! I said, “Mrs. Greve, you have been following me this whole time.” All she said was, “ The main industries of Macedonia are the food and beverage industries, and did you know that many Macedonians are still jobless after the split of Yugoslavia. ” I guess all she wanted to do was to give me my daily dosage of World Cultures. Then I packed up, went to the nearest airport, that happened to be in Skopje, and went home only to realize that none of this had really happened it was just me doing an assignment for Mrs. Greve. So, I cried my eyes out that Billy Mays was still dead. **
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