June 28: Our Last Day in Europe

As this was our last day in Europe, it was a very important day and called for some special spontaneity. So at 5: 40 this morning, Leslie and I got up and took the subway to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Best. Idea. Ever. We got to the beach just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. It was breathtaking!

We also made a new friend while we were at the beach this morning... He just walked over and sat down on the sand in front of us and started talking. He was really nice, but because I've taken up a city mind set, he made me a little bit nervous. When we got up to leave, he said he wanted to see us again and asked if we'd come back to the beach later today to hear him play African music. We turned him down. He was really cool about it; he shook our hands before we walked away.

Since 5:40 is kind of an unhappy hour to get up in the morning, after watching the sunrise we went back to the hotel and I slept for another hour.

Then we had breakfast and went shopping with Stacy and Elise. Not much to report on shopping, but we went to the Hard Rock cafe for dessert. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before. I loved it!

We went back to the hotel to meet up with a handful of classmates. We had a picnic on the beach for a final kind of shindig.

A few of us left early and hit a couple of tourist shops on the way back from the beach. The people working there were so pushy! I was too annoyed to buy any of their overpriced stuff. Andrea and I finally found a shop where the employees left us alone. I was so happy that I was willing to pay full price instead of haggling. I am definitely NOT going to miss these pushy store owners and street vendors when I go back home.

Somehow, while we were shopping, the four of us got split up. By the time we were finished shopping it was dark and there were huge masses of people on the streets to buy from street vendors. Andrea and I walked up and down the street to find Stacy and Leslie, but in that crowd it was a hopeless cause. So we headed back and hoped they would do the same. Luckily, we caught up to them walking a little ways in front of us. Phew!!

The rest of the night was spent packing. It was a veeerrry long night. With a very early morning ahead!

Our awesome hotel

The lobby of our awesome hotel

The outside of our awesome hotel. Stacy, Maddi and I were in the 5th floor, 2nd window from the right :)

The night view from our balcony :)