Author Archives: Alice

The Final and Dramatic One

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So here we are, the end of my blogging contract with Durham International Office.

I’ve been so fortunate to have this blogging space, that I wanted my last post to be something pertinent. A kind of, drop-the-mic kind of conclusion, if you will.

I’ve spent my last week in Calais volunteering in the refugee camp there, and made a wee little vlog about it which I’ll post below. Remember the action continues over on theadventuresofaliceabroad so if you want to know what I’ll be up to in my last two months in France subscribe there!

I hope you enjoy finding out about the SOS Chai project!

Love, Alice x

 

 

Welcome to France

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I’m not even sure how to go about writing what my first week in France has been like, but I guess if I were to liken it to anything it would be like being chucked in at the deep end, but with plenty of armbands, goggles, and a rubber ring for good measure.

I’ve really enjoyed getting stuck into things with my internship at Bless. I’ve met so many people in this first week but it’s surprising how much easier it is to retain those names when most of them are in English. Continue reading

Bilbao and the beauty of the Basque…

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With just over a month left now, I’m very keen to tick as many destinations off my Spanish bucket list as possible. Being on the borders of the Basque Country, Bilbao was something which had to be done, especially after getting a taste of this unique and often overlooked province of Spain in San Sebastián. So it was music to my wanderlustful ears when my flatmate from Bilbao itself said I could tag along on her weekend trip home. Continue reading

Semana Santa: Part III

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Still catching up on my antics of a few weeks back… To see part two click here

My flight from Paris got to Barcelona for 10.30pm, and here I was again with a different metro system and an Air Bnb to find, seeing as there was no transport back to Tudela at this hour. Only this time I had the help of a fellow Cuths linguist and dear friend who is doing her year abroad in the outskirts of the city.

It was interesting to see how different the Air Bnb was once I was out of one of the most expensive capitals in Europe… Continue reading

Semana Santa: Stage 2

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Another retrospective blog, the first part of which can be found here:

 https://theadventuresofaliceabroad.wordpress.com/2016/04/09/semana-santa-part-i-cause-were-young-and-were-reckless-well-take-this-way-too-far/

 

My brief voyage to Paris started with an unpleasantly early train to another big city. Barcelona airport is possibly one of the hottest places I’ve ever been. Despite a slight delay I arrived safe and well by the afternoon, and what is perhaps most impressive is I managed to navigate an hour long metro journey, with several changes, without problems. Strong independent city woman points for me.

Once my Air bnb host kindly picked me up from the metro stop and helped me up the EIGHT (!) flights of stairs, I dumped my things and headed for Montmartre. Here I met up with a pal from home, where we ate dinner spitting distance from the sacré cœur. I’d only been in Paris about 5 hours by this point, but already everything felt a world away from Tudela.

 

paris-metro-map

 Crossing pretty much the whole of Paris with no disasters!

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Just a small town girl…

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Last weekend was a cracker. For language practice, probably not a 10/10, but for sanity 100%.

Living abroad is hard, and stagnation and mundane routine is not something I do well with. I was lucky that just when I was feeling the brunt of it that my friend Maya popped over for her second visit, with her keen-bean spirit and general lovely ludicrousness which was able to bring out my dormant silly side. Continue reading

New year, same country 

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So it’s been a while since I’ve hit the blog, I just haven’t known where to start with what I’ve been up to. It seems like I’ve been busy, but not doing anything of note. The Christmas holidays were great, it was lovely being back in England doing my usual uni holidays routine – seeing friends, family, doing band stuff, hanging around in Norwich and all the boring adult stuff (which incurred a hefty dentists bill, but I shan’t complain as I am glad with my family’s history that I still have all my own teeth). But getting back to my Spain routine was a little difficult – just at the time when festival lineups are coming out, friends are proposing holiday plans, and I’m having to say “sorry, I can’t, I have to be in France” more times than seems fair. But I’m trying to see the positives of it; as my trip to visit my fellow Durham year abroader Fiona revealed, France is actually a pretty cool country.

Clouds so cool they hang out with mountains Continue reading

Feliz Navidad, Return to Terredad

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So here I am again, back in the mother land for the first time since September, huddled up in a duvet in cosy old Norfolk.

It’s weird how much time I spent before going abroad, on the edge of my seat waiting to go and imagining what kinds of adventures I’d get myself mixed up in. To be honest I wondered how I’d actually deal with living in Spain. I can’t quite decide if the outcome has matched my expectations; I guess there’s some things you just can’t ever predict happening. Continue reading