The funny thing is....

It seems that the weeks I don't have the time needed to write a decent blog post are the weeks I have the most to say! Like the past few. Hence the no new blog posts in a long time! And it's too bad. Because blogging is one of my favorite things. Besides swing dancing, teaching Zumba, being with my family, and hanging (or even just phone chatting) with my boy Michael. And so I can't believe I haven't written in so long. 

I can't write long given that I just spent at least 4 hours cooking food for the week and now it's almost Monday, but I really want to share a little about what's new in life. 

Well, lots of things are new in life. 

Like that new iPhone update that most people hate and I thus far have refused to get. 

Like the fact that it's weirdly still summer weather and yet time has determined that it needs to be October already. 

Like the new Arcade Fire song that is super long and yet the radio station I listen to feels the need to play it multiple times per day (which is fine, because it's awesome!). 

But in MY life, what's new is that I'm finally figuring out some of my unsolved weird/annoying/frustrating health symptoms. About 10 months ago I decided I needed to give up coffee. I was having pretty bad acid reflux and also stomaches later in the day after drinking a latte or espresso in the morning. I was also having a lot of trouble swallowing food and pills. Not drinking coffee seemed to help some with my stomach but I was still drinking at least 3 cups of caffeinated tea per day just because I felt like I needed it. Without it, I would fall asleep at my desk multiple times throughout the day. I was feeling like a terrible grad student and I thought I just wasn't very good at this "real job" thing. I felt foggy most days and still got stomaches nearly every night. 

I did get my swallowing problems figured out and "fixed"as I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis in May, meaning I have an abnormally large autoimmune (allergic) reaction to....we don't know. Some foods. Maybe alcohol. It's hard to tell. But basically, over time I have had eosinophils (a specific type of white blood cell) building up in my esophagus, making it very narrow, which in turn made swallowing very difficult. Thankfully, I was able to have a endoscopy done where they put a camera down my esophagus to look at it, and the camera ended up breaking apart one of these so-called "strictures", where the eosinophils had made it very narrow. And lo and behold, swallowing became much easier! So that's the story of why I've choked so many times in the past, and why I still have to be careful with certain foods and with how much I bite at one time. This also solves the mystery of why I'm such a slow eater!!

But as of a few weeks ago, I hadn't yet solved the mystery of why I couldn't stay awake in class or at work, why I have terrible eczema that my steroid cream doesn't even seem to help, and why my stomach was so uncomfortable almost every night. 

For the past few years I've been subscribed to an email newsletter written by a health coach. I don't even know how I first found this newsletter but I've enjoyed it since and a few times I've seen her promoting her "21 day detox." I didn't think much of this in previous years besides "Oh, I don't need to think about that. That's probably for health nuts or old people." (Admittedly, my rationale was a wee bit...unreasonable)

Anyway, sometime around the end of August, I read again that she was doing this detox from Sept. 15 to Oct. 6th. I couldn't tell exactly what it entailed but the testimonies were so good that I couldn't quite get it off my mind. "Better energy...more alert...better skin...I never knew I was allergic to gluten!...ect, ect"  I started to wonder if going on a super-well-controlled diet would teach my anything about my own system. Not wanting to make a big decision like this on my own, I talked to all the important people in my life about potentially doing this. I was met by some skepticism from both my mom and Michael, but that was totally fine- because I was skeptical too. But one day, about 2 weeks before the detox was scheduled to begin, I decided that if there was even a chance it would help some of my issues, it was worth a try!

Long story short- it really, truly has been worth it. It hasn't been easy, but its a different type of "not easy" than I expected. Yes, I miss cheese. Yes, I kind of crave some chicken every once in awhile. Yes, I really miss chocolate. But honestly, I'm loving the kind of food I am eating now. 

The hard part, really, is how much I have to THINK about what I'm eating. I know I know, I'm studying to get my PhD, you think I'd be okay with thinking. But it takes time. Time to plan all the meals. Time to prep meals ahead of the week so I don't end up eating out at all. Time (and hassle) to take my food for a whole day with me because I often don't go home at all between 7:30 am and 10:00 pm. 

But like I said, it's all been worth it. In the last 14 days (I have 7 days left to go in the detox) I realized that a combination of caffeine, sugar, gluten, dairy and/or meat (at this point I can't exclude anything or really point fingers) was making me tired, bloated, itchy and acne-y. Obviously not everything has just cleared up and become wonderful in the past 14 days. But I feel so much better after eating my food now. I feel full and satisfied...and then I'm able to wait until the next meal without feeling desperate or cranky about being hungry. After a few initial "getting used to the detox" kind of sleepy, foggy days, I have had so much energy all day long. I actually know what it feels like now to sit and read a paper at my desk without realizing halfway through that my eyes are closed. Some of my sleepiness is definitely due to the "not large" amounts of sleep I get. But I honestly think a lot of it was due to the food I was eating!! 

This is a crazy concept to me. And it's crazy because it really shouldn't be crazy. Not at all. It makes complete sense that what we put in our body directly affects how we feel. But I guess I've never experienced such a change in how I feel based on a change in what I've eaten. So I'm still ridiculously impressed with it. 

Ok, I gotta get to bed. I'll write more about the detox again I'm sure. It wraps up in 7 days but honestly, I really want to keep eating like this so I kind of wish it were longer! I think I will stay largely gluten-free and continue avoiding processed "food" in favor of all the delicious fruits and vegetables I've been treating myself to. 

Hopefully this was interesting to anyone who has made it this far with me :) Please let me know if you are curious about this type of detox- I promise it's not a juice cleanse or low-carb diet or any "fad" type of thing like that. It's all about eating real food! Before this, I would've said "Oh, I eat healthy. I eat lots of "real" foods."  And I would have been wrong. This has been a huge learning experience. More later :)

Happy almost-October!

The beauty of a changeable brain

This post has taken me far too long. I started writing it 2 weeks ago, approximately one week after I made a pact with myself to write in my blog every week. I have failed that self pact twice since then. But, regardless, I think this was a worthy post to start and henceforth I shall finish it. I wrote this as I was feeling very mentally disgruntled. I was having some trouble with my mind racing about with unimportant thoughts and it really started to distract me from work. My normal routine at the time was to work while I was at work and then when I came home I generally cooked and cleaned, but while I did that, I would have TV shows or comedy sketches playing on my computer. I enjoyed it and felt like it was pretty normal to have those things on "in the background" while I was semi-productive, because what was I going to do otherwise?.....Think for myself? Contemplate life's mysteries? Brainstorm for genius ideas for work?

I should have. I should have done all of those things. But instead I was saturating my brain with entertainment because that felt easier. Until I started feeling a little out of control. Then it was slightly less easy and perhaps even a little dangerous. When you constantly have things entering your brain through your eyes and ears, you get a little less good at being in that space by yourself, and you (or at least I) tend to be less okay with it being just plain quiet. So I realized I needed to change that, and I declared a (however short) moratorium on all things falling under the category of addictive media. To me that is basically TV shows and iPhone games. I still allowed myself to listen to music and to watch Zumba DVDs because that's actually for a job, so it's semi-important. And it's fun. And educational.

So basically Zumba was in, everything else was out.

Then, throughout the two weeks since then I wrote a few times so I'll throw those mini-posts in here and then I'll wrap up with something really insightful. Ready?


Maybe it's all in my head. In fact, I think it really is all in my head. But something has to change.

I've become addicted to too many things. Although, having said that, I don't actually know how many things is the "perfect number to be addicted to." Don't worry, none of these things involve anything seriously harmful or illegal in any way. But nonetheless, it's damaging to my brain and my sense of wellness. I can feel it.

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It's been 5 days since I watched TV or played any iPhone games. It's smaller than a drop in the bucket in terms of time and it's miniscule in terms of the other forms of media to which I expose my brain. But it was something, nonetheless. And it helped. I really did stop getting the urge to open a game or turn on a tv episode any time I was doing something semi-mindless around the house (cooking, cleaning, folding clothes). In the past few weeks I found myself playing clips of comedians or a new episode of the Danish show I am so fond of anytime I had a free moment or a moment doing chores. And when one was over, I would automatically press play for the next one. I was simultaneously addicted to it and disgusted by it. Which I suppose is how most, maybe all, addictions are. 

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I came home last night after work and upon deciding that I should enjoy my last evening of "summer", I didn't even consider sitting in bed watching tv or lounging around playing games on my phone. Instead, I automatically thought of how much Zumba I could do and how I could finally clean my desk and fold those clothes that had been laying in a heap at the foot of my bed. As minuscule as my little experiment in "TV purging" has been, I really do feel surprisingly different. 


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 As a neuroscientist (an aspiring one, at least) I shouldn't be so surprised that we can change our brains. I KNOW we can. And yet it shocked me that I did; that I, fairly easily, reduced my excessive compulsion to play a game or have people talking at me so I didn't have to generate thoughts myself.
I understand that it's not much, and that I'd have to do a lot more to diminish the other addictive behaviors I have (sugar craving being a large one; Facebook-checking being another), but I'm pleased nonetheless. I oddly do feel much freer and also more in control. I felt a weird amount of obligated every time I would watch TV shows, knowing that there were so many other episodes to be watched. It was such strong persuasion to keep pressing play, even when I was only paying half-attention to each passing episode. But why was it my responsibility to watch them? It's nice to realize it's not my responsibility.

Yes, there's a time and a place for enjoyment of most forms of media and yes, I'm still going to watch my favorite Danish show again one of these days, but it was really useful for me to start feeling sufficiently satisfied with my own thoughts and to really enjoy some peace and quiet.

Especially going in to this new semester (this will technically be my last year of classes!!), I'm grateful to start on a slightly-more-balanced foot than I was previously when I felt largely dependent on external things to preoccupy my mind.

Maybe I didn't end up saying anything especially insightful but I better end this for now because I have an early morning wake up call for a beautiful Iowa countryside bike ride with my lab mates.

Happy back to school season to all :)

Finding my niche. Possibly a niche that doesn't exist. Yet.

Note: This was originally intended for my science blog but it got a little too "fluffy" so I will save that blog for some hard science and put this here instead :)


I'm convinced that as we get a little bit older and supposedly start figuring our lives out, we all are expected to be comfortable answering the common "What do you want to be when you grow up?"-type questions. I'm pretty sure it's still a difficult question with fairly-naive-to-our-own-future answers, but because we answer it so often we develop catch phrases. We tend to stick with those catch phrases and since they seem to satisfy the general public...voila! We have a planned, believable future. This becomes a little trickier, however, when you are actually working on a degree and people start asking about your quickly approaching future. Upon hearing my answer, they generally begin with that concerned face, along with the "ooooohhhh" sound that means they think I'm in for torture. And then they say.

"So...neuroscience. Hmm. If you aren't going to cut brains open (because I constantly reassure people that I will not be performing brain surgery), what on earth are you going to do with that?"

I have to be totally honest (partly because this is a blog and I'm pretty sure you are supposed to be honest on blogs, but also because I'm a terrible liar)...this is a really difficult question for me.
What am I going to do with my degree?
Well, first I'm going to get it.
And then I'm probably going to be really happy about it.
And then....

My common answer is that I want to do research, likely at the University level. I love coming up with ideas and questions that we can answer in a systematic, detailed way. I enjoy collaborating with others. I like analyzing data because numbers are fun and you can make pretty graphs. I also enjoy teaching and mentoring students.

But sometimes my gut makes fun of my when I answer that question because I'm not sure I can see myself running a lab, analyzing data and having the title of Dr. Clark.  Oh wait, that part I can see. And I like it.

Here's the thing. My gut tells me that in a million years...which is when I'll finally have worked my way through classes, the comprehensive exam, the prospectus and a dissertation to get this degree....I might end up with a career that isn't even invented yet. It sounds like a silly thing to say, but the more I contemplate it, the more I believe it could be true. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that I know many people who work, for example, with computers, who wouldn't have guessed at age 23 that that would be their future career. Science, as a field, is also moving at an incomprehensible speed. I actually find it incredibly exciting to think that, right now, I cannot even picture the career I might have.

This topic stemmed from a magnet that I have on my refrigerator that reads "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Someone recently asked me, "So, Rachel, what would it be?"

My immediate answer was "This." I'd do neuroscience, I'd try to get my PhD, I'd research exercise and cognition and I would learn as much as possible. It just wouldn't be as stressful as it sometimes is in real life, where failure sometimes looms ominously over my desk as I read articles, memorize the cranial nerves, revise papers, analyze data and write in my blog.

While that is true, I'd still do neuroscience because I love it, I realized that I'd also do so many other things. I would learn as many cool swing dance moves as possible and then throw myself on a lively dance floor with the best dancers I know so my unfailing self could take over and turn my into a vintage swing dance goddess.

I'd do a triathlon, which I currently contemplate doing because I love both swimming and biking but the running itself is incredible daunting given my weak knees, my pulled hamstring and my annoying asthma.

I'd find all kinds of crafty projects (like artwork and furniture) to furnish my current apartment or future home...and then I'd actually do them because they'd be wildly successful, instead of the flop that sometimes occurs after such an artsy attempt.

Finally, I'd also write a book. Fellow scientists, don't get fiesty about this....but I'd write a popular science book. Because those are my favorite type of science to read on vacation. So I would write the most scientifically legitimate popular science book that I possibly could. And since I could not fail, given the nature of the question I've rhetorically posed to myself, the book would ultimately be incredible. It'd be funny and witty and influential and educational. By the way, "popular science", as a genre, just refers to the nonfiction style of book that discusses "hot topics" in science, in a way that engages even the least sciency person among us.

Background story: I fell in love with exercise neuroscience a few years ago when I read a popular science book about "The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain". I couldn't put it down. I didn't even know exercise neuroscience was a field...let alone a flourishing one! I'm convinced that was a major factor in leading me to this line of research. I would receive such enjoyment from being one of those author/speaker/creator people bridging the gap between science and the public. 

This is another part of a career I think I may someday have. I want to help incorporate scientific findings into realistic lifestyle changes. It sounds utopian, but people are currently working toward that goal. Lifestyle trackers (which is a whole topic for another day) are just one way scientific research is pushing its way into everyday life. I want to somehow be somewhere in that movement.

Oh- and of course I'd still blog. Which is kind of like a no-fail situation already because even if you all hate my blog, I never have to see the disdain on your face as you read it or hear the mocking laughter as you poke fun at me with all your friends. I just get to see how many people have visited my posts and ignorantly assume everyone loves it ;)

Ok, I got a little off track but, in conclusion, if I could not fail, I would be a swing dancing exercise neuroscientist and author of a pop-sci book that changes the world.

What would you do? 

Super moon

I suppose I inadvertently made my three blog night come true. My screen froze while I was typing the first post and I didn't want to lose it so I just published it and now I'll wrap it up with this post. 

Moral of the story- I don't think I have enough time or energy to actually put much of myself into all these different online "social medias" but since I am a member of this generation, I'll do my best and that will just have to be good enough. I'm not sure my humor will really shine in just 140 characters, but I'm kind of looking forward to giving this tweeting thing a try. 

On a final and less tech-y note, I hope you all have taken at least one look at this super moon that is hovering over us right now. I'm relaxing on our balcony with the moon at a perfect 45 degree angle to my eyes, with the light of it reflecting a bit off our pond behind the apartment building. It's worth the time and the bugs to just sit and stare at it for awhile. To think about how far away it actually is, but how close it looks. To picture the intense light coming from the sun and reflecting off every part of the moon so that we can see it in its full shape. Yeah, it's worth it to sit and stare for awhile. 

And who knows, maybe I'll have to Instagram it ;)

Goodnight super moon. 

 

It's a two blog night

That was supposed to be funny. But then I realized that the band name is actually three dog night and so my joke suddenly made much less sense. But I hope you at least got a small chuckle out of that.

I just wrote my second post in my science blog (www.clarkonneuroscience.blogspot.com, if you are already bored of this post and want some science), hence the two blog night title. I had to hold myself back while writing it from a few really cheesy jokes and from using too many lingo words. So, lucky you, I'm going to use all of those here! I think that's the beauty of having two blogs. Provided I don't neglect one of them, I will always have a nice place to blow off my blog steam after being all nice and proper.

So now I have to talk about something besides science. Hmmm...I obviously hadn't thought this far ahead. Let's start by talking about how I am now a full-flegged member of the social interwebs. And I don't know how I feel about it. I now have, in no particular order,
Facebook
Blog (obviously)
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facetime

I got an iPhone recently due to the very heartbreaking end of my blackberry. My poor Sprock 2.0 (my first blackberry was named Sprock, but then it broke and when I got my new blackberry, he became 2.0 because, try as he might, he couldn't quite replace Sprock 1.0). Anyway, his battery had been wearing out gradually, such that he'd turn off partway through the morning after only being awake for a few hours. I guess I do that sometimes so I can't complain too much. But the breaking point was when he turned off when his battery wasn't even low and he wouldn't turn back on until I had fully charged him. And even then he was hesitant. So I took him in for repair and the Sprint employees informed me that I was due for a few phone and the iPhone 4 was free so why don't I just get a new one. Well, ok. If you insist.

So now I have Ollie (shout out to Dan for coming up with the awesome name!) And because I haven't quite gotten used to keyboard-less texting yet, I feel as though I constantly have my nose to my phone. I walk down the street and feel the same way I did when I was little and would literally have my nose in a book. But that was way cooler. Now I look up in time to stop at a red light and suddenly I've sent a text that read "How's it king over tree? Having a food day?" (translation: How's it going over there? Having a good day?)

And then I feel ridiculous.

ANYWAYS, back to me and my social interwebs, because I'm a newly addicted iphone-addict I've jumped on the apps bandwagon and got myself connected to the world in more ways than necessary. I'll admit that I'm already enjoying instagram because it gives me more reason to take fake-artistic photos and pretend that every view of my life looks like that. But to best honest, I don't know how to link in, or twit or...I guess that's it. I know how to do everything else.

The point of this is that I don't know how I feel about it. I do love staying connected with people through facebook and I think I chose good people to follow on Twitter because the two times that I've checked it since I got it I've seen posts about science, swing dancing and the Veronica Mars movie. What more can I need?






fds

Final destination: Barcelona

Rick Steves' calls Barcelona a lovely place to visit either first of last because of its coastal and far Eastern location. For me, it was my final destination. Michael still has Paris to go (he'll head there tomorrow) but I'm now on my way home :(
I was super excited for Barcelona partly because I had been there before and partly because we had rented this super cold apartment. We first found the bed and breakfast that owned the apartment, we were going to book just one of the rooms, but then we also saw that they owned an apartment nearby and...it was super grey! And modern. And it wasn't actually that expensive so we decided to go for it. It had its own kitchen, a huge tv, a great speaker system. This allowed us to cook dinner two of the three nights, which was really nice after all the eating out we'd done recently.  And nice because Michael is a pretty good cook :)

Our first day in Barcelona was a Sunday so we kind of took it easy. We had breakfast with the owner and other guests at the bed and breakfast. He helped us buy our tickets for La Sagrada Familia and gave us some other advice. We walked to the two of the famous buildings by Antonio Gaudi, La Pedrera and Casa Batillo.
They are both really crazy buildings. Hannah and I went in one of them when we visited previously but they are pretty expensive so Michael and I decided to just admire the outside. We then went to a park, per my request, because I just wanted as much time outside in the wonderful weather as possible. Barcelona actually has many "green lungs" (parks that provide some fresh air in the midst of city living). This one was focused on water and had multiple ponds and some interesting architecture. We also found the recreational sports area where we napped and then played hacky sack. Add that location to the list. Michael says I should also make a list of places I've napped. Honestly, it would largely be similar to the one of places I've hacky-ed.

Our second, and my final, day in Barcelona was our 'best tourists ever' day. We woke up early and got to La Sagrada Familia for our 9 am appointment to go up the tower. It was as beautiful as I remember. And we did the audio guide so we actually learned a lot as well. The church is already huge but compared to the model of what it should look like when its done, it has a ways to go. Supposedly it will be finished within the next 40 years. It was started in 1889. But, as we learned, Gaudi knew it would be a work of the centuries, so he was not expecting it to be even near finished by the time he died. It's quite amazing how many people have come together to design it and how they all try to be true to the Gaudi style even though many of his plans were burned during a Spanish war.

After spending a few hours at the church, we walked down to la rambla, one of the most famous streets in barca. We perused the central market and enjoyed some food, as well as suuuuper expensive chocolate. Nothing bad had even happened so I guess that chocolate was just for fun. We finally made it down to the water, which we enjoyed before taking the metro up to Parc Guell, also designed by Gaudi. It was there that we discovered that if both our careers fail, we can just got to a European city, play hacky sack and put a hat out and we'd probably make at least a few euros everyday. That was a fun realization. One more place on the lists of both napping and hacky-ing.

That evening we went to a tapas bar I had found for Michael's early birthday celebration. He'll be 23 on Friday, when he's in Paris, so I wanted us to celebrate while in barca. We enjoyed delicious tapas, some of the best sangria I've ever had and traditional Catalan deserts.

I'm disappointed I didn't have more time to explore the city, because there is so much to see there, but I am also antsy to get back to work. This was a lot of time off. I thought about reading articles and doing some work while away but there really wasn't time for it. Im pretty sure I won't get another vacation like this for a long time so I decided to just focus on the vacationing, which I did. I'm now on the way home- I can hardly believe it. It feels like forever ago that I was just arriving in Denmark. I'm very grateful for this adventure and so glad I had a great travel buddy. I never would have gone all those places if Michael wasn't set on having a massive Europe trip.

We just started the descent over Chicago airport, where we'll land in 40 minutes. I fly from there to Des Moines. I can't wait to see my mom!

All of Nice in one post.

Our host in Nice was a spunky woman who had lived pretty much everywhere, speaks at least Italian, French, English and Spanish, and baked the most delicious fresh bread for breakfast each day. She sat with us and other guests at breakfast each day so we learned her story a bit and also got expert advice on the city. The first day, upon Josephine's advisement, we went to the main market in Nice in the morning and then visited one of the fanciest hotels I've ever seen. The market was a few city blocks of tables filled with fresh fruit, dried fruit, fresh fish, meat, cheese, flowers, paintings, ect. We also found an Italian market on the promenade near the water, so we bought a canoli and some cheese and a sandwich and ate while sitting on the beach. One thing that really surprised me was how many people were laying out in bikinis (or less) at 10 ish in the morning.  I though it was still as bit chilly for that but it was good sun, I suppose. I just trout that'd be more of an afternoon activity but apparently not. And it turned out to be smart of them, given that a storm rolled in that afternoon, while we were riding bikes that we had rented. Thankfully we rode away from it so we only got a little wet.  Nice, as Josephine told us, is sunny 300 days a year because there are mountains/hills surrounding it and so the clouds rarely come all the way to the city. They did come in a little that day. We had to abandon the bikes a little early and take refuge in various souvenir shops and one very expensive candy shop while we waited for the restaurant we wanted to eat at to open. Michael and I have a habit of getting candy whenever we get in a tiny argument or something semi-unfortunate happens. It's similar to my "get hurt, get froyo" motto. Because of the rain, we ended up with some rather expensive biscuits, chocolate covered almonds, caramels and fruit flavored chewy candies, basically just fancy starbursts. Fun fact, in Denmark and many other European counties, food coloring is illegal so all of their candies are flavored naturally, which keeps them white, rather than the bright colors our candy is.
Anyway we finally had some pasta and afterward, again upon Josephine's recommendation, visited what she claimed was the best gelato place. She swears by it. And I see why. It had the best pistachio gelato I've ever had and every other flavor we tried (which was a lot - the worker was very generous with samples) tasted exactly of its fruit/candy. Pistachio, dark chocolate, peach, white chocolate, chocolate raspberry, cinnamon, mango, strawberry, dark chocolate baobab, salted caramel...I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Our second day was our most adventurous. We walked up a big hill full of fancy mansions and hotels to the Matisse museum and roman archeological ruins, which was pretty cool to see. I kind of didn't realize that Romans had lived there but it is very close to Italy so it makes sense. They had excavated public baths and a neighborhood in an area surrounded by modern city, so it's likely there are even more ruins underground in the surrounding area. The Matisse museum was fun because t was small enough we could really read through everything and tent lot know Henri Matisse's life and work. I had no idea he designed a church and he considered it his life's main piece of work. It was no La Sagrada Familia (more on that to come) but it was pretty neat.

We walked back to the city to catch a train to a beach town about 10 minutes away. Have I mentioned how beautiful the water near Nice was? It was the best blue. So clear, and when it foams from the waves it basically sparkles. We spent the afternoon beach-ing, which I loved. It wasn't super warm but laying in the sun was nice and we both got brave enough around 5 pm to swim in the sea enough to make us completely numb from the cold.

When we got back to Nice, we walked through Old Town to a hill called chateau hill, where a castle used to stand. Now it is a park with a cemetery, a waterfall, great lookout points and a tower at the very top. We got there  a few minutes before 8 and watched the sunset from a lookout point and then visited the waterfall. We were surprised there weren't more people enjoying the same view. Wen we got to the bottom of the hill and realized one of the main gates was closed and locked, we realized why we had been so alone. It was closed. And there was a wall we could have scaled...except it dropped at least 30 feet to the busy road below. No thank you. Some French girls on the other side of the gate laughed at us and repeatedly told us "it's closed". Thank you, we know that now. We speed-walked toward another exit and assed some delinquent 14-year old French boys who also told us, "hey! Is closed!" And had only laughs in response to my "yes, but how do we get out?" Just as Michael and I were near panic state (where are both excellent, calm travelers but when you think you are going to be sleeping in a French park all night, you tend to get a little worried) we found the other locked car gate, which was next to a little pedestrian door that was unlocked. Phew! And so we went to a little restaurant that Josephine suggested for a lovely, very late dinner. When almost locked in a park, buy yourselves a nice meal of veal and pasta and some pannacotta for desert.

Because our meal had ended around 1130, we ditched the getting up early tradition. W slept in a little, packed our stuff, walked to a nearby market, got a final gelato from that amazing place, and then walked to the station for our bus to the airport. That was it for nice and it was soon Hola Barcelona!