Since I have four days of "rest" (aka homework galore and still not sleeping poor, poor body) in between my Paris and Prague trips...
I went to Ireland last weekend with Stephanie (surprise, surprise) and we met her friend Deck there who is a doctor that she met when she was volunteering in Haiti this past summer (Stephanie is wonder woman with the kindest heart.) We flew into Dublin and immediately located a bagel shop aka heaven with cream cheese (Spain doesn't believe in bagels). I blended into the airport's crowd with my leopard print suitcase and even brighter leopard print jacket (false). We piled into Deck's car and he drove us to Galway on the wrong side of the street the whole way (aka the "right" way legally but who are we kidding here). Galway is a quaint, adorable little town and that night we ventured into a packed out Christmas market. That night they lit the Christmas tree up and everyone cheered. On cue, it started snowing. The market was quite crowded and had interesting stands including one that sold hamburgers with wild animal meat from all over the world. Kangaroo hamburger, impala hamburger...yum? We decided to pass that up for a more healthier indulgence of a powder sugared cranberry deep fried Danish donut. Success. We wandered into an Irish pub for our first taste of famous Irish cider and then we rallied and went to the Ireland v. Scotland rugby game. The crowd was INSANE. They were yelling Irish curse words and slang, screaming at the ref, the players, drinking "hot whiskey" (literally whiskey with hot water and lemon-yuck), and Stephanie and I were learning words that will never be used in real life. Ireland lost in literally the last minute becuase of the kicker. Bummer. We stopped in another pub after the game and got free cider that was included with our rugby ticket. Speed dating was going on upstairs in the bar and I ran into a gal who was ditching her current bachelor #8 and hiding in the bathroom. Was only a little tempted to try out an alter ego and participate.
The next day we drove to the cliffs of Moher, a finalist for the seven wonders of the world. They were outstandingly beautiful and completely worth the drive through the country side. On our way out we passed by several little cute towns, one of which had a population of what seemed to be forty and everyone was out on the streets selling horses and various animals. The animals were surrounding our car. And I think Loveland is small. What do I know. We traveled to Dublin that night to stay with some of Deck's other friends living there; they were extremely nice. We did our own little "Irish pub crawl" that night and I woke up with someone's iphone in my purse becuase in the darkness of the pub I mistaked the iphone case for my contact case. Common mistake. Deck and his friends went through the phone to connect with someone to give the phone to and this owner of the iphone was a wild one-- let's not go into details. Deck tried to tell We all went into Dublin and saw University College Dublin which was a beautiful campus and then Stephanie and I went shopping all afternoon, but only bought things from the tourist store. Silly us. Later we toured the Guiness factory and ended with a cold Guiness on top of the factory in the "Gravity Bar" that overlooked Dublin. Afterwards, we met up with Deck's girlfriend and us four grabbed dinner in Temple Bar, a famous location for bars and restaurants. That night, Stephanie and I got food poisoning. Literally thought I was dying. I was completely floored. Luckily we were in a house of doctors, not luckily we were both sleeping on the bathroom floor and there was nothing anyone could do except move our flight to later in the afternoon and pray that Jill, who I was supposed to meet at the airport in the morning, could navigate around Madrid for a day. We made it home, Jill was fine--I cued my roomates in on the situation and they helped out, and I will forever be concerned with restaurants while abroad now.
After cena with the senora, Jill and I grabbed coffee in Madrid and I showed her Grand Via-Madrid's main street and Plaza de Espana. We called it an early night since I no longer had a stomach. Tuesday was the best, I decided to take off a day from school? and we went shopping all day along Fuencarral-a great shopping street leading from my house to Plaza de Sol. We stopped along a few of Madrid's great sights including San Miguel Market, a gorgeous basilica, and Plaza de la Villa (which I had written a paper on for my art history class). We drank a glass of wine in Plaza Mayor and caught up. Stopped in a Museo de Jamon and tried to enjoy a euro glass while ham legs hung all around the restaurant around us. My roomate that night at dinner informed us that Spainards began hanging ham legs in their bars and restaraunts in order to scare off the Muslims and Christians back in the day. Now they just love their jamon. The bartenders thought they were flirting with us when they gave us free samples off of the raw ham leg. Spainards have game. That night we walked around Bilboa and a few places around Sol.
The next day after school Jill and I sufficed our artistic cravings and went to the Prado musuem. Our version of looking at art was judging the Roman sculptures on how "hot" they were. The Roman Gods won. My kind of perfect muscular art. Obviously we are so cultured on the subject. We shamelessly grabbed McDonald's on the way to Madrid's beautiful modern cathedral next to Palacio Real and later that night indulged in Senora's famous paella dish.
That night Jill and I went to Orange bar, where Jason Derulo was "flyin' solo, I'm flyin' solo..." We were ushered into VIP where we met Derulo (Jill shamelessly asked if his diamond watch was "real." REALLY?) He was very nice and gave us some goose. Classy, classy.
Thursday was THANKSGIVING and a sad reminder that I am family-less. However a few American school friends, Jill, and I went to Hard Rock Cafe where they served turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and the MOST delicious apple crisp I have ever eaten... or maybe that's just becuase I am so deprived of mama's cooking? After was a Kapital kind of night and Jill experienced Madrid's seven floor club...
I have so many things to be thankful for, and it was nice to reflect on all the good in my life on Thanksgiving. I shared it with my roomates, friends... my "Madrid" family. It sure was odd having school that day though!
Currently I am sick and am chugging vitamin C tablets in order to get better before Friday (aka Prague for four nights Amsterdam for two--we didn't realize we mixed up the dates?) If I faint or get food poisoning like the past two trips I may be the most unlucky person. Thursday is our dreaded dance performance for my salsa class. I am wearing a metallic gold dress with an extra large gem on front. Some would definately call it an "adorable" piece. If they were speaking about a rap video...
Three weeks until I am home. I would say the time has flown, but really it hasn't. I've grown, matured, and experienced so much the States seem like forever ago. And Qdoba, I know you miss my dollars.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Paris how I love thee...
Jill Conrad and I flew into Paris this past Friday and stayed for the weekend until this Monday morning.. I have found my favorite city. That first day we went to our hostel, St. Christopher's which was cute, very nice, and how Jill put it "trying way too hard to be hip" but I liked it. We dropped off our stuff, and went out to dinner with my friend John who I know from Colorado and also happened to be there this weekend. Dinner was phenomenal. We had DELICIOUS french onion soup-they coated it in breading and cheese, duck (French delicacy, had to at least try the thing that looked like tuna?), and other French dishes. Definately ate too much so decided to walk it off climbing up the hill to Sacre-Coeur Basilica and wander the streets a little bit in Montemarte district. It started snowing. Sounds adorable but it was unbelievably freezing. And so, the solution to the situation of get warm quick: we stopped to split a bottle of wine that we would take turns drinking after sprinting up each flight of steps (like eight hundred--maybe exaggeration?). Didn't work but was worth a shot. The Sacre-Coeur was fantastic. White, huge, with large cupulas, and overlooks all of the city of Paris at night. Lights lit up, snow falling. I cannot even begin to set the gorgeous scene. The night ended with meeting two of John's girlfriends he was staying with and John's hotel desk worker, Lester from Sri Lanka, who bought me hotel peanuts while I typed to him in an English-French translator on the hotel computer. He taught me a few necessary phrases that I instantly forgot becuase I cannot produce the French "phlem" sound necessary to speak the language. It was late, the metro was closed, and an apparently "famous" wrestler who is going to train in America this coming summer helped us home telling us the bus stops and riding them with us. I didn't let him walk us back to our hostel. HELLOOOO. I've seen "Taken." My dad just doesn't have those skills, however raging of a Berthoud drug dealer he is.
We woke up and went on a 4 hour walking tour that our hostel put on. We started off with minature coffees (one inch large, how do the French get things done??) and journeyed through the city while our PHENOMENAL tour guide cracked hilarious jokes that only I laughed at, pranced instead of walked, and told us the stories that no one could ever know via wikipedia, touring the streets, or even by most history books. We saw a police station with bullet holes from WWII, one of the only scars Paris has from that war. We saw Napolean's "N" ALL OVER the city built into various places. The outside of the Louvre and the gardens behind it, the square where the guillotine killed thousands upon thousands of people, Pont Nuef (ironically named "New Bridge" when really it is the oldest bridge in Paris)-a bridge that has wierd faces on it that were designed after actual people (who were incredibly drunk) that were at one of King Henry IV's parties. Jacques de Molay from the Knights Templar was burned at the stake in 1314 near this bridge. While being burned he cursed the King and the Pope to die in a year becuase they would not let him face Notre Dame while he was dying. Both died within a year in really bizarre ways. One of my favorite things from the tour was Le Pont des Arts also known as the Passerelle des Arts. It is a bridge from 1803 that contains hundreds of padlocks with couples' names written on them. Couples from all over the world write their name on a lock, attach it to the bridge, and throw the key into the Seine River securing their love for eternity. ROMANTIC!!! The bridge is right by the beautiful building that keeps English out of France. Literally there is a highly-selective committee of forty people to protect the French language and keep English words like computer and weekend out of the French language. They publish a new dictionary every year to secure these words. And they think Americans are pompous. We ended the tour in front of the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais which were sights that were almost blown up if Hitler had gotten his wish to destroy Paris (if he couldn't have it no one could). Jill and I then strolled Champs Elysees where the Tour de France always ends. The streets were lined with Christmas lights and decorations. We saw the grand store of Louis Viutton with a line coming out the door. Jill and I decided while walking Champs Elysees that we would be THE BEST rich people, or at least the best dressed. We made it to the Arc de Triomph at the end of the busy street. The circle surrounding the Arc de Triomph is not covered by car or life insurance by law. If you die or crash, your out of luck. There's a tomb of an unknown soldier from WWI is under the arch with an eternal flame always burning since 1920. Bryan our guide said it has only been extinguished when a drunk Mexican tourist peed on it, which got him kicked out of his country and Europe forever among other things. An Australian couple also attempted to have a picnic under the Arc and roast hot dogs over the flame. Romantic. They're banished from Europe forever as well. There was a Christmas market going on by the Champs-Elysees so we strolled through that while eating a delish crepe. We made it back to the Notre Dame cathedral to tour the inside. There was a Christmas tree lit up out front. By the time we got out it was so cold we couldn't breath and so we strolled in and out of touristy shops trying to keep warm. We had a delicious dinner of pizza (an Italian queen (Catherine maybe?) brought in her Italian friends of chefs, etc, to keep her company so pizza shops today almost outnumber French restaurants) and pink wine and overlooked a mini Arc de Triomph. We then went on to Latin Quarter to see the night life of Paris. It was a busy street of bars, nothing close to Madrid, and we were rejected from one after the bouncer was like, "Do you speak French?" and we said no. He legit turned his back to us and let everyone in before us. We stopped in one bar and two drinks cost 27 euros so we decided that was enough fun for one night.
The next morning was Versailles. We took a train to the quaint town and toured the magnificent palace and Marie Antoinette's palace seperate from the Versaille Palace with beautiful gardens, fountains, and now a delicious french restaurant with more excellent onion soup and red wine (I don't even like red wine...when in Paris its fantastic?) I asked a French gal standing in line to get tickets why French people hate Americans. Apparently we are loud and obnoxious, pompous and think we are superior, don't try to attempt to learn their language, and then she pointed to my starbucks cup and she said we are unwilling to learn the culture. I said their coffee is too small. She said she despises that everything is bigger and fatter in America. Fail. (note: I had a double cheeseburger today for lunch.) After drooling on myself on the way back to Paris from Versaille Jill and I went on a fantastic night boat tour on the Seine River while drinking wine (trend?) and eating fresh crepes. BEAUTIFUL city at night. We saw the light show of the Eiffel Tower and I felt like I had seen a fourth of July fireworks display. Magnificent. We attempted to go inside the closed Louvre.. fail. Sorry Mona Lisa. And ended our night watching naked women in FANTASTIC hats at the Moulin Rouge show. Literally only wore diamonds, great shoes, and feather hats. The show was unbelieveable. There were jugglers, the beautiful naked dancers, a couple that did an act of balance (legit were straight up and down only touching heads and balancing), and a newly wed couple next to us where the man looked very pleased and the wife looked very uncomfortable. I felt so awkward for everyone with their boyfriends and grateful that Jill was my date. Took a snowy cab home and woke up to a very sick Jill in the morning. I packed all of her stuff, carried her suitcase and mine while navigating us to the airport (felt like wonder woman), and finally got us on the shoulder to shoulder suitcase to suitcase very cramped train to take us to the airport. Jill was throwing up while I was doing her hair and trying to get everything together. We were two stops away before she said, "There cannot be anything worse" before my ears became very hot, my vision and hearing began to fade, and I began pouring sweat. I knew I was fainting. I began tearing off my scarf and jacket but it was too late and I fell onto people and blacked out. My clothes were soaked with sweat when I came to after a few seconds, and we were almost to the airport. I was so busy trying to make sure Jill was ok that I neglected my overheated body. Excuse my French but that was one hell of a train ride, and the poor people around us are probably getting checked for malaria or something now after that fiasco. I navigated us through the airport, got Jill to her gate, fell asleep on my hour delayed plane, and made it home in time for dance class. Jill made it home safely to Utah.
Paris is beautiful. People aren't as nice as Madrid, but I really think it is my favorite city I've seen. So romantic. Beautiful. So much interesting history. Arriving home in Madrid is fantastic though, good to be back after such an adventure, and like I said, Madrid is home.
22 more days of traveling the world...
We woke up and went on a 4 hour walking tour that our hostel put on. We started off with minature coffees (one inch large, how do the French get things done??) and journeyed through the city while our PHENOMENAL tour guide cracked hilarious jokes that only I laughed at, pranced instead of walked, and told us the stories that no one could ever know via wikipedia, touring the streets, or even by most history books. We saw a police station with bullet holes from WWII, one of the only scars Paris has from that war. We saw Napolean's "N" ALL OVER the city built into various places. The outside of the Louvre and the gardens behind it, the square where the guillotine killed thousands upon thousands of people, Pont Nuef (ironically named "New Bridge" when really it is the oldest bridge in Paris)-a bridge that has wierd faces on it that were designed after actual people (who were incredibly drunk) that were at one of King Henry IV's parties. Jacques de Molay from the Knights Templar was burned at the stake in 1314 near this bridge. While being burned he cursed the King and the Pope to die in a year becuase they would not let him face Notre Dame while he was dying. Both died within a year in really bizarre ways. One of my favorite things from the tour was Le Pont des Arts also known as the Passerelle des Arts. It is a bridge from 1803 that contains hundreds of padlocks with couples' names written on them. Couples from all over the world write their name on a lock, attach it to the bridge, and throw the key into the Seine River securing their love for eternity. ROMANTIC!!! The bridge is right by the beautiful building that keeps English out of France. Literally there is a highly-selective committee of forty people to protect the French language and keep English words like computer and weekend out of the French language. They publish a new dictionary every year to secure these words. And they think Americans are pompous. We ended the tour in front of the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais which were sights that were almost blown up if Hitler had gotten his wish to destroy Paris (if he couldn't have it no one could). Jill and I then strolled Champs Elysees where the Tour de France always ends. The streets were lined with Christmas lights and decorations. We saw the grand store of Louis Viutton with a line coming out the door. Jill and I decided while walking Champs Elysees that we would be THE BEST rich people, or at least the best dressed. We made it to the Arc de Triomph at the end of the busy street. The circle surrounding the Arc de Triomph is not covered by car or life insurance by law. If you die or crash, your out of luck. There's a tomb of an unknown soldier from WWI is under the arch with an eternal flame always burning since 1920. Bryan our guide said it has only been extinguished when a drunk Mexican tourist peed on it, which got him kicked out of his country and Europe forever among other things. An Australian couple also attempted to have a picnic under the Arc and roast hot dogs over the flame. Romantic. They're banished from Europe forever as well. There was a Christmas market going on by the Champs-Elysees so we strolled through that while eating a delish crepe. We made it back to the Notre Dame cathedral to tour the inside. There was a Christmas tree lit up out front. By the time we got out it was so cold we couldn't breath and so we strolled in and out of touristy shops trying to keep warm. We had a delicious dinner of pizza (an Italian queen (Catherine maybe?) brought in her Italian friends of chefs, etc, to keep her company so pizza shops today almost outnumber French restaurants) and pink wine and overlooked a mini Arc de Triomph. We then went on to Latin Quarter to see the night life of Paris. It was a busy street of bars, nothing close to Madrid, and we were rejected from one after the bouncer was like, "Do you speak French?" and we said no. He legit turned his back to us and let everyone in before us. We stopped in one bar and two drinks cost 27 euros so we decided that was enough fun for one night.
The next morning was Versailles. We took a train to the quaint town and toured the magnificent palace and Marie Antoinette's palace seperate from the Versaille Palace with beautiful gardens, fountains, and now a delicious french restaurant with more excellent onion soup and red wine (I don't even like red wine...when in Paris its fantastic?) I asked a French gal standing in line to get tickets why French people hate Americans. Apparently we are loud and obnoxious, pompous and think we are superior, don't try to attempt to learn their language, and then she pointed to my starbucks cup and she said we are unwilling to learn the culture. I said their coffee is too small. She said she despises that everything is bigger and fatter in America. Fail. (note: I had a double cheeseburger today for lunch.) After drooling on myself on the way back to Paris from Versaille Jill and I went on a fantastic night boat tour on the Seine River while drinking wine (trend?) and eating fresh crepes. BEAUTIFUL city at night. We saw the light show of the Eiffel Tower and I felt like I had seen a fourth of July fireworks display. Magnificent. We attempted to go inside the closed Louvre.. fail. Sorry Mona Lisa. And ended our night watching naked women in FANTASTIC hats at the Moulin Rouge show. Literally only wore diamonds, great shoes, and feather hats. The show was unbelieveable. There were jugglers, the beautiful naked dancers, a couple that did an act of balance (legit were straight up and down only touching heads and balancing), and a newly wed couple next to us where the man looked very pleased and the wife looked very uncomfortable. I felt so awkward for everyone with their boyfriends and grateful that Jill was my date. Took a snowy cab home and woke up to a very sick Jill in the morning. I packed all of her stuff, carried her suitcase and mine while navigating us to the airport (felt like wonder woman), and finally got us on the shoulder to shoulder suitcase to suitcase very cramped train to take us to the airport. Jill was throwing up while I was doing her hair and trying to get everything together. We were two stops away before she said, "There cannot be anything worse" before my ears became very hot, my vision and hearing began to fade, and I began pouring sweat. I knew I was fainting. I began tearing off my scarf and jacket but it was too late and I fell onto people and blacked out. My clothes were soaked with sweat when I came to after a few seconds, and we were almost to the airport. I was so busy trying to make sure Jill was ok that I neglected my overheated body. Excuse my French but that was one hell of a train ride, and the poor people around us are probably getting checked for malaria or something now after that fiasco. I navigated us through the airport, got Jill to her gate, fell asleep on my hour delayed plane, and made it home in time for dance class. Jill made it home safely to Utah.
Paris is beautiful. People aren't as nice as Madrid, but I really think it is my favorite city I've seen. So romantic. Beautiful. So much interesting history. Arriving home in Madrid is fantastic though, good to be back after such an adventure, and like I said, Madrid is home.
22 more days of traveling the world...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Lots of nudity...
Ruby, the lunch lady and I, are now on first name terms, becuase she laughs at me every day for eating french fries. "Engorda Jessica!" It's the only true American food I am holding onto, and literally is involved in my every day diet...
Which brings me to my next gym catastrophe of my shorts ripping past my thigh during an extreme abdominales drill. There is a new man who is our instructor, and he is Satan with a smile and greattt bod. The first time I met him, my abs hurt for four days (because of the abs class-to clarify.) and he literally is a drill sergeant on steroids who listens to techno. He stands over me and yells in spanish until french fries are only a memory. So, on one of these occassions my shorts ripped, exposing things which do not pertain to abdominales class, but here is Satan standing over me demanding abdominal perfection. What are ya gonna do? At least he ends each class by stretching and listening to soft melodies by Whitney Houston.
Speaking of nudity, my senora told us tonight of how she loves to walk on beaches during vacation, but last year she accidently found herself in the middle of a nudist beach. Senora said the human body is the most beautiful, miraculous creation. It is perfection by God. She said we could visit nude beaches, take off our clothes, and be beautiful, becuase we are young with still beautiful naked bodies. Typical not awkward dinner conversation, was going to take off my clothes then, but she kept talking. She said nude beaches are completely natural, and if you are asthetically pleasing, esta bien, es nada. If you are old and saggy and fat she went on to say, you should stay inside. Ha she's an opinionated one? Needless to say, she fled the nude beach scene becuase the catagory of people belonging inside were not adhering to her wishes. Lindsey told of when her and her dad were vacationing in south France and accidentally found themselves in the most uncomfortable situation by mistakenly going to a nude beach. I don't feel like she shares the same ideology as Senora.
I felt for the first time truly home sick last night and even shamelessly looked at pictures from my freshman year in college for about half an hour...
I'm so glad this can all soon be cured by a casual weekend in the Ireland cities of Galway and Dublin. Tough life I live.
Which brings me to my next gym catastrophe of my shorts ripping past my thigh during an extreme abdominales drill. There is a new man who is our instructor, and he is Satan with a smile and greattt bod. The first time I met him, my abs hurt for four days (because of the abs class-to clarify.) and he literally is a drill sergeant on steroids who listens to techno. He stands over me and yells in spanish until french fries are only a memory. So, on one of these occassions my shorts ripped, exposing things which do not pertain to abdominales class, but here is Satan standing over me demanding abdominal perfection. What are ya gonna do? At least he ends each class by stretching and listening to soft melodies by Whitney Houston.
Speaking of nudity, my senora told us tonight of how she loves to walk on beaches during vacation, but last year she accidently found herself in the middle of a nudist beach. Senora said the human body is the most beautiful, miraculous creation. It is perfection by God. She said we could visit nude beaches, take off our clothes, and be beautiful, becuase we are young with still beautiful naked bodies. Typical not awkward dinner conversation, was going to take off my clothes then, but she kept talking. She said nude beaches are completely natural, and if you are asthetically pleasing, esta bien, es nada. If you are old and saggy and fat she went on to say, you should stay inside. Ha she's an opinionated one? Needless to say, she fled the nude beach scene becuase the catagory of people belonging inside were not adhering to her wishes. Lindsey told of when her and her dad were vacationing in south France and accidentally found themselves in the most uncomfortable situation by mistakenly going to a nude beach. I don't feel like she shares the same ideology as Senora.
I felt for the first time truly home sick last night and even shamelessly looked at pictures from my freshman year in college for about half an hour...
I'm so glad this can all soon be cured by a casual weekend in the Ireland cities of Galway and Dublin. Tough life I live.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Coveting some LEETHAHH. (from my teacher?)
I forced myself to stay in this weekend to try to relax and catch up on homework, since many people were out of town anyways. What, might you ask, has happened to my "when in Spain..." mentality? Oh it has died along with the rest of my internal organs from lack of sleep. Four hours and less per night hasn't been cutting it the past few weeks, and I am severely afraid of getting sick since the next three weekends are devoted to Ireland, France with Jill, and Prague and Amsterdam.
While I did go out Thursday night for a good ole' American night of card playing, being something less of a human on three hours of sleep while touring a gorgeous monastery in the mountains all day Friday with my art history class caused me to reassess my health decisions. The monastery was beautiful, and my super chic, 65 year old teacher (she thought I asked her age when I really was trying to ask about her grandchildren) decked out in leggings (she's hot) was very knowledgeable on all of the art the monastery encompassed. The basilica located in the monastery was unlike any church I've seen thus far with fresco paintings covering the tall, tall ceilings and large columns. It struck me as odd when I looked up to see boobs on the church's ceiling. The artist was thinking ahead when he painted naked women on the ceiling anticipating men falling asleep during sermons? Terrible joke. The library was also my favorite inside the monastery, and like the basilica the ceiling was also engulfed in a fresco painting, this time of all naked men (note: that's not the reason the library was my favorite. and proportions were way off...?). I asked my art teacher why everyone was undressed, and she said it better showed the movement of their bodies... I'll use that next time someone comments on my short shorts. It's art, creative movement. Walking out of the monastery my teacher offered me a cigarette...Spain is also different because my other Spanish teacher wore a leather skirt to class, which is an item that I have been looking for since I got here...LEEETHAHH.
I would LOVE to see a Baylor professor in leather. Or a Baylor student for that matter. Will be depressing when i return to Texas and stop seeking fashion advice from my hot Spanish teachers. Speaking of Baylor our football team is doing phenomenal and actually winning quite a few games. Sic em.
I walked around Bilbao area yesterday with ambitions to find a Starbucks to buckle down and catch up on reading. The shopping district of Madrid has its enchantments however and I was lured in window shopping and coveting some fantastic heels. However, this poor college student traveling the world made one single purchase of Spain's version of Top Ramen while going in and out of Madrid's hottest stores. That's just sad. While in Starbuck I did however make a purchase of what probably amounted to an eight or nine US dollar cup of coffee (can I just be done with the euro please?) and reflected on how truly blessed I am. Even though I'm sleep-deprived, language deficeint in Spanish (and English lately?), and truly missing spicy food, I am exactly where I am supposed to be not according to my plan but His, and that is so satisfying.
While I did go out Thursday night for a good ole' American night of card playing, being something less of a human on three hours of sleep while touring a gorgeous monastery in the mountains all day Friday with my art history class caused me to reassess my health decisions. The monastery was beautiful, and my super chic, 65 year old teacher (she thought I asked her age when I really was trying to ask about her grandchildren) decked out in leggings (she's hot) was very knowledgeable on all of the art the monastery encompassed. The basilica located in the monastery was unlike any church I've seen thus far with fresco paintings covering the tall, tall ceilings and large columns. It struck me as odd when I looked up to see boobs on the church's ceiling. The artist was thinking ahead when he painted naked women on the ceiling anticipating men falling asleep during sermons? Terrible joke. The library was also my favorite inside the monastery, and like the basilica the ceiling was also engulfed in a fresco painting, this time of all naked men (note: that's not the reason the library was my favorite. and proportions were way off...?). I asked my art teacher why everyone was undressed, and she said it better showed the movement of their bodies... I'll use that next time someone comments on my short shorts. It's art, creative movement. Walking out of the monastery my teacher offered me a cigarette...Spain is also different because my other Spanish teacher wore a leather skirt to class, which is an item that I have been looking for since I got here...LEEETHAHH.
I would LOVE to see a Baylor professor in leather. Or a Baylor student for that matter. Will be depressing when i return to Texas and stop seeking fashion advice from my hot Spanish teachers. Speaking of Baylor our football team is doing phenomenal and actually winning quite a few games. Sic em.
I walked around Bilbao area yesterday with ambitions to find a Starbucks to buckle down and catch up on reading. The shopping district of Madrid has its enchantments however and I was lured in window shopping and coveting some fantastic heels. However, this poor college student traveling the world made one single purchase of Spain's version of Top Ramen while going in and out of Madrid's hottest stores. That's just sad. While in Starbuck I did however make a purchase of what probably amounted to an eight or nine US dollar cup of coffee (can I just be done with the euro please?) and reflected on how truly blessed I am. Even though I'm sleep-deprived, language deficeint in Spanish (and English lately?), and truly missing spicy food, I am exactly where I am supposed to be not according to my plan but His, and that is so satisfying.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Flamenco is redeemed... Madrid metro is not.
A tearful walk home after grabbing my mom one last taxi to the airport and now I am back to my "normal" life in Madrid full of catching up on a week of gym time and class work and SLEEP. Letting my mom in on the Madrid experience was phenomenal, and it was so nice to bring a slice of familiarity into my life here even if just for a short time.
Madrid was not so kind to my mom when she first got here. Being the terrible daughter that I am, I didn't meet her at the airport and she ended up driving around for two hours in her rental car looking for the obscure street signs that are placed in odd locations on the sides of buildings in size 12 font. Turns out, she drove back to the airport, turned in her rental car, and took a taxi to the hotel. Within thirty minutes of that fiasco I wanted to show her sights so we hopped on the metro towards plaza de Espana and Retiro Park. After strolling through the park and walking through the streets to the plaza, she realized that her wallet was gone. She was pick pocketed on the metro. After calling her credit card company it turns out whoever took her card attempted 1400 dollar and 800 dollar purchases unsuccessfully (imagine that). Despite having the credit card company freeze her account after sending a back up card every other purchases and resorting to my atm account which is now near zero, her trip ran quite smoothly and extremely enjoyable after that. We ate a nice lunch at my favorite Italian place, DiBocca and had a glass of wine to drown our sorrows of the lost items of our past...
That night, she had a real dining experience of drifting from tapas bar to tapas bar starting with an unusually dissapointing El Tigre much to my dismay. The quote of the evening I must say was, "Well,I'm American. People just look at me and want me to speak American, because if I didn't it would be insulting." My mother in Madrid. Getting home very late only to wake up to fly to Portugal three hours later set the theme of no sleep for the week. True Spainards.
Our hotel in Lisbon, Portugal could not have been situated in a more perfect location--on the corner of the most popular shopping streets with a famous plaza and the ocean a block away. We dropped off our luggage (after arriving in the city at 8 am) and walked (i.e. HIKED) to the Se cathedral (built in the 12th century) and the Castillo de S. Jorge which overlooked Portugal and had an excellent view of the town and the gulf. The castle was once used as a fortress and still had canons amongst the ruins and outside of the dry moats surrounding the main towers and interior. It also had an excessive amount of cats sunning on the grassy terrace...added to the experience? Jet lag and fatigue forced us to wander back to our hotel and nap for a bit. We woke up to a group of teens singing Elton John just below our window--they were extremely good, until we realized they only knew one song and it began to get excessive after the fifth or sixth time?
We took one of those ancient cars from the 18th century (Mom-what are they called? and how does that EVEN work after all that time??) that drives you up a hill and drops you off and found a great wine and sandwich place with a GORGEOUS view. That sandwich was fantastic. Later that night we searched for the aquaduct, and ended up walking inside a skyscraper hotel like we were guests and taking the elevator up on the first floor. We found the aquaduct lit up overlooking highways after we walked onto the outside staircase, pushing my purse in the doorway so we wouldn't get locked out on the 22nd floor. We ended up passing it again in our taxi on the way to the airport and it was even more grand in the daylight. Mom and I attempted to walk to Belem, a part of Lisbon, but just found a taxi who took us to one of his favorite restaurant locations on the boardwalk. The cute host lured us in with his wine samples and we were sold on one the most expensive meals I've had-complete with very chewy steak I couldn't chew so had to stuff through the cracks of the boardwalk instead of leaving it in my fancy napkin. I was MADE for fine dining. Lisbon was a ghost town at 11:30 on a Friday night, so Mom and I wandered looking at beautiful wedding gowns and ended up finding ourselves in a closing Italian restaurant sharing a delicious Tiramisu.
The next morning we saw the 16th century defense structure, Torre de Belem, overlooking Lisbon's Tagus River, and the beautiful Jeronimos Monastery. The Monastery had a very large, very eerie gothic cathedral, complete with a sculpture of Jesus on the cross (with his side wound gushing) overlooking the very dark, very gothic sanctuary. Vasco de Gama's remains added to the light and happiness the cathedral possessed. The actual Cloister of the monastery was beautifully built in the Manueline style, popular in the early 16th century and was very beautifully detailed. One thing that my mom and I noticed were all of the mystical creatures many of these types of structures had sculpted into the walls and designs--these were odd, eerie, and showed the paganism that this time period dealt with. We wandered. Past closed palaces due to the visit China's president was paying to Lisbon that day. We did wander (i.e. HIKEEEE) up this extra large hill to the Palacio Nacional de Ajuda and toured that GORGEOUS home of the royal Portuguese family of the 19th century. My mom took illegal pictures. Tourists these days. They had a large dining room set up for one hundred people that was the sight for dinner that night for China's president. What a life.
That night, after our casual night stay in a different country, Mom experienced her first kebap (better than the 70 euro dinner??) and later we found a great street close to my house full of cute bars. We split a bottle of wine, had great conversation, and went out for late night pizza.
The next morning was RASTROMARKET. Scarves basically sums up our wild shopping experience as I believe we bought 23948 each.
That night. we experienced. the futbol match. of a lifetime. Real Madrid v Barcelona. Of course Christiano Ronaldo proposed and I had to politely decline, but he still managed to pull it together and played rather well. The fans were WILD. (No wonder alcohol is forbidden in the futbol stadium!) I was decked out in my pink Real Madrid scarf. The game was excellent and we even had a gal who flew out from France telling us the play by play. Even though my mom and I ate an entire bag of potato chips, honey almonds, and corn nuts, we still found it necessary to grab a mojito with Mel, Bailey, Nick, and Micheal after the game. Mom really felt like a college student with the conversations we were having I'm sure...
Andddd we were off to Seville early in the morning. We took the express train which was excellent, so smooth, and lulled us to sleep as it grazed the Spanish country side. We hit the ground running in Seville seeing the sights and walking miles and miles past the beautiful orange and lemon trees. We saw the largest gothic cathedral in the world (with Christopher Columbus's tomb inside) complete with the largest plateresque gold alter ever created. It was breathtakingly overwhelming and to be honest gave both of us a slight headache... Even though the bell tower of the cathedral was a climb, we made it up the 34 floors and the bells even rang upon our arrival.
The Real Alcazar of Sevilla, Europe's oldest palace in use, was absolutely gorgeous and looked QUITE similar to the Alhambra of Granada with its Mudejar architecture and beautiful gardens. I was happy my mom was able to see something so beautiful and so different than anything else you can find in the world. Large tapestries, elaborate decorations...
We then got lost on our way to Casa de Pilates becuase I decided we should take a detour on the "cute bright little street" instead of follow the map. Once we finally did make it there, the lady said we were only able to tour the bottom floor becuase the palace was closing in thirty min. Of course we toured that in literally FIVE minutes (don't get me wrong, it was grand and gorgeous) being American and all. It was quite comical and so we sat on a bench instead of leaving eight minutes into the trip. Later that night I decided my mom had to experience Flamenco for herself and I must say the show was much better than the one in Granada. Pretty dresses, INCREDIBLE impromptu spanish guitar, much talent, excellent show. I even enjoyed the authentic Flamenco singing (i.e. slight wailing in certain stanzas--ehh esta bien).
Braved the rain the next morning and took a covered river tour, had the most delicious KEBAP (Mom is now hooked.), and took the train back. Mom experienced a fresh and delicious Paella dinner with Senora and my roomates and we went out for a drink with Stephanie and her dad (great family!).
Woke up to the best three euro American breakfast from Vips and hasta luego-- 41 days to mi madre. I'm so happy she was able to share this experience with me. I have so many blessings in my life, an amazing loving family being at the top of the list.
...and my new Madrid Aveda hairstyle being not at the top. The day before my mother arrived, I decided my roots were showing and should be trusted to Madrid's Aveda. Three people involved in my hair dye process later and I was not happy. However, my roots are not showing, it was free, and my roomates didn't even notice. How self-critical are women. Esta bien.
Sleep is necessary, homework is calling... and between Ireland, France, Prague, and Amsterdam in my future I'm thinking both of those things need to get taken care of.
Madrid was not so kind to my mom when she first got here. Being the terrible daughter that I am, I didn't meet her at the airport and she ended up driving around for two hours in her rental car looking for the obscure street signs that are placed in odd locations on the sides of buildings in size 12 font. Turns out, she drove back to the airport, turned in her rental car, and took a taxi to the hotel. Within thirty minutes of that fiasco I wanted to show her sights so we hopped on the metro towards plaza de Espana and Retiro Park. After strolling through the park and walking through the streets to the plaza, she realized that her wallet was gone. She was pick pocketed on the metro. After calling her credit card company it turns out whoever took her card attempted 1400 dollar and 800 dollar purchases unsuccessfully (imagine that). Despite having the credit card company freeze her account after sending a back up card every other purchases and resorting to my atm account which is now near zero, her trip ran quite smoothly and extremely enjoyable after that. We ate a nice lunch at my favorite Italian place, DiBocca and had a glass of wine to drown our sorrows of the lost items of our past...
That night, she had a real dining experience of drifting from tapas bar to tapas bar starting with an unusually dissapointing El Tigre much to my dismay. The quote of the evening I must say was, "Well,I'm American. People just look at me and want me to speak American, because if I didn't it would be insulting." My mother in Madrid. Getting home very late only to wake up to fly to Portugal three hours later set the theme of no sleep for the week. True Spainards.
Our hotel in Lisbon, Portugal could not have been situated in a more perfect location--on the corner of the most popular shopping streets with a famous plaza and the ocean a block away. We dropped off our luggage (after arriving in the city at 8 am) and walked (i.e. HIKED) to the Se cathedral (built in the 12th century) and the Castillo de S. Jorge which overlooked Portugal and had an excellent view of the town and the gulf. The castle was once used as a fortress and still had canons amongst the ruins and outside of the dry moats surrounding the main towers and interior. It also had an excessive amount of cats sunning on the grassy terrace...added to the experience? Jet lag and fatigue forced us to wander back to our hotel and nap for a bit. We woke up to a group of teens singing Elton John just below our window--they were extremely good, until we realized they only knew one song and it began to get excessive after the fifth or sixth time?
We took one of those ancient cars from the 18th century (Mom-what are they called? and how does that EVEN work after all that time??) that drives you up a hill and drops you off and found a great wine and sandwich place with a GORGEOUS view. That sandwich was fantastic. Later that night we searched for the aquaduct, and ended up walking inside a skyscraper hotel like we were guests and taking the elevator up on the first floor. We found the aquaduct lit up overlooking highways after we walked onto the outside staircase, pushing my purse in the doorway so we wouldn't get locked out on the 22nd floor. We ended up passing it again in our taxi on the way to the airport and it was even more grand in the daylight. Mom and I attempted to walk to Belem, a part of Lisbon, but just found a taxi who took us to one of his favorite restaurant locations on the boardwalk. The cute host lured us in with his wine samples and we were sold on one the most expensive meals I've had-complete with very chewy steak I couldn't chew so had to stuff through the cracks of the boardwalk instead of leaving it in my fancy napkin. I was MADE for fine dining. Lisbon was a ghost town at 11:30 on a Friday night, so Mom and I wandered looking at beautiful wedding gowns and ended up finding ourselves in a closing Italian restaurant sharing a delicious Tiramisu.
The next morning we saw the 16th century defense structure, Torre de Belem, overlooking Lisbon's Tagus River, and the beautiful Jeronimos Monastery. The Monastery had a very large, very eerie gothic cathedral, complete with a sculpture of Jesus on the cross (with his side wound gushing) overlooking the very dark, very gothic sanctuary. Vasco de Gama's remains added to the light and happiness the cathedral possessed. The actual Cloister of the monastery was beautifully built in the Manueline style, popular in the early 16th century and was very beautifully detailed. One thing that my mom and I noticed were all of the mystical creatures many of these types of structures had sculpted into the walls and designs--these were odd, eerie, and showed the paganism that this time period dealt with. We wandered. Past closed palaces due to the visit China's president was paying to Lisbon that day. We did wander (i.e. HIKEEEE) up this extra large hill to the Palacio Nacional de Ajuda and toured that GORGEOUS home of the royal Portuguese family of the 19th century. My mom took illegal pictures. Tourists these days. They had a large dining room set up for one hundred people that was the sight for dinner that night for China's president. What a life.
That night, after our casual night stay in a different country, Mom experienced her first kebap (better than the 70 euro dinner??) and later we found a great street close to my house full of cute bars. We split a bottle of wine, had great conversation, and went out for late night pizza.
The next morning was RASTROMARKET. Scarves basically sums up our wild shopping experience as I believe we bought 23948 each.
That night. we experienced. the futbol match. of a lifetime. Real Madrid v Barcelona. Of course Christiano Ronaldo proposed and I had to politely decline, but he still managed to pull it together and played rather well. The fans were WILD. (No wonder alcohol is forbidden in the futbol stadium!) I was decked out in my pink Real Madrid scarf. The game was excellent and we even had a gal who flew out from France telling us the play by play. Even though my mom and I ate an entire bag of potato chips, honey almonds, and corn nuts, we still found it necessary to grab a mojito with Mel, Bailey, Nick, and Micheal after the game. Mom really felt like a college student with the conversations we were having I'm sure...
Andddd we were off to Seville early in the morning. We took the express train which was excellent, so smooth, and lulled us to sleep as it grazed the Spanish country side. We hit the ground running in Seville seeing the sights and walking miles and miles past the beautiful orange and lemon trees. We saw the largest gothic cathedral in the world (with Christopher Columbus's tomb inside) complete with the largest plateresque gold alter ever created. It was breathtakingly overwhelming and to be honest gave both of us a slight headache... Even though the bell tower of the cathedral was a climb, we made it up the 34 floors and the bells even rang upon our arrival.
The Real Alcazar of Sevilla, Europe's oldest palace in use, was absolutely gorgeous and looked QUITE similar to the Alhambra of Granada with its Mudejar architecture and beautiful gardens. I was happy my mom was able to see something so beautiful and so different than anything else you can find in the world. Large tapestries, elaborate decorations...
We then got lost on our way to Casa de Pilates becuase I decided we should take a detour on the "cute bright little street" instead of follow the map. Once we finally did make it there, the lady said we were only able to tour the bottom floor becuase the palace was closing in thirty min. Of course we toured that in literally FIVE minutes (don't get me wrong, it was grand and gorgeous) being American and all. It was quite comical and so we sat on a bench instead of leaving eight minutes into the trip. Later that night I decided my mom had to experience Flamenco for herself and I must say the show was much better than the one in Granada. Pretty dresses, INCREDIBLE impromptu spanish guitar, much talent, excellent show. I even enjoyed the authentic Flamenco singing (i.e. slight wailing in certain stanzas--ehh esta bien).
Braved the rain the next morning and took a covered river tour, had the most delicious KEBAP (Mom is now hooked.), and took the train back. Mom experienced a fresh and delicious Paella dinner with Senora and my roomates and we went out for a drink with Stephanie and her dad (great family!).
Woke up to the best three euro American breakfast from Vips and hasta luego-- 41 days to mi madre. I'm so happy she was able to share this experience with me. I have so many blessings in my life, an amazing loving family being at the top of the list.
...and my new Madrid Aveda hairstyle being not at the top. The day before my mother arrived, I decided my roots were showing and should be trusted to Madrid's Aveda. Three people involved in my hair dye process later and I was not happy. However, my roots are not showing, it was free, and my roomates didn't even notice. How self-critical are women. Esta bien.
Sleep is necessary, homework is calling... and between Ireland, France, Prague, and Amsterdam in my future I'm thinking both of those things need to get taken care of.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Lions and Tigers and Chipmunks, oh my! Alllllright Barcelona!
I was walking back from the metro stop, Quevedo, to my house after spending the weekend in Barcelona, and it felt like I was returning home. One of the main streets I have to cross was closed off and there was a father and his two sons playing soccer, kids riding bikes, couples holding hands, families spending time together. The weather is beautiful, sky is clear and blue, I even saw a pigeon give a smaller bird a worm. No, but I really did. Madrid was welcoming me home and it feels good to be back after an enjoyable long weekend. It was a holiday today, meaning no school on a Monday and a three day week!
I spent the night at Stephanie's senora's house which actually ended up only being two and a half hours of sleep before we taxi'd to the airport at 5:30am to catch our morning flight.
We spent the weekend sharing a tiny single bed (which we DEFINATELY had to wash the sheets of) in the apartment of Stephanie's cousin who is a student in Barcelona this semester. He lives with his fraternity brothers. Their apartment obviously shows this, but it was a fun group of people and a free place to sleep. Their phrase that defines their lives is "Allllright." Her cousin, Alex, showed us around Barcelona a bit. We walked down Las Ramblas-a main street lined in large shady trees, various stands (some selling chipmunks, ferrets, mice, fish,etc.), and people dressed in insane costumes that you can take pictures with for money. I took one with a golden godess lady? Ultimate tourist. The three of us walked in the market and there were whole fish, some 4 feet long, very fresh fruit, delicious juice which we indulged in, and a variety of candies and other food stands.
We took the metro to the beach and rented 6 euro bikes for two hours and rode along the water and through the city, stopping on occassion to snap a photo. We stopped at a sandwich shop famous among college students and took sandwiches to go. Unfortunately for me my sandwich was incredibly saucy and my sandwich fell through the bag while i was riding my bike and i fell off of my bike after it, picked it up, took a bite, and kept riding. More unfortunately for me after the sauce continued to cover my leg while i was carrying my sandwich and biking two gals walked in front of me so i hit a curb, dropped my sandwich and fell off of my bike again. I shamelessly picked up my sandwich remains that weren't all over the city of Barelona, turned in my bike and ate it. I was hungry. I have a good immune system? It was a good sandwich.
Later that night the guys in the apartment we were staying at and Stephanie and I went over to their friends' house and cooked an elaborate meal of fajitas. Everyone chipped in and we jammed to music, cooked, and had drinks. Very fun. We made a large bowl of guacamole that had the potential to feed a small country. Later we all metro'd to this bar called Chupitos (shots in Spanish) which fit becuase the bar had over 300 shots unique to them, ranging from the Monica Lewinski (which involved taking a shot out of something I do not want to say) to the Boy Scout which involved the bar being lit on fire and roasting marshmellows to the Harry Potter which involved an orange being lit on fire with sugar. Basically there was a lot of fire going on.
We walked on the beach barefoot to the main plaza where clubs are and the nightlife happens. We ended up just hanging out for a bit, taking a taxi home, and Alex, Stephanie's cousin, is so bad with directions that we got lost for quite a while, even though he lives there. I would criticize, but in my book that's definately an easy thing to do, ha.
We slept in and didn't end up leaving the apartment the next day until 4. Alex, Stephanie and I strolled through Park Guell and saw Gaudi's work. There were mosaic park benches in a main plaza that apparently used to be the location for a large market. Two houses that Gaudi designed based on the opera Hansel and Gretel framed the gates to the entrance of the park. They looked magical. Like gingerbread houses. Gaudi's work is so abstract and colorful and the definition of "modern" in the art world. Later Stephanie and I walked through Las Ramblas again stopping in and out of shops while also taste testing every ice cream stand we saw. Probar que...este? We stopped in a restaurant, sat at the bar, and enjoyed white wine (one on the house-thank you!) and delicious croquettes. We walked toward the beach after and stopped to buy chestnuts roasting on an open fire (jack frost knocking at your dooorrrr) from a vendor. We thought they were acorns at first, but then realized we weren't being as adventurous as we had anticipated. I FINALLY bought my "real" Prada bag from a vendor, just before he had to pack up and run away from police. Stephanie was bartering with him but he just looked so sad so I gave him his precio que quiere for a black n white checkered fantastic accessory.
We met up with Alex and the boys at a hoppin' Irish bar where people were watching futbol and getting pretty rowdy. I finally ate spicy food, nachos, and it was divine. Spanish food is NOT spicy food and many Spanish people don't like spicy, so it was funny when the waitress tried to tell me it was way too spicy of a dish because really it barely sparked my taste buds. Everyone kept sticking beer labels on one of the boys' back who we were staying with and I believe he was up to twenty or so before he realized it- typical group of beta fraternity guys?
There were a lot of people from my Madrid school in Barcelona this weekend, so I met up with a few gals and went to club Opium. We were there early-aka 1:35am- so it wasn't quite hoppin' yet but we were able to sit back and watch forty year old men dance in scarves and fleece vests, so i guess being an early bird was worth it just this once. Old men just living the dream? The club was very close to the beach and you could hear the ocean from the patio outside. It was decorated in halloween and even the club workers were in costume. We left and went to a kebap place on the corner and split one but when we wanted another one they said they were closed. A divorcee from Turkey handed the guy a large euro bill and said give the ladies whatever they want so we ate our kebap and chatted about different cultures. He wasn't flirting or hitting on us, he was observing how we all interacted. It was kind of odd, but very interesting. He works in spice exporting, and saves up money to travel by himself, indulge in photography, and meet people from all over the world.
The next day I woke up at 8:30 to peel my contacts out of my eyes, then woke up around eleven to greet the day and be in excrutiating eye pain, sensitive to light, barely opening my eyes, fantastic. My eyes and contacts have been having a battle since I've been here, with me always as the loser. Good news. Was forced to buy cute sunglasses that I had to wear even indoors which forced me to look like Stevie Wonder riding the metro. Fab.
I went to Sagrada Familia, a modern cathedral designed by Gaudi which is still under construction. The interior will be done by the end of this year and the exterior has plans to be completed by 2030 and stand as the tallest building in Barcelona with its eighteen spires. The entrance has sculptures built into the walls depicting scenes of Jesus's life. There is a scene of Judas giving Jesus the betraying kiss; a snake was in the corner of that scene which I found interesting. A scene of John disowning Jesus three times and a rooster crowing. A sculpture of the scene of Jesus on the cross. Jesus riding a donkey entering Jerusalem was carved into the floor of the entrance. Inside the cathedral was magical, magnificant, abstract, unlike anything I've seen, too much for words and pictures to describe. It was as if I was walking into a different world or unimaginable shapes and architecture and designs. Beautiful stained glass, sculptures, glass, shapes, columns, staircases. Very tall ceilings. It was a little eerie, and didn't feel as religious, as if I could feel God's presence like other cathedrals I've been in. It was more a work of modern art.
After, we went to Montjuiic which is a large park on top of a hill overlooking the city. Gorgeous views. Very green, huge trees, smelled so amazing and fresh. Montjuiic encompasses gardens with elaborate waterfalls, sculptures, and various structures including the Olympic Stadium from 1992 which we saw and Palau Nacional which was built in 1929 for the world fair but is now used as the National Catalan Musuem. We didn't mean to see these things we were kind of just roaming in the park and happened to come across them, very cool. We felt like we were going to pass out from lack of food so we wandered back into the city and found a little restaurant. The service was incredibly slow, as always here, and the food was lukewarm, which is normal as well.
That night Stephanie and I dressed up like tigers for Halloween and the boys we were staying with all wore RIDICULOUS costumes as well. They found full animal suits so in the end there was a chipmunk, a lion, and a monkey and then an indian, a soccer player, and some other random things. We went out to Opium club again and there were so many dancers and other people dressed up in costumes that were hired by the club. There was a fountain of chocolate that you could dip fruit in which I of course indulged in. My night was probably catagorized by eating as on the metro I bought chips and somehow got one for free out of the vending machine. Success. Also, after the club we stopped by Mcdonald's and had an elaborate meal. Finally. I've been wanting to go there for months. haha SO american.
The next morning waking up for our early flight was brutal but somehow we did it. Overall Barcelona was a great trip. I am faithful to Madrid and will say I enjoy Madrid better. But I very much liked Barcelona's trees everywhere and the ocean was beautiful.
My roomates did not have as good as an experience, one missed her flight, another's best friend got punched in the face by a taxi driver for slamming the door and had to be taken to the hospital for a blood transfusion (she lost so much in the 45 min it took for the ambulance to get there). The police apparently didn't do anything about it. What kind of man beats up a girl for shutting a car door too hard. How frightening. She's ok now. Apparently studies in London. I'm sure her parents are thrilled with Barcelona. Apparently a lot of people had things stolen.
I'd say my trip was definately a success in light of others.
I am a 21 year old. Tuesday was my birthday and it was catagorized as going out at midnight, going to sleep, waking up to Bailey's in my coffee and going out again that night. A little wild, but you only turn 21 once, and I'm not one to make too terrible of decisions, but I definately think my triple decker PBnJ was a bit too far and will not be eating any more peanut butter anytime soon. The early am I went out with the Wakeforest crew to cavebar. It literally is a bar that looks like a cave and drinks come out of the ceiling. A Britney Spears song request was made. Success. Free champagne for your birthday. In the morning I woke up to a card and chocolates from my senora--she is SO sweet. The day was catagorized as free everything. I wish it was always my birthday! My roomates and I met up at DiBocca, our favorite Italian place near school, for my birthday lunch and we all ordered our elaborate menu del dia with three courses and a glass of white wine for ten euro. They gave me a free dessert with candles and also balloons that I tied to my party backpack. Good friends, good food. Later that night I went out with my girlfriends to a few relaxing bars. We saw a purple light at this one place, rang the doorbell, and Spain gay men in underwear answered the door to a club full of Spanish men in whity tyties. We weren't allowed in, that was ok by me! The gals, Mel, Bailey, Stephanie, Naila, Elyse and I saw these other people dressed up in party hats and it turned out that it was this other gal's brithday from Sweden. We instantly became best friends, at least for one photo session. Apparently an American's 21st is equivalent to Sweden's 20th I found out. Great birthday...
The other day at dinner my senora was making fun of Chinese people and their accents and how they look. I actually was getting a little uncomfortable, I feel like she took it too far? Maybe by fifteen minutes? She then was making fun of American accents which was pretty funny--she said we swallow our words before they come out of our mouth, and that's how we sound...
My mother comes on Thursday, in 3 days! Familiarity will be SO good to see. I cannot wait to play tour guide for Madrid and travel to Portugal and Sevilla with her...
My life is incredible.
I spent the night at Stephanie's senora's house which actually ended up only being two and a half hours of sleep before we taxi'd to the airport at 5:30am to catch our morning flight.
We spent the weekend sharing a tiny single bed (which we DEFINATELY had to wash the sheets of) in the apartment of Stephanie's cousin who is a student in Barcelona this semester. He lives with his fraternity brothers. Their apartment obviously shows this, but it was a fun group of people and a free place to sleep. Their phrase that defines their lives is "Allllright." Her cousin, Alex, showed us around Barcelona a bit. We walked down Las Ramblas-a main street lined in large shady trees, various stands (some selling chipmunks, ferrets, mice, fish,etc.), and people dressed in insane costumes that you can take pictures with for money. I took one with a golden godess lady? Ultimate tourist. The three of us walked in the market and there were whole fish, some 4 feet long, very fresh fruit, delicious juice which we indulged in, and a variety of candies and other food stands.
We took the metro to the beach and rented 6 euro bikes for two hours and rode along the water and through the city, stopping on occassion to snap a photo. We stopped at a sandwich shop famous among college students and took sandwiches to go. Unfortunately for me my sandwich was incredibly saucy and my sandwich fell through the bag while i was riding my bike and i fell off of my bike after it, picked it up, took a bite, and kept riding. More unfortunately for me after the sauce continued to cover my leg while i was carrying my sandwich and biking two gals walked in front of me so i hit a curb, dropped my sandwich and fell off of my bike again. I shamelessly picked up my sandwich remains that weren't all over the city of Barelona, turned in my bike and ate it. I was hungry. I have a good immune system? It was a good sandwich.
Later that night the guys in the apartment we were staying at and Stephanie and I went over to their friends' house and cooked an elaborate meal of fajitas. Everyone chipped in and we jammed to music, cooked, and had drinks. Very fun. We made a large bowl of guacamole that had the potential to feed a small country. Later we all metro'd to this bar called Chupitos (shots in Spanish) which fit becuase the bar had over 300 shots unique to them, ranging from the Monica Lewinski (which involved taking a shot out of something I do not want to say) to the Boy Scout which involved the bar being lit on fire and roasting marshmellows to the Harry Potter which involved an orange being lit on fire with sugar. Basically there was a lot of fire going on.
We walked on the beach barefoot to the main plaza where clubs are and the nightlife happens. We ended up just hanging out for a bit, taking a taxi home, and Alex, Stephanie's cousin, is so bad with directions that we got lost for quite a while, even though he lives there. I would criticize, but in my book that's definately an easy thing to do, ha.
We slept in and didn't end up leaving the apartment the next day until 4. Alex, Stephanie and I strolled through Park Guell and saw Gaudi's work. There were mosaic park benches in a main plaza that apparently used to be the location for a large market. Two houses that Gaudi designed based on the opera Hansel and Gretel framed the gates to the entrance of the park. They looked magical. Like gingerbread houses. Gaudi's work is so abstract and colorful and the definition of "modern" in the art world. Later Stephanie and I walked through Las Ramblas again stopping in and out of shops while also taste testing every ice cream stand we saw. Probar que...este? We stopped in a restaurant, sat at the bar, and enjoyed white wine (one on the house-thank you!) and delicious croquettes. We walked toward the beach after and stopped to buy chestnuts roasting on an open fire (jack frost knocking at your dooorrrr) from a vendor. We thought they were acorns at first, but then realized we weren't being as adventurous as we had anticipated. I FINALLY bought my "real" Prada bag from a vendor, just before he had to pack up and run away from police. Stephanie was bartering with him but he just looked so sad so I gave him his precio que quiere for a black n white checkered fantastic accessory.
We met up with Alex and the boys at a hoppin' Irish bar where people were watching futbol and getting pretty rowdy. I finally ate spicy food, nachos, and it was divine. Spanish food is NOT spicy food and many Spanish people don't like spicy, so it was funny when the waitress tried to tell me it was way too spicy of a dish because really it barely sparked my taste buds. Everyone kept sticking beer labels on one of the boys' back who we were staying with and I believe he was up to twenty or so before he realized it- typical group of beta fraternity guys?
There were a lot of people from my Madrid school in Barcelona this weekend, so I met up with a few gals and went to club Opium. We were there early-aka 1:35am- so it wasn't quite hoppin' yet but we were able to sit back and watch forty year old men dance in scarves and fleece vests, so i guess being an early bird was worth it just this once. Old men just living the dream? The club was very close to the beach and you could hear the ocean from the patio outside. It was decorated in halloween and even the club workers were in costume. We left and went to a kebap place on the corner and split one but when we wanted another one they said they were closed. A divorcee from Turkey handed the guy a large euro bill and said give the ladies whatever they want so we ate our kebap and chatted about different cultures. He wasn't flirting or hitting on us, he was observing how we all interacted. It was kind of odd, but very interesting. He works in spice exporting, and saves up money to travel by himself, indulge in photography, and meet people from all over the world.
The next day I woke up at 8:30 to peel my contacts out of my eyes, then woke up around eleven to greet the day and be in excrutiating eye pain, sensitive to light, barely opening my eyes, fantastic. My eyes and contacts have been having a battle since I've been here, with me always as the loser. Good news. Was forced to buy cute sunglasses that I had to wear even indoors which forced me to look like Stevie Wonder riding the metro. Fab.
I went to Sagrada Familia, a modern cathedral designed by Gaudi which is still under construction. The interior will be done by the end of this year and the exterior has plans to be completed by 2030 and stand as the tallest building in Barcelona with its eighteen spires. The entrance has sculptures built into the walls depicting scenes of Jesus's life. There is a scene of Judas giving Jesus the betraying kiss; a snake was in the corner of that scene which I found interesting. A scene of John disowning Jesus three times and a rooster crowing. A sculpture of the scene of Jesus on the cross. Jesus riding a donkey entering Jerusalem was carved into the floor of the entrance. Inside the cathedral was magical, magnificant, abstract, unlike anything I've seen, too much for words and pictures to describe. It was as if I was walking into a different world or unimaginable shapes and architecture and designs. Beautiful stained glass, sculptures, glass, shapes, columns, staircases. Very tall ceilings. It was a little eerie, and didn't feel as religious, as if I could feel God's presence like other cathedrals I've been in. It was more a work of modern art.
After, we went to Montjuiic which is a large park on top of a hill overlooking the city. Gorgeous views. Very green, huge trees, smelled so amazing and fresh. Montjuiic encompasses gardens with elaborate waterfalls, sculptures, and various structures including the Olympic Stadium from 1992 which we saw and Palau Nacional which was built in 1929 for the world fair but is now used as the National Catalan Musuem. We didn't mean to see these things we were kind of just roaming in the park and happened to come across them, very cool. We felt like we were going to pass out from lack of food so we wandered back into the city and found a little restaurant. The service was incredibly slow, as always here, and the food was lukewarm, which is normal as well.
That night Stephanie and I dressed up like tigers for Halloween and the boys we were staying with all wore RIDICULOUS costumes as well. They found full animal suits so in the end there was a chipmunk, a lion, and a monkey and then an indian, a soccer player, and some other random things. We went out to Opium club again and there were so many dancers and other people dressed up in costumes that were hired by the club. There was a fountain of chocolate that you could dip fruit in which I of course indulged in. My night was probably catagorized by eating as on the metro I bought chips and somehow got one for free out of the vending machine. Success. Also, after the club we stopped by Mcdonald's and had an elaborate meal. Finally. I've been wanting to go there for months. haha SO american.
The next morning waking up for our early flight was brutal but somehow we did it. Overall Barcelona was a great trip. I am faithful to Madrid and will say I enjoy Madrid better. But I very much liked Barcelona's trees everywhere and the ocean was beautiful.
My roomates did not have as good as an experience, one missed her flight, another's best friend got punched in the face by a taxi driver for slamming the door and had to be taken to the hospital for a blood transfusion (she lost so much in the 45 min it took for the ambulance to get there). The police apparently didn't do anything about it. What kind of man beats up a girl for shutting a car door too hard. How frightening. She's ok now. Apparently studies in London. I'm sure her parents are thrilled with Barcelona. Apparently a lot of people had things stolen.
I'd say my trip was definately a success in light of others.
I am a 21 year old. Tuesday was my birthday and it was catagorized as going out at midnight, going to sleep, waking up to Bailey's in my coffee and going out again that night. A little wild, but you only turn 21 once, and I'm not one to make too terrible of decisions, but I definately think my triple decker PBnJ was a bit too far and will not be eating any more peanut butter anytime soon. The early am I went out with the Wakeforest crew to cavebar. It literally is a bar that looks like a cave and drinks come out of the ceiling. A Britney Spears song request was made. Success. Free champagne for your birthday. In the morning I woke up to a card and chocolates from my senora--she is SO sweet. The day was catagorized as free everything. I wish it was always my birthday! My roomates and I met up at DiBocca, our favorite Italian place near school, for my birthday lunch and we all ordered our elaborate menu del dia with three courses and a glass of white wine for ten euro. They gave me a free dessert with candles and also balloons that I tied to my party backpack. Good friends, good food. Later that night I went out with my girlfriends to a few relaxing bars. We saw a purple light at this one place, rang the doorbell, and Spain gay men in underwear answered the door to a club full of Spanish men in whity tyties. We weren't allowed in, that was ok by me! The gals, Mel, Bailey, Stephanie, Naila, Elyse and I saw these other people dressed up in party hats and it turned out that it was this other gal's brithday from Sweden. We instantly became best friends, at least for one photo session. Apparently an American's 21st is equivalent to Sweden's 20th I found out. Great birthday...
The other day at dinner my senora was making fun of Chinese people and their accents and how they look. I actually was getting a little uncomfortable, I feel like she took it too far? Maybe by fifteen minutes? She then was making fun of American accents which was pretty funny--she said we swallow our words before they come out of our mouth, and that's how we sound...
My mother comes on Thursday, in 3 days! Familiarity will be SO good to see. I cannot wait to play tour guide for Madrid and travel to Portugal and Sevilla with her...
My life is incredible.
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