Spring Break 2010

Spring Break: So this past week and a half was our spring break...Last Thursday, Gretchen, Erica and I left to go to Paris...we nearly died on the flight there, no joke. Like, I've been in turbulence before but this was rough...the flight attendants came out and started looking at each other with worried expressions- and that's when you know it's bad...but we survived. Barely.

Once we got to our hostel, we walked in to find glass on the floor and a window that wouldn't shut. But because it was already midnight at this point, they couldn't switch us to a different room so we had to deal with it. Just our luck. But the next two days we decided to get up early and go see all the touristy stuff (And we decided to be complete tourists and take one of those open bus tour things as well) : Eiffel Tower, The Lourve, Notre Dame, shopped down Champs de Elysses street, went to Versailles. All that good stuff. Surprisingly, although it was not warm, it didn't POUR on us which was great. The food in Paris was GREAT though...especially the desserts...I had the best chocolate cake ever at the restaurant we went to the first night.

One of our friends, Caroline, is also studying in Paris for the semester so we met up with her one night. Our friend who had been a tour guide in Paris for the summer recommend this small hole-in-the-wall type place we went to which served cheese fondue and wine in baby bottles. (Not quite sure why but it was fun).

But one of my favorite things about Paris was seeing the Eiffel Tower at night all lit up. We got hot chocolate and walked down and it was soo pretty! So different actually seeing it in real life versus in pictures.

Then the next morning we had a few hours before our flight left so we went to the Sacre Cour (i think?) which was up on a hill and had a fabulous view of the entire city. After walking up hundreds of stairs we then discovered there was actually an elevator that could have taken us up...haha oops? So we went back to our hostel and they were supposed to have a cab there for us but of course the cab came about 45 minutes late and once we got to the airport the longest flight was of course for Aegean, what we were flying to Greece. Well, needless to say we were cutting it pretty close when we ran on that plane but we made it so no worries.

So we got to Athens, Greece later that night and needed to take a cab to our hotel. This is where the second near death experience comes in. Our cab driver decides to drive us down a street where hundreds of men are swarming the streets. Well, our cabbie decides to drive down this street and our cab is swarmed by these men trying to open our cab doors and steal our bags out of the trunk...didn't think we were going to make it out of there alive and in one piece...but he pulls down the next road and goes "here's your hotel. I would suggest not going down that street because it's not great but if you turn the other way it's quite touristy." Ok. But the hotel was very nice and the other side of the street was actually quite touristy so it all worked out.

The next morning we got up real early and went down to Piraeus, the port, and got on a ferry to take us to Mykonos. It took like five hours to get there on the ferry. It was like a scene exactly out of the Sisterhood of the Traveling pants movie...white houses with blue windows! So pretty! So we took a shuttle to our hotel that was on the beach and since it was sunny we decided to lay out for a couple of hours. Then we headed into town and walked through the streets and ate dinner right by the beach. Apparently everything was just opening up for the season because there weren't that many people there yet and a lot of the hotels/restaurants/bars were closed until May when they swing into touristy season. But we were just glad to see the sun and not have to wear a jacket for once.

The next afternoon we headed back to Athens and got in at night...we found another Greek restaurant to eat at (I think i've had enough gyros and meat to last me awhile) and walked around the streets. We headed to the Acropolis the next day to look at the ancient Grecian ruins and went shopping and to the flea market...We found that we were glad we weren't in Athens for the full four days because we were running out of things to occupy oursevles with after just one full day in Greece.

Then Friday we got up real early and headed back to Madrid and have been relaxing/enjoying the sunshine in Madrid for the weekend...I actually have to go back to school tomorrow...what? This whole school thing really is getting in the way here...

senora.

Erica, Ana, Gretchen and I

This is a picture of my roommates and I with our Senora here in Spain, Ana, on St. Patrick's Day!

i am cultured.

So this past weekend we experienced two major cultural events in Spain- Las Fallas y la Corrida de Toros (bull fight!)

Las Fallas took place in Valencia on the East coast...so we got on a bus on Friday afternoon around noon and arrived in Valencia around 4ish. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people there....the streets were jam packed!! But basically in all the streets were huge float-like arrangements...crazy scenes from fairy tales or stories. So during the evening we walked around looking at them while people were setting off firecrackers and fireworks everywhere. Then at midnight they burned all the "fallas." We obviously would pick the worst falla to stand in front of to wait to burn...because it never did. Bad choice. But it was cool to actually be in Valencia for this national holiday and see this all go down.


THE BURNING FALLA...this is what the streets looked like...

THE FALLA BEFORE...

Then Sunday we went to a bull fight! Bull fighting season is March-October in Spain, but right now the novice bullfighters are the only ones participating. So although our bulls weren't as big as normal and the torreros weren't "official," it was still very cool to see. We had great seats too! But what basically happened was there were three torreros, or bullfighters. A bull would be released into the ring and the people in the ring would try to make the bull real angry by teasing it with brightly colored pink capes. Then in the second part the "picadores" would come out on a horse and the bull would charge the horse and the picador on top would stab the bull in the neck to try and get it's neck muscles to weaken. Next, they would take six knifes and shove then into the bull's back to get the bull even more mad. That's when the torrero would come out. He has a red cape and would wave it around in front of the bull to have the bull charge it...his goal was to do as many dangerous movements while remaining very close in distance to the bull. After that, he would take his sword and kill the bull...then they would drag the bull out of the ring and the next bull fighter would enter....whoever had the most "professional" moves and greatest audience approval would win the competition. Yes, it's a tad cruel but it's Spain's national sport and I'm glad I got to experience it.

The best torrero and his gang...

At the end of this week our spring break begins....we're heading to Paris, France for four days and then to Athens, Greece!! We then will be back in Madrid for Easter weekend!!! SOO excited!!

bonjour francia

(Biarritz)

So this past week was amazing! For our culture class we traveled to northern Spain (Pais Vasco) for a few days and then decided that since we were so close to France we would just hop the border and spend the rest of the weekend in the beautiful city of Biarritz.

So we left Wednesday morning on our bus and stopped at a bodega (wine cellar) in La Rioja on the way up. After getting a tour from one of the guides on how they made and where they kept the wine, we got to do a little wine tasting ourselves. I ACTUALLY found a wine that I don't hate. I don't remember exactly what it is called but it was a mixture between white wine and red wine.

After the winery, we got back on our bus and headed to Bilbao, where we would be spending our first night. We checked into our hotel and then our professor took us to the downtown area where we had our first experience with the Basque country's "pintxos." Pintxos are basically the same thing as tapas, which I guess could be comparable to appetizers in the US. So we explored a few different pintxo bars- each one seeming to be better and better.

(PINTXOS)

The next morning we headed to the Guggenheim museum...I think my favorite part about the museum was the actual building and structure itself. The exhibit at the time inside was composed of objects created from old sinks, pipes and bike pieces...not exactly my cup of tea.

We then stopped at Guernica (the city that was bombed where Picasso got his inspiration from for his painting) and toured the town hall and then had prolly the best lunch EVERRR. We had a 5 course meal and I have never been so full!

After that we got back on the bus and headed to San Sebastian, which is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous cities in Spain. But of course the whole time we were there it was rainy and cold (side note: according to our senora, this is the coldest winter Spain has had in FOREVER- perfect.) But we once again explored the downtown area, did a little window shopping and had some more famous "pintxos." The next day we headed to the Chillida museum with large sculptures and then our class trip was up.

So then our trip to France began! We took a metro to the border of France and from there took a train about a half hour to the city of Biarritz. We stayed in this cute little bed and breakfast that was a two minute walk from the beach...and the best part was: we had sun! Although it was still pretty chilly, the sun made a huge difference.

So we were pretty tired that day but we walked around a little and had lunch/dinner. The next day we got breakfast in bed (greatest chocolate croissant!) and then decided to do a little shopping. Believe it or not, I caved in and got a Long Champ bag...it's actually pretty cute though. :)

The hardest part about Biarritz was not being able to understand a SINGLE word though...besides bon jour and au revoir I just had to smile at people and hope someone spoke english.

On Sunday we had to head back to Madrid- and even though we seemed pretty close it took us 12 hours to get home...from the train station to the metro, metro to train station, 5 hour train ride to madrid and a metro ride home...

But I think this trip has been one of my favorites so far! Bearritz was just absolutely beautiful and we had a really fun group!

LOVE

So since we have sadly reached the halfway point....

WHAT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ABOUT MADRID

1). THE FOOD....especially tortialla and paella. Literally everything that is made in our house though is just SO GREAT. And I have become a lot more of an adventurous eater as well--I've eaten fish, vegetables and sooo many things I thought I would never like.

2). THE NIGHTLIFE...needless to say the nightlife is extremely different here...we don't leave to go out until after 11 and then don't return home until like 5ish. It's crazy but it's how they do it.

3). Since things don't open until later or are usually closed on the weekends, it's okay to sleep in late because there is nothing else to do!

4). THE PEOPLE...they've all been so friendly!

5). TRANSPORTATION...surprisingly I thought that having to take the bus and metro was going to suck...but it has saved our lives. It gets us where we want to be quickly.

6). CLASS?...well not to say that I love going to class because, frankly, I believe that school and that sort just get in the way here...but in relation to what I would be doing back in Dallas I would say that school is a lot LESS intense here.

7). TRAVELING...i love being so close to many cool places that you can make a weekend trip out of...and I love that part of our culture class involves traveling to places like Andalucia, Segovia, Escorial and Pais Vasco.

8). The fact that cabs are really cheap! Woo!

9). Retiro Park...huge and gorgeous park.

10). The monuments and museums that are everywhereee

11). Shopping!

WHAT I DON'T LIKE SO MUCH...

1). Sopa de ajo...its garlic soup and it's supposed to be absolutely incredle but I just don't get it...it is a soup that has soggy bread in it and does not taste good...but when our senora serves it...we have to eat so we have no other choice.

2). WASHING CLOTHES...they don't have dryers here so everything is hung dry...which means everything is crispy and crunchy...and let me tell you, crunch towels and shirts are not so fun.

3.) Dinner time....i thought i would get used to eating dinner at 9:30 every night...but not so much...come 8 oclock i am usually dying of hunger...

4). The fact that the metro closes at 1:30 am...in my oppinion it should just be open all night. It would make our lives so much easier.

5.) Homework, papers, midterms and projects...I don't think they should be required.

6.) I miss my blackberry...i have an oldschool phone but I miss MY phone.

7). The shower...we have to hold the shower head...and this gets challenging when you're trying to put shampoo in your hair because you have to put the hose down on the floor and step on it so it doesn't spray you everywhere.

halfway?

So now that midterms are done things have calmed down once again...last Friday we went on a class trip to Escorial and saw the Palace that Felipe II had created...it was HUGE. Gigantic library, church and palace all in one. But it was really beautiful! After that we went to the Valle de los Caidos which was constructed by prisoners during the Spanish Civil War for Franco.

After that we spent the weekend celebrating one of our friend's 21st birthdays here in Madrid. I feel like even though we have been here for two months now, there is still so much in this city left to do and see!

Saturday we found a store called Taste for America...it has food shipped in from the states. I bought peanut butter, Pop-Tarts and a bag of small 100 grand bars. I spent about the equivalent of 24 bucks on all of it. Ridiculous? Absolutely. Worth it? Absolutely.

Then Saturday night I experienced my first Spanish cinema. There is a movie theatre right behind our flat so we walked over to see the movie Celda 211. It was actually a really interesting movie that has won a TON of awards here in Spain. Too bad I didn't understand most of the conversations between the characters...but I understood the general idea of it so I think that's good enough.

This week was just another week of classes...and then last night we actually went to a "zarzuela" with our class which was kind of like a spanish musical...It was called Dona Francisquita and interestingly enough, our program coordinator's grandfather was the writer of this very famous spanish zarzuela so our program coordinator owns the rights to it.

Gretchen's best friend is in town this weekend from home on her spring break so we are just staying in Madrid this weekend...this actually is going to be one of our last full weekends in Madrid because next week we will be in the north of spain/south of france and then we have spring break. So the semester is going by wayyyyyyy to quickly!!

CADIZ CRAZINESS

Ooo midterm week. In the past 36 hours I have had three midterms. And I guess since I haven’t really done a whole lot of work this semester they kind of kicked me in the butt.

BUT this past weekend we traveled to the south of Spain (Cadiz) with a travel group here in Madrid called European vibe. Cadiz is famous for its Carneval. Carneval is basically like a huge Mardi gras celebration, only everyone is dressed up in Halloween costumes. So we took a bus down on Friday morning (7 am? No thank you) and it took us TEN HOURS to get down there. Granted the bus stopped like three times but it was quite the long bus ride.

Once we finally got to our hotel we realized that there really weren’t too many hotels around the area so we went to a grocery to stock up on bread and sandwich meat. Our hotel was very nice as well. We had a balcony that overlooked a golf course and were like a five minute walk from the beach. Cadiz is supposed to be really pretty in the summer months but the weather wasn’t bad when we were there! It was like 60 and sunny for most of the two days that we were there and then when we left on Sunday it was raining. Everyone kept telling us we lucked out because the previous weekend all it did was rain and many parts of the city had flooded.

But Friday night they took us out to a nightclub and then Saturday during the day we had the day to relax and get ready for Carneval. The bus left for Carneval at 4 and we were all set to go in our costumes. Gretchen, Erica and I had on black leggings, bright skirts and weird patterned shirts with boas, sequined headbands and had drawn designs all over the sides of our faces. But some of the costumes there were RIDICULOUS. Some people had full-on astronaut or Avatar costumes. But needless to say, there was not a single person there that was NOT in costume. We basically walked around and met some (interesting?) people from all over Spain. Think of Summerfest- and picture everyone in costumes. That’s basically what it was. So great.
(picture of our group in Cadiz)

The downside was that Sunday we had to endure a ten hour bus ride home and got back real late at night with midterms beginning in two days…haha oops.

On a sadder note, this morning our senora’s mom died : ( She had been sick for some time and was 101 years old so she knew it was going to come soon. However, she left with her son and her daughter this morning to go over there and won’t be back for awhile.

Friday we’re headed to Escorial for a day trip with the school and then we are going to be in Madrid for the weekend!! Wooo!