Tuesday, April 13, 2010
My First Bullfight!
Yesterday I went to my first Bullfight! Oh what an experience. When my mom was here she and I went to the bullfighting museum and got a little taste of what a bullfight was all about. I feel as though this prepared me a little bit for what was in store. I also had a general idea of how they are run. Some of my friends that I went with were not as familiar with what happens. They found out at the bullfight that yes, the bull is killed. We sat fairly close, probably 10 rows up and were definitely in the action! I was on the edge of my seat several times because the bull would just nearly catch the matador! Here is how it works:
(warning this might be a little gory!!)
Spanish-style bullfighting is called "corrida de toros" -literally "race of bulls". In a traditional corrida, three matadores("killers"), each fight two bulls and each goes twice to total six bulls. Each matador has six assistants — two picadores ("lancers") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros ("flagmen") - who known as toreros ("bullfighters")
Each fight is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages, the start of each is announced by a trumpet sound. The toreros enter the ring in a parade, called the paseíllo, accompanied by band music (all looking cute in their sparkly and colorful outfits, funny hats and black flats).
The bull enters the ring. This is the first stage, the tercio de varas("the lancing third"), and the matador first confronts the bull with the capote(cape), observing the behaviour of the bull while performing a tanda ("series of passes") to impress the crowd.
Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara ("lance"). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the horse is surrounded by a peto — a protective mattress-like covering. At this point, the picador stabs just behind the neck, weakening the neck muscles. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns lower during the following stages of the fight. This makes the bull's charges less dangerous, enabling the matador to perform.
In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of flags"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas, sticks into the bull's shoulders.
In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, and a sword. The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for kill and producing a beautiful display(Bulls are actually colorblind so they are not phased by the "red" of the cape! it's actually the movements). The stage ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the heart.
If the matador did well, the crowd petitions the president to award the matador an ear of the bull by waving white handkerchiefs (we saw this happen twice!). If his performance was exceptional, he is award two, and sometimes a tail. After the performance the matador takes a "victory lap." During this lap, when the crowd often threw articles of clothing (handkercheifs, jackets) at the Matador to show their admiration.
It was tough to watch the first round even though I knew what to expect. The rounds after that I could watch a little better. I am glad that I went to the bullfight. It was definitely a cultural experience! Would I do it again? hmmm.....
(warning this might be a little gory!!)
Spanish-style bullfighting is called "corrida de toros" -literally "race of bulls". In a traditional corrida, three matadores("killers"), each fight two bulls and each goes twice to total six bulls. Each matador has six assistants — two picadores ("lancers") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros ("flagmen") - who known as toreros ("bullfighters")
Each fight is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages, the start of each is announced by a trumpet sound. The toreros enter the ring in a parade, called the paseíllo, accompanied by band music (all looking cute in their sparkly and colorful outfits, funny hats and black flats).
The bull enters the ring. This is the first stage, the tercio de varas("the lancing third"), and the matador first confronts the bull with the capote(cape), observing the behaviour of the bull while performing a tanda ("series of passes") to impress the crowd.
Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara ("lance"). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the horse is surrounded by a peto — a protective mattress-like covering. At this point, the picador stabs just behind the neck, weakening the neck muscles. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns lower during the following stages of the fight. This makes the bull's charges less dangerous, enabling the matador to perform.
In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of flags"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas, sticks into the bull's shoulders.
In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, and a sword. The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for kill and producing a beautiful display(Bulls are actually colorblind so they are not phased by the "red" of the cape! it's actually the movements). The stage ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the heart.
If the matador did well, the crowd petitions the president to award the matador an ear of the bull by waving white handkerchiefs (we saw this happen twice!). If his performance was exceptional, he is award two, and sometimes a tail. After the performance the matador takes a "victory lap." During this lap, when the crowd often threw articles of clothing (handkercheifs, jackets) at the Matador to show their admiration.
It was tough to watch the first round even though I knew what to expect. The rounds after that I could watch a little better. I am glad that I went to the bullfight. It was definitely a cultural experience! Would I do it again? hmmm.....
More Canary Island Pictures..
"" nudey beach in Maspalomas!
^^ "Siam Park" water park
^^Gorgeous view in Los GigantesCanary Islands!
Sorry this is taking me forever to update on my Semana Santa/ Spring Break II! Things have been a little loco in Sevilla!
Anyways, back to the Canary Islands!
After spending a quick two nights in London we were off to the Canary Islands. Talk about opposite extremes! The Canary Islands are off the coast of Africa/Morocco but still part of Spain. They are actually the southernmost part of Spain and played a big role in Christopher Columbus’ explorations to the new world. Unfortunately, this trip we were not there to seek out to much history, mostly sun and some great sites!
The first four nights of the trip we stayed on the southwest side of Tenerife. It was absolutely gorgeous! We were really lucky this trip and happened to land a condo with a great pool facility right on the beach. Well I guess not the beach; there are more cliffs in Tenerife than beach, so more like cliffs with a gorgeous view. We had a kitchen for the first time in four months and we were super excited to get to the grocery store and cook what we were in the mood for.
The first night in Tenerife we were exhausted from flying so we mostly spent it hanging out in the condo and grabbing a quick bite to eat. The condo that we were staying in had the Disney Channel in English! We didn’t even care what was on we were just so excited to watch something in English!
The following day we spent lying by the pool. It was great and the weather was hot, hot, hot. After a late lunch we decided to go out and explore a little bit of the area we were in. Right down the street was a town called Los Gigantes. This town is named after Los Gigantes Cliffs that are located there. It was gorgeous! We walked up and down the streets for a while and got some great views of the cliffs. Due to the large amounts of rain that southern Spain has had over the past few months the beach near the cliffs had been washed out and was closed off for the time being. This was a bummer because it offers one of the best views of the cliffs. We did get some great views by wandering through the streets however. When it was nearing sunset we found a great little spot to grab a pina colada and enjoy the beautiful sunset over the water. After this we were off to find a great place to eat. Of course we opted for Mexican!
Thursday was a day that I had been looking forward to for a while. I had done plenty of research on the island before visiting and found out that they have a GREAT new water park for a GREAT price, “Siam Park”. The plans for Thursday were to head to the water park. We had so much fun here and saw some interesting people. The rides were great. One of my favorites was a nearly straight down slide that takes you through a shark tank! I was so proud of myself for doing this. We noticed that it must be a little freaky because there were not many people in line and the only ones that were in line were men. We looked a little out of place I guess! They also had a huge lazy river that went through a tunnel in the shark tank. This was probably the prettiest water park that I have been to. It was located right near the beach and you could see the ocean right off the edge of the park. The natural areas were gorgeous and they did a great job not making it look cheap. Everything was over the top and matched perfect for the Canary Islands. After a long day at the water park we headed home to cook in our little kitchen J
Friday was our day to explore the beach. We spent the first part of the day near the pool because we did not want to get to hot sitting on the beach. Later in the afternoon after lunch we headed to a beach near our hotel. It was tiny because most of the coastline of the Island is cliffs. And there were a ton of people! We also had our first experience with a European/topless beach. This was interesting….sorry I don’t have many pictures!-we were not too sure of the etiquette? Anyways..the beach was so HOT! The sand on the beach is black due to the volcanic ash/rock on the island. This definitely intensified the beach. It was probably over 100 degrees. I am so glad we had not gone to the beach earlier because I am sure it was much hotter. There is actually a rule at the beach that requires you to wear “sand shoes”/sandals so that you do not burn your feet. While at this beach we saw a lot of interesting people as well as a shark spotting! What a day. After a few hours of heat on the beach we headed back to the condo to re coop. This was our last evening in Tenerife so we decided to make our way back to Los Gigantes since it was our favorite area. We had a nice meal here and then went back to our hotel to pack for the next island.
Saturday we were island hopping to Grand Canary! We had to catch a ferry early Saturday morning in North Tenerife so that required us to wake up extra early and get to North Tenerife. There we caught a speed ferry to Las Palmas, Grand Canary. The ferry ride was about an hour long. For someone who enjoys boats and cruises, I was not a fan! The water between the two islands was very choppy and there were strong winds, those combined did not make for a very smooth ride. We made it there safely after an hour and I was so ready to get off that boat!
Once in Grand Canary we had to make our way from Las Palmas (north) to Maspalomas (south). It took us about an hour to get there by bus. I was so proud of us for making it! We checked into our hotel in Maspalomas and were headed to get something to eat. First thing we spotted was a McDonalds sign. I know, I know! So bad! But sometimes McDonalds is so homey and good. We followed the signs for over 2km to the McDonalds…maybe that is a little embarrassing. But on the way we got a great tour of the area! There are more beaches in Grand Canary than in Tenerife. We have decided that both of the Islands are very different. The parts of Grand Canary that we were in seemed way more touristy than Tenerife. And…..Maspalomas reminded us a little bit of Myrtle Beach. We really had a great time there though. After eating lunch we went back to our hotel and took a siesta because we had woken up bright and early. A while later and it was time to eat dinner. One night thing about Maspalomas was that it had a great boardwalk. The boardwalk hugged the beach for a few miles. This was nice because our hotel was right there and we had plenty of options for places to eat and little shops.
Sunday was a beach day! Maspalomas has huge sand dunes that are apparently made from Sand from the Sahara desert. They are right along the beach and were a lot of fun. We found a great little spot on the sand dunes to lie out and enjoy the weather. Little did we know this little area that we thought was so nice and secluded was part of a nude beach…OOPS! We noticed this shortly into the time that we were relaxing on the dunes and quickly relocated! That night was our flight back to Sevilla. I kick myself to this day for booking a redeye…This was my first and last red eye! We left Las Palmas, Grand Canary at 3am and arrived back in Sevilla around 5:45am. Not my cup of tea! After arriving home the first thing I did was go right to bed!
One funny thing about the Canary Islands is the people. We learned that there are WAY more Non-Spanish European tourists than Spanish. I felt more foreign in the Canary Islands than I have ever felt in Sevilla. When we checked into our hotel in Tenerife the first thing that the man said was “English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish?” Notice that Spanish is last. It was that way everywhere else also. Whenever we went to a restaurant the menu was always in German, English, Dutch, French and then Spanish. There were all sorts of different restaurants in the Canaries as well- Mexican, Thai, Italian, German, Swiss, etc. I think I heard more German that week than I have heard in my entire life.
We loved the Canary Islands! I can see where I would never return there again due to the location but I am so glad that I made it part of my trip. Tenerife was my favorite place. It was absolutely beautiful and entirely surreal.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
London!
^^off to Hogwarts!
^^Caroline, Kaleigh and I in a London phonebooth
^^Big Ben and the London Eye
^^Buckingham Palace-so pretty!
^^Tower BridgeWe have two spring breaks here in Spain. Our first break is over Easter / Semana Santa. Semana Santa is actually a big celebration in Spain with processionals and all. Unfortunately since it is the same time as one of our breaks we did not get to see much of it because it was prime trip time!
For the first part of Semana Santa, Caroline, Kaleigh and I went to London! This was my first time to London and I would love to go back. It was a quick trip but we definitely accomplished a lot. We arrived in London late Sunday night and were Leaving on Tuesday morning. That basically left Monday to explore, explore, explore. We stayed with a friend of Caroline’s just outside of London in Hatfield. Joanna was so generous sharing her room with us for two nights and touring us though London.
Monday morning we went into London early because we had a lot to do. The first thing on our list of places to see was the Tower of London. We had purchased tickets in advanced and managed to avoid lines. We spent some time touring through here. It was really neat! We saw the torture chambers and the crown jewels among several other things. There were even some rooms that had reenactments going on. My favorite part was definitely the crown jewels! All morning at Tower of London it did not rain! We were very lucky because most of this is outdoors. Just at the end of our tour it began to rain. I was kind of expecting it out of London so it didn’t bother me too much.
After tower of London we grabbed a quick lunch on a popular street in London. I had to get out of that area quick or I would find myself stuck in stores! We hopped on the tube/underground (what they call the metro) and made our way to see Buckingham Palace. So cool! It was definitely everything I had expected. The flowers were starting to bloom in the park out front so it was very pretty.
After our quick peek at Buckingham Palace we took the tube again to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, the river and the London Eye. Right when we came up from the tube Big Ben was right there! I didn’t realize before that all of these sites are basically right next to each other. One side of the river was the London Eye; the other side was Big Ben and Parliament and then across the street was Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately due to time we didn’t get the opportunity to explore these places beyond the outside but I managed to get a few pictures!
After walking around in this part of town for a while we made our way back to the train station to head out to Hatfield (30 minute train ride). The train station where we went to Hatfield happened to be the same train station that takes you to Hogwarts! Sure enough, they have their very own Platform 9 ¾. When we made it back into Hatfield it was time to eat dinner. It was so nice to be able to order in English and look at an English menu. Everything just seemed so much easier and it was definitely a little break for the brain! By the end of the day I was exhausted and ready to get to the hot sunny weather in the Canary Islands.
For the first part of Semana Santa, Caroline, Kaleigh and I went to London! This was my first time to London and I would love to go back. It was a quick trip but we definitely accomplished a lot. We arrived in London late Sunday night and were Leaving on Tuesday morning. That basically left Monday to explore, explore, explore. We stayed with a friend of Caroline’s just outside of London in Hatfield. Joanna was so generous sharing her room with us for two nights and touring us though London.
Monday morning we went into London early because we had a lot to do. The first thing on our list of places to see was the Tower of London. We had purchased tickets in advanced and managed to avoid lines. We spent some time touring through here. It was really neat! We saw the torture chambers and the crown jewels among several other things. There were even some rooms that had reenactments going on. My favorite part was definitely the crown jewels! All morning at Tower of London it did not rain! We were very lucky because most of this is outdoors. Just at the end of our tour it began to rain. I was kind of expecting it out of London so it didn’t bother me too much.
After tower of London we grabbed a quick lunch on a popular street in London. I had to get out of that area quick or I would find myself stuck in stores! We hopped on the tube/underground (what they call the metro) and made our way to see Buckingham Palace. So cool! It was definitely everything I had expected. The flowers were starting to bloom in the park out front so it was very pretty.
After our quick peek at Buckingham Palace we took the tube again to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, the river and the London Eye. Right when we came up from the tube Big Ben was right there! I didn’t realize before that all of these sites are basically right next to each other. One side of the river was the London Eye; the other side was Big Ben and Parliament and then across the street was Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately due to time we didn’t get the opportunity to explore these places beyond the outside but I managed to get a few pictures!
After walking around in this part of town for a while we made our way back to the train station to head out to Hatfield (30 minute train ride). The train station where we went to Hatfield happened to be the same train station that takes you to Hogwarts! Sure enough, they have their very own Platform 9 ¾. When we made it back into Hatfield it was time to eat dinner. It was so nice to be able to order in English and look at an English menu. Everything just seemed so much easier and it was definitely a little break for the brain! By the end of the day I was exhausted and ready to get to the hot sunny weather in the Canary Islands.
Karla comes to Sevilla!
Karla’s Visit!
One of my best girlfriends from home, Karla, came to visit me the first part of Semana Santa! Karla is studying abroad in Rome and spent her spring break travelling though Spain. She made it a point that she spent a chunk of time in Sevilla!
Karla arrived in Sevilla Wednesday evening. We met up at her hostel and heading into el centro to get a quick taste of Sevilla. They were starting to set up downtown for Semana Santa and there were people everywhere! We just kind of walked around and had a quick tour of the area and saw the river. That night Caroline and I were having our birthday dinner with our Spanish family so Karla and I split ways for the evening. After dinner we met up at a local favorite for a drink and to give Karla the opportunity to see our friend Sean as well. It was great to have a little high school reunion in Spain!
Thursday Karla and her friend Emily went on a day trip to Granada and then Friday, Karla, Emily, Caroline and I all had plans to go to Cadiz. Cadiz is a beach about an hour and a half from Sevilla. We left late morning and made it to Cadiz around 11am by Bus. Once there we grabbed a quick lunch and headed for the beach! I really didn’t know what to expect of the beach in Cadiz. To be honest it kind of just reminded me of a beach at home, nothing to fancy! It was definitely nice to relax in the sun for a little while though. The weather has been great these past few weeks, 80s and up! After a long day on the beach we grabbed some drinks and nachos at a little Mexican joint on the beach and watched the sunset. From here we ran—literally—to our bus and made it just in time to head back to Sevilla.
Friday night we went out with the group of friends and showed Karla and Emily a little bit of Sevilla night life. I think they had fun! Saturday was our day to tour Sevilla a little more. We met up around lunch time and ate outdoors at a little café. After this we headed to Alcazar to tour and see the gardens. This time of year it is absolutely stunning. The gardens are in bloom and the sun is shining! When we were touring Alcazar we passed at least 7 or 8 brides taking wedding pictures, so pretty! After walking around there for a little while we headed to Plaza de Espana. From Plaza de Espana we made our way back toward our homestay. Karla was so excited to meet Paqui and see where we live (our friend Emilee had the same senora last spring!). It was so great to be able to share all this with Karla. She has heard several stories about Sevilla and Paqui from Emilee and me over the past year. In addition, she speaks Spanish so I didn’t have to interpret the entire time! We hung out at the house for a little bit and Karla chatted it up with Paqui. Paqui even showed Karla her flamenco dress and all her accessories. Later that night we took Karla and Emily to flamenco at La Carboneria, it was packed!
Sunday was Palm Sunday. I got up bright and early and met Karla and Emily at the Cathedral for mass. It was beautiful! In addition to the mass all the families were all dressed up and looking so cute. After mass we went to a starbucks (yes I know so nontraditional! But Karla doesn’t have starbucks in Italy so it was a treat!) and grabbed coffee and a muffin to people watch. Sunday was the first day of the important Semana Santa processions in Sevilla. The entire city was in the process of being set up. There were people flooding into el centro and chairs set up everyone. It was a perfect day to people watch!
After a few hours of chatting and people watching we went our separate ways. It was time for Karla and Emily to head back to Rome and me to get back to the house and pack for spring break round 1! Unfortunately I am unable to visit Karla in Rome L, but we will be meeting up in Venice after our programs to head to Greece with our families! Cant wait!
One of my best girlfriends from home, Karla, came to visit me the first part of Semana Santa! Karla is studying abroad in Rome and spent her spring break travelling though Spain. She made it a point that she spent a chunk of time in Sevilla!
Karla arrived in Sevilla Wednesday evening. We met up at her hostel and heading into el centro to get a quick taste of Sevilla. They were starting to set up downtown for Semana Santa and there were people everywhere! We just kind of walked around and had a quick tour of the area and saw the river. That night Caroline and I were having our birthday dinner with our Spanish family so Karla and I split ways for the evening. After dinner we met up at a local favorite for a drink and to give Karla the opportunity to see our friend Sean as well. It was great to have a little high school reunion in Spain!
Thursday Karla and her friend Emily went on a day trip to Granada and then Friday, Karla, Emily, Caroline and I all had plans to go to Cadiz. Cadiz is a beach about an hour and a half from Sevilla. We left late morning and made it to Cadiz around 11am by Bus. Once there we grabbed a quick lunch and headed for the beach! I really didn’t know what to expect of the beach in Cadiz. To be honest it kind of just reminded me of a beach at home, nothing to fancy! It was definitely nice to relax in the sun for a little while though. The weather has been great these past few weeks, 80s and up! After a long day on the beach we grabbed some drinks and nachos at a little Mexican joint on the beach and watched the sunset. From here we ran—literally—to our bus and made it just in time to head back to Sevilla.
Friday night we went out with the group of friends and showed Karla and Emily a little bit of Sevilla night life. I think they had fun! Saturday was our day to tour Sevilla a little more. We met up around lunch time and ate outdoors at a little café. After this we headed to Alcazar to tour and see the gardens. This time of year it is absolutely stunning. The gardens are in bloom and the sun is shining! When we were touring Alcazar we passed at least 7 or 8 brides taking wedding pictures, so pretty! After walking around there for a little while we headed to Plaza de Espana. From Plaza de Espana we made our way back toward our homestay. Karla was so excited to meet Paqui and see where we live (our friend Emilee had the same senora last spring!). It was so great to be able to share all this with Karla. She has heard several stories about Sevilla and Paqui from Emilee and me over the past year. In addition, she speaks Spanish so I didn’t have to interpret the entire time! We hung out at the house for a little bit and Karla chatted it up with Paqui. Paqui even showed Karla her flamenco dress and all her accessories. Later that night we took Karla and Emily to flamenco at La Carboneria, it was packed!
Sunday was Palm Sunday. I got up bright and early and met Karla and Emily at the Cathedral for mass. It was beautiful! In addition to the mass all the families were all dressed up and looking so cute. After mass we went to a starbucks (yes I know so nontraditional! But Karla doesn’t have starbucks in Italy so it was a treat!) and grabbed coffee and a muffin to people watch. Sunday was the first day of the important Semana Santa processions in Sevilla. The entire city was in the process of being set up. There were people flooding into el centro and chairs set up everyone. It was a perfect day to people watch!
After a few hours of chatting and people watching we went our separate ways. It was time for Karla and Emily to head back to Rome and me to get back to the house and pack for spring break round 1! Unfortunately I am unable to visit Karla in Rome L, but we will be meeting up in Venice after our programs to head to Greece with our families! Cant wait!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Semana Santa/Spring Break 2010
Sorry for no updates this week! It has been a crazy week with birthday celebrations and one of my best friends Karla in town. Karla leaves tomorrow and Caroline and I are off to our spring break!
We will be in London from Sunday to Tuesday and then Tuesday we are heading down to the Canary Islands. We will be staying on Tenerife Tuesday until Saturday and then Gran Canary from Saturday until early early Monday. It is going to be a great trip!
Tons of updates when I return :)
We will be in London from Sunday to Tuesday and then Tuesday we are heading down to the Canary Islands. We will be staying on Tenerife Tuesday until Saturday and then Gran Canary from Saturday until early early Monday. It is going to be a great trip!
Tons of updates when I return :)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
ooh heyy 21!
Today is my birthday :)
Caroline and I have big plans! This entire week is birthday week, of course! Actually, today is my birthday, tomorrow is Caroline's birthday and Thrusday is our friend Copeland's birthday.
We have big plans for the week..
Yesterday, Caroline and I went into el centro (oldtown/"downtown") and went birthday shopping. We had to get new outfits to wear for the occasion! After that we came home to a yummy home cooked dinner and then crashed in bed and watched an english movie from itunes. So entertaining and "21" of us!
Today the celebrations begin! This morning we went to school a little bit earlier and had breakfast at the little cafe, chocolate filled croissants and cafe con leche (espresso w/milk)! After one quick class school was over..wohoo! Plans from here are to go home and soak up some sun and relax. Then we have lunch with our spanish family. After lunch we are heading into el centro to the Arabic Bathes aka the spa! We have booked a spa session with a series of different soaks and then a massage..mmmmm. We will head home from here and get ready for the big night! We are going out to dinner tonight. This one night of going out to dinner we are going to celebrate all three birthdays at a yummy Italian restuarant in el centro with homemade pasta. Can't wait! After this, we will behave ourselves don't worry mom and dad!
Wednesday morning, our first class was cancelled, that means no class until 12:15. What luck! Later that day we are going to celebrate Caroline's birthday some more. Also wednesday one of my best best girlfriends, Karla, arrives in town! Wednesday evening we are celebrating our birthday dinner with our spanish family. Can't wait to see what kind of yummy surprise Pacqui has in store. She was so excited when we told her that it was both of our birthdays this week. fiesta times two!
The celebrations continue into Thursday with Copelands bithday! and Karla here!
Friday we have no class because it is the beginning of our "Semana Santa" or Basically spring break/easter break vacation. Caroline and I along with Karla and her friends from Italy are going to go to Cadiz for the day. Cadiz is a beach town about an hour away from Sevilla. It will be a great way to start our Semana Santa vacation.
Saturday is tour day for Karla! I am going to do my best to show her around Sevilla a little bit for the day..by now i have plenty of experience!(we/she will be doing day trips thurs and fri)
And just to put the icing on the cake, Caroline, Kaleigh and I head off to London and the Canary Islands on Sunday. What a birthday :)
Caroline and I have big plans! This entire week is birthday week, of course! Actually, today is my birthday, tomorrow is Caroline's birthday and Thrusday is our friend Copeland's birthday.
We have big plans for the week..
Yesterday, Caroline and I went into el centro (oldtown/"downtown") and went birthday shopping. We had to get new outfits to wear for the occasion! After that we came home to a yummy home cooked dinner and then crashed in bed and watched an english movie from itunes. So entertaining and "21" of us!
Today the celebrations begin! This morning we went to school a little bit earlier and had breakfast at the little cafe, chocolate filled croissants and cafe con leche (espresso w/milk)! After one quick class school was over..wohoo! Plans from here are to go home and soak up some sun and relax. Then we have lunch with our spanish family. After lunch we are heading into el centro to the Arabic Bathes aka the spa! We have booked a spa session with a series of different soaks and then a massage..mmmmm. We will head home from here and get ready for the big night! We are going out to dinner tonight. This one night of going out to dinner we are going to celebrate all three birthdays at a yummy Italian restuarant in el centro with homemade pasta. Can't wait! After this, we will behave ourselves don't worry mom and dad!
Wednesday morning, our first class was cancelled, that means no class until 12:15. What luck! Later that day we are going to celebrate Caroline's birthday some more. Also wednesday one of my best best girlfriends, Karla, arrives in town! Wednesday evening we are celebrating our birthday dinner with our spanish family. Can't wait to see what kind of yummy surprise Pacqui has in store. She was so excited when we told her that it was both of our birthdays this week. fiesta times two!
The celebrations continue into Thursday with Copelands bithday! and Karla here!
Friday we have no class because it is the beginning of our "Semana Santa" or Basically spring break/easter break vacation. Caroline and I along with Karla and her friends from Italy are going to go to Cadiz for the day. Cadiz is a beach town about an hour away from Sevilla. It will be a great way to start our Semana Santa vacation.
Saturday is tour day for Karla! I am going to do my best to show her around Sevilla a little bit for the day..by now i have plenty of experience!(we/she will be doing day trips thurs and fri)
And just to put the icing on the cake, Caroline, Kaleigh and I head off to London and the Canary Islands on Sunday. What a birthday :)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Another great weekend in Sevilla!
The weather in Sevilla this week has been absolutely beautiful! AHH
Our Senora said earlier this semester that Spring in Sevilla basically does not exist and i totally believe that after this week. We were wearing jackets not to long ago and now its getting so much warmer by the day. Love it!
Caroline and I were just walking around town today and the smell of the orange trees was so strong we could not get over it. Makes me love this city even more!
This coming up week is Caroline, my friend Copeland and My 21st birthdays! Its going to be alot of funnnn! Our birthdays are 3 straight days in a row. need i say more? and in addition to those festivities one of my best friends Karla is going to be in town this week and I cant wait! I am so glad she will be here for some of the celebration. We are planning on going to the beach for the day on friday and other than that we will be spending time throughout Sevilla.
Sunday Caroline, Kaleigh and I leave for London for our spring break. We will be in London until Tuesday staying with a friend of Carolines. Then from London we are heading down the the Canary Islands!!!!!!!! Canary Islands is the southern most part of Spain, they are a group of islands off the coast of Africa. Should be warm?! We are staying in a condo on Tenerife for part of the trip and then move to Gran Canary for the last two nights. We are really looking forward to having our own kitchen and fridge and plan on making all the yummy meals that we miss from home.
Alot is coming up in the next few weeks!
Our Senora said earlier this semester that Spring in Sevilla basically does not exist and i totally believe that after this week. We were wearing jackets not to long ago and now its getting so much warmer by the day. Love it!
Caroline and I were just walking around town today and the smell of the orange trees was so strong we could not get over it. Makes me love this city even more!
This coming up week is Caroline, my friend Copeland and My 21st birthdays! Its going to be alot of funnnn! Our birthdays are 3 straight days in a row. need i say more? and in addition to those festivities one of my best friends Karla is going to be in town this week and I cant wait! I am so glad she will be here for some of the celebration. We are planning on going to the beach for the day on friday and other than that we will be spending time throughout Sevilla.
Sunday Caroline, Kaleigh and I leave for London for our spring break. We will be in London until Tuesday staying with a friend of Carolines. Then from London we are heading down the the Canary Islands!!!!!!!! Canary Islands is the southern most part of Spain, they are a group of islands off the coast of Africa. Should be warm?! We are staying in a condo on Tenerife for part of the trip and then move to Gran Canary for the last two nights. We are really looking forward to having our own kitchen and fridge and plan on making all the yummy meals that we miss from home.
Alot is coming up in the next few weeks!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Ronda and the elevator
This past Saturday I went on a day trip with some friends to the town of Ronda. Ronda is a cliff town about an hour and a half from Sevilla. We took a short, cheap bus ride from Sevilla at 9:45am and had a full day to spend in Ronda.
Ronda is known not only because it is a beautiful cliff down but also because it has a large gorge running right through the middle of the town. This gorge separates the new town from the old town. The gorge is huge, it drops some 20 stories and is filled with greenish (fake looking!) water.
We travelled to Ronda with a big group of people from our program. It was not an organized trip but a bunch of us decided to go because the weather was going to be beautiful and most of the activity in Ronda is outdoors. When we first got to Ronda, Caroline and I decided that we were going to go on our own to adventure. We had done some previous research and knew exactly what we wanted to accomplish while we were there. And it’s a little difficult to explore with some 20 people…We ended up with a nice little group of 5 explorers (Myself, Caroline, Cameron, Kaleigh and Elizabeth)
Our first stop was to get a map! After that we made our way to the new bridge. This is one of the main sites in Ronda. It connects the new and old town and straddles the gorge. We got some great pictures here and then moved onto La Casa del Rey Moro. This is a little site down a side street with gardens right on the edge of the gorge and an old mine with steps that take you to the bottom of the gorge. It was not crowded and touristy at all. We walked around in the gardens for a few minutes and then found the mine entrance.
I was a little scared at first. This was a skinny winding stairwell that was barely lit at all. We used our camera flashes the first part of the way to get some light. As we made our way down the stairs there were a bunch of little points to look out over the gorge. The best was yet to come! Finally we made it to the bottom and were able to stand on a little platform right out over the water. It was so neat! We looked straight up the walls of the gorge and around the bends. We sat down there for a little while snapping some pictures and reading our handy “Rick Steves” guide book that told us what to do next. Of course we now had to make it back on the flights of stairs that we came down…
When we made it back up top it was time for lunch. Caroline and I crave Italian food all the time so we convinced the group to go to a little Italian place that we had read about in our Rick Steves. Homemade pasta yumm!!
After lunch the plan was to descend the other side of the bridge and gorge. We found a great little path that took us the entire way down. On the way down we discovered a little trail that we were probably not supposed to go down but offered a great view. Of course we took it! This trail led us right to the edge of a cliff and a patch of beautiful yellow flowers. We found a great spot to hang out for a little while and take some pictures. Off in the distance we had a great view of the bridge, waterfall and the entire town of Ronda.
Later in the day we made our way down the path a little further. We decided not to go the entire way down because that meant that we were going to have to talk the entire way back up. In Ronda there is a saying that goes, “What goes down must come up.”
After a long day of adventuring through Ronda we made our way back to the bus station to head home. Wow was it a curvy ride home! We wound our way through the mountains….not enjoyable.
Of course the day gets more adventurous when we got home that night. We had big plans—siesta, dinner, out for drinks with friends and then dancing! We accomplished it all and made our way home later that night around 3am. I am not a “crazy partier” as it may seem ;) The Spanish have a wild schedule where we eat dinner around 10pm and then meet up with friends around 11pm. Unfortunately that puts us back home around 3am. I prefer the American times but its okay! Even when we go home around 3am it is “early” to them.
Anyways….we made our way home at 3am. Caroline and I hopped right into our little elevator and were ready to get to bed. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy…the elevator slowly came to a stop…not at our floor. Panicked for a second we thought may be someone had called it on another floor. After we realized that was not the case, we pressed buttons to see if it would move. Nope. We were stuck! We felt bad pressing the bell button due to the hour but did it anyways. No one came. Caroline managed to pull open the elevator door and we saw that we were stuck right in between the second and third floor! This is when we knew it was going to be a longer night...
The elevator in our building is a 2 person elevator, about the size of a refrigerator or a little more. There is a door that you open like a normal door and then the elevator door slides open. When the elevator is not on a floor the door on that floor is locked for safety. Of course being stuck in between two floors means that both the doors are going to be locked. There was about ¾ of the second floor door at the bottom and then 3 feet of wall and then a few feet of the 3rd floor door. We pushed and pushed and nothing budged. We tried to call the little phone in the elevator and no one answered. After a few tried someone finally answered but our Spanish skills along with a beeping noise made it difficult to hear what he was saying. Caroline gave him my phone number (I had luckily managed to charge my phone battery and recharge my minutes right before tonight!) and he gave us a call on my phone. We told him the building we were in and he hung up. Great…he thinks we are joking. Next step, call Pacqui. It was about 4am at this point and Pacqui came down to try and help (if you know the little fashionista that Pacqui is that would really help to picture her in her robe trying to open the door). She called the elevator company as well as her ex husband to try and get us out! Her ex husband came and couldn’t get the door as well. Next stop, firefighters. Finally around 4:45am Caroline and I were free from the elevator! They opened the third floor door. I was not tall enough to make it out on my own so one of the men had to pull me out, oh lord. Caroline’s skills got her out on her own. Oh what a night it was! It took us a few days to warm back up to the elevator but we REALLY don’t like walking up eight stories to our apartment so it was bound to happen. At least we know to always bring a phone now.
This week has been busy, busy, busy with school! We have had several tests and papers this week. This week has been gorgeous weather as well! Caroline and I learned that we can go up on top of our building and catch some sun :) We are getting ready to head off to the canary islands in two weeks!
Ronda is known not only because it is a beautiful cliff down but also because it has a large gorge running right through the middle of the town. This gorge separates the new town from the old town. The gorge is huge, it drops some 20 stories and is filled with greenish (fake looking!) water.
We travelled to Ronda with a big group of people from our program. It was not an organized trip but a bunch of us decided to go because the weather was going to be beautiful and most of the activity in Ronda is outdoors. When we first got to Ronda, Caroline and I decided that we were going to go on our own to adventure. We had done some previous research and knew exactly what we wanted to accomplish while we were there. And it’s a little difficult to explore with some 20 people…We ended up with a nice little group of 5 explorers (Myself, Caroline, Cameron, Kaleigh and Elizabeth)
Our first stop was to get a map! After that we made our way to the new bridge. This is one of the main sites in Ronda. It connects the new and old town and straddles the gorge. We got some great pictures here and then moved onto La Casa del Rey Moro. This is a little site down a side street with gardens right on the edge of the gorge and an old mine with steps that take you to the bottom of the gorge. It was not crowded and touristy at all. We walked around in the gardens for a few minutes and then found the mine entrance.
I was a little scared at first. This was a skinny winding stairwell that was barely lit at all. We used our camera flashes the first part of the way to get some light. As we made our way down the stairs there were a bunch of little points to look out over the gorge. The best was yet to come! Finally we made it to the bottom and were able to stand on a little platform right out over the water. It was so neat! We looked straight up the walls of the gorge and around the bends. We sat down there for a little while snapping some pictures and reading our handy “Rick Steves” guide book that told us what to do next. Of course we now had to make it back on the flights of stairs that we came down…
When we made it back up top it was time for lunch. Caroline and I crave Italian food all the time so we convinced the group to go to a little Italian place that we had read about in our Rick Steves. Homemade pasta yumm!!
After lunch the plan was to descend the other side of the bridge and gorge. We found a great little path that took us the entire way down. On the way down we discovered a little trail that we were probably not supposed to go down but offered a great view. Of course we took it! This trail led us right to the edge of a cliff and a patch of beautiful yellow flowers. We found a great spot to hang out for a little while and take some pictures. Off in the distance we had a great view of the bridge, waterfall and the entire town of Ronda.
Later in the day we made our way down the path a little further. We decided not to go the entire way down because that meant that we were going to have to talk the entire way back up. In Ronda there is a saying that goes, “What goes down must come up.”
After a long day of adventuring through Ronda we made our way back to the bus station to head home. Wow was it a curvy ride home! We wound our way through the mountains….not enjoyable.
Of course the day gets more adventurous when we got home that night. We had big plans—siesta, dinner, out for drinks with friends and then dancing! We accomplished it all and made our way home later that night around 3am. I am not a “crazy partier” as it may seem ;) The Spanish have a wild schedule where we eat dinner around 10pm and then meet up with friends around 11pm. Unfortunately that puts us back home around 3am. I prefer the American times but its okay! Even when we go home around 3am it is “early” to them.
Anyways….we made our way home at 3am. Caroline and I hopped right into our little elevator and were ready to get to bed. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy…the elevator slowly came to a stop…not at our floor. Panicked for a second we thought may be someone had called it on another floor. After we realized that was not the case, we pressed buttons to see if it would move. Nope. We were stuck! We felt bad pressing the bell button due to the hour but did it anyways. No one came. Caroline managed to pull open the elevator door and we saw that we were stuck right in between the second and third floor! This is when we knew it was going to be a longer night...
The elevator in our building is a 2 person elevator, about the size of a refrigerator or a little more. There is a door that you open like a normal door and then the elevator door slides open. When the elevator is not on a floor the door on that floor is locked for safety. Of course being stuck in between two floors means that both the doors are going to be locked. There was about ¾ of the second floor door at the bottom and then 3 feet of wall and then a few feet of the 3rd floor door. We pushed and pushed and nothing budged. We tried to call the little phone in the elevator and no one answered. After a few tried someone finally answered but our Spanish skills along with a beeping noise made it difficult to hear what he was saying. Caroline gave him my phone number (I had luckily managed to charge my phone battery and recharge my minutes right before tonight!) and he gave us a call on my phone. We told him the building we were in and he hung up. Great…he thinks we are joking. Next step, call Pacqui. It was about 4am at this point and Pacqui came down to try and help (if you know the little fashionista that Pacqui is that would really help to picture her in her robe trying to open the door). She called the elevator company as well as her ex husband to try and get us out! Her ex husband came and couldn’t get the door as well. Next stop, firefighters. Finally around 4:45am Caroline and I were free from the elevator! They opened the third floor door. I was not tall enough to make it out on my own so one of the men had to pull me out, oh lord. Caroline’s skills got her out on her own. Oh what a night it was! It took us a few days to warm back up to the elevator but we REALLY don’t like walking up eight stories to our apartment so it was bound to happen. At least we know to always bring a phone now.
This week has been busy, busy, busy with school! We have had several tests and papers this week. This week has been gorgeous weather as well! Caroline and I learned that we can go up on top of our building and catch some sun :) We are getting ready to head off to the canary islands in two weeks!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Dublin with Mom
^^^"hiking" with Jake and Clara
^^^Miss Clara playing peek-a-boo
^^^Irish traveller horse market in Dublin
^^Like father like daughter..
Monday, March 15, 2010
Mom comes to Spain!
My mom came to visit me this past week in Spain! It was so great to have her here and we accomplished a lot over the few days that she was here.
She arrived on Wed March 3 and we had plans to stay in Sevilla until Friday when we would head up to Dublin, Ireland to visit family. After spending some time in Dublin we headed back to Sevilla on Monday evening to spend the rest of her time here (until thurs am).
Mom got here Wed afternoon; of course the sunshine was yet to pop through the clouds! I went after class to meet her at the airport and then we came back into Sevilla to check into the hotel. I stayed with her in the hotel for the time period that she was here. It was so great to have a nice big shower for a week :) Unfortunately my mom’s luggage decided not to make the entire trip with her.…
The first day that mom was here was a little bit rainy...of course! So after we got all checked into the hotel we made our way to grab a quick little bite to eat. Sevilla has a lot to do outside and not as much to do inside. Therefore we decided to head to an indoor shopping centre to kill some time. She also needed some clothes since her luggage was yet to arrive. Later that day it cleared up a little bit and we walked around old Sevilla. This day was fairly uneventful due to the weather and jetlag!
The next morning we were ready to do a little more exploring. The weather decided to work out okay for us; it was sunny the entire morning and afternoon! Mom came to class with me and hung out in the little café and internet while I went to class for a little bit. After this we went to some touristy places in Sevilla- Plaza de Espana, the Cathedral and Reales Alcazares. Good thing the weather held out and we could fit all this into one sunny day! Later in the day we were off to my home stay to meet my Spanish family and see my apartment and neighbourhood. My mom was so surprised to see the size of the little elevator that Caroline and I use on a daily basis. We hung out with the Spanish fam for a little bit. Pacqui was chatting it up and showing my mom tons of pictures. My brain was getting a little tired trying to translate back and forth but I think I made it work! Mom had brought some things from home to give to the girls and Pacqui but unfortunately without her luggage we didn’t have anything for them at this point. After some time there and packing my bag for Ireland we made it back to the hotel. Mom’s luggage had yet to arrive! Since it had now been over 24hrs the airline was beginning to give her money to spend on clothes. We were off to shop for about an hour so that she had clean clothes for the weekend in Ireland. Loosing your luggage is not fun but it definitely has some benefits! The airline offers 100euro after the first 24hours that your luggage is lost and then 50euro per day after that. We definitely took advantage of that offer. After running through the stores and rounding up some clothes for the weekend we went to meet my roommate Caroline for dinner at one of our favorite little Italian places. After dinner mom and I had to get packed for Ireland!
The next morning we were off to Ireland! This was my first trip without any delays (so far)! We made it into Dublin around 2pm and my cousin Jake and his little baby Clara picked us up at the airport. From there we went back to their house. Jake and Luise live just in Dublin in a little row house. It is small but very cozy! We hung around here for a little and had a real good lunch! It was so fun to just hang out at “home” and play with baby Clara. The last time we had seen her was in Atlanta for thanksgiving. She has gown up so much over the past few months and has such a personality! We managed to get here out of the house for a little and all went for a little walk through the neighbourhood to grab something for dinner. When we returned home Luise was back from work and we were all about ready for dinner. We sat around the table for a few hours and caught up over dinner. It was great! Later that night my mom and I headed to the little bed and breakfast that we were staying in. It was just under a mile from Jake and Luise’s house. I made it to the bed and breakfast just in time to skype my cheerleaders at their banquet! I was passes along on the computer and had the chance to see a bunch of the girls. It was so great! Mom and I just layed in bed until the end of the night. It was so nice to watch English TV! American idol was on??
Saturday morning we met Jake and Luise and home and headed to the Dublin Zoo (in walking distance from their house). Clara was so excited she slept! We spent the morning walking around the zoo and people watching. I am not sure Clara has the whole zoo thing figured out just yet. But she is one lucky little girl going to the zoo all the time! After the zoo we headed to a favorite local pub called “Ryan’s.” Great food!—good ole cheeseburger and fries! After lunch it was time for Clara’s nap. Luise and Clara headed home and Jake, my mom and I headed to walk around in town. Dublin was hopping! There were SO many people out walking around in the streets. Apparently it had just been pay day the previous week and everyone was out blowing their pay checks shopping. Way to go! After a little while of wandering around we went to a local pub to grab a drink. The atmosphere was great; there was a group of people playing some traditional Irish music. My mom and I went out separate way for dinner and went to the grocery store to try anything that sounded good! After this we went back to the bed and breakfast and watched English tv! Ah what a luxury.
Sunday we had big plans! One Sunday every month there is a horse market in a square in Dublin. This is not highly advertised to tourists….more of a local thing. Irish travellers from all over Ireland come to Dublin this weekend to casually trade horses (and meet wives?!) It is quite a big deal! We were thinking okay maybe there will be a few horses and people casually walking around and what not. NO, it was HUGE. There were people and horses ALL over the place…and horse poop! It was quite interesting to see a little bit of this culture. The people were not what I was expecting. They were more “ghetto fabulous” than what I would expect an Irish traveller to look like. Ghetto fabulous girls, boys in track suits and crisp white tennis shoes and horses? Interesting mix… Later that afternoon we went for a little road trip outside of Dublin. Unfortunately the traffic was a little heavy and we never actually made it to our destination but we still got to see some great views from the car. When we made it home there was a special on Irish traveller weddings on TV. Of course we watched it to further our culture experience of the day.
Monday my mom and I were heading home in the afternoon. In the morning, Jake and Clara picked us up from the bed and breakfast and we made it out to the little spot that we never made it to on Sunday. It was a little Harbour town called Howth. So cute! It was right on the beach and we had great views of Dublin and the Irish coast line. We drove the car around a little and then hiked some as well. We were very lucky to have bright sunny weather all weekend in Dublin. After hiking around we walked around the harbour a little and saw the seals! So cute! We grabbed lunch from here and the headed to the airport. It was so great to spend the weekend with Jake, Luise and Clara. They were GREAT hosts and tour guides.
Our flight was a little delayed in Madrid when we were on our way back...there was snow in Barcelona?!? So random…The flight from Madrid to Sevilla was not so good, we had a ton of turbulence! When we made it back to Sevilla it was still raining, of course-it’s the new Ireland I swear. One good thing was that Moms luggage was finally there! (5 days later) We grabbed some late dinner and then crashed after a long weekend!
Tuesday was a great day. The weather was finally beautiful! I went to class and then met mom back at the hotel late morning. We had big plans since we finally had nice weather. We made it out to the river and walked around the river a little bit. From there we went to Plaza de Toros- the bull ring, and went inside and took a tour. It was really interesting to see the history behind bull fighting; I think it will be a little bit easier to watch a fight now that I know what goes on (bull fights start in April). We ate lunch along a busy street in Sevilla. It was so nice because everyone was walking around outside and we really got to people watch. After this we walked around through some shops and through the Flamenco boutique area. They really take flamenco seriously here! Tuesday night we had dinner at a yummy Italian place and then headed to La Carboneria for some casual flamenco. Mom was cracking up over the guy singing!
Wed was moms last day here. It was nice to take it easy that done because we had done most of what we wanted to go. Mom met me at school after class. This afternoon we went to the flamenco museum. It was neat but not as cool as we expected. Along with a ticket to the museum came a show later that night. So later that evening we returned in time for the show. It was much more authentic and formal than La Carboneria! Along the course of this day we managed to make it back to my home stay one more time to give the girls the little gifts that my mom had brought for them. They loved all the American candy, especially the Reeses and poprocks!
Thursday morning I saw my mom off at the airport bus! It couldn’t believe that time had flown that fast and she had already come and gone. It seemed like just yesterday she was booking a ticket to Sevilla and now she was gone! We had such a great time and I loved showing her around this city that I love so much. I can’t wait til she returns in May with dad :)
She arrived on Wed March 3 and we had plans to stay in Sevilla until Friday when we would head up to Dublin, Ireland to visit family. After spending some time in Dublin we headed back to Sevilla on Monday evening to spend the rest of her time here (until thurs am).
Mom got here Wed afternoon; of course the sunshine was yet to pop through the clouds! I went after class to meet her at the airport and then we came back into Sevilla to check into the hotel. I stayed with her in the hotel for the time period that she was here. It was so great to have a nice big shower for a week :) Unfortunately my mom’s luggage decided not to make the entire trip with her.…
The first day that mom was here was a little bit rainy...of course! So after we got all checked into the hotel we made our way to grab a quick little bite to eat. Sevilla has a lot to do outside and not as much to do inside. Therefore we decided to head to an indoor shopping centre to kill some time. She also needed some clothes since her luggage was yet to arrive. Later that day it cleared up a little bit and we walked around old Sevilla. This day was fairly uneventful due to the weather and jetlag!
The next morning we were ready to do a little more exploring. The weather decided to work out okay for us; it was sunny the entire morning and afternoon! Mom came to class with me and hung out in the little café and internet while I went to class for a little bit. After this we went to some touristy places in Sevilla- Plaza de Espana, the Cathedral and Reales Alcazares. Good thing the weather held out and we could fit all this into one sunny day! Later in the day we were off to my home stay to meet my Spanish family and see my apartment and neighbourhood. My mom was so surprised to see the size of the little elevator that Caroline and I use on a daily basis. We hung out with the Spanish fam for a little bit. Pacqui was chatting it up and showing my mom tons of pictures. My brain was getting a little tired trying to translate back and forth but I think I made it work! Mom had brought some things from home to give to the girls and Pacqui but unfortunately without her luggage we didn’t have anything for them at this point. After some time there and packing my bag for Ireland we made it back to the hotel. Mom’s luggage had yet to arrive! Since it had now been over 24hrs the airline was beginning to give her money to spend on clothes. We were off to shop for about an hour so that she had clean clothes for the weekend in Ireland. Loosing your luggage is not fun but it definitely has some benefits! The airline offers 100euro after the first 24hours that your luggage is lost and then 50euro per day after that. We definitely took advantage of that offer. After running through the stores and rounding up some clothes for the weekend we went to meet my roommate Caroline for dinner at one of our favorite little Italian places. After dinner mom and I had to get packed for Ireland!
The next morning we were off to Ireland! This was my first trip without any delays (so far)! We made it into Dublin around 2pm and my cousin Jake and his little baby Clara picked us up at the airport. From there we went back to their house. Jake and Luise live just in Dublin in a little row house. It is small but very cozy! We hung around here for a little and had a real good lunch! It was so fun to just hang out at “home” and play with baby Clara. The last time we had seen her was in Atlanta for thanksgiving. She has gown up so much over the past few months and has such a personality! We managed to get here out of the house for a little and all went for a little walk through the neighbourhood to grab something for dinner. When we returned home Luise was back from work and we were all about ready for dinner. We sat around the table for a few hours and caught up over dinner. It was great! Later that night my mom and I headed to the little bed and breakfast that we were staying in. It was just under a mile from Jake and Luise’s house. I made it to the bed and breakfast just in time to skype my cheerleaders at their banquet! I was passes along on the computer and had the chance to see a bunch of the girls. It was so great! Mom and I just layed in bed until the end of the night. It was so nice to watch English TV! American idol was on??
Saturday morning we met Jake and Luise and home and headed to the Dublin Zoo (in walking distance from their house). Clara was so excited she slept! We spent the morning walking around the zoo and people watching. I am not sure Clara has the whole zoo thing figured out just yet. But she is one lucky little girl going to the zoo all the time! After the zoo we headed to a favorite local pub called “Ryan’s.” Great food!—good ole cheeseburger and fries! After lunch it was time for Clara’s nap. Luise and Clara headed home and Jake, my mom and I headed to walk around in town. Dublin was hopping! There were SO many people out walking around in the streets. Apparently it had just been pay day the previous week and everyone was out blowing their pay checks shopping. Way to go! After a little while of wandering around we went to a local pub to grab a drink. The atmosphere was great; there was a group of people playing some traditional Irish music. My mom and I went out separate way for dinner and went to the grocery store to try anything that sounded good! After this we went back to the bed and breakfast and watched English tv! Ah what a luxury.
Sunday we had big plans! One Sunday every month there is a horse market in a square in Dublin. This is not highly advertised to tourists….more of a local thing. Irish travellers from all over Ireland come to Dublin this weekend to casually trade horses (and meet wives?!) It is quite a big deal! We were thinking okay maybe there will be a few horses and people casually walking around and what not. NO, it was HUGE. There were people and horses ALL over the place…and horse poop! It was quite interesting to see a little bit of this culture. The people were not what I was expecting. They were more “ghetto fabulous” than what I would expect an Irish traveller to look like. Ghetto fabulous girls, boys in track suits and crisp white tennis shoes and horses? Interesting mix… Later that afternoon we went for a little road trip outside of Dublin. Unfortunately the traffic was a little heavy and we never actually made it to our destination but we still got to see some great views from the car. When we made it home there was a special on Irish traveller weddings on TV. Of course we watched it to further our culture experience of the day.
Monday my mom and I were heading home in the afternoon. In the morning, Jake and Clara picked us up from the bed and breakfast and we made it out to the little spot that we never made it to on Sunday. It was a little Harbour town called Howth. So cute! It was right on the beach and we had great views of Dublin and the Irish coast line. We drove the car around a little and then hiked some as well. We were very lucky to have bright sunny weather all weekend in Dublin. After hiking around we walked around the harbour a little and saw the seals! So cute! We grabbed lunch from here and the headed to the airport. It was so great to spend the weekend with Jake, Luise and Clara. They were GREAT hosts and tour guides.
Our flight was a little delayed in Madrid when we were on our way back...there was snow in Barcelona?!? So random…The flight from Madrid to Sevilla was not so good, we had a ton of turbulence! When we made it back to Sevilla it was still raining, of course-it’s the new Ireland I swear. One good thing was that Moms luggage was finally there! (5 days later) We grabbed some late dinner and then crashed after a long weekend!
Tuesday was a great day. The weather was finally beautiful! I went to class and then met mom back at the hotel late morning. We had big plans since we finally had nice weather. We made it out to the river and walked around the river a little bit. From there we went to Plaza de Toros- the bull ring, and went inside and took a tour. It was really interesting to see the history behind bull fighting; I think it will be a little bit easier to watch a fight now that I know what goes on (bull fights start in April). We ate lunch along a busy street in Sevilla. It was so nice because everyone was walking around outside and we really got to people watch. After this we walked around through some shops and through the Flamenco boutique area. They really take flamenco seriously here! Tuesday night we had dinner at a yummy Italian place and then headed to La Carboneria for some casual flamenco. Mom was cracking up over the guy singing!
Wed was moms last day here. It was nice to take it easy that done because we had done most of what we wanted to go. Mom met me at school after class. This afternoon we went to the flamenco museum. It was neat but not as cool as we expected. Along with a ticket to the museum came a show later that night. So later that evening we returned in time for the show. It was much more authentic and formal than La Carboneria! Along the course of this day we managed to make it back to my home stay one more time to give the girls the little gifts that my mom had brought for them. They loved all the American candy, especially the Reeses and poprocks!
Thursday morning I saw my mom off at the airport bus! It couldn’t believe that time had flown that fast and she had already come and gone. It seemed like just yesterday she was booking a ticket to Sevilla and now she was gone! We had such a great time and I loved showing her around this city that I love so much. I can’t wait til she returns in May with dad :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
video- Tunnel up the mountain in Switzerland
This is the ride up the mountain to go night sledding in Switzerland. We basically spiraled up the center of this mountain on a one lane road. Cars go in both directions and it was night time...a little scary!
Switzerland!
^^Big lift we were NOT supposed to go on...
^^^Up on the mountain where we were not supposed to be. oops! maybe the yellow and black checkered flags were a sign?
^^Ready to go skiing!
^^^This is early in the morning before we went skiing. The view from our little balcony was awesome! There are more mountains but the white kind of blends into the sky.
^^Night sledding!Interlaken and Geneva
Oh what a weekend! I guess I will just start way back at the beginning when we tried to leave Sevilla...
Thursday afternoon was our big departure for Geneva/Interlaken, Switzerland! We were to fly out of Sevilla through Barcelona and onto Geneva. In Geneva we had arranged a trip with the company Bus2Alps (they pick students up at the airport and bring them to a great hostel in Interlaken, they also assist in signing up for different excursions in Interlaken, great deal!). They would pick us up at the airport and bring us right to our hostel in Interlaken, about a 2 hr drive.
After I finished class on Thurs I headed back to my house to wait for my friends Cameron and Kerry Anne to finish class. As soon as they were ready the plan was to head to the airport bus station and make our way to the airport. Well of course things were not going to go as planned...
The phone rang from Cameron and i grabbed my bags to head out the door as I answered. Well what a little surprise it was, our flight from Barcelona to Geneva had been cancelled. We planned to quickly head to school and get on the computers to look for more options. In a matter of 15 miuntes we had booked new flights from Barcelona to Geneva and headed to the airport. (if we had not made it to geneva we would have lost a lot of money in the trips we had booked through this company!-nonrefundable!). We were made it to Barcelona and had to run from one flight to the next. Cameron was the first of the flight and waited for Kerry Anne and I too get off. First thing she did was head to check what gate our flight was. When Kerry Anne and I made it to Cameron she had a worried look on her face and yelled in the most southern accent- "yall our flight is cancelled." AGAIN.....
This time we had booked through swiss air as opposed to easy jet. We ran to the swiss air desk to see if there were any other options for tonight. We had to make it to Geneva by 11pm in order to catch our Bus2Alps trip. We made it to swiss air along with every other person that was on our flight. While we waited in line to reach the desk i noticed 3 boys with university hats on from the united states. I went to ask them if they happened to be going to Bus2Alps in Geneva and they were! Not only that but one of them happened to be the Bus2Alps guide trying to make it to Geneva as well. We told him that whatever he was doing we were going to do as well because we knew that he had to make it to Interlaken and he knew the way to do it. We made it to the desk and were put on a flight for the next morning. Big bummer. Joey assured us it was not going to be a problem because he was on that flight as well and would make sure that we made it to Interlaken. (We were so glad that we bought the swiss air flight because all of the easy jet flights the next day were cancelled as well, so we would not have made it if we stuck with easy jet!)
We found out at the desk as well that the reason for all the cancellations was that the French air traffic control had gone on strike. We would not be able to fly into Geneva because Geneva is basically entirely surrounded by France. Of course.
On the bright side-Swiss air was great! They scheduled us on the first flight in the morning and put us up in a great 4 star hotel! We also had vouchers for a dinner and breakfast at the hotel. We were so excited to get to this hotel (which reminded me of space mountain at Disney) and just lay in bed and watch the Olympics. When we went down for dinner there was an HUGE buffet dinner just for swiss air, it was great! The following morning we got up and also had an AWESOME breafast with crepes and much more.
Our next adventure began Friday morning, that was making it from Barcelona to Interlaken. Our flight from Barcelona to Geneva was great and on time. When we made it into Geneva we then had to purchase a train ticket because we had missed the Bus2Alps transportation. Joey lead us in the direction of the train station and got us all squared away. The train ride was absolutely beautiful!!! We cruised through the swiss alps and dozens of blue lakes all the way there. Great opportunity for some pictures!
When we made it into Interlaken, Joey helped us to our hostel and gave us a quick tour. He showed us some places to eat and also got things worked our for us at the outdoor company we had booked our excursions through. All though we had made it there half a day late they were wonderful in allowing us to rework our schedule and still manage to do everything that we had planned on. First thing we did was rent all our ski equipment because we were going night sledding that night and then skiing the following morning!
We headed back to our hostel to get ready to night sled and grab some hot chocolate. After this we went to happy hour at our hostel and had a little drink to celebrate that we had finally made it! 6:30 rolled around and it was time to night sled!
There were around 30 of us total on the night sledding trip. We wound our way up the mountain to the course that we would be sledding at. On the drive up we were through a little tunnel that basically spiraled up the inside of the mountain. It was a single lane but had cars coming in both directions! Of course our driver was used to this and sped his way right on through. Meanwhile the van full of girls is continually reminding him to honk his horn because someone may be coming around the curve. At one point we were surprised to see a car coming in the opposite direction- we all screamed!
When we made it up the mountain, our next trip was a little gondola ride to the very top. Once at the top we had incredible views of the town below. Unfortunately a picture could not do this justice because it was too dark to show up. Ready to go sledding the instructor was going to tell us what to do. Of course we were thinking this was going to be a super safe course because they there has got to be a ton of liability in taking people sledding at night. NOPE. There were not lights what so ever. We did wear little red flashlights on our backs to see where eachother was but thats it! The only instruction we had was to stay on the white and stay away from the black--people, trees and cliffs. Very comforting. And if we couldnt stop to fall off the sled. I was ready to go! I am not going to lie though..it was a little scary at first because it was super steep and there were times we had to round some pretty sharp corners. If we didnt stay on the track it was probably a sure thing that we were going WAY off the mountain. My sledding skills might remind you of my driving skills...fast and a little out of control! We flew down the mountain and it was SO much fun. Such an adrenaline rush. We had a few stops along the way to make sure that everyone was accounted for. One of the stops was at a huge frozen waterfall. It was so pretty but once again, couldnt see it in a picture! After about an hour or so of sledding we finally made it to the bottom. Here we indulged in a yummy fondue dinner! When we finally made it back later that night we were exhausted! It was time to head to bed because we had an early morning and big day of skiing ahead of us.
We woke up Saturday moring around 7am to try and hit the slopes early. We had a little balcony off of our room that offered a beautiful view of the sunrise over the alps. Cameron and I were going to head to the mountain on our own because we had both skiied before and felt as though we did not need a lesson. Kerry Anne had not skiied before so she opted for the lesson (probably a smart idea...). We went our separate ways and were to meet up around 5pm after a day of skiing.
Cameron and I took the bus to a great mountain to ski along with some other people that were heading there from our hostel. Once we got to the bottom of the mountain we boarded a train that would take us way up top. It was about a 40 minute train ride just to the top of the mountain! The other boys that we were heading up with were an interesting crowd. One of the boys had never skiied because and was going to try and learn in the alps (really bad idea) as we commented on how high we were going in the train he kept saying "the higher we go the more i regret this decision." The other two had both skiied before and we were all giving him a quick little lesson on the way up the mountain. Once we go off up top we headed to the beginners park to warm up. HAHA beginners park......I wish. This was not Virginia!!! Bunny hills, beginngers areas, warm up--dont exist in the alps. At this point i realized i probably should have just stuck with Kerry Anne and taken the lesson so that i would not have to stress about killing myself all day. Too late now! We were so excited when we had made it to the bottom of the couse. Slowly but surely we did it. Poor Zack (this is the one that had never skiied before), he made it to the bottom alright, after running into some trees and tumbling down the mountain on several occasions. He was great at skiing but could not stop. In order to stop he would just wipe out and tumble down the mountain. I was scared watching him, i thought for sure he was going to get hurt or something! It was horrible but hilarious at the same time. We went after his skis in the trees on many occasions. There were times i had to sit and get control of myself because i was laughing so hard at his tumbles. I guess I can't say that i was much better myself... I definitely took some wild tumbles down the mountain. After this run we were so excited and hopped right on the lift to head back up to the top and go again (it took us over an hour to reach the bottom).
BIG MISTAKE. BIG MISTAKE. Did i mention we hopped right on the lift without looking to see where it was going????? It was such a scenic ride! As we headed up the mountain we noticed that where we wanted to be was quickly fading in the distance..way DOWN the mountain. As we looked forward we realized we were headed to the highest run. OOPS. I cannot even describe the fear that was running through me. We were headed up the mountain to the highest point and i had just wiped out in the beginners park. We had not clue what color runs were going to be awaiting us at the top...When we jumped off the lift we noticed all three BLACK runs and one RED (all of which are far from beginner level, the colors here are different from home). I was terrified. and so was poor Zach. But hey atleast we had the opportunity to take some great pictures! We took a ton because we knew that we were not going to be up nearly that high again. We actually had the opportunity to hop on the train from that point to head up to the tallest point in all of Europe, we were to nervous for our own good at this point and competely forgot how close we were to that train...i regret not going! It was time to head down the mountain! Of course I wiped out on the first try....and this point I had twisted and fallen on my knees so many times that i decided my safest choice for making it down this mountain was to slide on my butt. I proceeded to do so skis in hand! I know i looked ridiculas but at this point i didnt even care! I had so many people stop and ask me things in german and french. I am assuming it was an are you okay but i just laughed and kept sledding. It was actually kinda fun! I got going pretty fast at points! When i made it down further Cameron and the rest of the crew were laughing so hard and my means of transportation. Oh well atleast i made it!
Finally at the bottom it was time for lunch. We went and ate burgers at the little teepee on top of the mountain. As my knee grew larger and larger i decided i needed to rest for a bit after lunch as the rest of the group went to do some more runs. I didnt mind sitting out one bit. I had the opportunity to people watch and look out over probably one of the most beautiful scenic views i have ever seen. I took SO many pictures. My camera actually ended up breaking by the end of the day---maybe the falls had something to do with it. As the day came to a close we headed back down the mountain on the little train that brought us up. After making it back into Interlaken, Cameron and I met Kerry Anne in a little restuarant and grabbed a drink. We shared stories about our days and laughed until we cried over the events that had happened. Although it was a little scary at some points it was SOOO much fun and absolutely beautiful.
After our day filled with skiing we were excited for our fondue dinner that night. The three of us headed to a cute local fondue restuarant and ate ate ate. After a huge dinner we went into a local chocolate shop and filled up on swiss chocolate. By this point we were absolutely exhausted and ready for bed!
The following morning we were going to explore interlaken. We took off early once again. We strolled though town and walked around the river. Interlaken sits between two beautifully blue lakes. They have such a strong color because they are glacier water. Actually, they have had instances in Switzerland where the water is too clean for fish to survive in. There are little natural water fountains all over the towns and you can drink any of the water because it is so clean. After walking around the river we walked in and out of shops and made our way to the Metro Pole Hotel. This is the tallest building in Interlaken. There is a restuarant up top that you can eat at and overlook all of interlaken and the get great views of the alps. We went up for some hot chocolate and to simply enjoy the view. After this it was time to head back to our hostel and get ready to go. We took the 2 hour bus ride back into Geneva where we would spend the next 24 hours.
We intentionally scheduled our flight for Monday afternoon so that we would have the opportunity to explore a little bit of Geneva. We made it there Sunday night and headed into town for dinner. We didnt walk around too much at night because we were exhausted! We stopped at a local brewery for a drink and then headed to a yummy italian restuarant for pizza. We each had our own pizza and they were excellent. After dinner we wandered around a little bit in the expensive shopping area of Geneva. Definitely my taste, definitely not my price range! But it is always fun to window shop. We headed back to our hotel shortly after this to watch some of the USA v Canada hockey game.
The following morning we were going to explore a little bit of Geneva. The first place we headed was to the UN. Kerry Anne had visited Geneva previously and was a great little tour guide getting us through the city quickly. We simply got a look and a picture at the UN and were on to our next stop. Next we ended up near the harbor. Geneva is right on Lake Geneva and has some stunning views of the lake with the Alps in the background. It was nice to just walk around part of the harbor and enjoy the sparkling water and snowy mountains. We also got a great view of the Jet d' Eau or Jet in Geneva. The jet is a large "fountain" in the lake and a landmark in Geneva. We continued on our little journey to also see the clock made of flowers. After this we kind of wandered through the streets and touristy shops and eventually made our way back to the hotel to depart for the airport. We gave ourselves plenty of time in case we needed to rearrange flights for any reason!
My trip to Switzerland was unbelievable! The swiss alps were more than I could have ever imagined and the chocolate was great :) I would definitely go back to Interlaken again! unfortunately i dont have the time to do so again in this trip...It was great to be able to get out of the hustle and bustle of Geneva and see the sites of a little swiss town. I am sure that this will end up being one of my favorite trips!
I am so excited for my mom to get here tomorrow!!!!!!!! It is a little overcast now so I am crossing my fingers that the weather will shape up in time for her arrival.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Loving the Sevilla Sunshine!
After the tremendous rain showers that we were having in a Sevilla for what seemed like forever...we finally have some amazing southern Spain sunshine! I remember just two years ago when I was in Ireland with my family we experienced what was probably one of there largest rain storms and flood. Looks like this kind of stuff likes to follow the Schanzs...
I was in Sevilla this past weekend and due to the changing weather I was okay with that. It was a nice weekend get some stuff done and relax. My next few weeks are going to be fun and hectic! I am heading to Interlaken and Geneva, Switzerland this weekend for some skiing and other activities with some friends. Next week my mom comes!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooo excited. We will be in Sevilla for a few days and then heading up north to visit family- Jake, Luise and baby(Princess) Clara. After that we will return to Sevilla and then she heads home. I am looking forward to all the crazyness!
The weather today in Sevilla has been gorgeous. It may rain some days but when it's sunny, it's SUNNY. I am hoping that this is a sign that the real spring is here...(especially for the sake of my mom, i know she would appreciate some of the nice warm weather when she is here!)
My goal for today is to get packing for Switzerland! We have not checked any luggage and are all only taking carry ons so that our luggage makes it all the way there. I have my good ole zebra duffle bag that is going to make the journey with me. I am hoping that all my warm ski clothes are going to fit inside....Alot of airlines have a rule where you can only take ONE carry on. That means ONE single bag with no other large purse. I thought i would be able to sneak bringing my duffle and my big longchamp to pack stuff in as well but it won't fly in this case. Taking one bag is a tough sacrafice for me but im learning.......
I hope all is sunny back home :)
I was in Sevilla this past weekend and due to the changing weather I was okay with that. It was a nice weekend get some stuff done and relax. My next few weeks are going to be fun and hectic! I am heading to Interlaken and Geneva, Switzerland this weekend for some skiing and other activities with some friends. Next week my mom comes!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooo excited. We will be in Sevilla for a few days and then heading up north to visit family- Jake, Luise and baby(Princess) Clara. After that we will return to Sevilla and then she heads home. I am looking forward to all the crazyness!
The weather today in Sevilla has been gorgeous. It may rain some days but when it's sunny, it's SUNNY. I am hoping that this is a sign that the real spring is here...(especially for the sake of my mom, i know she would appreciate some of the nice warm weather when she is here!)
My goal for today is to get packing for Switzerland! We have not checked any luggage and are all only taking carry ons so that our luggage makes it all the way there. I have my good ole zebra duffle bag that is going to make the journey with me. I am hoping that all my warm ski clothes are going to fit inside....Alot of airlines have a rule where you can only take ONE carry on. That means ONE single bag with no other large purse. I thought i would be able to sneak bringing my duffle and my big longchamp to pack stuff in as well but it won't fly in this case. Taking one bag is a tough sacrafice for me but im learning.......
I hope all is sunny back home :)
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More Granada Pictures
These pictures are a little bit out of order---oops!
^^^Inside the Cathedral in Granada
^^^girls at the Alhambra
^^view from the Alhambra--you can see the snowy sierra nevadas in the background!
^^^At the Alhambra
^^^Cameron and I at a teteria in Granada
^^^Inside the Cathedral in Granada
^^^girls at the Alhambra
^^view from the Alhambra--you can see the snowy sierra nevadas in the background!^^^At the Alhambra
^^^Cameron and I at a teteria in Granada
Granada
^^^At the Alhambra with my friend Kerry Anne
^^^Inside the Alhambra--awesome detail!
^^^View of Granada from the Alhambra
^^^Cathedral in Granada
^^Ferdinand and Isabella's tombsGranada, Granada, Granada!
This past weekend i went with my program to Granada, Spain.
Granada is about a 3 hour bus ride from Sevilla. It is situated near the Sierra Nevada Mountains and has a bit of a cooler temperature. This is a great place to visit for many reason. It is the home of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is pretty much a walled city or medina. Alot of history has taken place here including many events with Christopher Columbus as well as "Los Reyes Catolicos" -Ferdinand and Isabella.
We arrived in Granda early afternoon on Saturday. Unfortunately there was not very good weather- rain, rain, rain. We had a few hours to grab lunch and walk around but due to the rain it was a bit difficult. After this time we went as a group to go see the large Cathedral in Granada. Once again another gorgeous Cathedral! and absolutely huge! We also managed to see the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella. A little bit freaky but at the same time pretty neat!
Before heading to dinner we had a few hours to kill. Granada is known to have some great "teterias." Due to the Islamic influence here they are very abundant and have a great atmosphere. We went with a small group to have tea and crepes at a very authentic teteria. We had to climb a spiral staircase up to where we sat. The place had awesome decor and music that really made the experience. I tried a fruity tea and went for the chocolate and strawberry crepe!
That night we had a scheduled dinner at our hotel. We had heard that this dinner was supposed to be very good so we were looking forward to it. Well...the entire meal was white and plain, plain, plain. White soup, white chicken breast, white potatoes, vanilla ice cream. I sat at a table with 5 other girls and we did end up having a good time despite the boring food. We played some games and literally laughed until we cried. After our meal we made a mutual decision to head out for some yummy dessert for Valentines Day. We went to a little ice cream shop and all got some great dessert.
The following morning, we were ready to set off to our tour of the Alhambra. This was planned to be a 3-4 hour tour outdoors and we were very lucky that the weather cleared up for this. The sun did end up coming out for the day! We spent a majority of the day walking around the grounds of the Alhambra and listening to our great tour guide/professor Fernando. The Alhambra was absolutely beautiful and had some great views of Granada and the snow topped Sierra Nevada mountains. Later in the day we had a bus ride back to Sevilla to make it home just in time for dinner!
This week has been a fun week! School has not been to stressful because the previous week was full of tests and papers.
I was really fortunate to have one of my sorority sisters and good friend come to visit me this week! My friend Elizabeth is studying in Roubaix, France and made her way to Sevilla for a few days this past week along with her friend Kat. They arrived in Sevilla late Tuesday afternoon. I met up with them at their hotel right after class. It was so weird to see a friend in Sevilla! Definitely took me a little bit to get used to that. Hungry for dinner we headed into el centro to grab a bite to eat at one of Caroline and I's favorite little italian spots. We were lucky that it was not raining this evening and walked around outsite in el centro for a little bit after eating. After walking around for a while we headed to La Carboneria for some tinto de verano and to watch a quick little flamenco show. By the time the show was over it was time for us to head our separate ways for the night---in the pouring rain!
Wednesday morning i headed to class as usual and then met them at the metro station right by school after my class. I took them to our favority little greek place for lunch. They were loving the 5 euro meal deal because apparently that is much cheaper than in France. After lunch we were ready to start our tourist day. Let me mention that we were having the WIERDEST weather wednesday. It would pour rain for ten minutes and then be sunny as can be for like an hour the entire day. Our stops for the day consistest of Plaza de Espana (awesome plaza in sevilla, great for pictures and walking around. unfortunately at this time they are doing construction there but you still get the just of it. Plaza de Espana was actually Queen Amidala's castle in star wars.) Reales Alcazar (good thing the rain held off most of the time and we could walk through the gardens in the sunshine!) and the Cathedral (again, good thing the rain held off, we climed all the ramps to the top of the Giralda to look out over Sevilla). In the time that we spent walking from Reales Alcazar to the Cathedral one of the most surreal things happened. Well let me set the stage and drop a big hint by saying that the Gibbons Spain trip was in Sevilla this past week as well (this is the Spain trip from my high school). We had seen school groups all day in Sevilla and I always looked to see if anyone looked familiar. Sure enough in one of the groups I spotted one of my favorite teachers from Gibbons--Mrs. Gallagher! I was so excited and ran up to her, her reaction was perfect ---"oh my gosh Sarah is this for real!" It was great to run into them in the middle of Sevilla. I had actually previously planned attending dinner with them wed night so i was going to see them again later that night.
After touring the Cathedral with Elizabeth and Kat we walked through some of the touristy shops and slowly made our way to my favorite churro place! It was a little ways out of town but definitely worth it for a taste of some churros and chocolate. After our snack, we parted ways for a little and for dinner because I was meeting up with Gibbons and Sean for dinner.
I met Sean and one of our friends younger brother George near the Cathedral to head to dinner with the Gibbons crew. Sean and I really had a great time catching up with the two teachers on the trip--Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. Williams. Both were teachers that we had both really enjoyed at Gibbons and Mrs. Williams is actually one of our friends mom. It was awesome to be having dinner with them in Sevilla. I am definitely glad that we took the time to do that.
After dinner, Sean and I met up with Elizabeth to hang out for the rest of the night and show her a little bit of the Spanish nightlife. Sounds like it is a little more exciting than the nightlife in Roubaix.
Today was a day to shop! I met the girls in the center and we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a cafe and then had big plans to shop (whats new!). Shopping in Spain is WAY less expensive than shopping in France so it was a bit of fresh air for them. It was definitely a successful shopping day minus the rain. We went to dinner at a mexican restuarant and then grabbed some ice cream at a little shop that i really enjoy in the center.
After todays fesivities it was time to say goodbye! It is weird that we are both living in different countries right now but have the opportunity to visit. I am so glad that they took the time to come see me in Spain! It is alot of fun to show people around. I hope to get up to France to visit them in the end of April and I am really loooking forward to that.
This weekend Caroline is out of town again! I will be spending the weekend in Sevilla because next weekend I am jetting off to Switzerland (I can't wait!!!!!). I am going to spend time this weekend with my friend Kerry Anne. We are going to venture around and try and find some new sites in Sevilla!
I am taking an intensive literature class and this coming up week is the last week so i am REALLY looking forward to the end. After the class is over, I will have entirely free afternoons to spend in Sevilla.
That's all for now!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Busy Week!
Wow this has been a busy week!
Just like normal school..all the professors decided to give their tests in the same week. This definitely does not make for a fun week.
Sunday was fun!
While Caroline was still in Florence for the weekend i was home alone in my home stay with my Senora Paqui and her daughters Julia and Blanca. Sunday morning, Paqui and Julia invited me out to lunch with them at a local "Cerveceria"/tapas place. We headed out to lunch around 2:30. Come to find out that Paqui knew almost everyone at the Cerveceria! She was chatting it up with some of her little man friends and giggling like crazy. She kept introducing myself and her daughter Julia. I was known as her "North American Student." They were all so excited to meet me and kept giving me the normal welcoming kisses. I tried my best to stay up with the conversation between them but sometimes their conversation became a little too fast for me and i just continued to nod and laugh. When it came time to order food I was a little nervous. I had no clue what anything on the menu was! All i recognized was "pescado" or fish--which i had no intention of ordering. Paqui knows that I do not care for fish and went ahead and ordered me a little ham and cheese sandwich. Julia and I both had the same thing. It was not to bad but i have a hard time watching them actually carve the ham and then put it right onto the sandwich. I ate it quickly with a positive mindset! When i was through, Paqui proceeded to ask me what else i would like to try. I was a little nervous to try more...but she had another good call when she ordered me some eat with a side of salsa. I am not sure what the meat was but it was very good! I am glad that i did not share in what they ordered....sardines! We stayed at this cerveceria until it closed and all Paqui´s friends had gone home. It was probably around 4pm. At this point Julia and I were both craving something sweet. Our next stop was to a little bakery with ice cream and churros! yum! Right when we walked in Julia noticed that her Grandparents and Great Aunt happened to be there as well. We went ahead and sat down with them. Once again I got the introduction as their "North American Student" which came along with plenty of welcoming kisses. I definitely felt like part of the family! We sat for a while and ordered churros and chocolate. Before sitting to the table Paqui had quickly told me that her family was a little crazy and very talkative. This was quickly proven to be true. The girls, Paqui, her mother, her aunt and Julia were chatting up a storm. So quickly i could only catch a couple of words. The little grandfather just kid of sat there and watched, on ocasion he would get in a quick comment! Every so often they would look over at me and smile, sometimes i had not clue what they were talking about and I would just smile and laugh right back. One thing the grandmother said that i thought was very interesting was that she thought that I did not look like a "North American" and that i was "guapisima" or very pretty. I wonder what they assume that a North American looks like??? After a fun little family gathering we eventually made it out the door and on our way home---right across the street. It was a fun experience to be able to go out with the family.
Going home meant that i actually had to concentrate on school work! This was just the beginning of a loooong school week. Monday I had a spanish literature paper due as well as a presentation and a quiz. Tuesday I had a midterm in my Literature class. Wednesday I had a test in my Art and Culture class and another quiz in my grammer class. Thursday was a break :) aka catch up on sleep lost from studying for tests! Today, Friday I had a test in my Spain and Islam class and a paper due in my grammer class. It doesn't seem too bad but its all in spanish!
I am so glad that it is Friday and that the week full of tests and papers in over with!
This weekend we will be heading to Granada with our program. There are some great sites to see here. Hopefully the weather will be nice for us!
Just like normal school..all the professors decided to give their tests in the same week. This definitely does not make for a fun week.
Sunday was fun!
While Caroline was still in Florence for the weekend i was home alone in my home stay with my Senora Paqui and her daughters Julia and Blanca. Sunday morning, Paqui and Julia invited me out to lunch with them at a local "Cerveceria"/tapas place. We headed out to lunch around 2:30. Come to find out that Paqui knew almost everyone at the Cerveceria! She was chatting it up with some of her little man friends and giggling like crazy. She kept introducing myself and her daughter Julia. I was known as her "North American Student." They were all so excited to meet me and kept giving me the normal welcoming kisses. I tried my best to stay up with the conversation between them but sometimes their conversation became a little too fast for me and i just continued to nod and laugh. When it came time to order food I was a little nervous. I had no clue what anything on the menu was! All i recognized was "pescado" or fish--which i had no intention of ordering. Paqui knows that I do not care for fish and went ahead and ordered me a little ham and cheese sandwich. Julia and I both had the same thing. It was not to bad but i have a hard time watching them actually carve the ham and then put it right onto the sandwich. I ate it quickly with a positive mindset! When i was through, Paqui proceeded to ask me what else i would like to try. I was a little nervous to try more...but she had another good call when she ordered me some eat with a side of salsa. I am not sure what the meat was but it was very good! I am glad that i did not share in what they ordered....sardines! We stayed at this cerveceria until it closed and all Paqui´s friends had gone home. It was probably around 4pm. At this point Julia and I were both craving something sweet. Our next stop was to a little bakery with ice cream and churros! yum! Right when we walked in Julia noticed that her Grandparents and Great Aunt happened to be there as well. We went ahead and sat down with them. Once again I got the introduction as their "North American Student" which came along with plenty of welcoming kisses. I definitely felt like part of the family! We sat for a while and ordered churros and chocolate. Before sitting to the table Paqui had quickly told me that her family was a little crazy and very talkative. This was quickly proven to be true. The girls, Paqui, her mother, her aunt and Julia were chatting up a storm. So quickly i could only catch a couple of words. The little grandfather just kid of sat there and watched, on ocasion he would get in a quick comment! Every so often they would look over at me and smile, sometimes i had not clue what they were talking about and I would just smile and laugh right back. One thing the grandmother said that i thought was very interesting was that she thought that I did not look like a "North American" and that i was "guapisima" or very pretty. I wonder what they assume that a North American looks like??? After a fun little family gathering we eventually made it out the door and on our way home---right across the street. It was a fun experience to be able to go out with the family.
Going home meant that i actually had to concentrate on school work! This was just the beginning of a loooong school week. Monday I had a spanish literature paper due as well as a presentation and a quiz. Tuesday I had a midterm in my Literature class. Wednesday I had a test in my Art and Culture class and another quiz in my grammer class. Thursday was a break :) aka catch up on sleep lost from studying for tests! Today, Friday I had a test in my Spain and Islam class and a paper due in my grammer class. It doesn't seem too bad but its all in spanish!
I am so glad that it is Friday and that the week full of tests and papers in over with!
This weekend we will be heading to Granada with our program. There are some great sites to see here. Hopefully the weather will be nice for us!
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