So it's safe to say I love Spain.
After our day at El Prado y el Palacio Real, we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant and went out to a small Irish pub in Madrid. We sat at the bar for 2 hours speaking in Spanish with the bartender, Pedro, who was in his late 60s, balding, and hilarious. It was our (the roommates and mine) first encounter with a local like that. It's good to feel like a local.
Thursday we woke up and lugged all of our equipaje y malletas (luggage) down the elevators and left the hotel, making our way to the valle de los caidos y el escorial.
DISCLAIMER: our directores did not tell us about the weather, and we were not prepared for a soaking wet day.
We went to the valle de los caidos, which is probably the most humbling site I have ever seen. The road up to the valle is a narrow one lined with gorgeous redwood trees, and as the rain started to pour and fog started to settle, it was an eerily beautiful sight. As we made our way up the narrow streets, we all were marveled by the size of a cross in the distance. The cross is 492 feet high, and it is carved out of granite. The valle is a monument that Francisco Franco ordered political prisoners to make in the 40s and 50s, and 40,000+ soldiers from the Spanish civil war are buried there. The granite patio is lined with huge arches made of limestone. Photos, words, or videos will not do the magnitude of this sight any justice, unfortunately, but it was remarkable. The arches lead to a gorgeous basilica, which is equally as large as the arches outside, and the echos of the young boys in seminary were chilling on the foggy morning. In the basilica lies Francos tomb.
From the Valle, we went to El Escorial. It's a small town south of Spain. We visited the palace there, and it was also stunning. The coolest part of it was the murals on the walls--frescos. They were so crafted and detailed. What I find so unbelievable is that some of this art was drawn 500+ years ago, yet it is still entirely interpretable and understood today. In the palace there were doors carved out of wood, each crafted individually and flawlessly. The most amazing thing about the palace was the gorgeous granite staircase leading to the tombs of all the kings & queens of Spain and their parents. You walk down these stairs and you see these black marble coffins in the walls--adorned with gold. Looking up at the ceiling, all you see is gold. It is remarkable.
From El Escorial, we headed to Toledo. We got to the beautiful Hotel Beatriz, had yet another meeting with our directors, and headed into town. It was freezing and windy but undeniably gorgeous. We ate dinner in the city and went to a small bar the size of a studio apartment, ham legs hanging on the walls, and one simple tap. It was unlike anything I had ever seen.
The next morning, we headed into the town once more. Toledo is surrounded by walls-- as it was Spain's first capital and needed to be protected from the outside. It is still the religious capital of the country. Toledo is a city of three cultures-- jews, muslims and christians. Something very inspiring is the Jewish synagogue-- its architecture was done by a Muslim. All over the city lies evidence of the three cultures and their influence upon each other.
We took a bus ride through the city, and saw sincerely the most beautiful view in the world. We visited the Monestary of San Juan de los Reyes--it was commissioned by Isabel y Ferdinand to commemorate their victory in the battle of the toro (THIS WAS BUILT IN THE 1400s and STILL SO IN TACT!) You can see the coat of arms carved into the walls, and you can see how it changed after the wars and such. SO COOL TO SEE HISTORY. Also, it says "tanto monta, monta tanto" a lot in the monastery. It signifies the equality between Ferdinand y Isabel-- it was their idiom and way of life.
Definitely got lost from the group in Toledo town. Alexis and I were literally 1 minute behind the group because we got water from the vending machines, and when we looked up and down the street, the group was gone. We spent over an hour running around the town, entering museums we did not have admission to but telling the operators of the museum "creemos que nuestro grupo esta aqui..." and they let us go through. We finally found them after going to the city's tourism center and obtaining the phone number of the tour guide. I think Alexis and I walked through the entire town.
We left Toledo the next day after after a night of VERY scary winds. I slept maybe an hour, maybe two, because the wind was so fuerte (strong) and I was really scared. The trees brushed our windows and it sounded like a hurricane. I watched the BBC til about 5 am and sort of fell asleep, only to wake up at 7:30 for a day of travel.
We headed out of Toledo and made our way to Sevilla.
We stopped at las casuegas ( i THINK that is the name of the town) where Don Quixote saw windmills and thought they were giants and tried to fight them. Still entirely windy, we all almost blew away. On our way down south, the countryside was greener than I've ever seen....
and then we got to sevilla.
to be continued
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
the beginning!!!
After my long delay in London, I finally arrived in Madrid!
It has been absolutely breathtaking. I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that I am actually living in this country and it's not just a vacation! I took a cab to the hotel since my flight was late and I couldn't be picked up by the ISA (my study abroad organization) coordinators! My cab driver and I spoke in only Spanish the whole way over to the hotel and it was great. I really begun to feel comfortable with my Spanish right away. He took me to the hotel and I had about 30 minutes to get ready before our reunion (meeting). I was a bit overwhelmed since I had just gotten there, but settled in quite quickly. I met my three future roommates (one of whom is my roommate at the hotel) and we all get along great.
We had our meeting where our Sevilla directors Carmen and Tamara introduced us to our program and passed around maps and guides. They are so adorable and from Sevilla so they are great and knowledegable in nuestro ciduad as well as Madrid. OH, THEY ONLY speak to us in Espanol. They'll throw in some ingles every so often but it's really cute when they try to say things like "how do you paying for these things?"
After that, we went to El Corte Ingles-- it's a mix of Costco and Nordstrom. Strange, I know, but the main level is like a department store--Chanel counters, Yves Saint Laurent bags, makeup & cosmetics & clothes-- and on the bottom is like a HUGE market. There is not only a market but also counters that are mini restaurants. These El Corte Ingleses are all over the city as well as down in Sevilla, so I will definitely go there often. Something weird or I should say different about Spain is that you don't just take the fruits and vegetables like in the US. You take a number and they take and weigh the fruit for you. My roommate Melody took an apple and the lady in the produce area was like "HOLA???" as in a rude "HELLO??" It was quite an adventure. That, and the fact there are legit stairs in every store-- everything is like 4 or 5 planchas (stories) high--AND that hams are just chillin in the restaurants and markets--are some noticeable differences. Spain is also very serious about their siestas (naps/rests) in the middle of the day. Most restaurants close after lunch (4ish) and re open for dinner around 9. It reminds me of a European New York City. Madrid is not as touristy as I thought it'd be but it's weird to see McDonalds and Starbucks in such an antiqued city.
We then had a panoramic bus tour of the city. They took us around for about an hour and Tamara (one of the directors) was on the mic and in Spanish telling us about our surroundings. It's pretty freaking cool. I loved seeing the city lit up at night and so alive. There are always hundreds of people in the streets. There are gorgeous fountains all over partes diferentes de la cuidad-- y hay muchas cosas a hacer... siempre hay algo a hacer... la marcha es increible.... (There are gorgeous fountains all over the different parts of the city.... there are so many things to do--always something to do...the nightlife is unreal...)
The bus tour was just such a great opener to the Madrid/program orientation.
After that, my 3 roommates (seema from new jersey, alexis from ohio, and melody from new hampshire) and two other girls Abbie and Nabila (who was in Barcelona last semester so is a great person to have around) went out for tapas & wine. We were exhausted after traveling all day and decided to call it a night.
It's also really cold here. It's like 35 degrees. We had breakfast in the hotel and left for our packed day. We then took a bus to El Museo Prado (el prado museum) and I was entirely in awe. Most notably, El Prado tiene obras del Greco, Valazquez (a Sevillan :)) and Goya. We had the option of going on a Spanish tour or English, and I chose Spanish. It was magnificent to be able to see some work from the 16th through 18th centuries. Seeing works I have studied immensely in my life up close is really surreal. Our tour guide also pointed out such interesting things about the paintings, including the fact that one of the kings he painted wanted certain things changed on his portrait and there were outlines of where the original had been-- it was so cool to see, because I would not have noticed otherwise. There are no cameras allowed inside, but I will never forget the art I saw there.
From El Prado, we took a beautiful walk through the narrow Madrid streets to the Palacio Real (royal palace). We walked up narrow streets of Madrid and I fell in love even more. Another different thing about Madrid is that the street signs are like little tiles on the sides of buildings. There is no actual sign like in the U.S. It's a little confusing but I got a good grasp on where we were-- mostly by areas, not by streets, so it was easier to get used to. On the way to the Palacio is the Plaza Mayor (main plaza) that is a huge courtyard that has beautiful buildings and statues and sits atop shops and restaurants. On sunny and warm days, I am sure everyone is eating and drinking outside and enjoying the amazing scenery around them, but today was so cold so there were not a whole lot of people sitting outside. We arrived at the Palacio and I was just, again, in awe. It is huge. It is all white and the Spanish flag hangs high on its top. The greatest thing about the Palace though, I thought, was the view of the city. You can see these stone arcs-- and through them the entire city is visible. We toured the museo de armas and saw all the suits of armor (chest plates, etc.) from centuries ago. After that tour, we went into the actual palace. The palace itself is remarkably huge. It has over 2,000 rooms in it, and unfortunately cameras were not allowed so I couldn't get photos of some of the most unbelievable sights, but each room was something different. Some highlights include: the room where the king changed which was absolutely beautiful-- it took 26 years to complete. The ceiling is like 3D-- all flowers and patterns from the ceiling, and in the corners are gold mini sculptures. Another room I liked was the throne room, where all the thrones of the kings are, as well as 12 espejos (mirrors) grandes, as well as gold lions from Italy. There are also huge chandeliers in most rooms, and each are glass but some are entirely gold. In the corner tops of the room, hay obras que representan diferentes cosas de la historia de espana... another amazing thing is there are LEGITIMATE MURALS painted on each ceiling. I can't even describe it, because I won't do it justice, but these rooms individually are as large as most Agoura Hills houses and easily twice the size of Tempe ones. The ceilings I REPEAT HAVE LEGITIMATE MURALS. It was also really cool to see portraits done by Velazquez because we had just seen his other work at El Prado.
After El Prado, tuvimos tiempo libre... we had free time. Melody, Seema, Alexis and Julie, Val, and Nabila and I all went for lunch. It's also customary in Spain to have a menu del dia (menu of the day) where you order from. Lunch is the most important meal of the day in Spain and you order 2 courses and they give you a coffee & dessert with it. I am still not adjusted to Spanish time/meals/etc. so I was just hungry for a salad, but the menu del dia is crazy-- for a first course you can have paella (meat over rice) or ravioli or a variety of things-- and your second course is typically a meat based dish. The menu was literally the size of a business card, and the waitress gave us only one. Each day the menu del dia changes. It's still really weird to pay with Euros.
After that, we split up and Seema, Alexis, Mel and I spent the rest of the day exploring Madrid. We went back to the Plaza, and went into several shops. There are so many different places to go and see in Madrid, it's fantastic to feel like you have so many options. We went to the Plaza del Sol, which has H&M, Zara and several other stores-- there are so many rebajas (sales) ahora! Every store is filled with people, and like I mentioned before, has several levels. It's not at all uncommon to find escalators and stairs in stores. People in Spain also don't get mad if you accidentally bump into them-- and even though I found myself saying "lo siento, lo siento," they seemed unfazed. ALSO, tipping is unconventional. VERY strange I know. We literally walked the city for 5 hours and made our way back to the hotel.
BESOS Y ABRAZOS,
LP
It has been absolutely breathtaking. I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that I am actually living in this country and it's not just a vacation! I took a cab to the hotel since my flight was late and I couldn't be picked up by the ISA (my study abroad organization) coordinators! My cab driver and I spoke in only Spanish the whole way over to the hotel and it was great. I really begun to feel comfortable with my Spanish right away. He took me to the hotel and I had about 30 minutes to get ready before our reunion (meeting). I was a bit overwhelmed since I had just gotten there, but settled in quite quickly. I met my three future roommates (one of whom is my roommate at the hotel) and we all get along great.
We had our meeting where our Sevilla directors Carmen and Tamara introduced us to our program and passed around maps and guides. They are so adorable and from Sevilla so they are great and knowledegable in nuestro ciduad as well as Madrid. OH, THEY ONLY speak to us in Espanol. They'll throw in some ingles every so often but it's really cute when they try to say things like "how do you paying for these things?"
After that, we went to El Corte Ingles-- it's a mix of Costco and Nordstrom. Strange, I know, but the main level is like a department store--Chanel counters, Yves Saint Laurent bags, makeup & cosmetics & clothes-- and on the bottom is like a HUGE market. There is not only a market but also counters that are mini restaurants. These El Corte Ingleses are all over the city as well as down in Sevilla, so I will definitely go there often. Something weird or I should say different about Spain is that you don't just take the fruits and vegetables like in the US. You take a number and they take and weigh the fruit for you. My roommate Melody took an apple and the lady in the produce area was like "HOLA???" as in a rude "HELLO??" It was quite an adventure. That, and the fact there are legit stairs in every store-- everything is like 4 or 5 planchas (stories) high--AND that hams are just chillin in the restaurants and markets--are some noticeable differences. Spain is also very serious about their siestas (naps/rests) in the middle of the day. Most restaurants close after lunch (4ish) and re open for dinner around 9. It reminds me of a European New York City. Madrid is not as touristy as I thought it'd be but it's weird to see McDonalds and Starbucks in such an antiqued city.
We then had a panoramic bus tour of the city. They took us around for about an hour and Tamara (one of the directors) was on the mic and in Spanish telling us about our surroundings. It's pretty freaking cool. I loved seeing the city lit up at night and so alive. There are always hundreds of people in the streets. There are gorgeous fountains all over partes diferentes de la cuidad-- y hay muchas cosas a hacer... siempre hay algo a hacer... la marcha es increible.... (There are gorgeous fountains all over the different parts of the city.... there are so many things to do--always something to do...the nightlife is unreal...)
The bus tour was just such a great opener to the Madrid/program orientation.
After that, my 3 roommates (seema from new jersey, alexis from ohio, and melody from new hampshire) and two other girls Abbie and Nabila (who was in Barcelona last semester so is a great person to have around) went out for tapas & wine. We were exhausted after traveling all day and decided to call it a night.
It's also really cold here. It's like 35 degrees. We had breakfast in the hotel and left for our packed day. We then took a bus to El Museo Prado (el prado museum) and I was entirely in awe. Most notably, El Prado tiene obras del Greco, Valazquez (a Sevillan :)) and Goya. We had the option of going on a Spanish tour or English, and I chose Spanish. It was magnificent to be able to see some work from the 16th through 18th centuries. Seeing works I have studied immensely in my life up close is really surreal. Our tour guide also pointed out such interesting things about the paintings, including the fact that one of the kings he painted wanted certain things changed on his portrait and there were outlines of where the original had been-- it was so cool to see, because I would not have noticed otherwise. There are no cameras allowed inside, but I will never forget the art I saw there.
From El Prado, we took a beautiful walk through the narrow Madrid streets to the Palacio Real (royal palace). We walked up narrow streets of Madrid and I fell in love even more. Another different thing about Madrid is that the street signs are like little tiles on the sides of buildings. There is no actual sign like in the U.S. It's a little confusing but I got a good grasp on where we were-- mostly by areas, not by streets, so it was easier to get used to. On the way to the Palacio is the Plaza Mayor (main plaza) that is a huge courtyard that has beautiful buildings and statues and sits atop shops and restaurants. On sunny and warm days, I am sure everyone is eating and drinking outside and enjoying the amazing scenery around them, but today was so cold so there were not a whole lot of people sitting outside. We arrived at the Palacio and I was just, again, in awe. It is huge. It is all white and the Spanish flag hangs high on its top. The greatest thing about the Palace though, I thought, was the view of the city. You can see these stone arcs-- and through them the entire city is visible. We toured the museo de armas and saw all the suits of armor (chest plates, etc.) from centuries ago. After that tour, we went into the actual palace. The palace itself is remarkably huge. It has over 2,000 rooms in it, and unfortunately cameras were not allowed so I couldn't get photos of some of the most unbelievable sights, but each room was something different. Some highlights include: the room where the king changed which was absolutely beautiful-- it took 26 years to complete. The ceiling is like 3D-- all flowers and patterns from the ceiling, and in the corners are gold mini sculptures. Another room I liked was the throne room, where all the thrones of the kings are, as well as 12 espejos (mirrors) grandes, as well as gold lions from Italy. There are also huge chandeliers in most rooms, and each are glass but some are entirely gold. In the corner tops of the room, hay obras que representan diferentes cosas de la historia de espana... another amazing thing is there are LEGITIMATE MURALS painted on each ceiling. I can't even describe it, because I won't do it justice, but these rooms individually are as large as most Agoura Hills houses and easily twice the size of Tempe ones. The ceilings I REPEAT HAVE LEGITIMATE MURALS. It was also really cool to see portraits done by Velazquez because we had just seen his other work at El Prado.
After El Prado, tuvimos tiempo libre... we had free time. Melody, Seema, Alexis and Julie, Val, and Nabila and I all went for lunch. It's also customary in Spain to have a menu del dia (menu of the day) where you order from. Lunch is the most important meal of the day in Spain and you order 2 courses and they give you a coffee & dessert with it. I am still not adjusted to Spanish time/meals/etc. so I was just hungry for a salad, but the menu del dia is crazy-- for a first course you can have paella (meat over rice) or ravioli or a variety of things-- and your second course is typically a meat based dish. The menu was literally the size of a business card, and the waitress gave us only one. Each day the menu del dia changes. It's still really weird to pay with Euros.
After that, we split up and Seema, Alexis, Mel and I spent the rest of the day exploring Madrid. We went back to the Plaza, and went into several shops. There are so many different places to go and see in Madrid, it's fantastic to feel like you have so many options. We went to the Plaza del Sol, which has H&M, Zara and several other stores-- there are so many rebajas (sales) ahora! Every store is filled with people, and like I mentioned before, has several levels. It's not at all uncommon to find escalators and stairs in stores. People in Spain also don't get mad if you accidentally bump into them-- and even though I found myself saying "lo siento, lo siento," they seemed unfazed. ALSO, tipping is unconventional. VERY strange I know. We literally walked the city for 5 hours and made our way back to the hotel.
BESOS Y ABRAZOS,
LP
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Just touched down in London town
So I am sitting in the London Heathrow Airport and taking this all in. I HAVE BEGUN MY JOURNEY. I am now in a place that does not accept American dollars. I am in another continent. It's all pretty surreal.
New York was unbelievable. I got to see some amazing things and spend time with some quality people. There is no doubt in my mind that I will end up there. There's something about the streets and the trees and the bright lights that already has me aching to go back. It snowed and it was absolutely breathtaking. The way the powder gets swallowed by the streets, the ice that sticks to your hair, the trees and the snow that wraps around what's left of fall. It's all picturesque.
I went to the Met, Central Park, Times Square, and their adjacent areas. I love the energy. I love the noise. I love the lights. I freaking LOVE NEW YORK.
Sadly, my NY mini-trip had to conclude and I found myself back at the airport before I could wrap my arms around the city I had already come to adore. It had snowed all morning (yesterday, I guess? It's hard to keep track of times and days when it's 11:40 am London time but I was jut in NY where it's 6:40 am and then in LA it's 3:20 am...all confused and turned around here.) I presumed there would be delays of sorts because of the snow, but security was a breeze at JFK and I was on the plane roughly 45 minutes before we were scheduled to leave. It all feels so long ago, but all of this happened not even 12 hours ago if I am calculating correctly.
So it was too good to be true. Once we all boarded, the pilot, in his thick British accent, informed us that we would be going through a quick washing process to ensure snow had not built up in the engine or in the wings. We went through the process, and were ready to take off...or so we thought.
We started the take off process but something seemed off when the pilot kept making circles around the runway and never going airborne. I had started to fall asleep at this point, as it had been roughly 2 hours from the time of the initial snow wash to this point. I woke up about 30 minutes later and we had still not left the ground.
As it turns out, the pilot did a run through of the plane after it had been washed off and was unhappy with the condition of the plane. Let me also add that the washing station was on the complete opposite end of where the plane was. We encircled JFK yet again and the pilot announced there was a long line of planes who needed to be snowed down, but we were going to go through the process once more. This again took maybe an hour and fifteen minutes by the time it was all said and done.
I watched Vicky Christina Barcelona & episodes of Friends and The Big Bang Theory to pass the time. I napped a bit but kept jolting up at the slightest turbulence. I arrived in London and of course missed my connecting flight because of the lateness of my initial flight, so now I am sitting here waiting for my flight to Madrid. I got a waiver for 5 British Pounds as an apology for the delay and am sitting in a coffee & sandwich shop taking this all in.
love from LONDON TOWN,
LP
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The countdown begins...
On January 16th, I will fly to New York City (I've never been!) and spend 3 nights there before flying to Madrid and beginning my semester in Spain. I'm pretty much packed, as I had to do that when I packed up my room in Tempe.
I will be living in Sevilla, Spain for 4 and a half months. Sevilla is the capital city of Andalucia, the southern province in Spain. Famous for its tapas (bar snacks), flamenco dancing, orange groves and romance, I knew this was where I wanted to spend my semester.
I am living in the neighborhood of Triana, which is right across from the Rio Guadalquivir river, and in the center of the nightlife district.
Before I get to Sevilla, I spend 5 days in Madrid and its surrounding areas. First, I will fly from JFK into Madrid and spend the first night touring the city. The next day I will visit El Prado Museum and the Royal Palace. Then I will travel to El Escorial and Valle de los Caidos, followed by 2 days in Toledo. I will finally arrive in Sevilla and prepare for a semester of late nights, a new culture, and a brilliant place.
My travel plans include: Lagos and Lisbon, Portugal; Ronda, Spain; Granada, Spain; Cordoba, Spain; Ibiza, Spain; Barcelona, Spain; Santander, Spain; Malaga, Spain; Dublin, Ireland (for St. Patrick's Day!); Paris, France; Rome, Venice and Florence, Italy; Meknes, Fes, and Ceuta, Morocco; Mykonos and Athens, Greece; London, England; Amsterdam, Holland; and Prague, Czech Republic.
I am going to take full advantage of the opportunities I will have by living in Europe, and hope to gain a new perspective of the world and this life. I don't really know what else to expect other than to enjoy myself and embrace a new place whilst immersing myself in an entirely new culture.
10 DAYS,
LP
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