País Vasco (The Basque Country)

Buenas tardes,

Before I begin telling you all about Pais Vasco and how great it is, I'll give you a quick geography lesson. Pais Vasco is one of Spain's 17 autonomous communities located in the north, in between the regions of Cantabria and Navarre. This region borders the Bay of Biscay.

And now, I'll begin with Day 1:

We visited a bodega (vineyard) called Portia. It was interesting to me because I'd never been to a winery/vineyard before. We got to see how the wine was made and then we tasted two different types of red wine. I preferred the first wine over the second because it was lighter and fruitier. The second one was more of your standard red wine: strong(er) and more bitter tasting. On our way out, Fati and I took pretty pictures in front of the vineyard with the colorful trees in the background.



Then we hopped back on the bus (becuase we were only half-way there) and drove to Bilbao. We only stayed one night in Bilbao. It's such a cute city, I really liked it! Once we'd checked into the hotel and gotten situated in our hotel room, Fati, Mary, Brent, and I went exploring during the free time we had before our group tour. Near our hotel, there is a really cool iron bridge and you can see the Guggenheim Museum. The bridge crosses over the "ría," not the "río" because it's not really a river. I forget the difference, but it's not really a river. Later, we met back up with the group and our professors, Saul and Nuria took us on a short walking tour of the old part of the city at night. They pointed out things like the ayuntamiento (city hall) building, and showed us a "rec center" of sorts where people can play this sport that is unique to Pais Vasco (it's a hand-ball kind of thing and it's very popular). Then we went to the Plaza Mayor where they pointed out a few good places to eat pinxos (pronounced: "peen-chos") which are like tapas. We split up and the group I went with went to 2 of the different pinxo places. I had a so/so one at the first place, but at the second place, I ordered the famous baby eel and another seafood one (Pais Vasco is known for their exquisite cuisine and seafood) along with a glass of Txacolí (pronounced: "cha-coh-lee"), a white wine special to Pais Vasco. Surprisingly, the baby eel was delicious! They usually make it kind of garlicy, and I LOVE garlic, and it had the consistency of a noodle. After our pinxos, we wandered around the city looking for ice cream and postcards. We stopped to eat (although I didn't get anything) at Cafe Brazil (hahaha). Pics of the bridge and the baby eel pinxo is the one on the left.




Day 2:

In the morning, we went to the Guggenheim Museum and did our own audio tours. It was pretty cool, I have to say. Then we left for Guernika, another small city, where we saw the important ayuntamiento (city hall) building. It's a pretty important building for them because it's where they all gather to make decisions. Then we ate a FABULOUS lunch. We had chorizo "soup" with some other meat (probably pork) and morcilla (blood sausage) and beans. It was pretty good! Although, we all wanted it to be spicier. Then we all had a seafood salad, which freaked me out when I first heard we were going to be eating it, because I'm not the biggest seafood aficionado. But this was DELISH! It even had the squid tentacles witht the little suction cup thingies and little teeny shrimp. It was SO good! The best and only seafood salad I've ever had. Next, I had bacalao--cod--which was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever eaten cod in my life, but this was pretty darn good! Finally, we had dessert. Oh goodness. It was sooooo goooooodddd!!!! I don't even know how to describe it: a delectable flakey "cake" filled with cream and fruit (berries, mango, etc.) with a scoop of fresh vanilla bean ice cream. It was to die for!!





After we'd stuffed ourselves, we hopped back on the bus to go to San Sebastián. The drive into the city was beautiful, as is the scenery in the rest of Pais Vasco. Fati and I shared a hotel room again, and we had a view of the ocean!!! Obviously, we weren't right on the water or anything, but it was so cool to be able to see the beach from our window! We decided we wanted to go out and explore and see the ocean before our group tour of San Sebastian's Old Downtown. In our tour, we were shown a popular fish market, the port, some new building that didn't match the rest of the architecture, and a point near the bridge where the river water and ocean water meet, but do not mix; the two bodies of water repel each other. When our mini tour was over, us girls went and got ice cream and postcards!

Day 3:

This day was so much fun! We first went to the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum in the small city of Guetaria, where the famous fashion designer was born. The museum was very new and had a lot of pretty dresses that he'd designed. Then we went to a small, family-owned Txacolí bodega. Our tour guide was an old man (the owner, perhaps?) who was too precious! He was cute and funny, unlike the frigid, mean tour guide at the Portia bodega, which also felt like a prison. I like Txacoli better anyways becuase it's a light, bubbly white wine. He had also prepared some tapas for us after our tour, along with some Txacoli to taste on a beautiful terrace overlooking the vineyard and the mountainside. It was like a scene out of a movie--that's how gorgeous it was! He even let us try the mosto, which is the grape juice before alcohol is added. It was so yummy!



After the bodega, we went to lunch at 2pm at a famous cooking school and had more amazing food: an "appetizer" of salmon puffy stuff in a shot class, a mushroom soup with egg (the yoke was runny), grilled chicked with a txacoli and tomato marmelade with "rustic" (mashed) potatos. The dessert was excellent as well! I ate mine and some of Fati's, haha. It was a "brownie," but it was more like a fluffy mousse with a bite of carmelized sugar and raspberry sorbet on the side. yuuuuuuuum. Then cafe con leche afterwards, of course. Even though I was STUFFED. We finally got back to the hotel and then Fati, Brent, Mary, Regi, and I walked up to a church near the ocean with pretty views. Then Reg and I went to take pictures of the beach. Afterwards, the three of us (Fati, Regi, and I) felt like watching a movie because it was cold out and wanted to stay in for a bit. I'd been wanting to watch "Love Actually" and the two of them hadn't seen it before so we HAD to watch it! We were about 35 mins. into watching it online until the internet died and we couldn't recover the movie online. Oh well. Later that night, Regi, Fati, Cassie, and I decided to go out because it was our last night in San Sebastian. We took the city bus downtown and ate at McDonald's because that was pretty much the only restaurant that was open. Then we wandered through the mostly empty streets--odd for a Thursday night--looking for a cool place to hang out. We met a nice Italian guy our age named Pasquale who was studying architecture in San Sebastian. After a little while, we decided to go on home because we had to wake up early.



Day 4:

On this day, we went to a playa (Playa de la concha?) and saw an area with rock sculptures. The strong waves break up against the wall and against the rocks and it's really cool to see the water spray up in the air. On the walkway, there are also holes (kind of like blow holes) where, on a really windy day when the waves are really strong, the water shoots through the blow holes. It wasn't that windy out when we went, though. Still, what we saw was pretty cool! I could've stayed there all day just watching the waves break. Then we took the fenicular (sp?), which is like a little tram car, up the mountain and had even better views of the beach and the little islands! I also saw the lighthouse. Fati and I took lots of pictures. I really liked it up there because it was so beautiful and peaceful. I'd love to go back in the summer! Finally, it was time to leave Pais Vasco and head back to Madrid. :(

London Calling!

Last weekend, I went to London with Ashley and Regi. Regi flew in on Thursday night because she and Bernardo (her friend we're staying with) were doing a day trip to Liverpool to see all of the Beatles stuff. Ash and I had already been there, done that, and so we left Friday morning. Bernardo supposedely told two of his friends that we were coming in the morning, so we had their numbers and had to use a payphone to call them (because our cell phones don't work in other countries). The first guy, Cody, didn't pick up. So we tried Calvin, who is from Manchester. I never understand a word he says, but he's really nice. Anyways, he picked up when Ashley called, but had been asleep. Ashley said, "Hi Calvin, it's Hayley and Ashley. We're here and we were just wondering if we could drop off our backpacks and stuff for the day?" Calvin had no idea what was going on. His response was, "Wait, why are you here?" haha. Oh brother...Anyways, long story short, he let us in, we dropped off our backpacks in his room, and then were off to explore for the day. We decided that it would be a good idea to try and call Regi to see what time she and Bernardo were coming home (b/c they still hadn't told us), so we went back to the same payphone ~30 mins. later and before I picked up the receiver to dial, the phone started to ring! I picked it up, and it was Cody (the first guy we called)! haha! So I told him that we'd gotten a hold of Calvin, dropped off our stuff, and were off for the day. He said he had been in class and that he had class until 2pm, but wanted to know if we would like to go to the British Museum. He said he hadn't been yet, and so I said sure, but how was I supposed to get hold of him again? He asked me what number I'd called him from, and I said it was a payphone. He said, "So you've just been waiting by the same payphone for the past 30 minutes waiting for me to call?" hahahahahaha. Nope! It just happened to ring when we popped back in! Weird, huh? Anyhoo, we decided that we'd just call him after 2pm and meet at the museum.

One of my sorority sisters who is studying in London was very helpful and gave me an itinerary for Friday. It was great! Ashley and I had so much fun! We started off at Borough Market, which is an outdoor food market that is PHENOMENAL! They also had lots of little food samples, which was a bonus! The market was really cool--I'd compare it to a farmer's market. Then right next to the market was Monmouth Cafe, a cafe famous for their good coffee, so we were told, and so we both got lattes.





After our lattes, we walked towards Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the Tate Modern Museum (of modern art). Shakespeare's theater was cool, and we really wanted to take a tour, but it was very expensive, so instead we just took pictures from the outside. The Tate, on the other hand, was free, and it was HUGE. To be honest, it kind of looks like a Nazi concentration camp on both the outside and parts of the inside (some parts are dark and creepy). Especially since it was a foggy foggy day out in Londontown! But anyways, although I am not a huge fan of art and especially modern art, we paroosed (sp?) through some cool exhibits.



Ashley and I also got our picture taken by the Millenium Bridge (a bridge also featured in one of the more recent Harry Potter movies)!


We crossed the bridge and saw St. Paul's Cathedral from the outside and then found some shops: Top Shop!!! Top Shop is amazing, but very expensive. :( But it was still fun to look. Then we called Cody and met up with him at the British Museum. We saw the Ancient Egyptian exhibits, some of Ancient Greece and Rome, and the Rosetta Stone!!!





After the museum, we left to go meet up with my sorority sister, Tenley at the Temple tube station. It was Armistice Day/Veteran's Day all weekend and there was going to be a fireworks show. Welllll it turns out I got the days mixed up--the show was tomorrow. :(

No big deal. So Ashley and I decided to go have high tea at Harrod's department store because it was nearly 6 o'clock (best time for high tea according to Google). We waited in line for the fancy tea room and then were finally seated. It took forever to order because they were out of scones, and this and that, but we finally made a decision, and a good one at that! We split a pot of Earl Grey tea and an apple crumble. It was so delish and had a warm vanilla bean cream sauce to put on top. YUM!





Once we were done with our tea, we toured around Harrod's for a bit. It's a really cool high-end department store that has EVERYTHING! We saw the designer shoes, hats, gowns, hats, etc. and even went to the floor that was Harry Potter World! My favorite part of the store was the fact that they had it all decorated for Christmas! There were lights and Christmas trees and ornaments and everything!



Finally, Ash and I left, grabbed some Asian food, and then made our way back to the dorm. Cody let us in and the dorm kids were having a party because they'd just had hall elections. So we hung out and talked for a bit with some of the people there and then Regi and Bernardo finally appeared!!! Ash and I went to Calvin's room to grab our stuff and then we all moved into Bernardo's room and got ready because we were going to maybe go out. I looked like a disaster by this point, thanks to the constant sprinkling outside. My hair was a mess! So we fixed ourselves up, and then went back down to the common room and then decided to go out for a bit. We had fun at a nearby bar/pub, dancing to some good music. It was hilarious. Then the boys wanted to go to a club, so we agreeded, even though we were pretty tired. On the way there, though, Regi and I got really hungry and wanted a burger!! So we searched and searched, but everything was closed. Until we had walked for ever to this supposedly close-by club, which was def. not close, and we found a kebab place that was open! They also served burgers and so Regi and I got one! Nommm. Berna got a kebab and was struggling to eat it. Oh brother. Anyways, we decided to go home after that.

The next day we got up early for our bike tour at 10:30am. We struggled a little to find the place, which was at Gabriel's Wharf, but we made it. Our group was small--only 6 people: a couple from Barcelona, a nice French lady, and the three of us. Plus Mark, our tour guide. We rode our bikes down the pathway by the River Thames and saw the London Eye, Big Ben and the Parliament Building, and another "palace" that is supposededly older than Buckingham Palace. We crossed the bridge and saw Westmister Abbey, then Buckingham Palace (which is kind of blah looking, in my opinion). We learned that the front part of the palace was the newer part (built with gray stone around the turn of the 20th c.) and the older part was built with a yellow stone from the Bath (sp?) region of England because it was mandatory that they use this stone (can't remember why). Anyways, we moved on to see some war memorials and a statue of the Duke of Wellington. From there, we made our way to Hyde Park. I was SO EXCITED!! I've dreamed about strolling through Hyde Park...It was amazing! The Fall leaves were everywhere and the colors were magnificent. I've never experienced a more beautiful fall. We also saw Princess Diana's memorial fountain, which was pretty cool.





After Hyde Park, we mostly just made our way back to the start of our tour, but stopped to see another monument that had statues of the four corners of the world. I can't remember which monument this was though, but it had real gold on it, which was a big deal. Here's us on our bikes:




After our tour, we were starving! So we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant right next door to the bike place. Then we decided, since we didn't have a lot of time because we were going to see the fireworks show at 4:30pm (yes, it gets DARK, like NIGHTTIME dark around this time), to go to the Tower of London and see the crown jewels and the Tower Bridge. When we got there, we saw the price to get in--about 20 pounds--and decided not to go...a little disappointing. But we took pictures of the Tower Bridge. Then we went to China Town! That was interesting! I really wanted to eat some Chinese food. Pretty soon, it was time to go to Temple Station to meet Tenley for the fireworks show. When we got off the tube, it was beyond crowded. There were SO MANY PEOPLE you could barely move! It was nuts. Needless to say, we could not find Tenley :(

Anyways, we decided to just watch the show, which I thoroughly enjoyed! After the fireworks ended, it took about 20 mins. for people to vacate the vicinity--that's how packed it was. Era una locura!! We wanted to go eat somewhere and get away from the hordes of people, so we walked. And walked. And walked some more. We probably walked 6 miles. People were everywhere. We really wanted to have fish and chips for dinner, because that is so English! So we searched for the best price, until we finally found somewhere! We split the meal 3 ways and it was delicious! I have to admit, that fish and chips never really sounded like an appetizing meal to me, but now that I've tried it, I really like it!



We had walked so far, that we found ourselves in the very spot where the only Chipotle in Europe is! So of course, we had to go! Ash got a burrito and Reg and I split chips and guacamole. Yum! We were very satisfied! Finally, we headed home--and we were pooped! We went back to find that Bernardo was out eating dinner. We ran into one of his friends, who let us into the computer room so that Reg could buy her bus ticket to get to the airport. Finally, Bernardo came back and we went went to bed for about 4 hours while he chilled in the common room with his friends. We had to leave around 3:45am (Regi a little earlier). We all crammed in Bernardo's bed-haha. I finally fell asleep but then woke up and was really hot and claustrophobic, so I climbed out and laid on the cool floor for probably less than 5 mins. and decided I was too cold. So I climbed back in the middle of Regi and Ashley. They didn't even realize what was going on. haha. Anyways, we made it to the airport the next day and Reg immediately attacked us with her Starbucks coffee. We paroosed the gift shop for a while, just to kill time. I bought a magnet with the coins I had left because they don't exchange anything but bills. Regi bought a book. Finally it was time to board our flight. The flight from London to Madrid is only about 2 hours, but I swear (and now that I've done this 3 times) it feels like the world's longest flight EVER. But we survived and made it back home to lovely Madrid!

We had an amazing, eventful trip to London--I had so much fun! I am so glad I was able to go there because I've always wanted to. Special thanks to Bernardo and friends for housing us and dealing with all of our shenanigans. We love you! See you when you come to Madrid! ;)

Liverpool for a Day

Once we arrived in the John Lenon Airport in Liverpool from Dublin, we took a bus to the center of the city and found the train station where we would be departing from (to London) later that day. After we'd gone to the train station and gotten our tickets printed out, we didn't really have a plan for the day, so we picked up a tourist brochures and decided to go on a hop-on/hop-off bus tour of the city with 15 sites to see.



We got to see Albert Dock and various Beatles landmarks and learn a little bit of history about the city while on our bus. We decided to get off at Albert Dock because Regi's friend who had studied in England said it was pretty cool and there was also a Beatles gift shop there.



After purchasing a cool black and white postcard of the Beatles, and waiting for Regi to shop around (I forgot to mention that she is a die-hard Beatles fan), we found a place that was reasonably priced for lunch. We were starving! We went to a cute little restaurant with a view of the dock and each got delicious, though strange looking, sandwiches!



After lunch, we hopped back on the bus and continued our tour. We saw things like this:


After our tour, we wandered around the area of bars and clubs where the Beatles had played.




Once we had seen pretty much everything there was to see, we decided to take refuge in a nearby mall because it was getting pretty cold outside. We stayed there for a while and Regi and Ashley had coffee. Then Regi wanted to see some statue for peace thing, so we went to go find it, but sadly, never did. But, we wandered through H&M and browsed other outdoor kiosks on our search for the statue. After searching for a while and having no success, we finally gave up and decided it was time to head back to the train station. We were tired and COLD by this time (I was pooped).

Finally, it was time to board our train to London--which was first class, by the way, even though they were the cheaper tickets (?!?!). Our train literally had about 60 million and 1 stops, so that's why the tix were cheaper, because the travel time was so much longer. We arrived in Euston Station in London around midnight and decided to call one of Regi's friends from school, Bernardo, who's attending the London School of Economics this year. We chilled in his dorm common area (his dorm was conviently close to the train station) for a few hours until we had to leave for our early-morning flight back to Madrid. He was very kind and let us use his laptop, ipod charger, offered us food, and when we asked him if we could stay with him when we come to London for real in two weeks, he graciously said yes. Hehe.

Even though this trip involved a lot of tiring traveling, I had a lot of fun! I got to meet new people and see two different countries. I also got to experience Halloween in 3 different countries: Ireland, England, and Spain, because we had a 5 day "puente." That was pretty awesome--I don't know many other people who can say the same.

Ciao for now! :)

Dublin, Ireland

NOTE: If I spell words incorrectly, it is because I am either confusing them with the Spanish spelling (ex: "synagogue" is "sinagoga" in Spanish, so I accidentally misspelled it) or I have forgotten how to say a lot something in English. Please excuse any grammatical/spelling errors. Thank you.

This past weekend we had a "puente," literally meaning "bridge." This is because we had a 5-day weekend: no school on Monday for Halloween and then Tuesday was a festivo, so no school. Regi, Ashley and I made our way to Ireland and the UK! We left Friday for Dublin and stayed until Sunday morning. What an amazing city! From the moment I stepped into the Dublin airport, I was in love! In the airport, there was an art display of photographs entitled "The people of Ireland." It was just a bunch of people's faces, but I could already tell that Ireland was a people-friendly country. The next thing that pleased me was that the airport customs people stamped my passport!!! So now my passport says I've been to Ireland! (not every country does this, which makes me sad because I want a lot of stamps in my passport)!

We made our way to the bus stop and, with the help of a few nice Irish people, made it onto the right bus headed towards the city center, where our hostel was located. Whilst (I feel so British saying that!) on the bus, which was DOUBLE DECKER, by the way, we realized that there was absolutely no way we could tell which stop was ours. We knew where we were supposed to get off, but there were no signs inside or outside of the bus that told us what each stop was. I guess you just had to know (or ask the bus driver). After being on the bus for a while, we decided to move downstairs and then encountered 3 other Americans from Michigan who happened to be going to the same hostel as us, and were equally confused as to which stop we were supposed to get off at. Ha. Anyways, we figured it out, and all was well. We made it to our hostel where we met the craziest, most hilarious, epitome of and Irish man ever--Shamus, the "concierge." Oh man, he was a HOOT and super nice!!! We got our room and walked through a maze of doors and hallways to get there, made our beds, and were off to begin our adventures!

First stop: Grafton Street! Great shopping street that conveniently leads to St. Stephen's Green, which is a beautiful park. Most everything was in walking distance from our hostel, which was great! Grafton St. was very cool and then we toured St. Stephen's Green. After, we decided to walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral, then headed back towards the hostel. We ate dinner at a nearby restaurant called O'Shea's. It was pretty good.

The next day we went on a free walking tour (based on tips only). Our tour guide's name was Dave and he was great! Very enthusiatic and knowledgeable about all of the sites we saw. To name a few: Trinity College, Temple Bar, Christ Church, Ha' Penny Bridge on the River Liffey, a museum, etc. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour! After our tour, we went to the Guinness Storehouse/museum. It was very cool, but definitely more info. than I ever needed to know about Guinness. We got a free pint at the end up in Gravity Bar, on the top floor of the museum. Gravity Bar has a panoramic view of Dublin, and it's amazing. We got there right at sunset too! After, we promptly left because we were pooped! I wanted to get postcards, so Ash came with me to buy them while Regi got Burger King. On our way back to the hostel, Ashley and I grabbed some Thai food to go.

We had planned to stay in that night because we were so tired from our long day of touring the city, but our friends we met from California (same age as us but studying in Rome) convinced us to rest up and go out with them b/c you're only in Dublin once! Plus the whole city was celebrating Halloween! So we rallied, but had no idea what to wear. Amanda and Mollie (our new friends) got Irish rugby outfits to wear but the three of us didn't have anything. Luckily, the day before, Regi and Ashley had purchased matching flannel pj's and so Reg wore hers and I wore Ash's while she just wore regular clothes. Regi and I dressed up at "couch potatos." :)

We went out and met a really funny and nice girl from Liverpool and just had a great time out. Irish (or Dublin) people go all out for Halloween. It's nuts! Then we went home and got up early for our 30 min. flight to Liverpool. The end. Pictures:

Andalucía & Almería (Part 2)

Once we finished our tour of La Alhambra, Ashley, Regi and I grabbed lunch and then went back to the hotel to get our bags and left for the bus to take us to the long-trip bus station. On our way to the bus, Brittani called Regi to tell us that she, Josh, Eric, Kendal, Fatema, & Bryce missed their train to Morocco because they had just sold the last ticket before Josh was about to buy his. :( So they decided to come with us to Almeria! Luckily, Hostal Mirabel had enough open rooms, and they were able to take the train to Almeria. The bus ride was only 2 hours long and I got to see pretty scenery! They were all very sad/disappointed because they had already paid for hotels, flights, etc. that are non-refunable, but we still had a great time all together in Almeria! We got to Almeria in the early evening, so we decided to stay in and plan our Saturday since that was the only full day we had there. We finally decided (after lots of research and questioning of Juan at the front desk) to take the hour long bus ride to the beautiful beach called Cabo de Gata. There were city beaches nearby our hostel, but we really wanted to see the most beautiful beaches that the area had to offer. Once we figured this out, Regi, Ash, Fati and I went to Dia--the grocery store located conveniently down the street from Hostel Mirabel--for dinner! Ha. We wanted to spend as little money as possible, and we also got food for lunch at the beach.

Cabo de Gata/aka Cabo:
So since it was a Saturday, there were only a few buses running at certain hours of the day. We left for the beach at 11am (got there around 12pm) and the only one back was at 8pm. So we were there for 8 hours, and planned accordingly. We stocked up on sandwiches, snacks, water, etc. We were set! The beach was amazing! The Mediterranean was so calm, blue and clear! It was a beach with pebbles instead of seashells, but that's OK. It was a perfect day out and there were very few people. We basically had the whole beach to ourselves! On the far side of the beach, there were a lot of wind-surfers, which I thought was pretty cool. Needless to say, we ate, tanned, got in the cold water and had a great time. Regi, Fati, and I stayed back and tanned/napped while the rest of the group (6 out of the 9 of us) went to eat lunch at the nearby seafood restaurant. Reg was basically passed out with her headphones on, and Fati and I weren't very hungry, so we didn't go. They ordered paella and literally stuffed themselves with paella de mariscos. They came back feeling sick, they were so full! Around 6pm it started getting cooler outside. It had been a little windy all day, but by this time, the sun was starting to set and we were a little chilly. We too pretty pictures of the sun setting on the water and by 7:20pm packed up so that we wouldn't miss our bus and have to sleep on the beach. When we finally got home, we all showered and re-grouped. We were hungry, so we ordered pizza from Telepizza across the street at 11pm. Then all 9 of us decided to cram on Bryce's bed (2 twin beds Our random American friend that we met at the hostel popped in for a bit, but then peaced out. We were all so cramped and squished that once the movie finally ended, we ALL jumped up immediately to go to bed. It was pretty funny, actually. On Sunday, we had to check out by 12pm, so we got up at 10am, packed up, and made everyone travel sandwiches (marmelade or nutella sandwiches were our options, haha). We didn't do much on Sunday, but after we checked out, we found a cafe-restaurant to grab a coffee. Luckily, the hostel said they'd hold our bags b/c our train didn't leave until 4:30. The train ride was 7 hours. Yes, 7 hours back to Madrid on the slow train. It was a looooooooonggggg ride, but the scenery was, again, beautiful, with mountains, valleys, etc. Loved it! and had such a great trip! Pictyas:

Andalucía: Córdoba, Sevilla, Granada (Part 1)

A few weeks ago SMU visited Andalucia for the week. What a great trip! On this trip, we travelled to 3 different cities: first Cordoba (just for a day), then Sevilla for two days, and finally Granada. I will tell you about each city.

Cordoba: here we saw the mosque-cathedral. We learned about this in our culture and civilization class. It was so beautiful. Originally, it was a mosque, obviously built under the Arab rule, but once the Christians came into power, they transformed it into a church. However, the Christians kept the beautiful architecture in tact because it was so elegant, and it honestly would have been a shame to destroy it or build a cathedral on top of it (which was very common). So, the Christians just added Christian decorations. We also got to see the Rio Guadilquivir, which is a very important river because, unlike any other river that runs through Spain, it is wide enough for ships to pass through. In Cordoba, and Andalucia in general, there was a Jewish neighborhood and a sinagogue. We went to go explore the sinagogue on our own but it was closed at that hour. Here's a picture of the mesquita-catedral:









Sevilla: we arrived in Sevilla at night time and a bunch of us in our SMU group got a fabulous dinner (menu del dia type of thing--house menu). I ordered something that was similar to a pork chop, a salad, and a DELICIOUS dessert of frozen chocolate trouffels (sp?) and cream. YUM! The next day, we toured the city. Our culture and civilization professor always goes on our trips because she explains the history and importance of each city and place. We saw a palace that's called an Alcazar (there are many Alcazares in Spain). This one belonged to King Alfonso X (I think?) and also Pedro I "The Cruel." It was actually a palace for their mistresses, but that's another story (as they like to say in Spain). Sevilla was a pretty city, but not my favorite. Once we finished our tour for the day, we all went to eat lunch as a group. The meal was HUGE! Marta, our profe told us about how in Andalucia they have Arab baths (similar to Turkish baths) where there are several different baths ("pools" in a sense) that vary in temperature from very hot to freezing cold. Fati (Fatema--who was also my roomie for the trip!) and Brent and Mary and I all went! Fati and I also decided to get massages. It was very nice and relaxing, and they also have hot and cold tea for you to drink! Later that night, the whole group went to see a professional Flamenco dance. We were pretty tired by this time, but we enjoyed it very much. The performance was only an hour long, so after, we all split up and went to dinner. A bunch of us (Fati, Ashley, Regi, Cassie, Josh, Eric, Bryce, and I) all went to this amazing Italian restaurant! Fati and I split a gorgonzola salad and pesto pasta al genovese (sp?). Anyways, it was to die for! And I tried Ash's pizza and it was also very delish!! Here are a few pictures:










Granada: we left for Granada very early the next day and arrived at Hotel Carmen (Carmen is our Spanish mom's name)!! Everything in Granada was called "carmen." Apparently it's original meaning is "garden." It's a very popular name in Spain in general, though. The hotel was very nice. The best one we've stayed at! Fati and I went and explored a bit during our free time before we had to reconvene with the group for our tour. We went in search of a place to drink Pakistani tea (which we never ended up finding...) and a place (actually a neighborhood) called Albyzin. We went into a few shops along the way and I bought some tea from a very nice and helpful Indian man (or Middle Eastern, I forget). He spoke English, Spanish, and another language and told us how to get to Albyzin and el Mirador de San Nicolas. We thanked him and went to go get lunch because I was starving! Fati and I went to a doner kebab restaurant (they're everywhere in Spain, which I LOVE). The kebab was out of this world delicious. I got another one the next day too... Anyways, we didn't have much time before we had to be back at the hotel, so we popped in a few shops, where I bought a nice journal that has a poem on the cover by Federico Garcia Lorca (a 19th c. Spanish prose fiction author). Then we went back to the hotel. On our group tour, we went to the Capilla Real where the imfamous Catholic Monarchs' tombs are--Queen Isabel I de Castilla and Rey Fernando I de Aragon. This church was built very quickly because Fernando was nearing his death and they needed a place to put his body. The church wasn't all that special, though, but it was really cool to see their tombs, and also the tombs of Juana I ("La Loca") and her hubby Felipe I "el hermoso." Then we were shown La Alcaiceria which is the arab-style market that's still used today. And that was the end of our tour...FREE TIME! So Fati and I stayed and shopped in the Alcaiceria for a bit, and then made our way to see the sun set at the lookout of San Nicolas. From this look-out, you have an amazing view of La Alhambra (which is a city-palace built by the arabs). The view from San Nicolas was absolutely breathtaking. Bryce, Josh, and Eric were also there, so we took pictures and then left because we had to be back at the hotel for dinner by 8:30. Dinner was an amazing buffet! I ate fish, calamari, rice, dessert, fruit, cheese, everything! Fati and I decided to go see a gypsy flamenco dance higher up on the mountain in a cave with another girl in our group. No one wanted to go because it was a little bit pricey, but our profs highly recommended it and said that it was very different from the one we'd seen the night before and worthwhile. So we thought it would be a great cultural experience. So at 9:30 we hopped on a bus with a bunch of old people, who we assumed were old French people. Basically it was all the old people and the 3 of us young Americans. Kind of awkward at first. Our tour guide showed us around the neighborhood for a bit and unfortunately for us, conducted the whole tour in French. Um, we don't speak French...we thought it would be in Spanish. Interestingly enough, I understood almost all of what Chus (our tourguide's name) was saying in French because of my knowledge of Spanish. As we walked from one location to the next, Chus gave us an overview of what she had just said in Spanish, but we were still kind of annoyed because no one told us that our tour would be in a language that we didn't know. I quickly found out that some of these folks spoke Spanish and so I asked one of the men how you say "motorcycle" in French because cars, buses, and motorcycles kept passing us on the street. He told me, and we attempted to speak in Spanish, but then said he spoke English! I learned that this group of people was actually from Belgium, not France! Yay! I like Belgians better. They were very friendly and Fati and I became friends with some of the ladies. The gypsy Flamenco dance was OK. It was def. different from the previous night. Not sure if it was worth the money, but at least we got a discount. The Belgians sadly had to pay full price.

The next day we toured La Alhambra, the arab city-palace. It's HUGE and BEAUTIFUL!!! There are many parts to it: the alcazaba, where the army lived and where the torre de vela (look out tower to guard the palace) was. Then there are the royal quarters, where the royal family lived, and a 3rd part, la Medina (I think) which was were the "peasants" lived, but is pretty much destroyed now. Then there's another part of the palace: the vast garden area called El Generalife. It's comprised of a palace and a garden. WOW. Arabs love beautiful, tranquil gardens because they evoke the 5 senses as well as a sense of eutopia. The architecture of La Alhambra was amazing (on the inside) and the views were magnificent. The gardens had many wild and exotic flowers and lovely fountains. Here are some pictures: