Friday, April 25, 2008
Traveling
Ok, so here is my updated plan for traveling after the program. My last final is on Monday the 28th, Tues we leave for Nerja (a city on the south coast of Spain) and are there from Tues-Fri. We're going to take a day trip to Gibraltar which is about 2 hours away. On Saturday, May 3rd, we are going to travel to Seville and stay there until Sunday night. Then, we are going to Lisbon, Portugal and stay there the rest of the time. We'll come back to Madrid May 7, and then I leave for the states on May 8th!!!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Winding down
So, I am nearing the end of my semester in Spain. This is a bittersweet moment because of the one hand I am so excited to come home and to see everyone, however, on the other hand I have loved being here, traveling, hanging out, going out, etc. But, I do think that I have an amazing time and have done/cramped in many things.
The weekend before last Sean and I went to Mallorca with some of the people from the other schools. The trip to Mallorca was good because it was sooo relaxing. We chilled by the pool/on the beach, watched movies, Sean & Rene (from St. Marys) made dinner (yes! didn't have to cook), and Victoria (from Slippery Rock) & I cleaned! The weather wasn't great, sorta on the chilly side, but overall it was a good trip.
The girls lying on the beach
Sean, Rene & I
Ok, so today was probably the day that pretty much completed my stay in Spain. Today I saw the king, queen, and president of Spain in person!!! There was a ceremony thing at the university today to present some award to someone. As you can tell I'm a little iffy on the details. But, point being was the king, queen, and president were part of the ceremony so Anne and I left class (gasp!) to wait to see them all walk by. It was pretty awesome. I mean it's not everyday you see royalty or the president (esp. not even one of your own country). Ok, so here's the hilarious part. So, Zapatero (the president) is walking and Anne says to me, "I can't see him." And, so I say back, "He's next to that woman in pink." And, then they all walk by and the crowd starts to leave and Anne and I were like, "Where's everyone going? The king and queen haven't come yet!" And some person was like, "They just walked by!" Apparently the woman in pink was the QUEEN! hahahaha! Anne and I were dying laughing when we figured that out. But, it's ok because we went back to see them leave so this time we knew who they were when we saw them!
The queen in pink, the king is right next to her, and Zapatero is the second man in from the right
The weekend before last Sean and I went to Mallorca with some of the people from the other schools. The trip to Mallorca was good because it was sooo relaxing. We chilled by the pool/on the beach, watched movies, Sean & Rene (from St. Marys) made dinner (yes! didn't have to cook), and Victoria (from Slippery Rock) & I cleaned! The weather wasn't great, sorta on the chilly side, but overall it was a good trip.
The girls lying on the beach
Sean, Rene & I
Ok, so today was probably the day that pretty much completed my stay in Spain. Today I saw the king, queen, and president of Spain in person!!! There was a ceremony thing at the university today to present some award to someone. As you can tell I'm a little iffy on the details. But, point being was the king, queen, and president were part of the ceremony so Anne and I left class (gasp!) to wait to see them all walk by. It was pretty awesome. I mean it's not everyday you see royalty or the president (esp. not even one of your own country). Ok, so here's the hilarious part. So, Zapatero (the president) is walking and Anne says to me, "I can't see him." And, so I say back, "He's next to that woman in pink." And, then they all walk by and the crowd starts to leave and Anne and I were like, "Where's everyone going? The king and queen haven't come yet!" And some person was like, "They just walked by!" Apparently the woman in pink was the QUEEN! hahahaha! Anne and I were dying laughing when we figured that out. But, it's ok because we went back to see them leave so this time we knew who they were when we saw them!
The queen in pink, the king is right next to her, and Zapatero is the second man in from the right
Besos
P.S. next stop Seville once the program ends
P.S. next stop Seville once the program ends
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Let them eat cake...
Ok, so I know I said I would write about Andalucia, but I just got back from
The next day we took a walking tour of the city. This was cool for two main reason. 1. It was free! and 2. It was run my young people (our tour guide was 24) and therefore they made it a lot more fun than being stuck with some stuffy, boring tour guide. We hit up all the major sites and the tour guide would tell us stories/fun facts for each of the places. That night was everyone went out, but I had to stay in the hotel to do a lame take home test for one of my classes. And, clearly it was for the teacher that I dislike the most! So, that was pretty lame.
Anyway, so the next day (Sunday) we got up early and went to the Louvre which is free on Sundays (score!). The line wasn't even made at all. We got there a little before it opened, but once they opened we just walked right in! So, we hit up all the majors spots: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Liberty Leading the People. After the Louvre we wanted to go to D'orsay, but the line was ridiculously long so we decided not to go in. Instead, we walked along the river where they have green box things that they open up into little stores and headed towards Notre Dame. We sat outside of Notre Dame for a little bit before going in, however, here is the problem with sitting down in a touristy spot. There are gypsy all over the place in Paris that come up to you asking for money. However, their opening line is not something like do you have money or whatever. No, it's something much sneakier. They come up to you and ask you if you speak English. If you make the mistake of saying yes they had you a piece of paper with some sob story for you to read and afterwards expect you to give them money. Now, fortunately other people in our program had already been to Paris and warned us about this, so we didn't get caught up in it. But, it was pretty ridiculous because literally you can't sit for two seconds without having them come up to you. And, they say, "Do you speak English?" and we're all like,"No" even though that is clearly a lie.
Anyway, that night Sean's friend Luis (the one from Mexico studying in Paris) met up with us and we all went out to dinner and then he took us to the most breathtaking place to see the Eiffel Tower. Ok, so the coolest thing about this trip was that while we were at the Eiffel Tower watching it sparkle (b/c they turn on sparkle lights every hour on the hour) it started to SNOW! Yes, SNOW! It was like something out of a movie. It was possible one of the funnest nights of my life because it snowed the entire night. After we left the Eiffel Tower we just walked around the streets of Paris playing in the snow and having snowball fights! It was amazing!
Oh, and the other thing about Paris is that they people are some of the nicest people I've encountered in Europe. We honestly didn't met one rude person (contrary to the stereotype). Overall, the trip was awesome. And, this weekend I'm off to Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.
Besos
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Spring Break
Hey everyone! Sorry it´s taken me so long to send pictures and write posts. There has been some concern expressed about whether I am alive or not! I am here to reassure you all that yes I am in fact alive and doing well. Everything has just been super crazy with all the travelling. Recently I went to Ireland, Valencia, Ibiza, Cordoba and Granada (all in a 2 week time frame!). Let´s start with Ireland shall we?
Sean, David, Stephanie and I all went to Dublin for St. Patrick´s Day. We left the Thursday beforehand and actually returned on Monday (St. Patty´s Day) cause the flights were way cheaper, obvi! So, anyway, we arrive on Thursday night at the airport in Dublin and of course have no idea how to get to our hotel so we end up taking a taxi ride that was not cheap mind you, but fortunately between the four of us it wasn´t that bad. So, we arrive at the hotel and go to our rooms and are instantly blown away. Now the funny thing was that it was a normal, nice hotel, but we are all so used to hostels that this was like luxury to us! The best thing was that they actually provided towels in the bathroom, something which hostels do not and we learned the hard way in Italy. But, anywho, enough about the hotel. The first day in Dublin we took one of those city bus tour companies to view the sights a little. On the first day we went to both the Guinness House and the Jameson Factory. Haha, obviously that was the boys´choice. The following day was miserable because it was freezing and decided to rain the entire day so everyone´s shoes and pants were soaked. So, we decided to go see a movie (10,000 BC). It was a ridiculous movie. Granted, I slept through most of it, but still. The next day we took a bus tour of the north of Ireland which is so pretty. Our bus driver/tour guide was absolutely hilarious. The best, dry humor and I was literally cracking up the whole time. That night was the night turning into St. Patrick´s Day so we decided to go out. While in the center of the city Stephanie and I both saw horse drawn carriages and really wanted to ride one. At first the boys were hesitate, but they finally agreed and we took a carriage ride which was so much fun! The next morning we left for the airport. Now, it wouldn´t be a trip if something didn´t go wrong. While waiting for the bus to the airport, after a 40 minute ride on the tram, Sean realized that we had forgot our passports in the hotel. So, Sean and I had to run to find a taxi to take us back to the hotel and from there to the airport all before the check-in closed. We ended up making it back to the airport in time, but not before paying 70 € for the taxi!
So, the next part of this trip was to Valencia to see Las Fallas. This to me was really cool because this was the festival we learned about the first summer at Middlebury. So, it was a really neat/surreal experience to see Las Fallas in actuality. To get to Valencia we travelled by bus. Sean, Andres (his friend from Mexico studying in Salamanca), and I travelled on one bus. Stephanie and David left later in the day on a different bus, Luis (another friend of Sean´s from Mexico studying in Paris) meet up with us later that night as well, and Elliott was already in Valencia for the week. Anyway, Sean, Andres, and I arrive first and get to the hostel to check-in only to have them tell us that Sean and booked it for the wrong day. We arrived on the 19th and no he didn´t book it for like the 18th or anything like that. He booked it for the 5th of March! Why? We still can´t figure it out. So needless to say we walked around the city for a good hour looking for some place to stay. As a benefit, however, we ended up seeing a lot of the ninots (the name for the individual float thingys). However, rooming wise everything was booked and I mean everything, hostels and hotels. Fortunately, Gigi (Elliott´s roommate) had a hostel with her friends that was already paid for that night. Her friends had left that day for Barcelona so we ended talking to the hostel and were able to stay the night in their room.
Anyway, the next day was when we were suppose to catch the boat from Valencia to Ibiza (a Balearic island off of Spain). Elliott had looked online and it said they leave at 12:30 and 4:30 daily. So, we decided to walk around Valencia for a while and to catch the 4:30 boat. Now, keep in mind that I just said we were "suppose" to catch the boat that day. However, when we arrived at the port we learned that the boat had changed it schedule due to Las Fallas and the only boat for the day had left at 2. Cool that they decided not to put that on their website! So, anyway, we had to pay to stay another night in Valencia plus call the hotel in Ibiza letting them know we weren´t going to arrive that night, but still had to pay for it, cool!
So, the next leg of this journey started when we finally got on the boat to go to Ibiza. It is about a three hour boat ride in which the boat decided to rock like no other the entire time. It was rocking so badly that at one point I actually went into the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up (Luis and Andres actually did). Anyhow, Ibiza was not that exciting. The weather was pretty bad. Chilling and it rained one day. Plus, apparently it´s the off season so a lot of things were closed. So, there´s not really much to say about Ibiza except for the headache it caused trying to get off of it. So, we wanted to arrive to Ibiza on Thursday, but because of the boat we didn´t arrive until Friday. However, when we bought the boat tickets the company informed us that the only boat returning on Sunday was full and that we would have to wait until Monday at 4 pm. Alright, not perfect, but still manageable because we didn´t have class on Monday. So, Monday rolls around and Elliott gets a call from the boat company saying that the boat would be delayed due to bad weather and would leave at midnight instead of 4. However, that was a ridiculous claim because Monday´s weather was the nicest day we had had the entire time there. Plus, other companies were leaving all day long. But, whatever! So, we killed time and returned to the port around 10:30 that night only to have them tell us that the boat wasn´t going to leave at midnight, but they will be sure to let us know by midnight when it´s going to leave. Cool, thanks for your help. Anywho, the boat didn´t end up leaving until 3 am Tuesday morning. So we arrived to Valencia around 7 in the morning and from there still had to get to Madrid. The boat station and the bus station were about an hour apart so we missed the 8 am bus to Madrid and had wait for the 9 am. So, we took the four hour bus ride back to Madrid and then the 30-40 minute train ride back to Alcala where we rolled in around 2:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, and missed class. The most ironic part about the entire thing was the fact that we had planned to come back on Sunday (a day before the end of vacation) in order to rest/do homework all day Monday. But, we are the group (out of everyone from all the schools) that ends up getting back last when we had planned on getting back first. We had been delayed not a day, no two days! How that happens, I don´t know.
But, overall, Spring Break was really enjoyable and I had a lot of fun. In my next post I will talk about Cordoba and Granada, but I am getting tired of writing now!
Besos
P.S. Paris this weekend!
Sean, David, Stephanie and I all went to Dublin for St. Patrick´s Day. We left the Thursday beforehand and actually returned on Monday (St. Patty´s Day) cause the flights were way cheaper, obvi! So, anyway, we arrive on Thursday night at the airport in Dublin and of course have no idea how to get to our hotel so we end up taking a taxi ride that was not cheap mind you, but fortunately between the four of us it wasn´t that bad. So, we arrive at the hotel and go to our rooms and are instantly blown away. Now the funny thing was that it was a normal, nice hotel, but we are all so used to hostels that this was like luxury to us! The best thing was that they actually provided towels in the bathroom, something which hostels do not and we learned the hard way in Italy. But, anywho, enough about the hotel. The first day in Dublin we took one of those city bus tour companies to view the sights a little. On the first day we went to both the Guinness House and the Jameson Factory. Haha, obviously that was the boys´choice. The following day was miserable because it was freezing and decided to rain the entire day so everyone´s shoes and pants were soaked. So, we decided to go see a movie (10,000 BC). It was a ridiculous movie. Granted, I slept through most of it, but still. The next day we took a bus tour of the north of Ireland which is so pretty. Our bus driver/tour guide was absolutely hilarious. The best, dry humor and I was literally cracking up the whole time. That night was the night turning into St. Patrick´s Day so we decided to go out. While in the center of the city Stephanie and I both saw horse drawn carriages and really wanted to ride one. At first the boys were hesitate, but they finally agreed and we took a carriage ride which was so much fun! The next morning we left for the airport. Now, it wouldn´t be a trip if something didn´t go wrong. While waiting for the bus to the airport, after a 40 minute ride on the tram, Sean realized that we had forgot our passports in the hotel. So, Sean and I had to run to find a taxi to take us back to the hotel and from there to the airport all before the check-in closed. We ended up making it back to the airport in time, but not before paying 70 € for the taxi!
So, the next part of this trip was to Valencia to see Las Fallas. This to me was really cool because this was the festival we learned about the first summer at Middlebury. So, it was a really neat/surreal experience to see Las Fallas in actuality. To get to Valencia we travelled by bus. Sean, Andres (his friend from Mexico studying in Salamanca), and I travelled on one bus. Stephanie and David left later in the day on a different bus, Luis (another friend of Sean´s from Mexico studying in Paris) meet up with us later that night as well, and Elliott was already in Valencia for the week. Anyway, Sean, Andres, and I arrive first and get to the hostel to check-in only to have them tell us that Sean and booked it for the wrong day. We arrived on the 19th and no he didn´t book it for like the 18th or anything like that. He booked it for the 5th of March! Why? We still can´t figure it out. So needless to say we walked around the city for a good hour looking for some place to stay. As a benefit, however, we ended up seeing a lot of the ninots (the name for the individual float thingys). However, rooming wise everything was booked and I mean everything, hostels and hotels. Fortunately, Gigi (Elliott´s roommate) had a hostel with her friends that was already paid for that night. Her friends had left that day for Barcelona so we ended talking to the hostel and were able to stay the night in their room.
Anyway, the next day was when we were suppose to catch the boat from Valencia to Ibiza (a Balearic island off of Spain). Elliott had looked online and it said they leave at 12:30 and 4:30 daily. So, we decided to walk around Valencia for a while and to catch the 4:30 boat. Now, keep in mind that I just said we were "suppose" to catch the boat that day. However, when we arrived at the port we learned that the boat had changed it schedule due to Las Fallas and the only boat for the day had left at 2. Cool that they decided not to put that on their website! So, anyway, we had to pay to stay another night in Valencia plus call the hotel in Ibiza letting them know we weren´t going to arrive that night, but still had to pay for it, cool!
So, the next leg of this journey started when we finally got on the boat to go to Ibiza. It is about a three hour boat ride in which the boat decided to rock like no other the entire time. It was rocking so badly that at one point I actually went into the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up (Luis and Andres actually did). Anyhow, Ibiza was not that exciting. The weather was pretty bad. Chilling and it rained one day. Plus, apparently it´s the off season so a lot of things were closed. So, there´s not really much to say about Ibiza except for the headache it caused trying to get off of it. So, we wanted to arrive to Ibiza on Thursday, but because of the boat we didn´t arrive until Friday. However, when we bought the boat tickets the company informed us that the only boat returning on Sunday was full and that we would have to wait until Monday at 4 pm. Alright, not perfect, but still manageable because we didn´t have class on Monday. So, Monday rolls around and Elliott gets a call from the boat company saying that the boat would be delayed due to bad weather and would leave at midnight instead of 4. However, that was a ridiculous claim because Monday´s weather was the nicest day we had had the entire time there. Plus, other companies were leaving all day long. But, whatever! So, we killed time and returned to the port around 10:30 that night only to have them tell us that the boat wasn´t going to leave at midnight, but they will be sure to let us know by midnight when it´s going to leave. Cool, thanks for your help. Anywho, the boat didn´t end up leaving until 3 am Tuesday morning. So we arrived to Valencia around 7 in the morning and from there still had to get to Madrid. The boat station and the bus station were about an hour apart so we missed the 8 am bus to Madrid and had wait for the 9 am. So, we took the four hour bus ride back to Madrid and then the 30-40 minute train ride back to Alcala where we rolled in around 2:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, and missed class. The most ironic part about the entire thing was the fact that we had planned to come back on Sunday (a day before the end of vacation) in order to rest/do homework all day Monday. But, we are the group (out of everyone from all the schools) that ends up getting back last when we had planned on getting back first. We had been delayed not a day, no two days! How that happens, I don´t know.
But, overall, Spring Break was really enjoyable and I had a lot of fun. In my next post I will talk about Cordoba and Granada, but I am getting tired of writing now!
Besos
P.S. Paris this weekend!
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