Okay, so when I first planned on writing this entry.. I was going to talk about how I almost got mugged walking through Barri Gotic with Molly one Saturday night. What happened was I broke my own rule. Normally when walking at night, you only talk look or face people that you know. That’s my rule. It keeps me safe. I then broke it.
We walked past two guys who I thought were drunk, in an effort to leave us alone I turned to say something to them and one guy grabbed my hand and started to dance with me while another one got between Molly and I and got on the other side. When someone is holding your thumb… there’s really not too much that you can do. Luckily I can still function with my left hand, and I must say, the carnies at the Ulster County Fair had better watch out because I got some good Whack-a-Mole practice. They went for one pocket I whacked their hand away, they went for another, the same thing until finally they realized that I was onto their game and they gave up.
The next time that something of the sort happened it wasn’t nearly as funny.
A few nights later Becky had her purse stolen while we were in a club, it was awful. She lost her T-Jove (104 euro metro card), digital camera, house keys, ISIC card and a couple other things.. Luckily she didn’t have credit cards or anything, but still, to realize the shock of the matter that someone just stole something from you is ridiculous. The skill here is crazy but definitely applied all wrong.
Two nights later we all went out for her 21st birthday. On the way there our friend Louise told us a story from a few days earlier that went something like this..
I was walking to class in the pouring rain when a man with a map said “perdon.” I tried to be the Good Samaritan by going over, thinking that he needed directions, but when I got there I realized that he had a gun behind the map. I told him that I didn’t have any money on me, which was true. So he said to me (in Spanish) “Just the umbrella.” So I went back home to get a new umbrella and told my host mom what happened, and her only response was, “You’ll get used to it, ‘No pasa nada’ (Don’t worry about it)”
THAT is why I could never live here. Not because it isn’t a beautiful city, or because I don’t like the language. I just couldn’t live somewhere so dangerous
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Giro d'Italia Trip
5/15/2007
14:00 Arrive in Rome
15:30 Train to Salerno
18:30 Arrive in Salerno
20:00 Check into Koine Hostel
5/16/2007
6:00 Wake up to watch the Start
8:00 Bus to Pompeii
8:15 Arrive in Pompeii
10:30 Watch Peloton roll through Town
12:00- 16:00 Visit Pompeii
18:00 Train to Rome
21:00 Check into Hostel in Rome
5/17/2007
9:00 Bus to Frascati
10:00 Arrive in Frascati
11:00 Get Spot at Finish Line
11:00- 13:00 Get Free Schwag
13:00 Watch Finish
16:00 Bus back to Rome
18:30 Train to Spoleto
20:15 Arrive in Spoleto
21:00 Check into…
5/18/2007
9:00 Tour Spoleto
11:30 Arrive at Finish
11:30- 13:00 Get free Schwag
14:00 Watch Finish
22:00 Second night…
5/19/2007
7:00 Watch Start
8:30 Train to Rome
10:15 Arrive in Rome
10:30- 12:30 Walk around Rome
13:00 Go to Airport
14:50 Fly back to Barcelona
Monday, February 12, 2007
What were we thinking...
I really am enjoying myself here. Seriously.
Just wanted to take care of that before I went any further.
As a quick catch up, nothing all that exciting happened the end of last week except for two things, and they were both Friday. I got word that my European Union course would be accepted for Social Sciences core at Etown, which makes the whole graduation thing a little easier. On the same note, I think that I am also going to be able to walk away from Etown with a Poli Sci minor which definitely can’t hurt. I just need to take two more courses while I’m at Etown. Good Deal. Aside from that, the only thing that really happened otherwise was my language test. Everyone was freaking out about it, but I honestly think that I was ready to take it four years ago while I was in high school, it was a lot of indicative/ subjunctive work.. so the two years of that in Sr’s class definitely helped. I think that I did pretty well on the test as a whole, I forgot a few colloquial phrases that they wanted us to use on the test so I don’t think that I aced it, but I did just fine.
Today. Today was probably the most eventful day since I’ve been back from Andalucia, which I suppose has only been a week..
I woke up bright and early and went for a jog with Becky. You know, nothing major.. just Mitja Marató. For those of you that don’t speak Catalá, that is a half marathon. Apparently the government of the Province of Barcelona has it every year. Probably one of the worst ideas of my life. Especially when you consider that before this morning, the last time that I ran was literally last May for the Zoom for Zip. 5k 9 months ago isn’t really all that much training. The first 10k went by pretty easily. Then it hit me. I suddenly had to go to the bathroom so bad. I had to stop, and when I got back going again, I was being chased by the busses and ambulances that flanked the race group. And on top of that, my legs cramped up and my stomach decided to be upset.. can’t say that I blame it. Becky ran/ walked with me for the last 10k but it wasn’t nearly as fun/ easy as the first 10. We were on pace for the 2 hour mark when we hit the midway point. We finished in 2:43.
May I remind you though that I said, “We finished.” That’s all that ever counted to me anyway. What more did I expect from these flabby legs of mine.
I’m proud of the marathon, and I’ll try to draw out the race course on a map so that you can see what it looks like on a map. Next time I’m running 21k. OR next time, I’m just going to say, nah I’ve already tried that, I’m going to stay with the bike.
Word of the Day: dolor- pain
I don’t think that there is any question about that one.
Just wanted to take care of that before I went any further.
As a quick catch up, nothing all that exciting happened the end of last week except for two things, and they were both Friday. I got word that my European Union course would be accepted for Social Sciences core at Etown, which makes the whole graduation thing a little easier. On the same note, I think that I am also going to be able to walk away from Etown with a Poli Sci minor which definitely can’t hurt. I just need to take two more courses while I’m at Etown. Good Deal. Aside from that, the only thing that really happened otherwise was my language test. Everyone was freaking out about it, but I honestly think that I was ready to take it four years ago while I was in high school, it was a lot of indicative/ subjunctive work.. so the two years of that in Sr’s class definitely helped. I think that I did pretty well on the test as a whole, I forgot a few colloquial phrases that they wanted us to use on the test so I don’t think that I aced it, but I did just fine.
Today. Today was probably the most eventful day since I’ve been back from Andalucia, which I suppose has only been a week..
I woke up bright and early and went for a jog with Becky. You know, nothing major.. just Mitja Marató. For those of you that don’t speak Catalá, that is a half marathon. Apparently the government of the Province of Barcelona has it every year. Probably one of the worst ideas of my life. Especially when you consider that before this morning, the last time that I ran was literally last May for the Zoom for Zip. 5k 9 months ago isn’t really all that much training. The first 10k went by pretty easily. Then it hit me. I suddenly had to go to the bathroom so bad. I had to stop, and when I got back going again, I was being chased by the busses and ambulances that flanked the race group. And on top of that, my legs cramped up and my stomach decided to be upset.. can’t say that I blame it. Becky ran/ walked with me for the last 10k but it wasn’t nearly as fun/ easy as the first 10. We were on pace for the 2 hour mark when we hit the midway point. We finished in 2:43.
May I remind you though that I said, “We finished.” That’s all that ever counted to me anyway. What more did I expect from these flabby legs of mine.
I’m proud of the marathon, and I’ll try to draw out the race course on a map so that you can see what it looks like on a map. Next time I’m running 21k. OR next time, I’m just going to say, nah I’ve already tried that, I’m going to stay with the bike.
Word of the Day: dolor- pain
I don’t think that there is any question about that one.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Feb 7
I realized today on my way back to the apartment that my entries of late have not nearly been what I had originally planned when I thought about making a blog about my time here. I’m not going to say that it is going to change dramatically, because I’m sure it is of great help to some of you to be able to hear what I am doing on a daily basis. What I am saying is that I really am going to make more of a conscious effort to talk more about what its like to be here, not what I’m doing here.
After realizing that.. I tried to think what it is like to be here.
And I still really don’t know.
I really enjoy the city, and I like the people that I’m here with.
My Spanish is improving each day, though I still consider myself best right out of high school.
But still I don’t see myself fitting in with the city.
I’m doing well enough blending in, but as far as being part of it goes.. well I haven’t even dipped my toe in to test the water.
Sunday Becky and I are running a half marathon through the city. I’ve never in my life run more than 6 or 7 miles and if I have it was during Soccer or XC seasons in high school and those times are a long ways off.
I entered the race not for aspirations of finishing in record time or of even running well. It really has nothing to do with the physical aspects of the event itself. Basically, this Sunday I’m going on a tour of the city with 12000 other people- and it is going to hurt.
I’ve conceded that I may need to walk or maybe even stop a few times. But for 16 Euro I can’t see a better way to spend a Sunday morning.
We’ll see how I feel about the city and my being a part of it come Sunday night.
And we’ll see how my muscles feel about being attached to the brain that thought up this idea come Monday morning.
I really don’t belong here.
Studying in Barcelona is something that you do. I’ve enjoyed my time here and could see myself returning in the future for a family vacation or something of the sort, but never again will I stay here so long. I don’t know the reason that I say that really. I can’t decide if that’s the truth for Barcelona or if it just how I feel about living in a city in general.
On our trip to Andalucía people would say how beautiful a city or a cathedral was.
I could only say “Eh”
Partly, that is my style of humor I suppose. But otherwise, I think I truly did believe it. The sights that we saw were incredible especially when you consider that most of which were built without the help of machines or electricity.
But there was always something missing.
To the shock of people hearing me say that the city was “Eh” my only response could ever be, “it could use a few more trees.”
The happiest that I have been since arriving in Barcelona was on two separate occasions:
A) Our excursion to Tibidabo. At that point I’d been in Spain for about a week and a half and hadn’t really had too much exposure to people other than those that I had known prior to the trip. Nor did I have any real air in my lungs, nor had I yet lacked air in my lungs. I missed that burn in the throat- not the one from the smoke that prevails over the oxygen everywhere in the city- but of a beating heart and screaming muscles. Of exercise and nature.
B) The second was the Super Bowl, the most American of all activities that could occur this far from the States. Sitting in the Hard Rock Café, with wings friends and a couple hundred other Americans.
The problem is that that high only lasts a few hours after the actual event.
I need something more.
I would do anything for a bike, for a car, for a cabin, for a …you name it.
I want to look out my front window and see mountains full of Evergreens not streets dotted with Palms.
Freshman year of college, I already considered Etown my home by this point. I probably know more people here, so I am not going to blame it on a language or social barrier. I just don’t think this is where I am.
I’m not here. I won’t be back soon.
I plan on leaving the city sometime Friday or Saturday. I saw on a map that there’s a velodrome just on the city’s edge and that sounds damn good to me.
The truth is that I have been so indifferent to everything my entire life that I didn’t think that anything could ever throw me. But here I am mid-air.
The advice my Uncle Kevin gave me the night before I came to Spain was:
“You just need to remember one thing; you’re and American and we’re the best. So long as you remember that you’ll be okay”
Not that this has anything to do with being American or not, but I really just like it there.
Word of the Day: contento- happy
Just so you guys know, as pessimistic as that entry sounds, I am having fun here. And sorry for all of you, but I’m not coming home early.. Like Sr. said about Granada it just wasn’t “his” Well, Barcelona isn’t mio. But I can deal with that.
After realizing that.. I tried to think what it is like to be here.
And I still really don’t know.
I really enjoy the city, and I like the people that I’m here with.
My Spanish is improving each day, though I still consider myself best right out of high school.
But still I don’t see myself fitting in with the city.
I’m doing well enough blending in, but as far as being part of it goes.. well I haven’t even dipped my toe in to test the water.
Sunday Becky and I are running a half marathon through the city. I’ve never in my life run more than 6 or 7 miles and if I have it was during Soccer or XC seasons in high school and those times are a long ways off.
I entered the race not for aspirations of finishing in record time or of even running well. It really has nothing to do with the physical aspects of the event itself. Basically, this Sunday I’m going on a tour of the city with 12000 other people- and it is going to hurt.
I’ve conceded that I may need to walk or maybe even stop a few times. But for 16 Euro I can’t see a better way to spend a Sunday morning.
We’ll see how I feel about the city and my being a part of it come Sunday night.
And we’ll see how my muscles feel about being attached to the brain that thought up this idea come Monday morning.
I really don’t belong here.
Studying in Barcelona is something that you do. I’ve enjoyed my time here and could see myself returning in the future for a family vacation or something of the sort, but never again will I stay here so long. I don’t know the reason that I say that really. I can’t decide if that’s the truth for Barcelona or if it just how I feel about living in a city in general.
On our trip to Andalucía people would say how beautiful a city or a cathedral was.
I could only say “Eh”
Partly, that is my style of humor I suppose. But otherwise, I think I truly did believe it. The sights that we saw were incredible especially when you consider that most of which were built without the help of machines or electricity.
But there was always something missing.
To the shock of people hearing me say that the city was “Eh” my only response could ever be, “it could use a few more trees.”
The happiest that I have been since arriving in Barcelona was on two separate occasions:
A) Our excursion to Tibidabo. At that point I’d been in Spain for about a week and a half and hadn’t really had too much exposure to people other than those that I had known prior to the trip. Nor did I have any real air in my lungs, nor had I yet lacked air in my lungs. I missed that burn in the throat- not the one from the smoke that prevails over the oxygen everywhere in the city- but of a beating heart and screaming muscles. Of exercise and nature.
B) The second was the Super Bowl, the most American of all activities that could occur this far from the States. Sitting in the Hard Rock Café, with wings friends and a couple hundred other Americans.
The problem is that that high only lasts a few hours after the actual event.
I need something more.
I would do anything for a bike, for a car, for a cabin, for a …you name it.
I want to look out my front window and see mountains full of Evergreens not streets dotted with Palms.
Freshman year of college, I already considered Etown my home by this point. I probably know more people here, so I am not going to blame it on a language or social barrier. I just don’t think this is where I am.
I’m not here. I won’t be back soon.
I plan on leaving the city sometime Friday or Saturday. I saw on a map that there’s a velodrome just on the city’s edge and that sounds damn good to me.
The truth is that I have been so indifferent to everything my entire life that I didn’t think that anything could ever throw me. But here I am mid-air.
The advice my Uncle Kevin gave me the night before I came to Spain was:
“You just need to remember one thing; you’re and American and we’re the best. So long as you remember that you’ll be okay”
Not that this has anything to do with being American or not, but I really just like it there.
Word of the Day: contento- happy
Just so you guys know, as pessimistic as that entry sounds, I am having fun here. And sorry for all of you, but I’m not coming home early.. Like Sr. said about Granada it just wasn’t “his” Well, Barcelona isn’t mio. But I can deal with that.
Feb 6
Today was pretty uneventful really. I stayed in bed until 12 hoping that when I really did got up I would feel all right. All in all I didn’t feel too poorly though, and I could talk, it was still pretty raspy, but I could talk.
I had my second Don Quijote class and we learned about the life of Cervantes and I think that its interesting enough for a quick summary, mind you I learned all of this in Spanish:
He traveled around his whole life as a kid because his dad always gambled away more than all of their money
He studied philosophy with Lopéz de Hoyos who was later exiled for being associated with Erasmus
He was a secretary to a 29 yr. old Cardinal whose dad bought him the position
Joined the Navy
Got Sick
Begged to Fight anyway
Was shot in the arm and lost use of it
Given a letter from the highest general of the Army as recommendation to the King and Queen to give him a good job in Madrid
Captured by Pirates on the way to Spain from Italy
Pirates find letter
Pirates think that he’s important because of letter
Pirates take him hostage for five years along with his brother
Parents pay ransom for brother, can’t afford both
Finally some monks pay it
All before he was 35
There’s more that makes his life worse and worse, but its not quite as exciting as that.
Becky and I wandered around the city tonight trying to find the restaurant that her friend’s parents own but it took us a looong time because her other friend who gave us directions definitely told us the wrong streets to go to.
It was ridiculous, but cool to finally meet some people who really live here. Unfortunately all of her friends would rather speak English with us than stoop to speak Castellano.
You don’t realize until you’re here how much Cataluña really could be its own country and how much the people here want it to be so.
Word of the Day: resfriado- cold, as in my nose is stuffed and I can hardly talk, not brr
I had my second Don Quijote class and we learned about the life of Cervantes and I think that its interesting enough for a quick summary, mind you I learned all of this in Spanish:
He traveled around his whole life as a kid because his dad always gambled away more than all of their money
He studied philosophy with Lopéz de Hoyos who was later exiled for being associated with Erasmus
He was a secretary to a 29 yr. old Cardinal whose dad bought him the position
Joined the Navy
Got Sick
Begged to Fight anyway
Was shot in the arm and lost use of it
Given a letter from the highest general of the Army as recommendation to the King and Queen to give him a good job in Madrid
Captured by Pirates on the way to Spain from Italy
Pirates find letter
Pirates think that he’s important because of letter
Pirates take him hostage for five years along with his brother
Parents pay ransom for brother, can’t afford both
Finally some monks pay it
All before he was 35
There’s more that makes his life worse and worse, but its not quite as exciting as that.
Becky and I wandered around the city tonight trying to find the restaurant that her friend’s parents own but it took us a looong time because her other friend who gave us directions definitely told us the wrong streets to go to.
It was ridiculous, but cool to finally meet some people who really live here. Unfortunately all of her friends would rather speak English with us than stoop to speak Castellano.
You don’t realize until you’re here how much Cataluña really could be its own country and how much the people here want it to be so.
Word of the Day: resfriado- cold, as in my nose is stuffed and I can hardly talk, not brr
Feb 5
I don’t know that staying out all night was a great idea because I was definitely working on a pretty good cold before hand, but now I can hardly talk.
Today was the first day of classes and they seem like they are going to be pretty good. The professors here kind of make me wish that I had gone to a big university at home, because then they could afford these kinds of profs. Not to say that profs at Etown are bad, but when the guy teaching my Globalization course is a former European Committee minister, its just a little hard to be better than that.
The professor for my EU class has three goals for us, and I think that we can all agree to them.
Number 1: Travel
Number 2: Improve our Spanish
Lastly Number 3: Learn something
That’s not to say he isn’t going to teach us, because he definitely is an amazing professor, he just knows that there’s no better way to learn the EU than to travel in it.
What really made my day though was a little change in itinerary. A few weeks ago I scheduled a flight to Amsterdam with Molly and her boyfriend Michael and the next day found out that I had my Language final. Well that weekend was supposed to be this Friday, Molly is still going and making up the final in April, but I changed my flight for a 30 euro fee. That sounds a little extreme, but they absolutely will not change test dates for us, the date that Molly is taking hers is a make-up day for anyone who does not do well on the Art or Language finals. So instead, I’m going to Rome and it only cost me 60 Euro more, 30 in fees and 30 in the difference of the flight.
That’s not nearly the good part.
When I get to Italy I have some time to explore Rome but then I’m hopping a train to Salerno- a small city I’ve heard of a few times before in my life with no one I know and in a country where I don’t speak the language. Alone.
But not really alone, because there are also going to be 175 cyclists there preparing for the 4th stage of the Giro d’Italia the next morning. And for the next three days after that I will be doing the same, traveling town to town watching cyclists like Basso, Ulrich and Perez tear up hills that I would consider mountains and grind up mountains I would consider impassable. Then a few days later I’ll be off to the USA. That should be good enough inspiration to get on the bike for the rest of the summer.
I promise to have more pictures of Barcelona than of men in spandex. Te prometo.
Word of the Day: Ciclismo- no OLN not the Cyclism- simply cycling
If there was one thing that could have lifted my spirits on a day when I was so sick and tired it was realizing that I was going to get to see one of the greatest bike races in the world.
Today was the first day of classes and they seem like they are going to be pretty good. The professors here kind of make me wish that I had gone to a big university at home, because then they could afford these kinds of profs. Not to say that profs at Etown are bad, but when the guy teaching my Globalization course is a former European Committee minister, its just a little hard to be better than that.
The professor for my EU class has three goals for us, and I think that we can all agree to them.
Number 1: Travel
Number 2: Improve our Spanish
Lastly Number 3: Learn something
That’s not to say he isn’t going to teach us, because he definitely is an amazing professor, he just knows that there’s no better way to learn the EU than to travel in it.
What really made my day though was a little change in itinerary. A few weeks ago I scheduled a flight to Amsterdam with Molly and her boyfriend Michael and the next day found out that I had my Language final. Well that weekend was supposed to be this Friday, Molly is still going and making up the final in April, but I changed my flight for a 30 euro fee. That sounds a little extreme, but they absolutely will not change test dates for us, the date that Molly is taking hers is a make-up day for anyone who does not do well on the Art or Language finals. So instead, I’m going to Rome and it only cost me 60 Euro more, 30 in fees and 30 in the difference of the flight.
That’s not nearly the good part.
When I get to Italy I have some time to explore Rome but then I’m hopping a train to Salerno- a small city I’ve heard of a few times before in my life with no one I know and in a country where I don’t speak the language. Alone.
But not really alone, because there are also going to be 175 cyclists there preparing for the 4th stage of the Giro d’Italia the next morning. And for the next three days after that I will be doing the same, traveling town to town watching cyclists like Basso, Ulrich and Perez tear up hills that I would consider mountains and grind up mountains I would consider impassable. Then a few days later I’ll be off to the USA. That should be good enough inspiration to get on the bike for the rest of the summer.
I promise to have more pictures of Barcelona than of men in spandex. Te prometo.
Word of the Day: Ciclismo- no OLN not the Cyclism- simply cycling
If there was one thing that could have lifted my spirits on a day when I was so sick and tired it was realizing that I was going to get to see one of the greatest bike races in the world.
Feb 4
I guess that this is home…
Even still it is weird to be back. I stayed in bed late, I think part of me just refused to eat bread for breakfast after the 4 star treatment for the past week. In the afternoon after comida I met Molly to walk down to the internet café but half way there Sarah called and said that it was closed. We met up with her Dave Liesel Aubrey and Louise and searched for internet that we could get for free but with no luck. So Dave Liesel and Sarah went back to his house to use his internet and Molly and I walked around the city for a while. The other two just sort of disappeared, I think that they were going to go pay for it. Molly and I ended up sitting on a park bench for an hour or so on Gran Via just talking, until I relized that we were sitting right in front of a hotel. I got out my computer turned it on and sure enough, free internet, a place to sit, and only a few blocks from the university.
I got to check my mail and talk to Kait online but other than that wasn’t able to do too much before it cut out unexpectedly. Some day when I have a ton of time to be online with nothing to do, I really need to clean out my inbox so it doesn’t fill up over these periods when I can’t check it. I honestly think that regular mail might get to me quicker than email sometimes.
Because Americans are everywhere, we got to go out and watch the Super Bowl at the Hard Rock. The biggest problem being the 13 euro cover, but that did include a drink and a Budweiser cloth napkin which seemed kind of random. It was an awesome game until the Colts started to win then I just got annoyed. The Hard Rock kicked us out as soon as the game ended so I don’t know who got MVP, my guess is Adai, but please let me know. OH, and ANOTHER PROBLEM since we were watching internationally on satellite the feed would could out for a few seconds every once in a while but worse yet, no commercials. That’s a huge part of the experience. Oh well..
The game didn’t end until 4 and by the time that I made sure that people taking the NitBus got on all right and I started to walk home it was almost 5. So, Becky and I decided to stay out all night since we had class in just a few hours. It was kind of cool and we got to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean. But the best part was that because I was walking with someone else, the Hookers didn’t hit on me in Las Ramblas! Maybe it was her hooker boots, they thought that I was already taken…
Word of the Day: madrugada- dawn
Even still it is weird to be back. I stayed in bed late, I think part of me just refused to eat bread for breakfast after the 4 star treatment for the past week. In the afternoon after comida I met Molly to walk down to the internet café but half way there Sarah called and said that it was closed. We met up with her Dave Liesel Aubrey and Louise and searched for internet that we could get for free but with no luck. So Dave Liesel and Sarah went back to his house to use his internet and Molly and I walked around the city for a while. The other two just sort of disappeared, I think that they were going to go pay for it. Molly and I ended up sitting on a park bench for an hour or so on Gran Via just talking, until I relized that we were sitting right in front of a hotel. I got out my computer turned it on and sure enough, free internet, a place to sit, and only a few blocks from the university.
I got to check my mail and talk to Kait online but other than that wasn’t able to do too much before it cut out unexpectedly. Some day when I have a ton of time to be online with nothing to do, I really need to clean out my inbox so it doesn’t fill up over these periods when I can’t check it. I honestly think that regular mail might get to me quicker than email sometimes.
Because Americans are everywhere, we got to go out and watch the Super Bowl at the Hard Rock. The biggest problem being the 13 euro cover, but that did include a drink and a Budweiser cloth napkin which seemed kind of random. It was an awesome game until the Colts started to win then I just got annoyed. The Hard Rock kicked us out as soon as the game ended so I don’t know who got MVP, my guess is Adai, but please let me know. OH, and ANOTHER PROBLEM since we were watching internationally on satellite the feed would could out for a few seconds every once in a while but worse yet, no commercials. That’s a huge part of the experience. Oh well..
The game didn’t end until 4 and by the time that I made sure that people taking the NitBus got on all right and I started to walk home it was almost 5. So, Becky and I decided to stay out all night since we had class in just a few hours. It was kind of cool and we got to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean. But the best part was that because I was walking with someone else, the Hookers didn’t hit on me in Las Ramblas! Maybe it was her hooker boots, they thought that I was already taken…
Word of the Day: madrugada- dawn
Feb 3
We got to Córdoba in under two hours, definitely a welcomed surprise to those of us who had not looked at the schedule to see that it would be so short. As we were wandering through the new part of the city on the bus, Maika told us that we would have to walk a little ways to the Hotel because it would not be able to pass through the streets of the old city. She also told us that from the hotel we would practically be able to touch La Mezquita, which was about what she had told us about the Alhambra but the bus still got lost between the two of those so who really knew…
When we got to the hotel we realized that she was definitely telling the truth. The Mezquita was its own block in the city and we were just across the street. From our hotel room Brent and I were staring right at the wall of it. Not much of a view, until you consider the fact that it has been there for over a thousand years.
A lot of us all went out to dinner that night and it was really nice, we sat at a restaurant outside in the center of a really nice Plaza and had a really good meal with the best waiter ever. It was a little cold but otherwise everything about it was perfect. We wandered back to the hotel and through the city a little after dinner which ended up being kind of expensive. Before we made it to the Hotel we stopped at a little bar we found which was really cool. Dave, Becky and Sarah all each got a Heineken but I just sat there and stared at the mounted bull heads on the walls along with a ton of pictures of bullfights and Matadors, one of whom I think may have owned the bar.
The Mezquita is a huge Arabic mosque at one end and a patio at the other surrounded by a huge wall. The sad thing is, that like the one in Sevilla, this had been converted to a Cathedral. The bishop of Córdoba actually tried to stop the conversion because it was so amazing in its original state, but the king just signed the order without giving it a second thought, which he later regretted upon seeing the part that wasn’t destroyed. The inside was incredible, even with the random church in the middle. There were over 1200 columns supporting the red and white arches throughout the Mezquita, which is Spanish for Mosque. Also, in some places they intertwined different styles of arches to make some incredible architecture.. unfortunately my pictures of that were really blurry.. that’s what you get in a really dark building..
After a short stop at a tiny Mudejar Jewish Synagogue, mudejar meaning that it was built by Arabs, the rest of the afternoon was ours. The four of us went with Maika and a couple of others to an old Arab bath that the area was famous for which was basically the biggest waste of a euro ever. It was just a hole in a wall and what basically looked like a small subway tunnel underground. It was nice to see the traditional patio though. We wandered around the city a while after that until we were all starving. Luckily enough we all found an decided on a Chinese restaurant which had a three course meal dessert and a drink for 5,50 which was absolutely awesome. After that we went back to the hotel and relaxed so that we could all go out to an Egyptian club that we found online. When we came back after dinner we decided that it was really just too rainy to go out, especially with as far away as the club was.
So that was all we would see of Córdoba.
I did however forget to mention that the first thing that we did in Córdoba Friday morning was go to where the Hotel had planned an addition. Unfortunately for them, the Arabic baths buried there were incredible and they just couldn’t build over them. Well maybe they could because we just had to walk down the stairs from our rooms to see them, but they had to remove them all first number them and put them back in the right spot. So when Maika said that we could touch the Mezquita from our hotel, she really meant that we could be in both. Crazy.
Saturday was another day which consisted entirely of driving, and nothing more. 9am to 10 pm door to door. It was kind of sad to think that we weren’t going to get to hang out with everyone all day anymore and that were going back to bad showers and bread for breakfast..
Word of the Day(s): Pollo Agridulce- Sweet and Sour Chicken
When we got to the hotel we realized that she was definitely telling the truth. The Mezquita was its own block in the city and we were just across the street. From our hotel room Brent and I were staring right at the wall of it. Not much of a view, until you consider the fact that it has been there for over a thousand years.
A lot of us all went out to dinner that night and it was really nice, we sat at a restaurant outside in the center of a really nice Plaza and had a really good meal with the best waiter ever. It was a little cold but otherwise everything about it was perfect. We wandered back to the hotel and through the city a little after dinner which ended up being kind of expensive. Before we made it to the Hotel we stopped at a little bar we found which was really cool. Dave, Becky and Sarah all each got a Heineken but I just sat there and stared at the mounted bull heads on the walls along with a ton of pictures of bullfights and Matadors, one of whom I think may have owned the bar.
The Mezquita is a huge Arabic mosque at one end and a patio at the other surrounded by a huge wall. The sad thing is, that like the one in Sevilla, this had been converted to a Cathedral. The bishop of Córdoba actually tried to stop the conversion because it was so amazing in its original state, but the king just signed the order without giving it a second thought, which he later regretted upon seeing the part that wasn’t destroyed. The inside was incredible, even with the random church in the middle. There were over 1200 columns supporting the red and white arches throughout the Mezquita, which is Spanish for Mosque. Also, in some places they intertwined different styles of arches to make some incredible architecture.. unfortunately my pictures of that were really blurry.. that’s what you get in a really dark building..
After a short stop at a tiny Mudejar Jewish Synagogue, mudejar meaning that it was built by Arabs, the rest of the afternoon was ours. The four of us went with Maika and a couple of others to an old Arab bath that the area was famous for which was basically the biggest waste of a euro ever. It was just a hole in a wall and what basically looked like a small subway tunnel underground. It was nice to see the traditional patio though. We wandered around the city a while after that until we were all starving. Luckily enough we all found an decided on a Chinese restaurant which had a three course meal dessert and a drink for 5,50 which was absolutely awesome. After that we went back to the hotel and relaxed so that we could all go out to an Egyptian club that we found online. When we came back after dinner we decided that it was really just too rainy to go out, especially with as far away as the club was.
So that was all we would see of Córdoba.
I did however forget to mention that the first thing that we did in Córdoba Friday morning was go to where the Hotel had planned an addition. Unfortunately for them, the Arabic baths buried there were incredible and they just couldn’t build over them. Well maybe they could because we just had to walk down the stairs from our rooms to see them, but they had to remove them all first number them and put them back in the right spot. So when Maika said that we could touch the Mezquita from our hotel, she really meant that we could be in both. Crazy.
Saturday was another day which consisted entirely of driving, and nothing more. 9am to 10 pm door to door. It was kind of sad to think that we weren’t going to get to hang out with everyone all day anymore and that were going back to bad showers and bread for breakfast..
Word of the Day(s): Pollo Agridulce- Sweet and Sour Chicken
Feb 1
When we got to Sevilla we… WAIT, it wasn’t that easy.
We got to Sevilla but never really got to our hotel. Tom Tom led us wrong. We turned right up a pretty wide street with cars parked down each side and even through the middle then stopped half way up the block. Apparently the GPS didn’t know that the road was closed due to construction of the new Metro system through Sevilla. Don Juan, our driver, tried a fifteen point turn, but after backing into a brand new Mercedes decided to unload the bus so he could work under a little less pressure. So loaded up with our bags we walked through the city to our hotel which was “only a 100 meters away” but which seemed more like 1 km. After we got our rooms we went right back out for dinner. We ended up at a place called Aladdin which was all Middle Eastern food which made a lot of people happy. Except for Molly.. her food ended up making her extremely sick… it’s hard for her to always be able to find food that she can eat.
The next day we went out of town to visit the old Roman city of Itálica, amphitheatre and all. It was incredible to see such a huge structure built without any aid of power or power tools. Unfortunately in the 1300 years since it was built the third level of seating had fallen/ been removed.. The city itself was incredible too though; it was mostly for upper class Romans because the floors of the houses were all covered with really intricate mosaics. Apparently, all of the roads used to be covered with wood overhead so that you wouldn’t have to walk in the hot sun, rain, or snow. Along with that they built huge thermal baths… for living so long ago they sure had a good life. They even had drainage pipes underground so that the city wouldn’t flood.. just incredible.
After the Itálica we drove back into the Sevilla and went to Real Alcazar. Basically it was a huge palace built by Arabs for the Catholic kings using Arabic art and architecture. What they didn’t know was that they were just writing scripture from the Koran on all of the walls. It was really nice too with some really amazing gardens including a hedge maze and a duck pond. I didn’t actually see the duck pond but Sarah and Molly went to see it and Sarah slipped and fell in duck poop and Molly laughed so hard that she peed herself. I only know because they were both still dying laughing by the time they met back up with us.
The rest of the day we had to ourselves so Sarah, Becky, Molly and I walked around and saw the Torre de Oro and the Plaza de Toros. We hung out a while to watch the sun set over the Guadalquivir, but it wasn’t quite as spectacular as we’d hoped. Who would have guessed that construction equipment would have been in the way… Construction is everywhere!
That night Molly stayed in because she still wasn’t feeling well so just Sarah Bec and I went out. For dinner we went to a little place we saw on the way back from the river.. I had a frozen pizza, that’s as much as we’re going to say about that restaurant. (Apparently the deer that I asked for from the menu wasn’t in season…) After that we went to a bar and watched FC Barcelona get beat by Zaragoza on pay per view. Just a hint, beer for a Euro is gross. From there we went out to a club where we were supposed to meet Aubrey and one of her friends who is studying in Sevilla. We caught a cab and got to the club a little bit before Aubrey. We were standing there waiting for their cab when a limo pulled up and Louise, Taylor, Aubrey and her friend all piled out.. it was really weird but apparently the club has free limo shuttles from various bars in the city.
The girls drank free until 1 but it was 12:45 by the time we got there so they ended up having to pay for the most part. Sarah must have spent all of her money because Becky and I ended up having to force her to stop dancing with all of the old men there and drink some water before we headed home.
The next day we ate breakfast then hung out at the hotel for a little while because the Catedral didn’t open until 11 (Breakfast was still at 8:30 though). The cathedral was really nice though and full of mystery. That’s an art history joke.. sorry. Be happy that you don’t get it. Then we got to go up to the Giralda, which was the Bell tower that over-looked the entire city. We didn’t have to walk up steps though, it was nine floors of ramps instead. Apparently the Arab king who originally built the tower wanted to be able to address the citizens of the city from the tower without being out of breath when he got there, so he made it possible for his horse to take him to the top instead.
After the Cathedral the normal group plus Alice, our Czech friend went to the huge park where I climbed a tree (the kind Sarah wants to live in) and where we saw a huge albino peacock. Just a warning.. don’t eat the oranges on the trees in the park, they our intensely sour and make your tongue go numb. I realized it faster than Molly (she didn’t really understand why I was spitting so much until her tongue really went numb. The five of us ate at a little café for lunch then went to the bus for the short trip to Córdoba.
Just as an example of why I’m glad you don’t have to give tips at restaurants in Spain-
While at the last café I mentioned our waitress was talking to us taking our order, when her phone rang, she answered it and walked away. Incredible. I’ve heard that some people have worse stories though.
Word of the Day(s)- vomitorio- exit (this is what the exits from the amphitheatre were called because people “spewed” out of them [ever wonder where we got the expression?])
We got to Sevilla but never really got to our hotel. Tom Tom led us wrong. We turned right up a pretty wide street with cars parked down each side and even through the middle then stopped half way up the block. Apparently the GPS didn’t know that the road was closed due to construction of the new Metro system through Sevilla. Don Juan, our driver, tried a fifteen point turn, but after backing into a brand new Mercedes decided to unload the bus so he could work under a little less pressure. So loaded up with our bags we walked through the city to our hotel which was “only a 100 meters away” but which seemed more like 1 km. After we got our rooms we went right back out for dinner. We ended up at a place called Aladdin which was all Middle Eastern food which made a lot of people happy. Except for Molly.. her food ended up making her extremely sick… it’s hard for her to always be able to find food that she can eat.
The next day we went out of town to visit the old Roman city of Itálica, amphitheatre and all. It was incredible to see such a huge structure built without any aid of power or power tools. Unfortunately in the 1300 years since it was built the third level of seating had fallen/ been removed.. The city itself was incredible too though; it was mostly for upper class Romans because the floors of the houses were all covered with really intricate mosaics. Apparently, all of the roads used to be covered with wood overhead so that you wouldn’t have to walk in the hot sun, rain, or snow. Along with that they built huge thermal baths… for living so long ago they sure had a good life. They even had drainage pipes underground so that the city wouldn’t flood.. just incredible.
After the Itálica we drove back into the Sevilla and went to Real Alcazar. Basically it was a huge palace built by Arabs for the Catholic kings using Arabic art and architecture. What they didn’t know was that they were just writing scripture from the Koran on all of the walls. It was really nice too with some really amazing gardens including a hedge maze and a duck pond. I didn’t actually see the duck pond but Sarah and Molly went to see it and Sarah slipped and fell in duck poop and Molly laughed so hard that she peed herself. I only know because they were both still dying laughing by the time they met back up with us.
The rest of the day we had to ourselves so Sarah, Becky, Molly and I walked around and saw the Torre de Oro and the Plaza de Toros. We hung out a while to watch the sun set over the Guadalquivir, but it wasn’t quite as spectacular as we’d hoped. Who would have guessed that construction equipment would have been in the way… Construction is everywhere!
That night Molly stayed in because she still wasn’t feeling well so just Sarah Bec and I went out. For dinner we went to a little place we saw on the way back from the river.. I had a frozen pizza, that’s as much as we’re going to say about that restaurant. (Apparently the deer that I asked for from the menu wasn’t in season…) After that we went to a bar and watched FC Barcelona get beat by Zaragoza on pay per view. Just a hint, beer for a Euro is gross. From there we went out to a club where we were supposed to meet Aubrey and one of her friends who is studying in Sevilla. We caught a cab and got to the club a little bit before Aubrey. We were standing there waiting for their cab when a limo pulled up and Louise, Taylor, Aubrey and her friend all piled out.. it was really weird but apparently the club has free limo shuttles from various bars in the city.
The girls drank free until 1 but it was 12:45 by the time we got there so they ended up having to pay for the most part. Sarah must have spent all of her money because Becky and I ended up having to force her to stop dancing with all of the old men there and drink some water before we headed home.
The next day we ate breakfast then hung out at the hotel for a little while because the Catedral didn’t open until 11 (Breakfast was still at 8:30 though). The cathedral was really nice though and full of mystery. That’s an art history joke.. sorry. Be happy that you don’t get it. Then we got to go up to the Giralda, which was the Bell tower that over-looked the entire city. We didn’t have to walk up steps though, it was nine floors of ramps instead. Apparently the Arab king who originally built the tower wanted to be able to address the citizens of the city from the tower without being out of breath when he got there, so he made it possible for his horse to take him to the top instead.
After the Cathedral the normal group plus Alice, our Czech friend went to the huge park where I climbed a tree (the kind Sarah wants to live in) and where we saw a huge albino peacock. Just a warning.. don’t eat the oranges on the trees in the park, they our intensely sour and make your tongue go numb. I realized it faster than Molly (she didn’t really understand why I was spitting so much until her tongue really went numb. The five of us ate at a little café for lunch then went to the bus for the short trip to Córdoba.
Just as an example of why I’m glad you don’t have to give tips at restaurants in Spain-
While at the last café I mentioned our waitress was talking to us taking our order, when her phone rang, she answered it and walked away. Incredible. I’ve heard that some people have worse stories though.
Word of the Day(s)- vomitorio- exit (this is what the exits from the amphitheatre were called because people “spewed” out of them [ever wonder where we got the expression?])
Jan 30
This is going to be a pretty huge entry… since we were always on the move and rarely had internet, I didn’t write any posts for the actual trip.
Please bear with me. I’m going to write and entry for each city of the trip.
The last post was a week ago, when we first arrived in Granada. The next morning we got up and were greeted by the best breakfast that we had seen since arriving in Spain: this one actually had more than bread!!
After breakfast we split off into our individual groups and roamed the city. We were supposed to have gone on a guided tour with Maika, Gustavo and Kristyna but they decided that since so many people were sick and that it was cold and icy, that they wouldn’t make everyone walk around in the cold.
We walked around in short sleeves all day and saw some amazing things. Most incredibly of all was the Mirador de San Nicolas. I’ve got to say a big thank you to Señor because they only reason that we found the Mirador was because I made sure that the first thing that we did in Granada was find la Oficina de Turismo. From the Mirador we were able to see the profile of the Alhambra and it was incredible. It was just too bad it was so overcast.
In the afternoon we actually got to go the Alhambra, by that point though it had turned from overcast to rainy… The Alhambra was beautiful but we all realized right then that this wasn’t a sightseeing tour.. we took more notes than we thought possible and had very little time for pictures or just wandering around. We still got to see the sights but not with the time that we would have liked.
Tuesday we got up for an early start so that we could see just a few more things before we were off for Sevilla. We started off at La Cartuja which was a monastery just outside of town. It was absolutely beautiful even if we did have to sit in freezing cold pews for over an hour taking notes about the building’s architecture. The worst part about it was that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Though some people did, I though it was just a little too disrespectful to break the rules in a church..
The Catedral de Granada was a different story.. we were allowed to take pictures, but the timing or our visit was just poorly planned. We again say in pews for probably only 30 minutes taking notes and then got up to walk around as a group while Gustavo showed us some things around the Cathedral all the time telling us that he would give us a chance for pictures after his lecture. About ¼ of the way around the Catedral the lights went out and a security guard came over and told us that they were closing for lunch. SO we left, I snapped a quick picture on my way out, but it was so blurry that I just deleted it. We grabbed lunch at a little Pub where a lot of the group actually ended up and then went back to the hotel to catch the bus to Sevilla.
I forgot to mention… Monday night we went our to a little café for a Flamenco show. We’ll have to find one in Barca though because even though the guitarist was incredible, the dancer’s smell in the little café over-powered her flashy moves and stinging claps.
Word of the Day(s): vista- view
The view of the Alhambra from the mirador was, for me, the most impressive part of it. From inside its walls you didn’t really get the same feeling of its sheer size.
Please bear with me. I’m going to write and entry for each city of the trip.
The last post was a week ago, when we first arrived in Granada. The next morning we got up and were greeted by the best breakfast that we had seen since arriving in Spain: this one actually had more than bread!!
After breakfast we split off into our individual groups and roamed the city. We were supposed to have gone on a guided tour with Maika, Gustavo and Kristyna but they decided that since so many people were sick and that it was cold and icy, that they wouldn’t make everyone walk around in the cold.
We walked around in short sleeves all day and saw some amazing things. Most incredibly of all was the Mirador de San Nicolas. I’ve got to say a big thank you to Señor because they only reason that we found the Mirador was because I made sure that the first thing that we did in Granada was find la Oficina de Turismo. From the Mirador we were able to see the profile of the Alhambra and it was incredible. It was just too bad it was so overcast.
In the afternoon we actually got to go the Alhambra, by that point though it had turned from overcast to rainy… The Alhambra was beautiful but we all realized right then that this wasn’t a sightseeing tour.. we took more notes than we thought possible and had very little time for pictures or just wandering around. We still got to see the sights but not with the time that we would have liked.
Tuesday we got up for an early start so that we could see just a few more things before we were off for Sevilla. We started off at La Cartuja which was a monastery just outside of town. It was absolutely beautiful even if we did have to sit in freezing cold pews for over an hour taking notes about the building’s architecture. The worst part about it was that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Though some people did, I though it was just a little too disrespectful to break the rules in a church..
The Catedral de Granada was a different story.. we were allowed to take pictures, but the timing or our visit was just poorly planned. We again say in pews for probably only 30 minutes taking notes and then got up to walk around as a group while Gustavo showed us some things around the Cathedral all the time telling us that he would give us a chance for pictures after his lecture. About ¼ of the way around the Catedral the lights went out and a security guard came over and told us that they were closing for lunch. SO we left, I snapped a quick picture on my way out, but it was so blurry that I just deleted it. We grabbed lunch at a little Pub where a lot of the group actually ended up and then went back to the hotel to catch the bus to Sevilla.
I forgot to mention… Monday night we went our to a little café for a Flamenco show. We’ll have to find one in Barca though because even though the guitarist was incredible, the dancer’s smell in the little café over-powered her flashy moves and stinging claps.
Word of the Day(s): vista- view
The view of the Alhambra from the mirador was, for me, the most impressive part of it. From inside its walls you didn’t really get the same feeling of its sheer size.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
