Today is my last official day in Sevilla. I leave this evening for London, Edinburgh and Dublin. Then will finally make it back to the states on December 18th.
As a group last week we were in Madrid for the Thanksgiving break. It definitely took our minds off missing all the festivities going on in the states. We even had our own mock Thanksgiving meal at our hotel. There was spaghetti, scrambled eggs, chili, green beans, fruitcake, and so much more. It was really great!
The capital is really great. It has such a New York feeling to it. It was definitely a lot colder than we were expecting. Sevilla is finally cold now, but Madrid was even more cold.
Two of the biggest things we saw while in Madrid were El Escorial and La Granja. Both of these are palaces for the kings. El Escorial is actually the burial site for all of the past kings of Spain. We got to go into the tomb room and see all of their tombs. It was very moving. Both the palaces are humongous. The library at El Escorial was to die for, as well as the gardens in La Granja.
On our way to Madrid we were also able to stop in the nearby town of Toledo. We were only there for one day, but what parts we saw were great. I would definitely like to go back there. We also got to see the windmills that are mentioned in Cervantes' Don Quixote.
The trip went by really really fast, but we had a blast.
I am sorry that I cannot write more about this trip...but time got the best of me. I leave this beautiful place in only 8 hours, and I am nowhere near ready!! Physically or emotionally!!
I am sure that I will get another post in for yall. Whether it is while I am still in Europe or back in the states...you will hear from me again!!
Thanks so much for reading!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Paris
Sorry for the huge gap between posts. The semester is coming to a close, so I have been trying to cram everything that I can into these last 2 weeks.
A few weeks ago my friend Phoebe and I went to Paris. It worked out great because she had a friend that lived in a nearby suburb, so we got to save money not staying in a hostel.
Paris was everything that I ever imagined it would be! We went to the Eiffel Tower the first day. I always wondered what it would feel like to be standing in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower. And now that I have that feeling, it is just unbelievable. Of course we waited in the hour long line to go all the way to the top. Paris was literally neverending. It just went on for miles and miles. We timed it just right too because we were able to see the tower in the daylight, and by the time we got to the top the sun was setting, and we got to see the city lights. It was the perfect moment.
That same day we visited the Sacred Heart and the Moulin Rouge. The Sacred Heart is a beautiful church on a hillside. It offers another one of the most beautiful views of the city. The Moulin Rouge was....well interesting. It is not of the most appropriate streets, obviously. I just wanted to see it because I am completely in love with the movie Moulin Rouge. We had to try out the local cuisine - crepes. AMAZING!! I ate a chicken and cheese one for the main course and then a strawberry one for dessert. I could live there just for the crepes!!!
The next day we tackled Notre Dame, Arch de Triumph, The Louvre, and shopping on the town. We started in the morning with the Louvre. We knew that we were going to have to rush through it to be able to go to the other sites that we wanted to. But we still stayed there for a little more than 2 hours. We saw Egyptian exhibits, Italian sculptures, and paintings, paintings and more paintings. The Mona Lisa was a little disappointing, as most people say. She is just so little! And you can only get about 30 feet away from her before she is blocked off. I am not sure what thay much space does...but oh well! The Notre Dame was fabulous as well. Once again we went to the top and saw all of Paris. The view never gets old. We saw the Arch de Triumph while we were shopping. It is quite the site. We saw a bunch of other historical buildings and sculptures...but I cannot remember them all :)
One of the best things of the trip was staying with Phoebe's friend. It gave us the opportunity to experience how a French family lives. And we got legit French breakfast, and all the hospitality we could ask for!
I knew that trip had been too good to be true. Nothing had really gone wrong yet, so it was only a matter of time. On Sunday when Phoebe and I left for a flight we got extremely lost on the metro and train. We asked directions and got back on track, so we thought, only to find out that they sent us in the wrong direction. So we had to back track and get on the right train in the right direction. So our flight leaves at 5:20 pm and we get to the airport at 4:45pm. We go to check-in and the lady at the desk says that we missed our flight. I said, "what?" We still have at least 30 minutes!" She said that we wouldn't have enough time to get through security, even though security was literally like 100 feet away from us. She said we would have to buy another flight. A COMPLETELY new flight. They wouldn't just "penalize" us and make us pay a little fee, we actually had to book a whole new flight. So we go to the information desk to find out what our options are. They lady there spoke a little English, but we could tell she didn't want to have to speak to us. There was another flight back to Seville that night so I asked her how much it was, and she said that we would have to call Vueling, the airline company. She started to give me their number when I told her that we only had Spanish phones and that they don't work here in France. She replied with, "I'm sorry about that." And wouldn't help us any further. To make it even better our new flight was at the OTHER airport in Paris. So 20 euros for the bus to the airport and 150 euros for the flight later, we were finally on our way back to Seville. It nearly ruined my trip to Paris. It is really sad when just the attitude of the people in a country can change your whole view of that country. I loved Paris don't get me wrong. But I will not be going back to France for a while. I had given the French the benefit of the doubt to be nice to me, and they failed miserably.
But I am glad that I got to mark Paris off my checklist
A few weeks ago my friend Phoebe and I went to Paris. It worked out great because she had a friend that lived in a nearby suburb, so we got to save money not staying in a hostel.
Paris was everything that I ever imagined it would be! We went to the Eiffel Tower the first day. I always wondered what it would feel like to be standing in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower. And now that I have that feeling, it is just unbelievable. Of course we waited in the hour long line to go all the way to the top. Paris was literally neverending. It just went on for miles and miles. We timed it just right too because we were able to see the tower in the daylight, and by the time we got to the top the sun was setting, and we got to see the city lights. It was the perfect moment.
That same day we visited the Sacred Heart and the Moulin Rouge. The Sacred Heart is a beautiful church on a hillside. It offers another one of the most beautiful views of the city. The Moulin Rouge was....well interesting. It is not of the most appropriate streets, obviously. I just wanted to see it because I am completely in love with the movie Moulin Rouge. We had to try out the local cuisine - crepes. AMAZING!! I ate a chicken and cheese one for the main course and then a strawberry one for dessert. I could live there just for the crepes!!!
The next day we tackled Notre Dame, Arch de Triumph, The Louvre, and shopping on the town. We started in the morning with the Louvre. We knew that we were going to have to rush through it to be able to go to the other sites that we wanted to. But we still stayed there for a little more than 2 hours. We saw Egyptian exhibits, Italian sculptures, and paintings, paintings and more paintings. The Mona Lisa was a little disappointing, as most people say. She is just so little! And you can only get about 30 feet away from her before she is blocked off. I am not sure what thay much space does...but oh well! The Notre Dame was fabulous as well. Once again we went to the top and saw all of Paris. The view never gets old. We saw the Arch de Triumph while we were shopping. It is quite the site. We saw a bunch of other historical buildings and sculptures...but I cannot remember them all :)
One of the best things of the trip was staying with Phoebe's friend. It gave us the opportunity to experience how a French family lives. And we got legit French breakfast, and all the hospitality we could ask for!
I knew that trip had been too good to be true. Nothing had really gone wrong yet, so it was only a matter of time. On Sunday when Phoebe and I left for a flight we got extremely lost on the metro and train. We asked directions and got back on track, so we thought, only to find out that they sent us in the wrong direction. So we had to back track and get on the right train in the right direction. So our flight leaves at 5:20 pm and we get to the airport at 4:45pm. We go to check-in and the lady at the desk says that we missed our flight. I said, "what?" We still have at least 30 minutes!" She said that we wouldn't have enough time to get through security, even though security was literally like 100 feet away from us. She said we would have to buy another flight. A COMPLETELY new flight. They wouldn't just "penalize" us and make us pay a little fee, we actually had to book a whole new flight. So we go to the information desk to find out what our options are. They lady there spoke a little English, but we could tell she didn't want to have to speak to us. There was another flight back to Seville that night so I asked her how much it was, and she said that we would have to call Vueling, the airline company. She started to give me their number when I told her that we only had Spanish phones and that they don't work here in France. She replied with, "I'm sorry about that." And wouldn't help us any further. To make it even better our new flight was at the OTHER airport in Paris. So 20 euros for the bus to the airport and 150 euros for the flight later, we were finally on our way back to Seville. It nearly ruined my trip to Paris. It is really sad when just the attitude of the people in a country can change your whole view of that country. I loved Paris don't get me wrong. But I will not be going back to France for a while. I had given the French the benefit of the doubt to be nice to me, and they failed miserably.
But I am glad that I got to mark Paris off my checklist
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Barcelona
A group of me and 5 other girls flew to Barcelona for a weekend. This is one of the only known cities in Spain that we do not visit as a school, so we wanted to see it on our own. Our first day there we decided to just take in the city and walk around. We walked to their main plaza and visited the shops. We came across and amazing food market that had every kind of anything you could ever want. It was fabulous! I bought a dragonfruit. If you have never tried one before, don't be fooled by their looks. It is a bright pink fruit with a white speckled inside. So you would think that this tropical looking fruit would taste good...wrong. It had no taste at all! We ate some local Barcelonian food for dinner, and it was fabulous! Our hostel was kind of in a shady neighborhood, but the hostel intself was really nice.
Because Barcelona is so huge we decided to dedicate the next day to taking the Barcelona tour on those double decker tour buses. This was the easiest and quickest way to see the city. We saw cathedrals, the FC Barcelona futbol stadium, Olympic games museum, the marina, and lots lots more. We were not able to go to the beach because time just got the better of us.
The frustrating thin about Barcelona is that they don't speak Spanish. They speak Castilian. It is similar to Spanish...but definitely not the same.
We booked our flight with Ryanair, which is one of the discount airlines here in Europe. That being said, there is not always the best choices of flight times, and they usually fly into the small airports on the outskirts of the cities. The airport we flew into was about an hour and a half away from the actual city. This was not as much of a problem when we arrived in Barcelona, but it was on the way back. Our flight left at 6:40 am. So we had to catch a bus at 3:45 am to get to our flight on time. We made it, but were definitely not in the best of moods. :)
Barcelona is definitely a city that needs to be seen over the course of a week; as are most of the cities in Europe :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Last Weekend in Seville
This last weekend was pretty much my last weekend here in Seville before I come back to the states. I have one more at the beginning of December, but it is just before finals, so I wouldn't be able to travel anyways. This weekend I will be in Barcelona, then to Paris, then Tangier, and then Madrid. I will also be spending about 4 or 5 days in London before my flight home.
We had several birthdays this past weekend that we celebrated. So a lot of our time was just spent chilling by the river. It is the most beautiful sight at night. On one of our outings we met the futbol team from Betis as well as some Seville basketball players. We tried to speak our best Spanish and get free tickets...but so far we have come up empty handed. Darn it :).
Spain has just recently started celebrating Halloween. The only thing is that they understand it as a scary and gory holiday. They don't know that it can be happy as well, and that you can be clowns, and princesses and animals. Everyone that dressed up were either zombies, witches, or bloody in some way. But they are getting the hang of it. None of us dressed up to much. I bought a princess crown...but that was the extent of my costume.
My classes have been pretty tough lately. My literature class just requires a lot of reading and translating. In my culture class we have had several presentations about events and celebrations that take place in Seville. We also watch movies, and then interpret and discuss them...in Spanish of course :).
However, I finished my internship last week!! 70 hours!! So now I will finally have my afternoons free to explore the city and do all the things that I just didn't have time for!
Since I can see the finish line ahead, I get more homesick everyday. But at the same time I know that as soon as I step foot in Dallas, I am going to want to come right back. So I am trying to take every opportunity to make my last 5 weeks amazing!
We had several birthdays this past weekend that we celebrated. So a lot of our time was just spent chilling by the river. It is the most beautiful sight at night. On one of our outings we met the futbol team from Betis as well as some Seville basketball players. We tried to speak our best Spanish and get free tickets...but so far we have come up empty handed. Darn it :).
Spain has just recently started celebrating Halloween. The only thing is that they understand it as a scary and gory holiday. They don't know that it can be happy as well, and that you can be clowns, and princesses and animals. Everyone that dressed up were either zombies, witches, or bloody in some way. But they are getting the hang of it. None of us dressed up to much. I bought a princess crown...but that was the extent of my costume.
My classes have been pretty tough lately. My literature class just requires a lot of reading and translating. In my culture class we have had several presentations about events and celebrations that take place in Seville. We also watch movies, and then interpret and discuss them...in Spanish of course :).
However, I finished my internship last week!! 70 hours!! So now I will finally have my afternoons free to explore the city and do all the things that I just didn't have time for!
Since I can see the finish line ahead, I get more homesick everyday. But at the same time I know that as soon as I step foot in Dallas, I am going to want to come right back. So I am trying to take every opportunity to make my last 5 weeks amazing!
Ronda
I cannot believe that it is already November!!! I just have a little more than a month left in Spain, and since I am traveling nearly every weekend until then, the time is just flying by!
2 weekends ago me and 2 friends traveled to the small city of Ronda for a day trip. We left bright and early on a 7 am bus and arrived at Ronda at about 9:30. Ronda isn't very well known throughout Spain, but if you ever get the chance to see it, you must!! I think cute little cities like Ronda are the heart and sould of Spain. Ernest Hemingway called Ronda one of the most romantic cities of all time. Several of his books were inspired by his travels there.
We wanted to do as much as we could in the 8 hours that we were there. We started off just walking the streets of the city. We soon ran into El Puente Nuevo - the New Bridge. This bridge was built in the 19th century to replace to old bridge. The town of Ronda is split in the middle by a river and is at the top of some amazing gourges.
We soon found ourselves exploring and hiking in the gourges. We climbed up waterfalls and mountains, walked down into mines, and strolled through several gardens. The weather was absolutely perfect! A little hot, but there was a constant breeze that kept us cool.
We also visited a museum that had an Inquisition exhibition. It was very creepy but interesting to see all of the instruments like the guillotine that were used.
In most of our school trips we spend so much time in catherdrals and museums that it gets a little overwhelming at times. I loved that this little trip was completely unplanned and we just walked around and saw what we wanted to see.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Viva Roma
I haven't even come close to traveling the whole world, but the rest of the world definitely has some competition. Italy was by far the best place I have been in my 22 years. I would go back tomorrow and live there if I could, it is that amazing!
3 of my friends and I decided to take advantage of the long 4 day weekend and go to Rome. Several other students went to Dublin, but Rome sounded more appealing. Our flight left out of Madrid on Wednesday night, so right after class we took a 6 hour bus ride from Seville to Madrid. Our bus arrived late and we literally had to run through the airport to make our flight, but we did. We land in Rome around 11:30 and take a bus from the airport to Termini Station. Normally we would have just walked to our hostel, but being that it was 1 in the morning we decided to take a cab. The cab driver to advantage of us not knowing any Italian so we paid double, but at that point we just wanted to get to our hostel.
Our first impression of he hostel was a little iffy, but it quickly proved to be an awesome place. We got free breakfast (toast and cereal) and free dinner (pizza and pasta), and also free internet, so we were quite happy. Since we hadnt eaten all day, we set off into the city at 2 am. Of course nothing was open. We walked around until we found a little cafeteria, where we again overpaid. Our cokes were 4 euros and sandwiches 5. But we were so desperate that we paid it.
On Thursday we visited Vatican City. We hoped that since it was a weekday that it wouldn't be so crowded. I imagine it was less crowded than it would have been on the weekend, but it was still packed with tourists. We started with the Vatican Museum. There was so much art to look at, I am sure that we could have been in the museum alone all day. A few of my favorite peices to see were Salvador Dali's Angelic Landscape and a Van Gogh piece. Obviously the highlight of that day was seeing the Sistene Chapel. You are technically not allowed to take pictures, so I made sure that I was really sneaky about it, cuz you can't just not take pictures of it! We were literally in there for about an hour, just staring at the amazing work of Michelangelo. It is utterly breathtaking. You can't even describe it; that's why everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime!
From then we had our first Italian pasta for lunch...delicious! St. Peter's Basilica was next. The plaza itself was a sight to see. It is one of the largest churches in the world. Because we went in the late afternoon, the lighting was not the best. But because we were there at 5 p.m. we got to sit in on a mass. Even though we didn't understand a word, the environment and experience was spectacular. There was a choir that sang, and their voices would echo off the walls and give me goosebumps. It was such a beautiful experience. I was really disappointed when I realized that the Michelangelo's David is in Florence, not Rome. But then I saw the Pietà and it made up for it. This is the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus in her lap just after he was crucified. It seems impossible for someone to be able to carve something that beautifuly by hand out of stone. There were hundreds of other sculptures and alters that were incredible.
We decided to walk home from there so that we could see more of the city. I think the city is just as beautiful during the day as it is at night. Tonight was a memorable night for many reasons. At our hostel we met 6 other Americans that are studying in St. Petersburg, Russia. We immediately fell in love with all of them! So, we all went out to get gelado. Gelado is everything you ever dreamed it would be! My first cone was of vanilla with frozen blackberries and strawberries. We walked around the city with our new found friends and decided to go to the Trevi fountain. What a sight to see!! Especially at night. There are a lot of interpretations of the rules of the wishes, but everyone agrees that if you throw a coin in you are ensured to return to Rome. I threw in 3 coins, to ensure a marriage (so they say), and made a wish on each one, just in case. Afterwards we went to a nearby bar/cafe to get coffee and hot chocolate. My friend Alyssa and I were starving so we grabbed a pizza on the way. It was the way pizza should be...not sure how to explain it...but it was legit. We hung out at the cafe for a while and got to know our new found friends. I really bonded with Abbi and Tim. Abbi and I are so much alike, it's crazy! And you just can't not love Tim. He knows Russian, Chinese, English, and a little bit of Spanish, and he is an amazing singer as well.
Our groups parted ways Friday. They spent the day at Vatican City while we went to the Colossuem and Roman Forum. We actually visited the Pantheon first. Funny enough, I got the Pantheon and the Parthenon mixed up. I was a little disappointed when we came up to the building. But after I got my buildings and countries right, it was just as cool as the Parthenon would have been. For lunch we decided to eat American style and eat at McDonalds. Rome is a very expensive city, so we were trying to save our money for the museums rather than food. Next we came across El Piazzo de Bonaparte. There is an enormous white building that looks like a birthday cake. When you climb to the top you get a spectacular view of the city. It was phenomenal.
Alyssa has a friend who was stationed in Naples. We had originally planned on spending a day there, but he just got reassigned to Djibouti, so he just met us in Rome instead and came with us to the Colosseum. It was flooded with tourists from every country you can think of. That was the fun thing about Rome; hearing all of the different languages. It is such a melting pot. We all definitely got goose bumps once we climbed up the stairs and saw the view inside the Colosseum. The Gladiator can only show you so much. And it's thanks to that movie that no one is allowed down below anymore :(. As soon as the movie was released tourists came from east and west, just like they do now. We came at the perfect time as well, the lighting for pictures was perfect. Alex, Alyssa, and Valeria wanted to go and eat, but Lorraine and I wanted to take full advantage of our ticket so we went to the Roman Forum as well. You can actually walk in and around all the ruins. We got to walk through gardens and through Caesar's house. We could have easily spent all day amongst the ruins as well. There is just so much history it's impossible to soak it all up.
We had one last day in Rome and decided to dedicate it to shopping. Where do you go for shopping in Rome? The Spanish Steps of course!!! This is basically designer lane. Although we couldnt afford anything, we browsed the stores like we belonged :). Our group got split up and I spent the day with Alyssa while Lorraine, Valeria, and Alex explored the city. It was frusterating not being able to have a phone to call and ask where they had gone too, but we enjoyed ourselves all the same.
We went out for gelado again with our Russians and came back to the hostel and shared stories and pictures from our day. A group went out on the town again. Alyssa, Lorraine, Tim, Abbi, and I decided to just chill and talk at the hostel. We all had to be up early to catch our flights in the morning so we just wanted to take it easy. The night ended with us singing Christmas songs (harmony and everything). Those were the only kinds of songs that we all knew the words and tunes for. :)
Our flight left Rome at 7 so we were up at 4:30 to catch the bus at 5:30 to the airport. We said our goodbyes to our Russians. They were off to Milan for a day before they headed back to St. Petersburg. It was another close call and we had to run to the bus, but once again, we made it.
We all wished that we could have stayed in Rome a little longer to get a better feel for the city, since we had already gotten the touristy part out of the way. I would recommend going hands down to anyone, even if you don't like the history part. This is a trip that I will never forget...and if I start to hopefully my 600 pictures will help me remember!!
Lisbon, Portugal
I once again apologize for the huge gaps between my last blogs. these last 2 weeks have been full of travels. The last 2 weekends I was in Lisbon, Portugal; and I just got back from Rome.
I went to Lisbon with my school group. We had just finished our first set of classes so we spent a much needed 3 day vacation. While there we saw a monostary as well as a cathedral where Vasco de Gama, the explorer who went from Portugal to India, is buried. The rest of our 3 days was to be spent however we wanted.
One of the highlights was eating at a Brazilian steakhouse. The Spaniards do not eat much beef, so we were all very excited to enjoy the unlimited amount of beef (and other meat) that the restaurant offered. We called it an early night because we wanted to start the next day off early.
We visited El Cristo Rei. This is a statue of Christ that mirrors the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a humongous statue overlooking the city of Lisbon. Right after that a large group of us visited the Oceanarium. I have never been to a "real" aquarium before so I was in awe of everything we saw. We saw penguins, otters, puffins, sharks, octopus, sun fish, etc. etc. It was amazing!! That evening we decided to explore the city and shop. Lisbon is famous for their cork, so you can find pretty much anything made in cork; like hats, belts, and pencils. After dinner we went to the local hotspot, the barrio. In a few words it was just a mob of people that hang out on the streets; it was actually more claustrophobic than fun, but it was a part of the experience.
The next day we went to the nearby town of Sintra. We visited these amazing gardens in Quinta de Regaleira. There were secret passage ways, caves, and a beautiful estate. For dinner we went down to the docks and ate an authentic seafood meal. It was delicious. We also got to witness 2 Frenchmen make a scene and buy a lobster and set him free into the ocean.
Early the next morning before we had to head back to Seville, a few of us went to the flee market. The stands opened at 9:30 and we had to leave at 10, so we didn't have much time to look, but we saw some cool shops nonetheless.
Everyone was exhausted when we returned (it's about a 5 hours bus ride), and wasn't looking forward to class the next day. We started the new semester on Tuesday, but only had class until Wednesday because we had another long weekend that started on Thursday.
Before my most recent trip I had enjoyed Portugal the most. It has the most beautiful beaches, their towns are so quaint, and they speak English!!
I went to Lisbon with my school group. We had just finished our first set of classes so we spent a much needed 3 day vacation. While there we saw a monostary as well as a cathedral where Vasco de Gama, the explorer who went from Portugal to India, is buried. The rest of our 3 days was to be spent however we wanted.
One of the highlights was eating at a Brazilian steakhouse. The Spaniards do not eat much beef, so we were all very excited to enjoy the unlimited amount of beef (and other meat) that the restaurant offered. We called it an early night because we wanted to start the next day off early.
We visited El Cristo Rei. This is a statue of Christ that mirrors the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a humongous statue overlooking the city of Lisbon. Right after that a large group of us visited the Oceanarium. I have never been to a "real" aquarium before so I was in awe of everything we saw. We saw penguins, otters, puffins, sharks, octopus, sun fish, etc. etc. It was amazing!! That evening we decided to explore the city and shop. Lisbon is famous for their cork, so you can find pretty much anything made in cork; like hats, belts, and pencils. After dinner we went to the local hotspot, the barrio. In a few words it was just a mob of people that hang out on the streets; it was actually more claustrophobic than fun, but it was a part of the experience.
The next day we went to the nearby town of Sintra. We visited these amazing gardens in Quinta de Regaleira. There were secret passage ways, caves, and a beautiful estate. For dinner we went down to the docks and ate an authentic seafood meal. It was delicious. We also got to witness 2 Frenchmen make a scene and buy a lobster and set him free into the ocean.
Early the next morning before we had to head back to Seville, a few of us went to the flee market. The stands opened at 9:30 and we had to leave at 10, so we didn't have much time to look, but we saw some cool shops nonetheless.
Everyone was exhausted when we returned (it's about a 5 hours bus ride), and wasn't looking forward to class the next day. We started the new semester on Tuesday, but only had class until Wednesday because we had another long weekend that started on Thursday.
Before my most recent trip I had enjoyed Portugal the most. It has the most beautiful beaches, their towns are so quaint, and they speak English!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)