April 23rd
I'm at the bullfight and it's hot, sitting in the sol, not the sombra. The bullfight starts at 6:30 with 6 bulls and 3 matadors or toreros scheduled to perform. The bullfight has been immortalized in movies and in Ernest Hemingway's book, Death in the Afternoon. Seville's bullring is the Plaza de Toros owned by the Real Maestranza, a group of Seville noble families. Of all the 3 bullfighters, only one is from Spain, Antonio Barrera, from Seville. The other two bullfighters are from other countries, France and Colombia.
Everyone dresses in their best to go to a bullfight, is a primary social event from April to October in Sevilla.
Contrary to popular belief, a bullfight is not a sport in Spain. It's separate from the sports pages in the daily newspaper. The bullfight is also broadcasted live on TV in Seville. It's quite a unique experience, part religion-part dance. The bullfight comes in 3 main acts or terceros. The first act is when a group of men on horses in traditional 17th century come out into the ring and followed by the matadors and their entourages. The 2nd is act begins is when the bull is released into the ring and part of the bullfighter's entourage, stirs up the bull. This is followed by two men on horseback with horses that are padded in case of being gored by the bull. The men or picadors circle the bull before plunging their lance into the neck of the bull. The picadors exit out of the ring for the next and final act. The final act consists of bandilleros and the matador. The bandilleros jobs are to take two wooden, colorful stakes and fearlessly drive them into the neck and back of the bull. This involves precariously following every inch of the bull's movements and leaping to avoid horns. After this, the matador with his signature red cape comes out into the ring.
What separates a good bullfighter from a not so good one is how well the bullfighter can keep up with the bull's movements. Also, the bulls are NOT enraged at the sight of a red cape, they are colorblind and follow movement. These bulls are specifically bred just for the bullfights.
The matadors wear flashy costumes, called the suit of lights, it sparkles and glistens in the sun and in the setting sun. Their steps in the bullring is very pretentious and full of swagger.
You hear chants of Ole! and Bien as the bullfighter and the bull precariously dance back and forth as the cape is whisked back and forth and finally the bull rears his head and the matador plunges his sword in the neck of the bull and bull takes a few last steps and collapses dead on the sand and the bull's body is dragged out of the arena by a team of horses. On to the next bullfight.
If you're lucky and hear the praises from the crowd and the waving of white handkerchiefs, and you see a matador with an oreja or a bull's ear, he has won bullfight and praise for the evening. On to the next bullfight.
That is death in the afternoon.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Morroco and Roll
Africa.
You hear about it. You see it on the world news. Most people have the idea of the Africa is what they see on the Discovery Channel or it's all the desert and the Serengetti and guys with spears chasing after you.
Oh yeah. Kenyan marathon runners.
However my thoughts of Africa were exactly like that, Muslim North Africa is there too, but you just don't happen to think of it like that. I think Egypt should be in the Middle East along with the rest of Muslim North Africa.
My perceptions changed greatly when I visited on Saturday. Even though, I went across the Straights of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain ( the southernmost point of mainland Europe.) to Tangiers, Morocco. Yeah, it's a seedy border town, but then again, what border town isn't?
Tangiers was occupied by the Spanish during the Spanish Civil War until the mid 1950's when Morocco gained dual independency from the French and the Spanish. Everything from Rabat down was French controlled. Tangiers was an international city during these times, with the publisher of Forbes magazine living in Tangiers. Now, Morocco is a 3rd world nation. You don't realize how lucky you have it, until you see how the other half lives. Tangiers makes Pleasant Grove or South Dallas look like Highland Park.
I left Tarifa, Spain, which is also the wind-capital of Spain as well, I went with my buddy Aaron and we caught a 35 min ferry to Tangiers. You can SEE Africa from Tarifa. Pretty surreal.
Stepping off the port, you are immediately hounded by guides run by the tourism office. The way they handles guides and the rest of the modern world handles tourism is a little bit more, ahem, official. The guide offered to show us around the very confusing city which they speak Berber, Arabic, and French. In terms of having a guide or walking around by ourselves, I'm glad we did the guide. The guide made sure we didn't get hounded by scores of people or possibly even robbed. We got offered and haggled with to buy all sorts of things.
I did however, get a silk rug from Morocco for 20 euro and some Moroccan spices to cook with. The guide did show us the Old Market, Medina, and places in between, the Mosque, this bakery. We had Moroccan Whiskey aka Mint Tea. Since Morocco is an Islamic country, alcohol is not allowed, but it's called whiskey because they drink so much of it. Drinking mint tea is a display of hospitality to foreigners. I tried on a traditional Moroccan "suit" looks like something from Star Wars and I stepped off the Planet Tatoonie.
Walking around on the very narrow streets, which are smaller than Sevilla's was confusing and glad we didn't do it alone. There are people on every turn, either trying to sell you something or going about their daily lives. They make traditional Moroccan clothes by hand and make the flat bread in an oven in a non descript building. Most of the streets still have the French names but are slowly turning into Arabic. When we first got there we heard the Muslim call to prayer coming from the Mosque and the minaret and then saw all the men, shift their mats, and pray to Mecca. I had never seen that done before in my life.
Yep, definitely a different country.
Morocco was interesting to see and I can always say I went to Africa for the day and experienced culture. I don't know if I would want to go back soon, but if I did it'd be too Casablanca or Marrakesh.
The rest of the trip consisted of a missed ferry, which turned into a missed bus, plus a crazy adventure of planning on how to get back to Sevilla. Aaron and I opted to take the bus to Cadiz and sleep their for 7 hours and then get up the next morning and go to Sevilla.
I got in at 8:30 am.
Last night, I went to take my host dad to see Real Betis, the other team in Sevilla as a gesture of my appreciation and thanks for everything over the past 4 months. We had pretty sweet seats, good view of the field and Puente de Almolillo. Betis beat Sporting Gijon from Asturias (northeast Spain) 2-0.
Mucho Betis!
The gaunlet is this week 4 exams and then to Berlin and Prague on Friday.
This is the only time that I have traveled that I felt like I was in a truly different environment and overly cautious and at times, nervous.
You hear about it. You see it on the world news. Most people have the idea of the Africa is what they see on the Discovery Channel or it's all the desert and the Serengetti and guys with spears chasing after you.
Oh yeah. Kenyan marathon runners.
However my thoughts of Africa were exactly like that, Muslim North Africa is there too, but you just don't happen to think of it like that. I think Egypt should be in the Middle East along with the rest of Muslim North Africa.
My perceptions changed greatly when I visited on Saturday. Even though, I went across the Straights of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain ( the southernmost point of mainland Europe.) to Tangiers, Morocco. Yeah, it's a seedy border town, but then again, what border town isn't?
Tangiers was occupied by the Spanish during the Spanish Civil War until the mid 1950's when Morocco gained dual independency from the French and the Spanish. Everything from Rabat down was French controlled. Tangiers was an international city during these times, with the publisher of Forbes magazine living in Tangiers. Now, Morocco is a 3rd world nation. You don't realize how lucky you have it, until you see how the other half lives. Tangiers makes Pleasant Grove or South Dallas look like Highland Park.
I left Tarifa, Spain, which is also the wind-capital of Spain as well, I went with my buddy Aaron and we caught a 35 min ferry to Tangiers. You can SEE Africa from Tarifa. Pretty surreal.
Stepping off the port, you are immediately hounded by guides run by the tourism office. The way they handles guides and the rest of the modern world handles tourism is a little bit more, ahem, official. The guide offered to show us around the very confusing city which they speak Berber, Arabic, and French. In terms of having a guide or walking around by ourselves, I'm glad we did the guide. The guide made sure we didn't get hounded by scores of people or possibly even robbed. We got offered and haggled with to buy all sorts of things.
I did however, get a silk rug from Morocco for 20 euro and some Moroccan spices to cook with. The guide did show us the Old Market, Medina, and places in between, the Mosque, this bakery. We had Moroccan Whiskey aka Mint Tea. Since Morocco is an Islamic country, alcohol is not allowed, but it's called whiskey because they drink so much of it. Drinking mint tea is a display of hospitality to foreigners. I tried on a traditional Moroccan "suit" looks like something from Star Wars and I stepped off the Planet Tatoonie.
Walking around on the very narrow streets, which are smaller than Sevilla's was confusing and glad we didn't do it alone. There are people on every turn, either trying to sell you something or going about their daily lives. They make traditional Moroccan clothes by hand and make the flat bread in an oven in a non descript building. Most of the streets still have the French names but are slowly turning into Arabic. When we first got there we heard the Muslim call to prayer coming from the Mosque and the minaret and then saw all the men, shift their mats, and pray to Mecca. I had never seen that done before in my life.
Yep, definitely a different country.
Morocco was interesting to see and I can always say I went to Africa for the day and experienced culture. I don't know if I would want to go back soon, but if I did it'd be too Casablanca or Marrakesh.
The rest of the trip consisted of a missed ferry, which turned into a missed bus, plus a crazy adventure of planning on how to get back to Sevilla. Aaron and I opted to take the bus to Cadiz and sleep their for 7 hours and then get up the next morning and go to Sevilla.
I got in at 8:30 am.
Last night, I went to take my host dad to see Real Betis, the other team in Sevilla as a gesture of my appreciation and thanks for everything over the past 4 months. We had pretty sweet seats, good view of the field and Puente de Almolillo. Betis beat Sporting Gijon from Asturias (northeast Spain) 2-0.
Mucho Betis!
The gaunlet is this week 4 exams and then to Berlin and Prague on Friday.
This is the only time that I have traveled that I felt like I was in a truly different environment and overly cautious and at times, nervous.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The End is Near
Semana Santa came and went. I went back to the beach of the Sevillanos, Matalascanas, this past weekend and just stretched myself out on the beach and drifted off into contentment.
This week has already flown by because we started on Tuesday and the weekend is almost here.
I only have 4 days left of school and roughly 2 and half weeks left in this country before I come back to Mesquite,TX, USA.
A week from Friday, I am headed to Berlin, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic to visit one of my fraternity brothers who is studying there. (More of that to come.)
I have La Feria in Spain next :)
This week has already flown by because we started on Tuesday and the weekend is almost here.
I only have 4 days left of school and roughly 2 and half weeks left in this country before I come back to Mesquite,TX, USA.
A week from Friday, I am headed to Berlin, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic to visit one of my fraternity brothers who is studying there. (More of that to come.)
I have La Feria in Spain next :)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Semana Santa
It's Holy Week here in Spain. It takes the Easter holidays to a whole new level. Semana Santa is basically a centuries old tradition of celebrating and honoring the passion of Christ in a week of pasos or floats that weight 1 ton or more and are carried by 30 to 40 men, that every so slowly, step by step, go through the city. This process takes 8 hours or more. The Holy Week processions are led first by musicians, playing a funeral dirge type music, followed by scary KKK looking guys called "Nazarenos". These people can be male, female, and children very young. After them is followed by a paso, usually with a depiction of Christ's way to the cross. Regardless of what you believe, it is still a moving sight to be hold. There are throngs of people waiting hours to see one paso go by and you wouldnt believe the silence that over takes the crowd as it passes by. It gives me chills and how eerily symbolic and ritualistic it is. Next paso, features the Virgin Mary. This paso too, weighs between a 1 ton or more.
Last night I went to view two pasos, one was the paso de San Bernarndo. This paso featured Christ on the cross. I went and viewed pasos with a former professor of mine here, who's a grad student and her Sevilla friends, a couple who is studying English at the Univeristy of Seville. They invited me to go with them to the guy's hometown of Santiponce, you may remember that it is also the home to the Roman ruins of Italica. The paso of Italica featured Christ carrying the cross. The moving part of this is how they manage to take the paso through town and into the parish chapel. 40 guys simultaneous, who are basically going in blind have to go backwards on their knees, manuever the paso into the church. Quite, moving and incredible. To do this they "showboated" first and made the paso move and dance. Before the paso went into the church, there was a lament and ballad style prayer to the paso, sung acapella. Very moving and gave me chills. The next paso was of the Virgin Mary, there was also another ballad sung to her. No one talked and paid reverance to both pasos. For one day, everyone was Catholic.
What was cool about the experience, is here I was probably the only Texas, much less the only other American, besides my teacher, who witnessed this paso in a small town setting.
Oh yeah, I spoke mainly Spanish for 6 hours.
Viva la vida and viva la aventura!
It'll be bittersweet when I leave in less than a month.
Last night I went to view two pasos, one was the paso de San Bernarndo. This paso featured Christ on the cross. I went and viewed pasos with a former professor of mine here, who's a grad student and her Sevilla friends, a couple who is studying English at the Univeristy of Seville. They invited me to go with them to the guy's hometown of Santiponce, you may remember that it is also the home to the Roman ruins of Italica. The paso of Italica featured Christ carrying the cross. The moving part of this is how they manage to take the paso through town and into the parish chapel. 40 guys simultaneous, who are basically going in blind have to go backwards on their knees, manuever the paso into the church. Quite, moving and incredible. To do this they "showboated" first and made the paso move and dance. Before the paso went into the church, there was a lament and ballad style prayer to the paso, sung acapella. Very moving and gave me chills. The next paso was of the Virgin Mary, there was also another ballad sung to her. No one talked and paid reverance to both pasos. For one day, everyone was Catholic.
What was cool about the experience, is here I was probably the only Texas, much less the only other American, besides my teacher, who witnessed this paso in a small town setting.
Oh yeah, I spoke mainly Spanish for 6 hours.
Viva la vida and viva la aventura!
It'll be bittersweet when I leave in less than a month.
The Dubliners
Well everyone, I arrived back from my trip to Dublin on the lovely Emerald Isle. Ireland is famous for its Irish music, the mass exodus to New York, courtesty of the potato, famous authors, and lest we forget, beer and whiskey.
I left Sevilla on Saturday with my buddy Jay, and we flew to Dublin. The first day was pretty lo-key, just trying to get situated in our hostel and walk around the city. It was pretty strange walking around and hearing ENGLISH. Really it was, after leaving in a non-English speaking country for 3 months. I caught myself several times responding and asking questions in Spanish. I didn't realize how much I had learned after all.
Dublin is such a cool city. Right now, it ranks on Lance's list of favorite places I've been too ever. The people are extremely friendly, there is an abundance of redheads, and the culture is completely different. The city is a very clean city and very tourist friendly. Case in point, the street that my hostel was on had probably 12 or 13 hostels in a row. There is a river that flows through the heart of Dublin, the River Liffey, It's not the Thames, the Mississippi or the Seine, but keep in mind most major European cities are built on rivers. The first night in Dublin, Jay and I decided to do what any other self respecting, English speaking, guys would do...head down to the pub for a pint! The pub culture is really cool, I wish they had it in America. The pubs are actually more of an old guy hangout, kind of like the cevecerias here in Spain. My first Irish pub ever was at this place called the Millenium, across two streets from the Guinness Brewery. Our bartender had the thickest Welsh accent and we could barely understand except for:
Bartender: Whatcha you readin?
Jay: My Ireland guidebook.
Bartender: I see it's from 2005, not much has changed here in 4 years.
But sitting in a pub, drinking a Guinness straight out of Dublin, probably ranks on my list of great experiences.
On the way back from the pub, we stopped through the trendy bar district, called "Temple Bar" It was a really cool area. As we kept walking, we saw a green car, with the sticker, "University of North Texas."
Lance and Jay: I think that says the University of North Texas, No way.
Guy: Are you guys from Texas, yeah?
Lance: Yeah we are, we're students at Texas Tech, but here in Dublin on the weekend, since we are currently students in Seville, Spain.
Guy: Yeah, I graduated from UNT in 1998.
Lance: No way, that's awesome.
Guy: What part of Texas are you guys from?
L&J: Mesquite and Plano.
Guy: My first job out of college was working for the Mesquite Newspaper.
Lance: That's such a small world
Lance: What brings you to Dublin?
Guy: My mother is native Irish, and I've lived over here in Dublin for 8 years now.
Yeah, small world.
On to Day 2. Day 2 was spent seeing as many sites as possible. We visited the Trinty College of Dublin, the home to the Book of Kells. One of the oldest, most preserved illuminated manuscripts of the Bible. Trinity College was such a beautiful campus and reminds me of what a college is supposed to look like. Jay and I visited both the Guinness Brewery and the Old Jameson Distillery. The Guinness Brewery tour was 7 stories tall. It highlighted the beer making, the history, the advertising and so forth. At the end of the tour, was the opportunity to receive the Guinness straight from the source and look upon the city in a 360 degree viewing area of the city. Simply amazing to see the city, the Irish sea, and the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Next was on to the Old Jameson Distillery. Jameson is another staple of Dublin, producing Irish whiskey. That was a fascinating tour as well, and that making whiskey is a bit more complicated than it looks. I didn't know that American whiskey is only distilled once, and Scotch is distilled twice. One, Twice, Three times a Lady. After the tour, we went to go see St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral really was a beautiful structure on the outside, very old and very Anglo-Saxon looking. Our last big adventure of the day was going to a town called Howth, on the Irish sea and suburb of Dublin. This is what I imagined an Irish fishing village and town to look like. Docks, and small houses lining the water. We went to go have fresh seafood at this rather nice restraurant and it was tasty because I had seafood chowder and crab legs to eat.
Day 3
On Day 3 we took the Irish rail to Cork and went to go on our pilgrimage to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle. For those of you who don't know what the Blarney Stone is, it's believed to give who ever kisses it, the gift of eloquence. Apparently, it worked for Winston Churchill.
Blarney was a perfect representation of what Ireland is supposed to be. It had very green hills and pastures with a bubbling creek, and a small town. This is the Ireland I wanted to see so badly. After touring the Blarney Stone, Jay decided it was a good idea for me to talk to this girl who walked by, and issued a man challenge to me. So I took it and went on a stroll through the gardens and trails by the Blarney Castle and talked to this chica, named Allison who is studying in France and goes to school in Portland, Oregon. Too bad, she has a bf.
Well after me attempting to be Don Juan, I missed my bus back to Cork. Being the ever clever man I am, I hailed a taxi and made it back with minutes to spare. My cabbie was pretty cool, in fact the took Irish cabbies I had were awesome. Good news, I made it to the train station in time.
On our last night in Dublin, Jay and I decided to go on a mini pub crawl. We started at an old man pub called Malloys, went to the "oldest" pub in Dublin, the Brazen Head and heard live music, and finished at Malloys.
Again. It's great to be 21 and traveling Europe.
At 5am the next morning, we left and scurried to the airport, via a cabbie with a ridiculously thicj Irish accent and I quote as we were leaving the cab...
"Best of luck to ya lads, come back Ireland and see us."
Yes sir, we will.
I left Sevilla on Saturday with my buddy Jay, and we flew to Dublin. The first day was pretty lo-key, just trying to get situated in our hostel and walk around the city. It was pretty strange walking around and hearing ENGLISH. Really it was, after leaving in a non-English speaking country for 3 months. I caught myself several times responding and asking questions in Spanish. I didn't realize how much I had learned after all.
Dublin is such a cool city. Right now, it ranks on Lance's list of favorite places I've been too ever. The people are extremely friendly, there is an abundance of redheads, and the culture is completely different. The city is a very clean city and very tourist friendly. Case in point, the street that my hostel was on had probably 12 or 13 hostels in a row. There is a river that flows through the heart of Dublin, the River Liffey, It's not the Thames, the Mississippi or the Seine, but keep in mind most major European cities are built on rivers. The first night in Dublin, Jay and I decided to do what any other self respecting, English speaking, guys would do...head down to the pub for a pint! The pub culture is really cool, I wish they had it in America. The pubs are actually more of an old guy hangout, kind of like the cevecerias here in Spain. My first Irish pub ever was at this place called the Millenium, across two streets from the Guinness Brewery. Our bartender had the thickest Welsh accent and we could barely understand except for:
Bartender: Whatcha you readin?
Jay: My Ireland guidebook.
Bartender: I see it's from 2005, not much has changed here in 4 years.
But sitting in a pub, drinking a Guinness straight out of Dublin, probably ranks on my list of great experiences.
On the way back from the pub, we stopped through the trendy bar district, called "Temple Bar" It was a really cool area. As we kept walking, we saw a green car, with the sticker, "University of North Texas."
Lance and Jay: I think that says the University of North Texas, No way.
Guy: Are you guys from Texas, yeah?
Lance: Yeah we are, we're students at Texas Tech, but here in Dublin on the weekend, since we are currently students in Seville, Spain.
Guy: Yeah, I graduated from UNT in 1998.
Lance: No way, that's awesome.
Guy: What part of Texas are you guys from?
L&J: Mesquite and Plano.
Guy: My first job out of college was working for the Mesquite Newspaper.
Lance: That's such a small world
Lance: What brings you to Dublin?
Guy: My mother is native Irish, and I've lived over here in Dublin for 8 years now.
Yeah, small world.
On to Day 2. Day 2 was spent seeing as many sites as possible. We visited the Trinty College of Dublin, the home to the Book of Kells. One of the oldest, most preserved illuminated manuscripts of the Bible. Trinity College was such a beautiful campus and reminds me of what a college is supposed to look like. Jay and I visited both the Guinness Brewery and the Old Jameson Distillery. The Guinness Brewery tour was 7 stories tall. It highlighted the beer making, the history, the advertising and so forth. At the end of the tour, was the opportunity to receive the Guinness straight from the source and look upon the city in a 360 degree viewing area of the city. Simply amazing to see the city, the Irish sea, and the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Next was on to the Old Jameson Distillery. Jameson is another staple of Dublin, producing Irish whiskey. That was a fascinating tour as well, and that making whiskey is a bit more complicated than it looks. I didn't know that American whiskey is only distilled once, and Scotch is distilled twice. One, Twice, Three times a Lady. After the tour, we went to go see St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral really was a beautiful structure on the outside, very old and very Anglo-Saxon looking. Our last big adventure of the day was going to a town called Howth, on the Irish sea and suburb of Dublin. This is what I imagined an Irish fishing village and town to look like. Docks, and small houses lining the water. We went to go have fresh seafood at this rather nice restraurant and it was tasty because I had seafood chowder and crab legs to eat.
Day 3
On Day 3 we took the Irish rail to Cork and went to go on our pilgrimage to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle. For those of you who don't know what the Blarney Stone is, it's believed to give who ever kisses it, the gift of eloquence. Apparently, it worked for Winston Churchill.
Blarney was a perfect representation of what Ireland is supposed to be. It had very green hills and pastures with a bubbling creek, and a small town. This is the Ireland I wanted to see so badly. After touring the Blarney Stone, Jay decided it was a good idea for me to talk to this girl who walked by, and issued a man challenge to me. So I took it and went on a stroll through the gardens and trails by the Blarney Castle and talked to this chica, named Allison who is studying in France and goes to school in Portland, Oregon. Too bad, she has a bf.
Well after me attempting to be Don Juan, I missed my bus back to Cork. Being the ever clever man I am, I hailed a taxi and made it back with minutes to spare. My cabbie was pretty cool, in fact the took Irish cabbies I had were awesome. Good news, I made it to the train station in time.
On our last night in Dublin, Jay and I decided to go on a mini pub crawl. We started at an old man pub called Malloys, went to the "oldest" pub in Dublin, the Brazen Head and heard live music, and finished at Malloys.
Again. It's great to be 21 and traveling Europe.
At 5am the next morning, we left and scurried to the airport, via a cabbie with a ridiculously thicj Irish accent and I quote as we were leaving the cab...
"Best of luck to ya lads, come back Ireland and see us."
Yes sir, we will.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Miles from Ordinary: Part Dos
When you're on an island, what do you do? What every other person and college kid would do...park their butt on the sand and get their tan on. I seriously felt like I was in a Corona commerical, you know the "miles away from ordinary" commercials, yeah, it was like that. Except I didn't throw my cell phone into the water. The beaches were gorgeous, the day started off cloudy again and really windy, like think Lubbock, TX windy. We walked around awhile and went down one end of the beach to the side before deciding on a spot to just lay and relax. Oh just because you're on an island, doesn't mean the water is warm. The Canaries are in the Atlantic, the sun was hot, the water was brisk. The water had this intense color of blue, as it became more shallow, the more intense the blue became, it changed from a royal blue to a teal blue. I swear, I felt like I was England or in Germany with the amount of tourists that took over the beach, all I can say is that old guys in speedos should be permanently banned from the world. But hey, it's Europe, they just don't generally care over here, which is cool though, cause America is so looks driven.
After baking on the beach all day, Colten was like, "dude, let's go to Hooters." Thank you America. However, I was disappointed to say that the food wasn't awesome as in America and the waitresses were subpar, except for this one Spanish girl. Later one, we go back for dinner at this place called Aberdeen Steakhouse. You're probably thinking, "oh wow, expensive, Lance." Not really, For 7.95 euro a piece, we each got a 3 course meal. I got fish with garlic and tomato, it was excellent. Some of the best fish I've had or either I was really really hungry. In between all of this we, decide to go hang out and watch the sunset, except the sun is blocked by the island of La Gomera on the other side, however you can see just enough of it to be highly impressed.
The next day was our last day and we were due back in Sevilla late that night. However that day we missed our bus to El Teide, the volcano that's on the island by a few minutes. However it gives me something to go back and see. So my buddy and I hop on buses and ride around all day hitting the towns of Puerto de La Cruz, which is very Spanish feeling and rugged, how I imagine northern Spain to be. The second town was the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a whole different flair to it than either of the other towns we were in. Santa Cruz has a concert hall designed by some really famous architect and some buildings from the late 17th, 18th century which are cool. I think one of the highlights of the day was seeing black sand beaches and then eating paella at a cafe next to said beaches, watching the waves roll in and crash on the rocks.
We catch a bus towards the end of the day and head back to Tenerife North Airport and get checked in and in line we meet a girl named Holly from Long Island, NY. We meet her in line because we got this look in our eyes when we saw passports that say...Good, another American and not another English or German tourist. We talk to her for awhile and then board the plane. On the plane, I sit next to a nun, who is praying the rosary and probably St. Christopher before our takeoff. Also there was a flamenco group from Sevilla, who probably performed at Mueca, the international festival in Puerto. The said group was also playing their instruments while we were waiting in the Airport. Only in Spain, Only Andalucians. Finally, an entire soccer team, Cordoba S.A.D. boards on the plane. Sounds like a joke..."so a nun, a football team, and a flamenco band walk into this bar..."
We get back to Sevilla around 12:30 in the morning and I don't get home till 1:15 and I don't get into bed until 3 because I have do a thing called schoolwork. But on our walk back home, Colten and I walk Holly back to her apartment, because we all generally live in the same area. To summarize that, we made a new friend and we can hang out with her and her friends. Awesome.
Viva la vida.
So next week look for a Dublin and Semana Santa update.
After baking on the beach all day, Colten was like, "dude, let's go to Hooters." Thank you America. However, I was disappointed to say that the food wasn't awesome as in America and the waitresses were subpar, except for this one Spanish girl. Later one, we go back for dinner at this place called Aberdeen Steakhouse. You're probably thinking, "oh wow, expensive, Lance." Not really, For 7.95 euro a piece, we each got a 3 course meal. I got fish with garlic and tomato, it was excellent. Some of the best fish I've had or either I was really really hungry. In between all of this we, decide to go hang out and watch the sunset, except the sun is blocked by the island of La Gomera on the other side, however you can see just enough of it to be highly impressed.
The next day was our last day and we were due back in Sevilla late that night. However that day we missed our bus to El Teide, the volcano that's on the island by a few minutes. However it gives me something to go back and see. So my buddy and I hop on buses and ride around all day hitting the towns of Puerto de La Cruz, which is very Spanish feeling and rugged, how I imagine northern Spain to be. The second town was the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a whole different flair to it than either of the other towns we were in. Santa Cruz has a concert hall designed by some really famous architect and some buildings from the late 17th, 18th century which are cool. I think one of the highlights of the day was seeing black sand beaches and then eating paella at a cafe next to said beaches, watching the waves roll in and crash on the rocks.
We catch a bus towards the end of the day and head back to Tenerife North Airport and get checked in and in line we meet a girl named Holly from Long Island, NY. We meet her in line because we got this look in our eyes when we saw passports that say...Good, another American and not another English or German tourist. We talk to her for awhile and then board the plane. On the plane, I sit next to a nun, who is praying the rosary and probably St. Christopher before our takeoff. Also there was a flamenco group from Sevilla, who probably performed at Mueca, the international festival in Puerto. The said group was also playing their instruments while we were waiting in the Airport. Only in Spain, Only Andalucians. Finally, an entire soccer team, Cordoba S.A.D. boards on the plane. Sounds like a joke..."so a nun, a football team, and a flamenco band walk into this bar..."
We get back to Sevilla around 12:30 in the morning and I don't get home till 1:15 and I don't get into bed until 3 because I have do a thing called schoolwork. But on our walk back home, Colten and I walk Holly back to her apartment, because we all generally live in the same area. To summarize that, we made a new friend and we can hang out with her and her friends. Awesome.
Viva la vida.
So next week look for a Dublin and Semana Santa update.
Miles Away From Ordinary
It's been a little busy for me this past week, with school winding down and about a MONTH LEFT IN SPAIN. It's crazy how fast the time has gone by here. I am going to Dublin, Ireland this weekend starting Saturday and return Tuesday, where I have no school at all because here it is Semana Santa or Holy Week for easter. I am staying in Seville that week to save some money and take in the Spanish culture of Semana Santa. It's supposed to be unbelievably crowded that week. The following week is school, then finals, then a bullfight on April 17th, then I am done on April 24th and Feria starting April 28th. I am planning to be gone to Germany and the Czech Republic between now and then as well. Then good ol' Mesquite, Texas on May 7th.
Goodness, I have quite a busy life.
Ok let's recap my weekend. I went on a weekend adventure to the Canary Islands. Yes, I know be jealous, all you want. My buddy from the school, Colten, and I went and stayed at hotel that were near all the bars and discotecas on the southern part of the island. Oh, it didn't hurt we were staying pretty much on the water too. It's such a hard life. The Canary Islands are 200 miles off the west coast of Africa between Morocco and Western Sahara. So tell that tells you how far I was away from Spain, but the Canaries are still Spanish territory. However, it didn't feel like it with all the British and German retirees. I felt like it was the UK with a sunburn or the European Florida.
Fun fact about the Canary Islands: Christopher Columbus stopped there on the way to the Americas and General Franco was "governor" of the islands because the Spaniards didn't really want him on the mainland. I think we all know how that one went down.
Friday started off leaving school and catching the 32 busline (the one I take to school every morning) to Sevilla Santa Justa Train Station. On my way to the bus station, there was a character with a makeshift pipe and tray made out of aluminum smoking God knows what on the bus in the back. Every now and then, he'd take a hit of whatever he was smoking and then quickly and furtively duck back down in the very back seat and open the window for ventilation. Being in Europe, I have seen more stuff here than I think I would ever back home.
On the way to the airport, I met a couple around my age who were Spaniards and asked them if the bus I needed was gonna take me to the Sevilla Airport, when I got to the airport they were standing in line and bound for the island of Tenerife, just as I was. My buddy and I get on the plane and chill out for the 2 and a half hour plane ride, because a) it's long way from the mainland and b) Tenerife is on the same time zone as Portugal and England. Flying into Tenerife was way cool, I have never been to Hawaii, but I assume it's what it looks like. Mountains and greenery everywhere on the North side of the Island. Words nor pictures can accurately take in how beautiful it was. Colten and I proceed next to take a bus to our hotel on the Playa de Las Americas which is about an hour and a half bus ride from Tenerife North. The ride there was beautiful with seeing different terrain and the mountains, plus the mist and clouds in the air. It was lighting raining when we got in. We spent and chilled some time just relaxing after traveling all afternoon and decided to go get some food. Just to let you know how Americanized/English the island of Tenerife is they have a Tony Roma's and a Hooters, besides a restaurant as hokey as it sounds, American Dreamz, was actually real cheap and really good, they had jalepenos.
Later that night after dinner, we get persuaded to go to this bar by an Irish guy working for this bar because he gave us drink coupons. We go in and find ourself, just hanging out and find a table to just sit and talk and bask in the manliness that is two pints for 5 euro. We were approached by one of the girls working at the bar who was from Bristol, England. I'm not the one to say that the British people are the most attractive in the world, but she was definitely gorgeous. We found out she had been in Tenerife for 3 weeks and didn't know any Spanish at all and was gonna work there all summer and then move back to Bristol. Colten and I the rest of the night decided to talk about every girl we saw in Spanish, because I didn't see an entire Spanish girl the entire night.
Boys will be boys. Cute English girl received an "once"
Day 2 and 3 next...
Goodness, I have quite a busy life.
Ok let's recap my weekend. I went on a weekend adventure to the Canary Islands. Yes, I know be jealous, all you want. My buddy from the school, Colten, and I went and stayed at hotel that were near all the bars and discotecas on the southern part of the island. Oh, it didn't hurt we were staying pretty much on the water too. It's such a hard life. The Canary Islands are 200 miles off the west coast of Africa between Morocco and Western Sahara. So tell that tells you how far I was away from Spain, but the Canaries are still Spanish territory. However, it didn't feel like it with all the British and German retirees. I felt like it was the UK with a sunburn or the European Florida.
Fun fact about the Canary Islands: Christopher Columbus stopped there on the way to the Americas and General Franco was "governor" of the islands because the Spaniards didn't really want him on the mainland. I think we all know how that one went down.
Friday started off leaving school and catching the 32 busline (the one I take to school every morning) to Sevilla Santa Justa Train Station. On my way to the bus station, there was a character with a makeshift pipe and tray made out of aluminum smoking God knows what on the bus in the back. Every now and then, he'd take a hit of whatever he was smoking and then quickly and furtively duck back down in the very back seat and open the window for ventilation. Being in Europe, I have seen more stuff here than I think I would ever back home.
On the way to the airport, I met a couple around my age who were Spaniards and asked them if the bus I needed was gonna take me to the Sevilla Airport, when I got to the airport they were standing in line and bound for the island of Tenerife, just as I was. My buddy and I get on the plane and chill out for the 2 and a half hour plane ride, because a) it's long way from the mainland and b) Tenerife is on the same time zone as Portugal and England. Flying into Tenerife was way cool, I have never been to Hawaii, but I assume it's what it looks like. Mountains and greenery everywhere on the North side of the Island. Words nor pictures can accurately take in how beautiful it was. Colten and I proceed next to take a bus to our hotel on the Playa de Las Americas which is about an hour and a half bus ride from Tenerife North. The ride there was beautiful with seeing different terrain and the mountains, plus the mist and clouds in the air. It was lighting raining when we got in. We spent and chilled some time just relaxing after traveling all afternoon and decided to go get some food. Just to let you know how Americanized/English the island of Tenerife is they have a Tony Roma's and a Hooters, besides a restaurant as hokey as it sounds, American Dreamz, was actually real cheap and really good, they had jalepenos.
Later that night after dinner, we get persuaded to go to this bar by an Irish guy working for this bar because he gave us drink coupons. We go in and find ourself, just hanging out and find a table to just sit and talk and bask in the manliness that is two pints for 5 euro. We were approached by one of the girls working at the bar who was from Bristol, England. I'm not the one to say that the British people are the most attractive in the world, but she was definitely gorgeous. We found out she had been in Tenerife for 3 weeks and didn't know any Spanish at all and was gonna work there all summer and then move back to Bristol. Colten and I the rest of the night decided to talk about every girl we saw in Spanish, because I didn't see an entire Spanish girl the entire night.
Boys will be boys. Cute English girl received an "once"
Day 2 and 3 next...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Devil Wears Prado
Madrid, the capital of Spain is a completely different city than from Barcelona or any other city in Spain I have been too. Madrid is a relatively new city in terms of the history in Spain. Madrid became the capital of Spain in 1560 after Toledo was sworn off being the capital after a 1521 revolt by some farmers. Bad move, guys. So Madrid does not have all the Roman and Arab history as much as Andalucia does. However, in Madrid there are some fantastic museums such as the Reina Sofia, which is home to works by Dali and the famous Guernica painting by Pablo Picasso. However, the other massive museum there is the Prado. The Prado is home to some of the best Spanish artists, royal paintings, and El Greco works along with Velazquez. One of my favorite paintings is a Velazquez, Christ on the Cross. Madrid has a fantastic Metro system which I navigated with ease. I am the conquistador of the Metros. Other cool things I saw in Madrid, the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol area, the Parque del Retiro, that is like Central Park of Madrid. I went to a 7 story nightclub/discoteca called Kapital. Es muy caro! I also visited one of the biggest and one of the most well known stadiums in Europe and the world, Santiago Bernabeau, the home to Real Madrid. I went on a walking tour to the above places with my Spanish 1607 teacher who used to live in Segovia and has been to Madrid more times than she can count, so she's an expert on the city. In Madrid, I had the best Chinese food in my life thus far. Yes, Chinese food. Speaking Spanish in a Chinese restaurant is a definite cultural blend.
The hotel I stayed at was currently undergoing renovations while we stayed there, so it was basically gutted out except for the hotel rooms, it had this Animal House, Extreme Makeover vibe to it. On Sunday, we took the AVE back from Madrid to Sevilla, better than sitting in a bus for 6 or 7 hours. Madrid was a lot of fun, however I prefer Barcelona as my favorite Spanish city.
P.S.
*I forgot that The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is in a chapel in Toledo along with his body.
* I saw Goya's frescoes and the chapel he's buried in Madrid.
* Madrid's Prado has very famous works by Goya too.
Well, I have to get back to my week of being busy then it's off to the Canary Islands and Tenerife.
The hotel I stayed at was currently undergoing renovations while we stayed there, so it was basically gutted out except for the hotel rooms, it had this Animal House, Extreme Makeover vibe to it. On Sunday, we took the AVE back from Madrid to Sevilla, better than sitting in a bus for 6 or 7 hours. Madrid was a lot of fun, however I prefer Barcelona as my favorite Spanish city.
P.S.
*I forgot that The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is in a chapel in Toledo along with his body.
* I saw Goya's frescoes and the chapel he's buried in Madrid.
* Madrid's Prado has very famous works by Goya too.
Well, I have to get back to my week of being busy then it's off to the Canary Islands and Tenerife.
Madrid Trip Cont.
Day 2 was on to the Hapsburg palace of El Escorial and Segovia. The palace of El Escorial is massive and is where all the kings and queens of Spain with the exception of a few are buried. El Escorial is quite a contrast from the other palace I saw, which is La Granja de San Ildefonso. It's a Bourbon palace modeled after Versailles minus the bajillion mirrors. Out of the two, La Granja is my favorite which contains some phenomenal gardens. La Granja and El Escorial are some pretty good examples of 18th and 17th archeitectural styles of the period. El Escorial has a cold, feel to it, while La Granja is very warm and...French. All of the art contained or most of it is in the Prado in Madrid.
Segovia is also one of my favorite cities in Spain now. Segovia has the famous aquaduct built by the Romans in the 1st or 2nd century after Christ. Also, Segovia is phenomenal for it's Alcazar and the Cathedral. The Alcazar is one of the castles that the Walt Disney castle is modeled after. I had lunch at a place that sells Durums, or Turkish versions of burritos. I met a retired couple and their friends who were from Alabama and the other couple was from Houston. The couple from Alabama had been to Europe going on 21 times. After they left, I wound up talking to a group of students who were living near Madrid and going to a soccer academy. They were between the ages of 13-17, some from the United States and some from else where.
After Segovia, was on to Madrid.
* P.S. I went to a pre-Roman Catholic mass in Toledo. It was done in Latin and in Gregorian chants.
Segovia is also one of my favorite cities in Spain now. Segovia has the famous aquaduct built by the Romans in the 1st or 2nd century after Christ. Also, Segovia is phenomenal for it's Alcazar and the Cathedral. The Alcazar is one of the castles that the Walt Disney castle is modeled after. I had lunch at a place that sells Durums, or Turkish versions of burritos. I met a retired couple and their friends who were from Alabama and the other couple was from Houston. The couple from Alabama had been to Europe going on 21 times. After they left, I wound up talking to a group of students who were living near Madrid and going to a soccer academy. They were between the ages of 13-17, some from the United States and some from else where.
After Segovia, was on to Madrid.
* P.S. I went to a pre-Roman Catholic mass in Toledo. It was done in Latin and in Gregorian chants.
The Devil Wears Prado, The Man from La Mancha and other things.
Feliz Martes!
I'm back from a solid trip to Madrid and the surrounding areas and on to another week of school. Like my dad once said, "I went to a party and school got in the way." Except the party here, is study abroad. However, all is well with school, so I'm pretty stoked about that.
Let's recap a week worth of travel in Madrid to a condensed post.
Last Tuesday, I set off for Madrid at 6:30 am on a bus bound for Calatrava, Almagro, and Toledo, the first leg of a five day adventure across Castille-Leon and Castille-La Mancha. The first stop traveling was to the Castilla de Calatrava La Nueva or the New Castle of Calatrava. This castle was built in the late 1100s or the early 1200s by the Knights of Calatrava. This castle was pretty cool, because it was on one side of an expansive valley across from the ruins of an Arab castle. Guess who won that battle? This castle was never successfully invaded and according to historians, the Arabs took one look at this castle on the hill and were like..Nope, not gonna invade this one. The views were amazing from the top. On the way to the castle we cut through mountain passes that reminded me a lot of Colorado and Guadulupe Mountains in Far West Texas. Our next stop was on to the tiny town of Almagro.
Almagro is home to a theater from the late 17th century of which it is a national monument. Apparently I didn't know Spanish theater was a big as it was and pretty popular for plays by Lope de Vega who far out wrote Shakespeare in the number of plays. Almagro also is home to several interesting things, for instance, pickled eggplant tapa. Also, free tapas with a purchase of a beer. I had a tapa that was "cuello de cerdo" covered in olive oil and other some peppers. It was interestng to eat to say the least. On the way to Toledo, we stopped by the famous windmills of Castille-La Mancha and was a setting in Don Quixote. The windmills in Spanish are called, los molinos de viento. It was pretty interesting to see the windmills and see that they are actually larger than they look. It was cool to see the contrast of the old windmill and the modern, windmills of today, against the horizon and across the valley from one another. Some things only need to be updated and not reinvented.
I'm back from a solid trip to Madrid and the surrounding areas and on to another week of school. Like my dad once said, "I went to a party and school got in the way." Except the party here, is study abroad. However, all is well with school, so I'm pretty stoked about that.
Let's recap a week worth of travel in Madrid to a condensed post.
Last Tuesday, I set off for Madrid at 6:30 am on a bus bound for Calatrava, Almagro, and Toledo, the first leg of a five day adventure across Castille-Leon and Castille-La Mancha. The first stop traveling was to the Castilla de Calatrava La Nueva or the New Castle of Calatrava. This castle was built in the late 1100s or the early 1200s by the Knights of Calatrava. This castle was pretty cool, because it was on one side of an expansive valley across from the ruins of an Arab castle. Guess who won that battle? This castle was never successfully invaded and according to historians, the Arabs took one look at this castle on the hill and were like..Nope, not gonna invade this one. The views were amazing from the top. On the way to the castle we cut through mountain passes that reminded me a lot of Colorado and Guadulupe Mountains in Far West Texas. Our next stop was on to the tiny town of Almagro.
Almagro is home to a theater from the late 17th century of which it is a national monument. Apparently I didn't know Spanish theater was a big as it was and pretty popular for plays by Lope de Vega who far out wrote Shakespeare in the number of plays. Almagro also is home to several interesting things, for instance, pickled eggplant tapa. Also, free tapas with a purchase of a beer. I had a tapa that was "cuello de cerdo" covered in olive oil and other some peppers. It was interestng to eat to say the least. On the way to Toledo, we stopped by the famous windmills of Castille-La Mancha and was a setting in Don Quixote. The windmills in Spanish are called, los molinos de viento. It was pretty interesting to see the windmills and see that they are actually larger than they look. It was cool to see the contrast of the old windmill and the modern, windmills of today, against the horizon and across the valley from one another. Some things only need to be updated and not reinvented.
Finally, after a very very long day of bus riding, We stopped for the night in the town of Toledo, home to ancient sword making techniques (where I purchased a Toledo-made dagger), the Spanish Inquisition, and the setting of Edgar Allen Poe's, The Pit and the Pendulum. Toledo is one my favorite Spanish cities I have been too. It's beautiful at night and in the day time. Very medieval. Also, I spent St. Patrick's Day in Toledo. Going to an Irish Pub in Toledo, seems odd to you? Well, wherever there is an Irish man, there will be a bar. It was packed, everyone manages to be Irish for a day, regardless if you are 100% Spanish or not.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Discovering the Waterfront
Hi all,
It's been a busy, rather slow week here in the wonderful, wild adventures of Lance. Slow and busy in the same sentence is quite dichotomous isn't it? This week had been spent gearing up for the big Madrid trip that I leave for on Tuesday.
This weekend was probably one of the least busy weekends for me that I've had since I arrived in Sevilla. I'm trying to save some money to put towards other trips and things. Saturday, I went to the beach city/port of Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is muy importante for several reasons: The birthplace of Julius Caesar, being the oldest inhabited city in Europe (founded in 1100 B.C.), and the world famous Cadiz Carnaval. Cadiz is only and hour and a half away from Seville and by walking around in the city, it has a very very very old feel to it. The city is built on and around city walls that drop into the ocean below. I went and saw the Cathedral, with it's impressive dome, the Roman Theater which literally is built in between apartments, and the Castle of Santa Catalina. The Castle of Santa Catalina was cool, because it was also used as a fort during the Napoleonic Wars. Inside there was a little art exhibition featuring the working of Enrique Gran and also a little place with some maps of the city of the time period and weaponry from the early 1800s. I really enjoyed Cadiz, it's a laid back beach city, but has some areas that are in the water that have rocky outcroppings that could pass for Maine or elsewhere. I enjoyed the beach of Cadz it's self, the sand was fine and grainy, which was nice. Definitely soaked up some sun and hung out with some people from the school and met some girls from Finland and one girl who was from Finland, but was born in Estonia. I probably walked 5 miles that day. On my way back I grabbed a cab to the bus station, where my cabbie thought I was from the UK, the conversation goes as follows:
(Side Note: Most people over here in Spain, assume I'm from the UK with my hair color and beard.)
Conversation
Cab Driver: Hay arena en la silla.
Lance: Mi desculpe senor
Cab Driver: Tu hables un poco Espanol
Lance: Si
Cabbie: Tu eres Ingleses?
Lance: Si
Cabbie: De Donde Eres in Inglaterra? Manchester, Liverpool, etc....
Lance: Soy de Liverpool, No me gusta el tiempo ahora en Inglaterra. Hace muy frio siempre.
Lance: Me gusta los Espanoles para Liverpool F.C. Ellos esta mas mejor que Chelsea and Real Madrid. Torres es buenissimo.
Cab Driver: Claro, Hay no playa in Sevilla, ja ja.
Lance: Si, solo el rio.
Also, apparently the gypsies have cell phones and they are loud and annoying on them.
Listening to flamenco at dusk, riding on a bus back to Sevilla was almost movie moment.
Today, was spent on a group excursion to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of the Beautiful Arts) This is one of the most important museums for Renaissance and Baroque art outside the Prado in Madrid. The museo contains important pieces from Sevillano painters like Velazquez, Murillo, and others. I visisted there earlier in the semester, but I really enjoyed the museum again.
I'm gearing up for the Madrid trip on Tuesday and I come back on Sunday. I will have plenty to write about when I return. We are gonna visit Segovia, Toledo, La Granja, El Escorial, Madrid, Calatrava and a few other places in the Castille-Leon/Castille La Mancha area.
Until next week...
It's been a busy, rather slow week here in the wonderful, wild adventures of Lance. Slow and busy in the same sentence is quite dichotomous isn't it? This week had been spent gearing up for the big Madrid trip that I leave for on Tuesday.
This weekend was probably one of the least busy weekends for me that I've had since I arrived in Sevilla. I'm trying to save some money to put towards other trips and things. Saturday, I went to the beach city/port of Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is muy importante for several reasons: The birthplace of Julius Caesar, being the oldest inhabited city in Europe (founded in 1100 B.C.), and the world famous Cadiz Carnaval. Cadiz is only and hour and a half away from Seville and by walking around in the city, it has a very very very old feel to it. The city is built on and around city walls that drop into the ocean below. I went and saw the Cathedral, with it's impressive dome, the Roman Theater which literally is built in between apartments, and the Castle of Santa Catalina. The Castle of Santa Catalina was cool, because it was also used as a fort during the Napoleonic Wars. Inside there was a little art exhibition featuring the working of Enrique Gran and also a little place with some maps of the city of the time period and weaponry from the early 1800s. I really enjoyed Cadiz, it's a laid back beach city, but has some areas that are in the water that have rocky outcroppings that could pass for Maine or elsewhere. I enjoyed the beach of Cadz it's self, the sand was fine and grainy, which was nice. Definitely soaked up some sun and hung out with some people from the school and met some girls from Finland and one girl who was from Finland, but was born in Estonia. I probably walked 5 miles that day. On my way back I grabbed a cab to the bus station, where my cabbie thought I was from the UK, the conversation goes as follows:
(Side Note: Most people over here in Spain, assume I'm from the UK with my hair color and beard.)
Conversation
Cab Driver: Hay arena en la silla.
Lance: Mi desculpe senor
Cab Driver: Tu hables un poco Espanol
Lance: Si
Cabbie: Tu eres Ingleses?
Lance: Si
Cabbie: De Donde Eres in Inglaterra? Manchester, Liverpool, etc....
Lance: Soy de Liverpool, No me gusta el tiempo ahora en Inglaterra. Hace muy frio siempre.
Lance: Me gusta los Espanoles para Liverpool F.C. Ellos esta mas mejor que Chelsea and Real Madrid. Torres es buenissimo.
Cab Driver: Claro, Hay no playa in Sevilla, ja ja.
Lance: Si, solo el rio.
Also, apparently the gypsies have cell phones and they are loud and annoying on them.
Listening to flamenco at dusk, riding on a bus back to Sevilla was almost movie moment.
Today, was spent on a group excursion to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of the Beautiful Arts) This is one of the most important museums for Renaissance and Baroque art outside the Prado in Madrid. The museo contains important pieces from Sevillano painters like Velazquez, Murillo, and others. I visisted there earlier in the semester, but I really enjoyed the museum again.
I'm gearing up for the Madrid trip on Tuesday and I come back on Sunday. I will have plenty to write about when I return. We are gonna visit Segovia, Toledo, La Granja, El Escorial, Madrid, Calatrava and a few other places in the Castille-Leon/Castille La Mancha area.
Until next week...
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Help Help Me Ronda
After a long night of fun, I woke up the next morning and hopped on the bus to the town of Ronda with my roommate, Warren, our friend Faith from school, and her friend Abby. At first when we got to Ronda we didn't see what the big deal was until we started walking around and exploring more. Talk about some scenic and amazing views. The bridge in Ronda that connects the old town and the new town is 200m to the bottom, or 600 feet! The view was spectacular from the bridge, over looking the other part of the town below and the river. Our group befriended a group of students who are taking a year off, before they start college in the fall. One was from Palo Alto,CA named Andrew, Jenna was from North Carolina, and Becca was from Chicago. We walked and wandered the town with them until they and our group went separate ways. Faith, Abby, and I went hiking on a trail among the ruins of an old castle and through abandoned houses and and a former power plant. You really could get some good views from our hike. The scenery was quite breathtaking everywhere we went.
Flamenco!
I was a first timer to flamenco on Friday night. After living in Sevilla for two months now, I had yet to make it to a flamenco show. (Side note: Happy 2 Months in Sevilla to me.)
Flamenco is the Andalusian and Spanish dance to what two stepping represents to Texans.
I started off first in the Barrio Santa Cruz to find a place that my Spain guidebook listed called "El Tamboril." I went, asked someone for directions, only to find the place was locked up for the evening. However, things don't cranked up and rowdy over here till midnight or later. So my next course of action was to head to Triana to find a "semi-secret" unmarked bar on Calle Pages de Corro. Apparently it's not so semi-secret cause Casa Anselma was definitely packed to the brim on Friday and a German camera crew from Berlin was filming something for Deutsche television. Pretty cool.
Casa Anselma is run, by Anselma who hosts these flamenco shows nightly along with her friends. It's very authentic and local, judging as I was the only American in there that night. Over the course of two hours watching flamenco, I talked to a couple from Zaragoza, in northern Spain, in between Madrid and Barcelona, they are down here for work. But they liked me so much, they bought me a few drinks. You have to admire the generosity of the Spaniards.
Flamenco is inspired by Arabic flavor, Gypsy dances, Spanish, and influences elsewhere. It's very much the heart and soul of traditional Spain.
In addition to the flamenco show, I explained how to two-step in Spanish to the couple. Music and dancing transcends language barriers and international borders.
At the end of the evening the show ended with a singing-prayer-ballad to the shrine of the Virgin Mary. Quite different, yet moving at the same time.
Flamenco is the Andalusian and Spanish dance to what two stepping represents to Texans.
I started off first in the Barrio Santa Cruz to find a place that my Spain guidebook listed called "El Tamboril." I went, asked someone for directions, only to find the place was locked up for the evening. However, things don't cranked up and rowdy over here till midnight or later. So my next course of action was to head to Triana to find a "semi-secret" unmarked bar on Calle Pages de Corro. Apparently it's not so semi-secret cause Casa Anselma was definitely packed to the brim on Friday and a German camera crew from Berlin was filming something for Deutsche television. Pretty cool.
Casa Anselma is run, by Anselma who hosts these flamenco shows nightly along with her friends. It's very authentic and local, judging as I was the only American in there that night. Over the course of two hours watching flamenco, I talked to a couple from Zaragoza, in northern Spain, in between Madrid and Barcelona, they are down here for work. But they liked me so much, they bought me a few drinks. You have to admire the generosity of the Spaniards.
Flamenco is inspired by Arabic flavor, Gypsy dances, Spanish, and influences elsewhere. It's very much the heart and soul of traditional Spain.
In addition to the flamenco show, I explained how to two-step in Spanish to the couple. Music and dancing transcends language barriers and international borders.
At the end of the evening the show ended with a singing-prayer-ballad to the shrine of the Virgin Mary. Quite different, yet moving at the same time.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
I Dont Speak Portuguese
Sorry for the delay in posting, It was a busy week and weekend with exams and a 4 day trip to Portugal.
Lisbon is an amazing city to visit, it's very modern and clean. It's quite a contrast from Sevilla, because in 1755, Lisbon had an earthquake that completely changed the layout and construction of the city. Only 10 million people live in Portugal, but more who speak Portuguese live in their former colonies. I really liked the city, it was very easy to get around and manuever on the Metro system and walk. It's quite a different walking experience than Sevilla.
I learned some Portuguese and learned the Spanish and the Portuguese hate each other. Case in point, while we crossed the border and stopped at a rest stop, a Portuguese woman and a Spanish woman arguing over something started hitting each other. I literally thought a war was gonna happen at the rest stop. Another example is when I was trying to find the Castle of St. George and I stopped to ask a kiosk vendor how to get to the castle, the conversation is as follows.
Me: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Vendor: *Blank Stare*
Me: Perdon, Hablas Espanol? Necesito direcciones al Castillo de San Jorge.
Vendor: PORTUGUES!
Me: Desculpe! Desculpe! Obrigado.
On to the fun part of my blog. Here's the adventure segment.
The first day was spent at 7:00 am on a bus and riding 6 hours to Lisboa. We only had two sites to visit that were mandatory, El Torre de Belen and the Jeronomite Monastery. The Torre de Belen was closing when we got there unfortunately. However, the Torre is famous for the defense of Lisbon when the Tower was in the middle of the river before the quake. The Jeronomite monastery is where a certain explorer named Vasco de Gama is buried. The rest of the time in Lisboa was free-time.
That night was spent looking around the downtown of Lisboa and then out to dinner eat at a Brazilian style steak house called Chimmurao. I ate there twice in the weekend.
Day 2 was spent at the Lisboa Zoo, which was in the heart of the city and was surrounded by apartments and great views of Lisboa on a tram that ran through the park. I always have a good time at a zoo. After that, I caught the Metro and went to the Castel de Sao Jorge. This was a castle with a 360 view of Lisboa and a view of the Atlantic, port, and the city. Simply incredible. The pictures don't do justice.
Day 3 was spent at the Oceanarium, which has the 2nd largest tank in the world as so I'm told. Very fun time there with my amigos and after that we had to hustle back and make it to the bus to visit the town of Sintra, a town 30 min away from Lisboa, but totally different. It was nestled in the hills. Sintra was the name of a poem by Lord Byron and apparently Hans Christian Andersen lived there for a time. I visited another Castle, which was awesome. The walk was intense to get it to it and while I was walking, clouds and rain rolled in, but it made the walk and the castle seem high above the earth. Again, pictures do not do justice.
After the castle stop, I had a glass of Port wine in a tavern. Port wine is a very sweet and potent wine. It's good, but not one of my favorites. The specialty wine I liked in Portugal was "vinho verde" or green wine. You can't buy it in the United States. I also tried Portuguese beer. Yeah, it was kind of nasty, the worst I've had thus far in Europe.
But that was the end of my adventure and back to Sevilla on Sunday on a very long bus ride.
I started my week again. I wonder where I'll go this time...
Lisbon is an amazing city to visit, it's very modern and clean. It's quite a contrast from Sevilla, because in 1755, Lisbon had an earthquake that completely changed the layout and construction of the city. Only 10 million people live in Portugal, but more who speak Portuguese live in their former colonies. I really liked the city, it was very easy to get around and manuever on the Metro system and walk. It's quite a different walking experience than Sevilla.
I learned some Portuguese and learned the Spanish and the Portuguese hate each other. Case in point, while we crossed the border and stopped at a rest stop, a Portuguese woman and a Spanish woman arguing over something started hitting each other. I literally thought a war was gonna happen at the rest stop. Another example is when I was trying to find the Castle of St. George and I stopped to ask a kiosk vendor how to get to the castle, the conversation is as follows.
Me: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Vendor: *Blank Stare*
Me: Perdon, Hablas Espanol? Necesito direcciones al Castillo de San Jorge.
Vendor: PORTUGUES!
Me: Desculpe! Desculpe! Obrigado.
On to the fun part of my blog. Here's the adventure segment.
The first day was spent at 7:00 am on a bus and riding 6 hours to Lisboa. We only had two sites to visit that were mandatory, El Torre de Belen and the Jeronomite Monastery. The Torre de Belen was closing when we got there unfortunately. However, the Torre is famous for the defense of Lisbon when the Tower was in the middle of the river before the quake. The Jeronomite monastery is where a certain explorer named Vasco de Gama is buried. The rest of the time in Lisboa was free-time.
That night was spent looking around the downtown of Lisboa and then out to dinner eat at a Brazilian style steak house called Chimmurao. I ate there twice in the weekend.
Day 2 was spent at the Lisboa Zoo, which was in the heart of the city and was surrounded by apartments and great views of Lisboa on a tram that ran through the park. I always have a good time at a zoo. After that, I caught the Metro and went to the Castel de Sao Jorge. This was a castle with a 360 view of Lisboa and a view of the Atlantic, port, and the city. Simply incredible. The pictures don't do justice.
Day 3 was spent at the Oceanarium, which has the 2nd largest tank in the world as so I'm told. Very fun time there with my amigos and after that we had to hustle back and make it to the bus to visit the town of Sintra, a town 30 min away from Lisboa, but totally different. It was nestled in the hills. Sintra was the name of a poem by Lord Byron and apparently Hans Christian Andersen lived there for a time. I visited another Castle, which was awesome. The walk was intense to get it to it and while I was walking, clouds and rain rolled in, but it made the walk and the castle seem high above the earth. Again, pictures do not do justice.
After the castle stop, I had a glass of Port wine in a tavern. Port wine is a very sweet and potent wine. It's good, but not one of my favorites. The specialty wine I liked in Portugal was "vinho verde" or green wine. You can't buy it in the United States. I also tried Portuguese beer. Yeah, it was kind of nasty, the worst I've had thus far in Europe.
But that was the end of my adventure and back to Sevilla on Sunday on a very long bus ride.
I started my week again. I wonder where I'll go this time...
Monday, February 23, 2009
Lance's 2 Minute Catalan Phrase Guide!
Visca Catalunya- Long Live Catalunya!
Rebaixes- Sales
Si, su plau- Yes please
Porxos- Bar
Carrer- Street
Xocolata- Chocolate
Salsixters- Hot Dogs
Adeu- Goodbye
La Platja- Beach
Amb- And
Xarxa- Metro Map
In a sentence: Senor, Necesito comprar algunos zapatos para la platja amb para la carrer.
In English: Sir, I need to buy some shoes for the beach and for the street.
Rebaixes- Sales
Si, su plau- Yes please
Porxos- Bar
Carrer- Street
Xocolata- Chocolate
Salsixters- Hot Dogs
Adeu- Goodbye
La Platja- Beach
Amb- And
Xarxa- Metro Map
In a sentence: Senor, Necesito comprar algunos zapatos para la platja amb para la carrer.
In English: Sir, I need to buy some shoes for the beach and for the street.
We Came, We Saw, We Conquered....Barcelona (Pt. 2)
Day 2 started off with another whirlwind adventure before we had to leave and catch a bus from Barcelona to the airport in Reus to fly back to Sevilla. I forgot to mention in my last post, that I have a new favorite ethnic culinary delight, kababs. Not the ones on skewers, but basically an Indian/Pakistani version of a burrito. AWESOME.
On Sunday, we went to the Barrio Gotic or the Gothic Quarter where the Cathedral of Barcelona was located. I wanted to take some exterior shots of the building, however the front was under renovation. I think the whole world is underconstruction sometimes. While we were in the Cathedral looking, we got to see part of of a Mass. It was interesting and amazing to see these friars and priests singing in a very large space, but their voices resonated through out the entirety. It was my first experience of a Catholic service and a Spanish one. I wanted to stay longer, but we had to move on to other destinations.
Our next stop was the Sagrada Familia, designed by Gaudi and overseen by him until his untimely death after being hit by a trolley car on his way to Mass. He died two days later. The project has been overseen since then and is scheduled for completion in 2026. This is considered one of the last great cathedrals of Christianity. The Sagrada is such a magnificient site to see, because once you understand the idea and simplicity behind the design, it's quite powerful to witness. All of Gaudi's designs were based on geometry found in nature. The Sagrada has a very natural feel about to it and it's designed that way for a reason, the columns supporting the building are supposed to be like tree trunks. Besides the Sagrada, itself, they had a nice museum that had models and sketches of the cathedral through the years and during the Spanish Civil War.
Finally we ended at Park Guell, once a gated enclave designed by Gaudi but it ended up failing, however the mansions are still there and the enclave is now a park with peddlers, tourists, and eclectic people running about. It offers a great view of the city and the Mediterreanean.
After all was said and done, we hurried back to the hostel in Badalona and rode to the Sants Station and boarded a bus back to Reus. Getting a seat on the bus arduous and sometimes scary, there was more people than seats, so we devised a plan to have one of the group members get crushed in line and buy 6 tickets for us all. We made it back into Sevilla at around 9:15 and decided to get some much needed grub for the night.
Whew. 4 days in Lisboa, Portugal this weekend.
On Sunday, we went to the Barrio Gotic or the Gothic Quarter where the Cathedral of Barcelona was located. I wanted to take some exterior shots of the building, however the front was under renovation. I think the whole world is underconstruction sometimes. While we were in the Cathedral looking, we got to see part of of a Mass. It was interesting and amazing to see these friars and priests singing in a very large space, but their voices resonated through out the entirety. It was my first experience of a Catholic service and a Spanish one. I wanted to stay longer, but we had to move on to other destinations.
Our next stop was the Sagrada Familia, designed by Gaudi and overseen by him until his untimely death after being hit by a trolley car on his way to Mass. He died two days later. The project has been overseen since then and is scheduled for completion in 2026. This is considered one of the last great cathedrals of Christianity. The Sagrada is such a magnificient site to see, because once you understand the idea and simplicity behind the design, it's quite powerful to witness. All of Gaudi's designs were based on geometry found in nature. The Sagrada has a very natural feel about to it and it's designed that way for a reason, the columns supporting the building are supposed to be like tree trunks. Besides the Sagrada, itself, they had a nice museum that had models and sketches of the cathedral through the years and during the Spanish Civil War.
Finally we ended at Park Guell, once a gated enclave designed by Gaudi but it ended up failing, however the mansions are still there and the enclave is now a park with peddlers, tourists, and eclectic people running about. It offers a great view of the city and the Mediterreanean.
After all was said and done, we hurried back to the hostel in Badalona and rode to the Sants Station and boarded a bus back to Reus. Getting a seat on the bus arduous and sometimes scary, there was more people than seats, so we devised a plan to have one of the group members get crushed in line and buy 6 tickets for us all. We made it back into Sevilla at around 9:15 and decided to get some much needed grub for the night.
Whew. 4 days in Lisboa, Portugal this weekend.
Life is One Big Carnaval (Barcelona Weekend) Part 1
Wow, what can I say, Barcelona is my favorite city in Spain that I have seen thus far. It's a very cosmopolitan, urban hub. The city is so expansive, but easy to get around with the Xarxa de Metro (Metro System in Catalan). You could lose yourself in Barcelona and wander around and see something new everyday, in terms of global cities, it's the more refined, less abrasive, less towering building-cousin to any major city in the US. Barcelona is a very different city, where people talk slower and people speak Catalan, Castellano or even Euskera compared to the fast talking Sevillanos. Catalunya as a region is quite a contrast from the laid back atmosphere of Andalucia. The language of Catalan itself is part French and part Spanish.
The weekend started with a late flight from Sevilla to Reus, a city 66 miles southwest of Barcelona. Flying out on a low-cost carrier such as Ryan Air, it was very non-descript. So far every plane I have been on in Europe I've had to walk across the tarmac to board the plane, quite different than the airports I've been too. My group stayed at this hostel called, Hostes Potau. This was a very no frills, family-run hostel that looked like it came out of the Franco-era, however it was a place to lay our heads for the evening after a long day of traveling. Friday night was lo-key by just going to a bar and getting some drinks and just discussing about the trip.
On Saturday, we took the RENFE from Reus to the Barcelona-Sants station to grab the Metro or in Catalan, the Xarxa. Our started off with us hitting the ground running and seeing as much as we could in a day. We went to Montjuic, literally translated-"Mount of the Jews" which has a view of the city to where you can see the Sagrada Familia. Montjuic is where the Jews in Barcelona had to live because they weren't allowed to anywhere else in Barcelona at the time. Near the area was the Olympic Museum for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the Estadio Olympico which hosts one of the football teams in Barcelona, The Estadio Olympico while not as visually arresting as the Bird's Nest in China or the Water Cube, the Estadio Olympic is based on Roman architecture and an homage the legendary colliseums of that time period. The Olympics help put Barcelona back on the map not only for themselves but for the people of Spain.
In the time of the Spanish Civil War or Guerra Civil, Barcelona was one of the major non-Franco cities. Speaking of the Civil War, the Basilica of Santa Maria, a Gothic structure was set on fire and the wood burned, leaving the stone where you can still see the charred marks on the walls and ceiling.
One of the other many things we saw and conquered was the Picasso Museum. This was Picasso Museum #2 for me. You might remember from a previous post where I went to his town of birth, Malaga. Barcelona was home to Picasso from 1894-1907. The Picasso Museum was gigantic compared to the one in Malaga, but personally I liked the collection of art of Picasso's in Malaga better, however it was neat to see things Picasso painted that were not Cubist or surreal, but everyday life such as his academic figure studies or his paintings of friends and family.
Towards the end of the evening we walked around Barcelona in search of buildings by Antoni Gaudi, one of the most famous architects of the 20th Century. Very impressive and surreal compared to his American contemporary, Frank Lloyd Wright.
The night ended with us going to eat dinner at a Catalan restaurant, where everyone either got grilled chicken or sausage. I decided to be the adventurous one and said, "Hey that sounds like that might be good." I ordered "conejo a la brasa." For those of you who don't speak Spanish, it was a rabbit grilled on the BBQ. I got served part of a rabbit, with the half being the head still attached, no floppy ears or eyes still intact though. It was really good actually, white meat so it automatically tastes like chicken, The night culminated with us heading down to the beach in Badalona( a town across the river from Barcelona) where our hostel was and a 15 minute metro ride from the city center. We sat and talked by the water till 2 or 3am before we decided to back and get some sleep and continue on the next morning. The hostel in Badalona was funky, eclectic, and super cheap. This one is in tie for the hostel in Malaga. Six of us shared a room, where as the night before it was three to a room.
That was Day 1. Read on for Day 2.
The weekend started with a late flight from Sevilla to Reus, a city 66 miles southwest of Barcelona. Flying out on a low-cost carrier such as Ryan Air, it was very non-descript. So far every plane I have been on in Europe I've had to walk across the tarmac to board the plane, quite different than the airports I've been too. My group stayed at this hostel called, Hostes Potau. This was a very no frills, family-run hostel that looked like it came out of the Franco-era, however it was a place to lay our heads for the evening after a long day of traveling. Friday night was lo-key by just going to a bar and getting some drinks and just discussing about the trip.
On Saturday, we took the RENFE from Reus to the Barcelona-Sants station to grab the Metro or in Catalan, the Xarxa. Our started off with us hitting the ground running and seeing as much as we could in a day. We went to Montjuic, literally translated-"Mount of the Jews" which has a view of the city to where you can see the Sagrada Familia. Montjuic is where the Jews in Barcelona had to live because they weren't allowed to anywhere else in Barcelona at the time. Near the area was the Olympic Museum for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the Estadio Olympico which hosts one of the football teams in Barcelona, The Estadio Olympico while not as visually arresting as the Bird's Nest in China or the Water Cube, the Estadio Olympic is based on Roman architecture and an homage the legendary colliseums of that time period. The Olympics help put Barcelona back on the map not only for themselves but for the people of Spain.
In the time of the Spanish Civil War or Guerra Civil, Barcelona was one of the major non-Franco cities. Speaking of the Civil War, the Basilica of Santa Maria, a Gothic structure was set on fire and the wood burned, leaving the stone where you can still see the charred marks on the walls and ceiling.
One of the other many things we saw and conquered was the Picasso Museum. This was Picasso Museum #2 for me. You might remember from a previous post where I went to his town of birth, Malaga. Barcelona was home to Picasso from 1894-1907. The Picasso Museum was gigantic compared to the one in Malaga, but personally I liked the collection of art of Picasso's in Malaga better, however it was neat to see things Picasso painted that were not Cubist or surreal, but everyday life such as his academic figure studies or his paintings of friends and family.
Towards the end of the evening we walked around Barcelona in search of buildings by Antoni Gaudi, one of the most famous architects of the 20th Century. Very impressive and surreal compared to his American contemporary, Frank Lloyd Wright.
The night ended with us going to eat dinner at a Catalan restaurant, where everyone either got grilled chicken or sausage. I decided to be the adventurous one and said, "Hey that sounds like that might be good." I ordered "conejo a la brasa." For those of you who don't speak Spanish, it was a rabbit grilled on the BBQ. I got served part of a rabbit, with the half being the head still attached, no floppy ears or eyes still intact though. It was really good actually, white meat so it automatically tastes like chicken, The night culminated with us heading down to the beach in Badalona( a town across the river from Barcelona) where our hostel was and a 15 minute metro ride from the city center. We sat and talked by the water till 2 or 3am before we decided to back and get some sleep and continue on the next morning. The hostel in Badalona was funky, eclectic, and super cheap. This one is in tie for the hostel in Malaga. Six of us shared a room, where as the night before it was three to a room.
That was Day 1. Read on for Day 2.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Love is Battlefield (The V-Day Post)
I hate Valentine's Day. I absolutely hate it. I don't understand the point of it, if you want to do something nice for someone you love or like, there's plenty other days in the year to do it. But I regress.
For Valentine's Day instead of sitting around, I went back to the beach town Matalascanas. Matalascanas is only a hop, skip, and a step from Sevilla. In fact, it's a very short 1 and 15 minute bus ride and it was super cheap, 12.43 euro in fact! The beach was nice and relaxing with not that many people on the beach, since it's off-season. It was nice to enjoy the quiet of the beach and just sit and watch the tide come in and watch the waves roll in endlessly. I got back into the water again and it was still REALLY cold. Nothing was better in the day than just sitting on the sand and watching the waves and eating an ice cream and not worrying about anything. I like days like that. Most of the town was more of apartments, chiringuitos, and houses than an urban setting, quite a contrast from Malaga.
That night when I got back in town I went out again with my friends after a long relaxing back at the beach. Too bad everyday can't be like that.
For Valentine's Day instead of sitting around, I went back to the beach town Matalascanas. Matalascanas is only a hop, skip, and a step from Sevilla. In fact, it's a very short 1 and 15 minute bus ride and it was super cheap, 12.43 euro in fact! The beach was nice and relaxing with not that many people on the beach, since it's off-season. It was nice to enjoy the quiet of the beach and just sit and watch the tide come in and watch the waves roll in endlessly. I got back into the water again and it was still REALLY cold. Nothing was better in the day than just sitting on the sand and watching the waves and eating an ice cream and not worrying about anything. I like days like that. Most of the town was more of apartments, chiringuitos, and houses than an urban setting, quite a contrast from Malaga.
That night when I got back in town I went out again with my friends after a long relaxing back at the beach. Too bad everyday can't be like that.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
1492
This Friday was a day trip to the town of La Rabida and Moguer, Spain. La Rabida is home to a famous monastery where Columbus or Cristobal Colon( has he's known over here) validated and provided evidence that world was indeed round. He discussed such matters with a Friar named
Perez. I got to go into the room where such discussions took place. La Rabida is also a still functioning monastery with 6 monks. I did not see any monks, however i'm sure they were around. This was the trip that I took the least amount of pictures because, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the monastery. However, there was a very well preserved Art Deco mural done during the 1929 Iberian-American fair at the monastery to commorate Colon and the New World.
In Moguer, it was a quick trip and visited a monument to the 1956 Nobel Literature winner, Juan Jimenez. Trivia #2: If you can tell me his most well known work, send me the answer.
And the surprise of the day was going to the beach at Matalascanas. It's near Huelva and Almonte. I liked this beach a tad better than the one in Malaga because it's a tiny town and not overly developed, very calm since it's not the middle of summer. I braved the water and was one of the few hearty souls to take on the Atlantic. More about Matalascanas in the next post.
Perez. I got to go into the room where such discussions took place. La Rabida is also a still functioning monastery with 6 monks. I did not see any monks, however i'm sure they were around. This was the trip that I took the least amount of pictures because, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the monastery. However, there was a very well preserved Art Deco mural done during the 1929 Iberian-American fair at the monastery to commorate Colon and the New World.
In Moguer, it was a quick trip and visited a monument to the 1956 Nobel Literature winner, Juan Jimenez. Trivia #2: If you can tell me his most well known work, send me the answer.
And the surprise of the day was going to the beach at Matalascanas. It's near Huelva and Almonte. I liked this beach a tad better than the one in Malaga because it's a tiny town and not overly developed, very calm since it's not the middle of summer. I braved the water and was one of the few hearty souls to take on the Atlantic. More about Matalascanas in the next post.
Three Lions Without a Mane
The big game was Thursday. Spain and England played in a one sided game with Spain being the champions winning 2-0. However, I went for the atmosphere and experience of being around crazy fans and the stories are true of the British football fans and I'm here to validate that. Yes it's true. I was at a bar/restaurant next to the stadium and sitting there, just lazily talking to some Americans I had befriended along the way. The next thing you know I hear a lot of commotion and noise outside, turns out two British fans got sent to the hospital after a skirmish with some Spanish fans. The difference between the Spanish fans and the British is that the Spaniards can still fight because they aren't so beligerently drunk. Another story from the day, I found out from a professor of mine and some other people in my class who were over at a bar near the Cathedral at this Irish pub called Flaherty's, there were some even more ridiculous British fans. Several British fans were outside naked, yelling and throwing things at cars and at a people on the street and probably singing "God Save the Queen" or any chants of England that has to do with soccer.
For the game itself, Spain had most of the ball possession and had more pep in their step and technique than England did. David Beckham came into the game with 20 minutes remaining and almost had an assist had it not been for an epic power save by a Spanish defender. So sorry England to rain on your parade. Spain obviously looked good after repeating as Euro Cup champions last year.
If you can tell me what the Three Lions are, shoot me a message on Facebook or email me. I'll be impressed that you took the time to research my title.
For the game itself, Spain had most of the ball possession and had more pep in their step and technique than England did. David Beckham came into the game with 20 minutes remaining and almost had an assist had it not been for an epic power save by a Spanish defender. So sorry England to rain on your parade. Spain obviously looked good after repeating as Euro Cup champions last year.
If you can tell me what the Three Lions are, shoot me a message on Facebook or email me. I'll be impressed that you took the time to research my title.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Are You Ready For Some Futbol?
The big game is tonight. Spain versus England in Sevilla at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. I probably would be there except my debit card wouldn't work at "La Caixa". Oh well I'm gonna hang out some friends and people watch at Nervion Plaza and watch all the drunk Brits head to the game, then move over to a bar and actually watch the game. Should be interesting tonight and fun. Apparently there's supposed to be more police tonight. I think they are more for the Brits than for the Spaniards. All the girls from the school that are going to the game are going absolutely crazy about David Beckham, whatever. I just hope Spain beats down England tonight.
The "crises economica" has reached Spain. The workers of Renault and other organizations marched down Calle Recaredo over the economic crises in a strike. Economic crises aren't stopped by water or country borders, but it has now reached Spain. The Euro is dropping closer to the American dollar, so that's good I guess for the exchange rate. My host family apparently is really involved with forums and other things over human rights and the economy because they went to Osuna, Spain for a giant meeting.
I forgot to mention I did some basic computer help with my host dad in Spanish to fix Microsoft Word 07 and fix his printer.
It's the little things...
The "crises economica" has reached Spain. The workers of Renault and other organizations marched down Calle Recaredo over the economic crises in a strike. Economic crises aren't stopped by water or country borders, but it has now reached Spain. The Euro is dropping closer to the American dollar, so that's good I guess for the exchange rate. My host family apparently is really involved with forums and other things over human rights and the economy because they went to Osuna, Spain for a giant meeting.
I forgot to mention I did some basic computer help with my host dad in Spanish to fix Microsoft Word 07 and fix his printer.
It's the little things...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Things About Me and Things About Spain
I wish I could write everyday about what happens, but somedays are like any other..just in a foreign country. Some days nothing happens. Well for the school aspect, I am doing great. I have an A in my first Spanish class of the year and hope I did well on my history exam.
Things that are going on in Spain right now...
- The weather is still wacky, Granada was the coldest spot in Spain.
- Spain plays England in a friendly match in Sevilla (wish I was going) on Wednesday
-Real Betis, one of the last place teams in La Liga, beat Sevilla in a complete shocker
Things that are going on in Spain right now...
- The weather is still wacky, Granada was the coldest spot in Spain.
- Spain plays England in a friendly match in Sevilla (wish I was going) on Wednesday
-Real Betis, one of the last place teams in La Liga, beat Sevilla in a complete shocker
Tales of the Alhambra (and then some)
Hello Again, family and friends. Welcome back to another edition of the Burning of the Midnight Lamp.
This past weekend's adventures was spent in a very cold, and a very damp city of Granada, Spain. For a little background on the city of Granada, let me take you back to the year of 1492. Yes, 1492, the Year of Columbus, but also more importantly, it was the year that Granada was the last hold out of the Moors in the Christian Reconquest of Spain. Not only were the Moors driven out of Spain, but Isabella drove the Jews out of Spain too.
The adventure started on a really early morning to a college student at 7 am as we boarded the bus and drove 3 hours to Granada. The town is at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas which is home to some great skiing and was home to the coldest spot in Spain this weekend at 8 degrees celsius! The tour of the Alhambra was first, and the Alhambra is massive! It is comprised of 3 palaces, numerous fountains, and more. The Alhambra was actually saved due to The Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. The recognition of the book paved a way for the Alhambra to be restored. Irving stayed at the Alhambra to write the book.
The gardens of the Generalife (pronounced hen-erah-leaf-ay) were next on the agenda. The gardens weren't the best I've seen in Spain so far, but had amazing views of the old city and the Albayzin or the Arab Quarter of town and the Alhambra. The Generalife was outside the city in Medieval Times.
Finally, was a visit to the Capilla Real or the Royal Chapel where King Ferdinand, Isabella, Juana La Loca, Charles the 5th, and their son are buried. It's kinda crazy to see the resting places of these famous people in history. No photos of that, we weren't allowed. Lame.
The rest of the weekend consisted of free time and sightseeing on our own. However, I just bummed around town because I was not feeling particularly well. I did, do karoake in a bar with some friends from the school. Yes, I sang Hotel California on duet with a buddy of mine named Jay. It was quite the experience and I think the Spaniards were making fun of us, but oh well it was a great time.
This past weekend's adventures was spent in a very cold, and a very damp city of Granada, Spain. For a little background on the city of Granada, let me take you back to the year of 1492. Yes, 1492, the Year of Columbus, but also more importantly, it was the year that Granada was the last hold out of the Moors in the Christian Reconquest of Spain. Not only were the Moors driven out of Spain, but Isabella drove the Jews out of Spain too.
The adventure started on a really early morning to a college student at 7 am as we boarded the bus and drove 3 hours to Granada. The town is at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas which is home to some great skiing and was home to the coldest spot in Spain this weekend at 8 degrees celsius! The tour of the Alhambra was first, and the Alhambra is massive! It is comprised of 3 palaces, numerous fountains, and more. The Alhambra was actually saved due to The Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. The recognition of the book paved a way for the Alhambra to be restored. Irving stayed at the Alhambra to write the book.
The gardens of the Generalife (pronounced hen-erah-leaf-ay) were next on the agenda. The gardens weren't the best I've seen in Spain so far, but had amazing views of the old city and the Albayzin or the Arab Quarter of town and the Alhambra. The Generalife was outside the city in Medieval Times.
Finally, was a visit to the Capilla Real or the Royal Chapel where King Ferdinand, Isabella, Juana La Loca, Charles the 5th, and their son are buried. It's kinda crazy to see the resting places of these famous people in history. No photos of that, we weren't allowed. Lame.
The rest of the weekend consisted of free time and sightseeing on our own. However, I just bummed around town because I was not feeling particularly well. I did, do karoake in a bar with some friends from the school. Yes, I sang Hotel California on duet with a buddy of mine named Jay. It was quite the experience and I think the Spaniards were making fun of us, but oh well it was a great time.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Old Man and the Sea.
This weekend, I went to Malaga, Spain. Malaga, Spain is on the Costa del Sol and the birthplace of Picasso and a home to Antonio Banderjas. I unfortuately did not get to see Antonio. However, I did go to the Picasso Musuem, set my two feet in the Mediterreanean Sea, visit a really cool Cathedral, take an exhausting hike up to this castle overlooking the sea, the city, and the mountains. Malaga is definitely a place I would go back too. I wore shorts on Friday, because the weather was THAT good. 70 degrees, sunny, and awesome. I stayed at this hostel called Casa Mata. This was my first time in a hostel, but I will judge every hostel from here on out on this one. The weekend was great, I even stumbled upon an AUTHENTIC Mexican food cafe on a side street in Malaga! The train ride over to Malaga was pretty wonderful, scenic with the terrain from rural, to mountainous, almost like Colorado and then back to the coast. Malaga reminded me a lot like the coast of California, very serene weather with mountains in the background. Next time I go I want to explore Marbella, Torremolinos, Nerja, and places in between. This was just a lazy, relaxed weekend. Sometimes you can still have fun and not go hard every weekend. Just make your own plans and see where the adventure takes you.
Vamos Sevilla!
Oh Man! What a weekend!
But first let me take you back to Thursday night to very loud and very rowdy Sevilla F.C and Valencia C.F. soccer game. I went to the game with several of my amigos from school and for the most part, we like dumb Americans, know nothing about soccer like the Europeans do. The game was a rematch of last week's come back victory by Valencia over Sevilla, however this time Sevilla won. Picture a tied match, 1-1 and Sevilla scores a goal in the last minute to win. How perfect was that? The game's intensity was matched by the fans. The fans make up the experience of the game with flag waving, chants and songs. I dont even understand soccer really and I was yelling and screaming like a Sevillano.
Observations I noticed from the night:
1. Alcohol is not sold at the stadium. Booze plus European football fans equals riots, so take out the booze beforehand and let people get liquored up before the game.
2. Any seat is a good seat in a soccer stadium.
3. Smoking is allowed in the seats of the stadium.
After the game, I took the bus and waited for another connection to El Centro, I talked to an
Italian guy from Palermo who needed directions to where I was headed. Trying speaking Spanish to someone who doesnt even speak English. Afterwards, I met some PR professionals from Mexico of all places at the bus stop. I make it to El Centro and eat at a rather good pizza place where I wind up meeting a Spanish student who is studying at Texas State in San Marcos.
But first let me take you back to Thursday night to very loud and very rowdy Sevilla F.C and Valencia C.F. soccer game. I went to the game with several of my amigos from school and for the most part, we like dumb Americans, know nothing about soccer like the Europeans do. The game was a rematch of last week's come back victory by Valencia over Sevilla, however this time Sevilla won. Picture a tied match, 1-1 and Sevilla scores a goal in the last minute to win. How perfect was that? The game's intensity was matched by the fans. The fans make up the experience of the game with flag waving, chants and songs. I dont even understand soccer really and I was yelling and screaming like a Sevillano.
Observations I noticed from the night:
1. Alcohol is not sold at the stadium. Booze plus European football fans equals riots, so take out the booze beforehand and let people get liquored up before the game.
2. Any seat is a good seat in a soccer stadium.
3. Smoking is allowed in the seats of the stadium.
After the game, I took the bus and waited for another connection to El Centro, I talked to an
Italian guy from Palermo who needed directions to where I was headed. Trying speaking Spanish to someone who doesnt even speak English. Afterwards, I met some PR professionals from Mexico of all places at the bus stop. I make it to El Centro and eat at a rather good pizza place where I wind up meeting a Spanish student who is studying at Texas State in San Marcos.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cordoba!
Well my internet has to decided to pull a Hal 3000 from ¨2001 A Space Odyssey¨ and decided to revolt against me, so I´m typing this from an overpriced Internet cafe with computers that barely work too. Again, you can´t have everything working perfectly.
Ok so this past weekend was a busy busy one. We went to the city of Cordoba on Friday. Cordoba at one time the largest city in the Western world and was a stronghold in Medieval times. Pretty freaking cool if you ask me, then again I like history. Cordoba is famous for the Great Mosque or the Mezquita, pronounced Mesquite. The mosque was also one of the largest in the world at one time, with around 990 columns. To me, Arab design in the Mosque is a little more asthetically pleasing than some of the gaudy Baroque stuff. The Arabs in the Mosque used floral patterns and geometric designs because they did not believe in having images. It´s a very open space, however in the 15th century a king of Spain who honeymooned in both Granada and Cordoba wanted some cathedrals and well they took out part of the Mezquita so in the middle of the mosque is a cathedral. The king was appalled at the destruction of part of the mosque because understood the design and beauty that the Moors put into it.
After the tour of the mosque, we walked around the very ancient city and looked at other sites in Cordoba.
Part two of the weekend consisted of a tour of the La Giralda Cathedral and the Real Alcazar in Sevilla. We got to go to the top of the bell tower of the La Giralda which is a former Arab minaret that the Christians converted into a bell tower. Such a spectacular view! The cathedral it´s self was mindblowingly large and full of gold and silver. Another interesting thing to see in the cathedral is some of the remains of Christopher Columbus. You might have heard of him and his voyages or perhaps the holiday named for him.
On to the Alcazar, the Alcazar was a former Moorish castle turned into Royal Palace used by the Royal family of Spain. It´s the Sevilla residence of the King and Queen of Spain. The Alcazar has some of the most spectacular gardens I have ever seen. In the alcazar were tapestries, gold everywhere, just very Old World mixed with Moorish design.
Now for the relaxing part of my weekend. I went out to the club again with the horde of Tech students to a club called Buddha, one the way there we befriended, Arvid from Sweden, Georgia from Serbia, Emil from Hungary, Annie from Hanover, Germany and some other girls from Berlin. It´s amazing to talk with people from Europe and realize just how cool they are to talk too.
No weekend is ever the same.
Ok so this past weekend was a busy busy one. We went to the city of Cordoba on Friday. Cordoba at one time the largest city in the Western world and was a stronghold in Medieval times. Pretty freaking cool if you ask me, then again I like history. Cordoba is famous for the Great Mosque or the Mezquita, pronounced Mesquite. The mosque was also one of the largest in the world at one time, with around 990 columns. To me, Arab design in the Mosque is a little more asthetically pleasing than some of the gaudy Baroque stuff. The Arabs in the Mosque used floral patterns and geometric designs because they did not believe in having images. It´s a very open space, however in the 15th century a king of Spain who honeymooned in both Granada and Cordoba wanted some cathedrals and well they took out part of the Mezquita so in the middle of the mosque is a cathedral. The king was appalled at the destruction of part of the mosque because understood the design and beauty that the Moors put into it.
After the tour of the mosque, we walked around the very ancient city and looked at other sites in Cordoba.
Part two of the weekend consisted of a tour of the La Giralda Cathedral and the Real Alcazar in Sevilla. We got to go to the top of the bell tower of the La Giralda which is a former Arab minaret that the Christians converted into a bell tower. Such a spectacular view! The cathedral it´s self was mindblowingly large and full of gold and silver. Another interesting thing to see in the cathedral is some of the remains of Christopher Columbus. You might have heard of him and his voyages or perhaps the holiday named for him.
On to the Alcazar, the Alcazar was a former Moorish castle turned into Royal Palace used by the Royal family of Spain. It´s the Sevilla residence of the King and Queen of Spain. The Alcazar has some of the most spectacular gardens I have ever seen. In the alcazar were tapestries, gold everywhere, just very Old World mixed with Moorish design.
Now for the relaxing part of my weekend. I went out to the club again with the horde of Tech students to a club called Buddha, one the way there we befriended, Arvid from Sweden, Georgia from Serbia, Emil from Hungary, Annie from Hanover, Germany and some other girls from Berlin. It´s amazing to talk with people from Europe and realize just how cool they are to talk too.
No weekend is ever the same.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
"Yeah that definitely has tentacles..."
Welcome to the food addition of my blog. All right so since I have been in Spain I have eaten things and tried foods that I probably won´t ever go back to eating and then there are some I would love to bring to Texas, such as the Spanish Tortilla. The tortilla over is actually a gigantic open face omlette with either onions, or potatoes, or just served plain by itself. If you put enough eggs and potatoes into it, its quite a handful to eat. The tortilla and paella are two of the Spanish dishes which are staples over here. However, every family makes their lunch and dinner a little different from the next family.
Here are some things about Spanish food you should know.
- Very few Spanish dishes are even close to Mexican food
-Dessert to the Spanish is either fruit or yogurt and the occasional flan.
-Candy consumption is high after the Christmas season that´s when a lot of candy is traditionally given.
- They like soup in all varieties.
- Pig in all its various names and forms, the Spaniards love. Jamon Serrano is 3 year old cured ham that is basically a giant ham leg set to cure and then you cut the leg.
- Seafood is used in a lot of dishes here. Shrimp, calamari, fish, etc...
(I ate mini baby squid or something like it the other day for lunch)
-Trying explaning what the difference between a Mexican tortilla and a Spanish tortilla to a Spanish Señora, she´ll look at you like your crazy-
- They don´t do spicy foods over here. Jalepeños, and any form of spice isnt used in cooking unless you go to a really touristy hotel or a restaurant.
-If you want to eat fresh things, be healthy, Spain is the country for it.
They love olives and anything olive related.
I have eaten some amazing meals over here though. That´s what study abroad is for, to broaden your gustatory senses.
Here are some things about Spanish food you should know.
- Very few Spanish dishes are even close to Mexican food
-Dessert to the Spanish is either fruit or yogurt and the occasional flan.
-Candy consumption is high after the Christmas season that´s when a lot of candy is traditionally given.
- They like soup in all varieties.
- Pig in all its various names and forms, the Spaniards love. Jamon Serrano is 3 year old cured ham that is basically a giant ham leg set to cure and then you cut the leg.
- Seafood is used in a lot of dishes here. Shrimp, calamari, fish, etc...
(I ate mini baby squid or something like it the other day for lunch)
-Trying explaning what the difference between a Mexican tortilla and a Spanish tortilla to a Spanish Señora, she´ll look at you like your crazy-
- They don´t do spicy foods over here. Jalepeños, and any form of spice isnt used in cooking unless you go to a really touristy hotel or a restaurant.
-If you want to eat fresh things, be healthy, Spain is the country for it.
They love olives and anything olive related.
I have eaten some amazing meals over here though. That´s what study abroad is for, to broaden your gustatory senses.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Italica
Yesterday afternoon was spent visiting the Roman ruins of Italica in a town outside of Seville called Santiponce. The town of Italica, after being founded by the Romans was sacked by Visigoths from Germany in the 4th or 5th centuries who decided to destroy as much of the town as possible. However, a lot of the town still exists. We first viewed a presevered Roman amphitheater where they had Gladiator fights, yes, those gladiator fights. We next walked the Roman ruins of the "town" and saw structures that are over 2,000 years old. Simply amazing. In the town of Santiponce which is built on the ruins of Italica was the Roman theater. The Roman theater of Italica is still used for productions today.
Friday, January 16, 2009
A Day in the Life
Bienvenidos to another exciting post!
I've been here a week and I've established a routine here in Seville.
My day begins at 7:30 in the morning where I get ready and head to the bus stop at 8:1o. I catch the 32 Bus that heads from my apartment in Seville to the school. The 32 passes through the major centers of town by the Santa Justa train station, past Nervion Plaza and Sevilla F.C's stadium and Gran Plaza into the downtown area to the school. My first class is from 9am-12 pm where I take Spanish 1607 and I have a break till 5. During my break I take a siesta and eat a large Spanish lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. I go back to school at 5 till 6:30 for my History of Spain. The rest of the day I either go to Nervion Plaza to use the internet or go out with my roommate and our friends from Tech here in Sevilla. On the weekends is my time to go clubbing with everybody. We travel in a pack.
Italica this weekend! Italica has Roman ruins and has a preserved amphitheater. The town was founded in 206 B.C. Yes, you read it correctly.
I'll post pics later on!
I've been here a week and I've established a routine here in Seville.
My day begins at 7:30 in the morning where I get ready and head to the bus stop at 8:1o. I catch the 32 Bus that heads from my apartment in Seville to the school. The 32 passes through the major centers of town by the Santa Justa train station, past Nervion Plaza and Sevilla F.C's stadium and Gran Plaza into the downtown area to the school. My first class is from 9am-12 pm where I take Spanish 1607 and I have a break till 5. During my break I take a siesta and eat a large Spanish lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. I go back to school at 5 till 6:30 for my History of Spain. The rest of the day I either go to Nervion Plaza to use the internet or go out with my roommate and our friends from Tech here in Sevilla. On the weekends is my time to go clubbing with everybody. We travel in a pack.
Italica this weekend! Italica has Roman ruins and has a preserved amphitheater. The town was founded in 206 B.C. Yes, you read it correctly.
I'll post pics later on!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Rain in Spain....
Is not all that it´s cracked up to be. It´s cold and rainy today, the most it´s been in 40 years! I started my History of Spain and Spanish 1607. Spain is our classroom and speaking with other Spaniards and going into bars, cafes, restaurants, and host family is our homework.
I´m going to add pictures eventutally, but my computer doesn´t work all that well and we´re not allowed to add pics on facebook from the school computers.
Every day is a new experience here, I´m glad I made such a wonderful decision. For those reading this I encourage you to do the same.
Two days ago I visited Parque Maria Luisa and Plaza de Espana. Plaza de Espana was used in a scene in one of the Star Wars movies and it was built for the 1929 Iberian World´s Fair. It´s expansive and so beautiful pictures and postcards don´t do justice. Parque Maria Luisa is a garden, park, with Moorish influences and is a lush place.
I´m going to add pictures eventutally, but my computer doesn´t work all that well and we´re not allowed to add pics on facebook from the school computers.
Every day is a new experience here, I´m glad I made such a wonderful decision. For those reading this I encourage you to do the same.
Two days ago I visited Parque Maria Luisa and Plaza de Espana. Plaza de Espana was used in a scene in one of the Star Wars movies and it was built for the 1929 Iberian World´s Fair. It´s expansive and so beautiful pictures and postcards don´t do justice. Parque Maria Luisa is a garden, park, with Moorish influences and is a lush place.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Rebajas esta muy loco!
Yesterday was crazy. My roommate and I journeyed to Nervion Plaza so I could buy some new clothes and not wear one set for a week straight. Nervion Plaza is a newer shopping district next to Sevilla F.C.'s soccer stadium. Since it was the weekend there were EVEN more people shopping. The next stop on our journey was to find a place so I could use my internet. My computer is really really old by the way, so I have to use my roommate Warren's computer. We walked around the downtown of Sevilla again and went into Spain's equivalent of Macy's or Dilliard's, Corte Ingles. We took a bus back after figuring out the confusing bus system here. I think we've done okay since we've only been with our host family for two whole days. My Spanish is really progressing, I can speak it better and understand even more of it.
Last night, Warren and I met up with some our fellow Tech students on the bus, who live in our neighborhood to meet up with a large group of Tech people at a bar near the La Giralda. The bar was called Flaherty's. It wasn't a true Spanish bar, but it's more of a hang out for college students from all over. I ran into some of the group from UNC again. It's funny to see how large Sevilla is and run into the same folks again. Over the course of being at the bar, I met a group of French students from Paris who are studying in Spain. I also met two sisters from New Zealand on vacation to Spain. This is what I like at the bars here in Spain, you meet people from all over the world, people dance different here and Americans are the only ones who chug their drinks. Spain is a very safe city. When walking in a group, no one comes and begs for money or tries to hassle you and walking with friends late at night is very safe. I wouldn't do that in Dallas or in my own neighborhood.
Back to the foreign people I met, They said they love Americans and wanted to visit America and Texas or had visited and loved the people there. It's good to know some foreign people like the US.
Last night, Warren and I met up with some our fellow Tech students on the bus, who live in our neighborhood to meet up with a large group of Tech people at a bar near the La Giralda. The bar was called Flaherty's. It wasn't a true Spanish bar, but it's more of a hang out for college students from all over. I ran into some of the group from UNC again. It's funny to see how large Sevilla is and run into the same folks again. Over the course of being at the bar, I met a group of French students from Paris who are studying in Spain. I also met two sisters from New Zealand on vacation to Spain. This is what I like at the bars here in Spain, you meet people from all over the world, people dance different here and Americans are the only ones who chug their drinks. Spain is a very safe city. When walking in a group, no one comes and begs for money or tries to hassle you and walking with friends late at night is very safe. I wouldn't do that in Dallas or in my own neighborhood.
Back to the foreign people I met, They said they love Americans and wanted to visit America and Texas or had visited and loved the people there. It's good to know some foreign people like the US.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Sevilla Day Two
All right, it’s Day Two of the Luggage Crisis, and the day started off with a uniquely Spanish breakfast. The breakfast was a giant spread of fresh bread, which the Spanish love and use with every meal. There was sliced meats, cheeses, juices and other things. It’s definitely not your average hotel I stayed in. A little different than a Best Western and better breakfast food I assure you. The hotel is really nice, small rooms, but very efficient. One huge difference is you have to have your room key to operate the lights. They are big on energy conservation here.
Today was spent walking around Sevilla with the school guides for over 2 hours where we saw the city center and sights such as the orange trees that grow here and the La Giralda which is a massive Gothic cathedral built on Roman stones and Arab brickwork, We went down La Calle Serpento. It’s windy like a snake hence the name, but it’s a part of the downtown and all the shops. They are having the Rebajas right now, which is a giant city wide sale. Another fun thing is that it might snow for the first time since 1954 in Seville. The city is very medieval and all the streets are tiny and narrow barely big enough for a car.
Today was spent walking around Sevilla with the school guides for over 2 hours where we saw the city center and sights such as the orange trees that grow here and the La Giralda which is a massive Gothic cathedral built on Roman stones and Arab brickwork, We went down La Calle Serpento. It’s windy like a snake hence the name, but it’s a part of the downtown and all the shops. They are having the Rebajas right now, which is a giant city wide sale. Another fun thing is that it might snow for the first time since 1954 in Seville. The city is very medieval and all the streets are tiny and narrow barely big enough for a car.
The Adventure Begins
Day 1- Uno Dia
Hola a todos! We left on Jan 6th with an intrepid band of explorers..err Tech students. There were 8 of us on the flight from DFW to London Heathrow. As my first time ever to fly internationally, I was amazed by how many people could fit on an airplane. Being on a British flight is TOTALLY different than being on an American flight…Drinks were free and so were “adult beverages.” To quote Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction”…It’s the little differences. For instance you could order a beer and not get carded. Also they passed out mini wine bottles with the meal! The flight itself wasn’t too bad, just super long. My seat mates were Ashlee, a Tech student who is on the Seville study abroad program, and a man from Wylie flying to India. I couldn’t really sleep because of the time change. I don’t know if i’m still in sleep or awake mode, my body is so confused. Heathrow is really confusing and makes DFW look like Lubbock’s airport. In addition to the hustle and bustle of Heathrow, the weather was typically English, cold, dreary, and rainy, sort of like the flights attendants that waited on us.
On the second leg of the flight , I say by Ashlee again and a girl from Penn State. In front of me was a girl from the University of New Hampshire. There are kids from everywhere. From a small world standpoint, there was girl who flew from London to Madrid who was from Dallas and we had friends in common. So you’re probably thinking wow this has gone really smoothly.
We wait, wait, and wait some more. Our bags never arrive and we are stuck in the airport for almost 3 hours waiting on lost luggage. We spend those hours bantering back and forth in English and broken Spanish trying to find out where the heck our stuff is. Good news it will be sent to Sevilla sometime in the next day or so.
The Madrid Airport is actually outside of Madrid and the airport is really modern and an architectural beauty. The city of Madrid is clustered in pockets and spread out much like Dallas. The landscape of flying into Madrid was much like Texas. Rolling hills, grasslands, mountains. It reminds me of home in a weird way.
That’s all I have as I write this from the AVE, high speed train to Sevilla which takes 2 and a half hours.
Be good and be safe.
Adios mis amigos,
Hasta luego!
Lance.
Hola a todos! We left on Jan 6th with an intrepid band of explorers..err Tech students. There were 8 of us on the flight from DFW to London Heathrow. As my first time ever to fly internationally, I was amazed by how many people could fit on an airplane. Being on a British flight is TOTALLY different than being on an American flight…Drinks were free and so were “adult beverages.” To quote Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction”…It’s the little differences. For instance you could order a beer and not get carded. Also they passed out mini wine bottles with the meal! The flight itself wasn’t too bad, just super long. My seat mates were Ashlee, a Tech student who is on the Seville study abroad program, and a man from Wylie flying to India. I couldn’t really sleep because of the time change. I don’t know if i’m still in sleep or awake mode, my body is so confused. Heathrow is really confusing and makes DFW look like Lubbock’s airport. In addition to the hustle and bustle of Heathrow, the weather was typically English, cold, dreary, and rainy, sort of like the flights attendants that waited on us.
On the second leg of the flight , I say by Ashlee again and a girl from Penn State. In front of me was a girl from the University of New Hampshire. There are kids from everywhere. From a small world standpoint, there was girl who flew from London to Madrid who was from Dallas and we had friends in common. So you’re probably thinking wow this has gone really smoothly.
We wait, wait, and wait some more. Our bags never arrive and we are stuck in the airport for almost 3 hours waiting on lost luggage. We spend those hours bantering back and forth in English and broken Spanish trying to find out where the heck our stuff is. Good news it will be sent to Sevilla sometime in the next day or so.
The Madrid Airport is actually outside of Madrid and the airport is really modern and an architectural beauty. The city of Madrid is clustered in pockets and spread out much like Dallas. The landscape of flying into Madrid was much like Texas. Rolling hills, grasslands, mountains. It reminds me of home in a weird way.
That’s all I have as I write this from the AVE, high speed train to Sevilla which takes 2 and a half hours.
Be good and be safe.
Adios mis amigos,
Hasta luego!
Lance.
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