Tuesday, March 31, 2009
O, Valencia
As you could probably tell by the ever less frequent posts, I have been extremely busy this month. This last weekend (including my birthday) we headed down to Valencia which is just a few hours by train. We had an extremely nice train, the Euromed, on the way down which traveled at 200 km/h. It was almost like taking first class on a plane!
Once we arrived in Valencia we walked from the train station to our hostel down one of the main roads through the city. After changing for the nice weather we took the lightrail to the beach where it was quite beautiful but the wind made it a bit on the chilly side (no complaints though). After sitting for a while we headed toward Consum, our grocery store of choice, and bought some lunch and goods to cook for dinner. Our hostel had a really nice kitchen, so we took advantage of that the first night. Afterward we went to the roof of the hostel for a little while and had a few beverages and some birthday treats.
Saturday we woke up promptly and walked for a little while through the park which used to be a river. However it had a history of flooding and, since it flows directly through much of the city, they cut it off and dried it out. After some debate they decided not to turn it into a freeway but into a continuous park with endless sports fields and trails through the city. After realizing that Valencia is much larger than we realized we took the bus to the aquarium.
A bit on the pricey side but totally worth it, the aquarium was amazing! It is the largest in Europe and had enough exhibits to keep us busy all morning and through the afternoon. We witessed a dolphin show which makes you want to just drop out of college and become a dolphin trainer (don't worry I'm not going to). We went through endless aquariums and tubes underneath them seeing tropical and mediterranean fish and everything from neon octopi to belugas, sealions, and walruses.
This portion of Valencia is referred to as the City of Arts and Sciences which was designed by a famous local architect. There is also a hemisphere building which has two imax screens that are used also as a planetarium of sorts. In addition they have a hugh museum of arts and sciences and an impressive bridge.
Later that night we went out for our paella meal. At this point the weather had taken a downward turn, as the forecast predicted, and it basically rained off and on the rest of the time we were there. We switched to daylight savings time Sunday morning which kept our sleepy time a bit short.
Sunday we got up and just wandered around on our own in our neighborhood, ate a quick lunch, and went on a walking tour provided by the hostel. We really enjoyed it as it was efficient, informative, and quick in just two hours. Our tour guide showed us the church that the Catholic Church claims the Holy Grail was in, but it was closed so I didn't see it for myself.
After the tour we drank some Horchata which is a local drink made from milk, sugar, and tiger nuts which was interesting but not very good in my opinion. Then we headed back toward the hostel to get our bags and walked back to the train station. We still had a bit of a wait until we left, and when the train did arrive we were in car 22. Yeah it was a bit different than the first train. Being Sunday afternoon the tickets were more expensive, so we rode the Arco which was a bit slower and stopped everywhere. We were also pretty packed in there...all in all it was a four hour train ride on the way back. Luckily for us we got back just in time for dinner as I gave Montse a quick phone call earlier in the day to let her know we'd be a tad late. All in all it was a great trip!
Once we arrived in Valencia we walked from the train station to our hostel down one of the main roads through the city. After changing for the nice weather we took the lightrail to the beach where it was quite beautiful but the wind made it a bit on the chilly side (no complaints though). After sitting for a while we headed toward Consum, our grocery store of choice, and bought some lunch and goods to cook for dinner. Our hostel had a really nice kitchen, so we took advantage of that the first night. Afterward we went to the roof of the hostel for a little while and had a few beverages and some birthday treats.
Saturday we woke up promptly and walked for a little while through the park which used to be a river. However it had a history of flooding and, since it flows directly through much of the city, they cut it off and dried it out. After some debate they decided not to turn it into a freeway but into a continuous park with endless sports fields and trails through the city. After realizing that Valencia is much larger than we realized we took the bus to the aquarium.
A bit on the pricey side but totally worth it, the aquarium was amazing! It is the largest in Europe and had enough exhibits to keep us busy all morning and through the afternoon. We witessed a dolphin show which makes you want to just drop out of college and become a dolphin trainer (don't worry I'm not going to). We went through endless aquariums and tubes underneath them seeing tropical and mediterranean fish and everything from neon octopi to belugas, sealions, and walruses.
This portion of Valencia is referred to as the City of Arts and Sciences which was designed by a famous local architect. There is also a hemisphere building which has two imax screens that are used also as a planetarium of sorts. In addition they have a hugh museum of arts and sciences and an impressive bridge.
Later that night we went out for our paella meal. At this point the weather had taken a downward turn, as the forecast predicted, and it basically rained off and on the rest of the time we were there. We switched to daylight savings time Sunday morning which kept our sleepy time a bit short.
Sunday we got up and just wandered around on our own in our neighborhood, ate a quick lunch, and went on a walking tour provided by the hostel. We really enjoyed it as it was efficient, informative, and quick in just two hours. Our tour guide showed us the church that the Catholic Church claims the Holy Grail was in, but it was closed so I didn't see it for myself.
After the tour we drank some Horchata which is a local drink made from milk, sugar, and tiger nuts which was interesting but not very good in my opinion. Then we headed back toward the hostel to get our bags and walked back to the train station. We still had a bit of a wait until we left, and when the train did arrive we were in car 22. Yeah it was a bit different than the first train. Being Sunday afternoon the tickets were more expensive, so we rode the Arco which was a bit slower and stopped everywhere. We were also pretty packed in there...all in all it was a four hour train ride on the way back. Luckily for us we got back just in time for dinner as I gave Montse a quick phone call earlier in the day to let her know we'd be a tad late. All in all it was a great trip!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Más fótos del viaje
I forgot to mention one of my favorite fun facts! The French had been getting their grapes from this region of Spain for a long time which was great business. But the Spanish had an idea to trick the French! They told them that the wine would be better if it was made where the grapes came from and that the grapes were damaged by the time they arrived in France. So the French came to Navarra and taught the Spanish all of their secrets to wine-making and the Spanish were able to profit from this greatly. Heehee...Go Spain!
'Study Week' and Trip to Pamplona (Navarre)
Well so much has happened since I last updated my blog (which unfortunately was about 3 weeks ago). Last week was called "study week" and we didn't have our usual classes. However studying was the last thing on my mind as the first 3 days we had academic conferences related to topics like politics, architecture, etc. in Spain. As it turns out I wasn't required to attend any of them, so I had a few extra days off. Except for the fact that I had to prepare for this week with 3 midterms and a paper due...blech.
Then Thursday morning I had to hit the metro right away at 8 AM to meet at Plaza Catalunya since our entire school was going on a weekend trip to Pamplona. Our program is the largest in Spain (and possibly Europe) with about 500 students, so we had 9 buses full of students on several different routes. As it turns out Pamplona is about 5 or 6 hours away by coach...it's hard to tell since we had planned stops along the way both directions.
First a little background on the weather--it had been nasty with clouds and smog for an entire week in Barcelona. That is until the morning we left. The Mediterranean winds had come up and blown all of the smog out and the sun was shining brightly. After we headed out the first stop was for a quick breakfast on the side of the road. The weather seemed to be getting a bit cloudier and windier. The second stop was a mandatory stop for the driver since they are required to rest after two hours of driving. Once we had reached this stop visibility was almost 0 and the rain was blowing sideways. Lovely. This would set the weather tone for the rest of the trip.
Our final stop before arriving in Pamplona was at the small town of Olite which is home to a castle and a church (like most towns in Spain). We were scheduled for a walking tour and at this point it was no longer raining sideways...it was snowing sideways. So we had lunch first at a town bar. It was pretty delicious actually I had a Tortilla Española (basically an egg and potato omelette) Sandwich (all sandwiches are on baguettes here). So then we stood in the cold for a while and toured the castle which wasn't too different from others we had been in before.
After our tours we headed for Pamplona and checked into our hotel which was ver nice actually and located next to a beautiful open park called Parque Yamaguchi (the name is a long story but basically a famous saint went to Japan for a while). Dinner the first night wasn't bad...some lasagna and a fried steak with fries and ice cream (its been a long time). Then we stayed in and took over the TV room and watched some interesting shows on German Televison incuding Millionaire and Germany's Next Top Model.
Day 2: We visited Irache and toured the winery! It was incredible! The amount of wine they produce is unbelievable. We walked through the factory and there were countless hundreds of barrels of red wine and huge 70,000 liter vats of white and pink. Some people even have their own wine barrels and can call up the vineyard at any time and ask for a few bottles as they please. Between the factory and the museum they have a wine fountain that dispensed Vino Rosado for free which is great except for the fact that we were the first group to tour the factory at 9 AM. In the museum we went into the cellar that contained the oldest wine bottles on hand from 1933...it was a little dusty in there.
The tour guide, Vanessa, took us to our next stop which was Puente la Reina which is another regular town with a nice bridge and (wait for it) more churches. We visited a grand total of 4 in one day which was quite enough for me though the one here was quite impressive and different from the other Gothic churches in the area.
Finally we went to Roncesvalles which had an extremely interesting castle but the inside was turned into a museum and was very modern. The location and views from the castle provided beautiful views of the entire valley on up to the snow-capped mountains. This was a significant stop on the Camino de Santiago which is a pilgramage the comes from France and continues on through the north of Spain to the Atlantic coast (this was thought to be the end of the world).
Day 2 ended with the return to our hotel and dinner featuring a fish and potatoe soup which was good followed by some strange meat that was mostly bone. Not bad though since there is delcious bread to fill up on. I did go out later that night to experience Pamplona a noche. It was pretty fun; the city is smaller than Spokane with about 190,000 residents in the greater metropolitan area.
Day 3: Once again a prompt 7:45 wake up call and dash to the delicious breakfast which included a giant glazed croissant and scrambled eggs! It was refreshing because they don't really do breakfast here and the only time I get to have eggs is on a sandwich or in tortilla. We checked out of the hotel and 'Nessa took us to the heart of Pamplona and we visited one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite cafés. He often travelled here to write his books and one even takes place in the area. We followed the path of the Encierro (Running of the Bulls) to the Plaza del Toros (bullfighting ring) which takes place in July during the San Fermín Festival. At the end of the tour one of the girls asked, "Wait...is this like...where the bulls run?" I found that a little humorous and maybe a little annoying.
After that we took a break at Café Iruña once again (coffee!!!). Then we hopped on the bus and watched Penelope Cruz' first movie, Jamón Jamón, which was interesting to say the least. Let´s just say that Spanish movies are a bit more open with their sexuality. Of course that was in Spanish, but after we had a break we watched Titanic in English for the rest of the way back which was awesome and I enjoyed it a little too much.
We got back Saturday night and took it easy at Bar Sans, our favorite local bar, where can avoid being around too many Americans. Then Sunday it was back to studying for my midterm Monday morning bright and early and another Tuesday afternoon. Now I'm trying to avoid finishing my history paper and doing a pretty good job by watching American Idol and checking Facebook.
I'm picking up some Catalan as I'm out and about so...
Adéu!
Then Thursday morning I had to hit the metro right away at 8 AM to meet at Plaza Catalunya since our entire school was going on a weekend trip to Pamplona. Our program is the largest in Spain (and possibly Europe) with about 500 students, so we had 9 buses full of students on several different routes. As it turns out Pamplona is about 5 or 6 hours away by coach...it's hard to tell since we had planned stops along the way both directions.
First a little background on the weather--it had been nasty with clouds and smog for an entire week in Barcelona. That is until the morning we left. The Mediterranean winds had come up and blown all of the smog out and the sun was shining brightly. After we headed out the first stop was for a quick breakfast on the side of the road. The weather seemed to be getting a bit cloudier and windier. The second stop was a mandatory stop for the driver since they are required to rest after two hours of driving. Once we had reached this stop visibility was almost 0 and the rain was blowing sideways. Lovely. This would set the weather tone for the rest of the trip.
Our final stop before arriving in Pamplona was at the small town of Olite which is home to a castle and a church (like most towns in Spain). We were scheduled for a walking tour and at this point it was no longer raining sideways...it was snowing sideways. So we had lunch first at a town bar. It was pretty delicious actually I had a Tortilla Española (basically an egg and potato omelette) Sandwich (all sandwiches are on baguettes here). So then we stood in the cold for a while and toured the castle which wasn't too different from others we had been in before.
After our tours we headed for Pamplona and checked into our hotel which was ver nice actually and located next to a beautiful open park called Parque Yamaguchi (the name is a long story but basically a famous saint went to Japan for a while). Dinner the first night wasn't bad...some lasagna and a fried steak with fries and ice cream (its been a long time). Then we stayed in and took over the TV room and watched some interesting shows on German Televison incuding Millionaire and Germany's Next Top Model.
Day 2: We visited Irache and toured the winery! It was incredible! The amount of wine they produce is unbelievable. We walked through the factory and there were countless hundreds of barrels of red wine and huge 70,000 liter vats of white and pink. Some people even have their own wine barrels and can call up the vineyard at any time and ask for a few bottles as they please. Between the factory and the museum they have a wine fountain that dispensed Vino Rosado for free which is great except for the fact that we were the first group to tour the factory at 9 AM. In the museum we went into the cellar that contained the oldest wine bottles on hand from 1933...it was a little dusty in there.
The tour guide, Vanessa, took us to our next stop which was Puente la Reina which is another regular town with a nice bridge and (wait for it) more churches. We visited a grand total of 4 in one day which was quite enough for me though the one here was quite impressive and different from the other Gothic churches in the area.
Finally we went to Roncesvalles which had an extremely interesting castle but the inside was turned into a museum and was very modern. The location and views from the castle provided beautiful views of the entire valley on up to the snow-capped mountains. This was a significant stop on the Camino de Santiago which is a pilgramage the comes from France and continues on through the north of Spain to the Atlantic coast (this was thought to be the end of the world).
Day 2 ended with the return to our hotel and dinner featuring a fish and potatoe soup which was good followed by some strange meat that was mostly bone. Not bad though since there is delcious bread to fill up on. I did go out later that night to experience Pamplona a noche. It was pretty fun; the city is smaller than Spokane with about 190,000 residents in the greater metropolitan area.
Day 3: Once again a prompt 7:45 wake up call and dash to the delicious breakfast which included a giant glazed croissant and scrambled eggs! It was refreshing because they don't really do breakfast here and the only time I get to have eggs is on a sandwich or in tortilla. We checked out of the hotel and 'Nessa took us to the heart of Pamplona and we visited one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite cafés. He often travelled here to write his books and one even takes place in the area. We followed the path of the Encierro (Running of the Bulls) to the Plaza del Toros (bullfighting ring) which takes place in July during the San Fermín Festival. At the end of the tour one of the girls asked, "Wait...is this like...where the bulls run?" I found that a little humorous and maybe a little annoying.
After that we took a break at Café Iruña once again (coffee!!!). Then we hopped on the bus and watched Penelope Cruz' first movie, Jamón Jamón, which was interesting to say the least. Let´s just say that Spanish movies are a bit more open with their sexuality. Of course that was in Spanish, but after we had a break we watched Titanic in English for the rest of the way back which was awesome and I enjoyed it a little too much.
We got back Saturday night and took it easy at Bar Sans, our favorite local bar, where can avoid being around too many Americans. Then Sunday it was back to studying for my midterm Monday morning bright and early and another Tuesday afternoon. Now I'm trying to avoid finishing my history paper and doing a pretty good job by watching American Idol and checking Facebook.
I'm picking up some Catalan as I'm out and about so...
Adéu!
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Touch of Venice
[I just realized that this didn't actually post before...sorry]
I returned from an awesome trip to Venice yesterday! We all had a great time, but I've never been so exhausted in my life. To top it all off I had the privelage of writing a paper that was due for my morning class today, but at least it wasn't too difficult of a task.
Here is some video I took at Piazza San Marco of an acrobat during the Sensation 2009 closing show at Carnavale. The show featured mostly Venetians in full Carnavale costums showcased in the center of this tremendously impressive plaza.
I'll be writing a full entry once my brain begins to function again. Until then ciao.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Fuegos Artificiales en Festival Laia
This festival was completely awesome! I mean how can you go wrong with fireworks and dragons!? We aren't exactly sure what this festival is for, but it is called Festival Laia. It was complete with a drumline marching band and obiosly mucho fuego!
Catellers de Barcelona
Today Ian and I went to Placa Sant Jaume I to watch the Castellers de Barcelona. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I knew that it was part of a local festival. Montserrat, our senora, told us it was a sign of Catalan pride and strength. They assembled 4 different families who would each take their turn building human towers from the ground up. Some had people climbing up others to the top whereas one team kept hoisting people up from the bottom one level at a time. Pretty awesome!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Font Mágica en Montjuïc
Friday night we went watch the Magic Fountain show at the base of Monjuïc near Placa Espanya. It was about 15 minutes long and very cool!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tarragona (Tarraco) Daytrip
Well I got the pictures from Tarragona up quickly, but my week has been crazy! Anyway Michael and I were both supposed to go on a field study with IES the Friday that we were both going to London. Our calendar showed that we had that Friday off (which we did), so our teacher decided to schedule our field study on that day. Urgh. He was very understanding though and set us up with maps and what to see while there (he lives in Tarragona and he is from Belguium).
Referred to as "la ciudad en tus manos" which means "the city in your hands," Tarraco is a city that was originally built centuries ago by the ancient Romans. It therefore features some interesting Roman architecture including the Anfiteatre (amphitheatre), the Forum Roma (a local market), and of course the Catedral and a Roman wall.
The trip out was interesting since we were on the noon train from Sans Estació which is the main RENFE (Spanish Rail) station. Apparently they just sell tickets in a manner similar to riding the metro, so you simply purchase a ticket and hop on any train to that destination any time that day. We ended up being packed into our train just like the metro, so we stood for an hour and 15 minutes. Then we arrived and rushed around to all the main attractions starting in the old town.
We had a pit stop for lunch and visited a local bar that featured a frankfurt and a beer for 2 euros. This, of course, was an offer that we couldn't pass up. The frankfurts are pretty good actually and are generally served on a baguette style bread. Since it was a pretty nice day and the city is located on the Mediterranean coast we made sure to go to the beach before we left. It was on the way to the train station anyway which was nice. We found out the hard way that there are not many places to cross the train tracks which are conveniently located between the main road and the beach. It does make for a beautiful train ride along the coast though.
Around 6 we headed back to the Tarragona train station, only to wait 40 minutes for the next train which of course was late. Though it was well worth the wait, and we rode back on a much nicer and longer train. I may have rested my eyes on the way back.
Referred to as "la ciudad en tus manos" which means "the city in your hands," Tarraco is a city that was originally built centuries ago by the ancient Romans. It therefore features some interesting Roman architecture including the Anfiteatre (amphitheatre), the Forum Roma (a local market), and of course the Catedral and a Roman wall.
The trip out was interesting since we were on the noon train from Sans Estació which is the main RENFE (Spanish Rail) station. Apparently they just sell tickets in a manner similar to riding the metro, so you simply purchase a ticket and hop on any train to that destination any time that day. We ended up being packed into our train just like the metro, so we stood for an hour and 15 minutes. Then we arrived and rushed around to all the main attractions starting in the old town.
We had a pit stop for lunch and visited a local bar that featured a frankfurt and a beer for 2 euros. This, of course, was an offer that we couldn't pass up. The frankfurts are pretty good actually and are generally served on a baguette style bread. Since it was a pretty nice day and the city is located on the Mediterranean coast we made sure to go to the beach before we left. It was on the way to the train station anyway which was nice. We found out the hard way that there are not many places to cross the train tracks which are conveniently located between the main road and the beach. It does make for a beautiful train ride along the coast though.
Around 6 we headed back to the Tarragona train station, only to wait 40 minutes for the next train which of course was late. Though it was well worth the wait, and we rode back on a much nicer and longer train. I may have rested my eyes on the way back.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
L-L-London Town
I have officially returned from my first weekend trip in Europe!!! I went to London to meet Melissa and visit Jackie. My trip started out by taking two metro lines to the Arc de Triomf station and then transfering to an airport bus since I was flying out of the Barcelona-Girona airport (which by the way is in its own city about 75 miutes away and has no claim to be named Barcelona). After I bought my ticket, en espanol, I went down to the gate and ran into several different groups of IES students waiting for the same bus!
My flight was 5 euros each way (plus about 20 in fees) on a discount airline called RyanAir which is based out of Ireland. It was kind of an experience flying with them, but definitely worth it in the end. They are very strict about luggage and allow you only one small backpack weighing less than 10kg, so it is very important to pack lightly. Any checked bags cost extra. Check-in was very easy as was security. People began to line up before our plane had even arrived, as there is no assigned seating on this and most airlines in Spain. I happened to be walking by at the time, so I jumped in line and was about the 15th person to board out of 150 which was nice. When boarding the plane the flight attendant kept announcing, "Please choose any seat except for the first and last 6 rows." I thought that was kind of strange, but being a cheap airline I suppose they were trying to be as fuel efficient as possible. The flight attentand (who was speaking in English since it was an Irish airline) was struggling to get everyone's attention for the safety briefing, so she started yelled over the intercom. She was clearly not pleased and with a most fierce tone bellowed, "This is a FEDERAL REGULATION WITH WHICH YOU MUST ALL COMPLY. We WILL NOT move this aircraft further until everyone is giving us their FULL ATTENITION." They did stop the aircraft right there as we were taxiing for take-off. One thing that is for sure the Spanish are a loud bunch. We ended up leaving about half an hour late, but somehow arrived only about 5 minutes late. Not too bad.
First thing I saw after filling out a quick form and clearing the UK border? Two British police officers waling throught the Stansted airport with assault rifles. Yeah that's right; just on a stroll around the airport with enough bullets for about 200 rounds. Welcome to the UK! Still not to London yet though, we had to take the Stansted Express train from the airport to Liverpool Street. I loved the train it was fast and highly efficient.
When we finally arrived in London it was midnight and we were all starving. So Melissa, some of her friends from the University of Portland program, and I walked straight out of the station into a restaurant and had an English Breakfast. Most delicious!!! They don't really do breakfast in Spain, so I've really been missing it. Also they have American sized coffee which is amazing since in Spain there is only one size (small).
After dinner/breakfast we headed outside and took a taxi to our hostel in South Kensington since the underground had already closed. It was a very nice place for a hostel and they had breakfast included which is nice (though I only made it to breakfast one morning since the hours were very limited).
On Friday we took the metro to the Thames and began walking around at Big Ben and Parliament. I saw the House of Commons and the House of Lords before crossing to the other side to see the Eye of London and the Globe Theatre. There is a really awesome footbridge across the river called the Millenium Bridge, though it felt a bit wobbly as we crossed. We were going to go to the London Bridge which apparently is not the bridge I was expecting. We walked out of the underground and saw a sign that said "London Bridge," so I looked down the river and the next one was the "Tower Bridge" which has the elevated pathway you can walk across. So we called that good and went to lunch. Well...yeah...I had English breakfast again except it was more authentic this time and included an egg sunny side up, chips (fries), beans, and a tomato.
After lunch/breakfast we visited Buckingham Palace and I snapped a few pictures of the traditional guards. After that we went back to the hostel for a rest. After that we met Jackie and the UP friends and ate dinner at a delicious Indian food restaurant. Garlic Naan. Chicken Tikka Masala, of course. After that we went back to our neighborhood to an Irish Pub and I enjoyed a Guiness (naturally).
On Saturday I was really tired and our flights left that evening because they are very much cheaper. We made sure to visit the BBC briefly and Platform 9 3/4 at the King's Cross station as an homage to Harry Potter! Before getting on the train to the airport we had a quick bite to eat at an Irish restaurant on Liverpool St. Fish and Chips=delicious!
This time my flight left about 15 minutes early because the airline hustles the process along. About half of the plane was empty which was incredible for me because I had an entire row to myself. It's a pretty bare bones airline...I mean the service is great but nothing is included. If you want a snack or refreshment you have to buy it a la carte. Also about half way through the flight they sell scratch tickets for 2 euros or 2 pounds. After we landed (about 20 minutes early) they played da-da dun da-da dun da-da dun dun da-dun da-dun....CHAAAAARRRRGE! You've just landed on another on-time flight with RyanAir. The Spaniards started clapping and I started cracking up.
It was pouring all the way home from Girona to Barcelona, but all in all the trip was a great success! London is my favorite city ever! Oh and yesterday it snowed almost a foot paralyzing the entire city, so I was lucky that I got out when I did. My roommate was there and flew out yesterday morning. All flights were cancelled in London shortly after that (lucky). I always thought snow was common in London...apparently that's not the case.
My flight was 5 euros each way (plus about 20 in fees) on a discount airline called RyanAir which is based out of Ireland. It was kind of an experience flying with them, but definitely worth it in the end. They are very strict about luggage and allow you only one small backpack weighing less than 10kg, so it is very important to pack lightly. Any checked bags cost extra. Check-in was very easy as was security. People began to line up before our plane had even arrived, as there is no assigned seating on this and most airlines in Spain. I happened to be walking by at the time, so I jumped in line and was about the 15th person to board out of 150 which was nice. When boarding the plane the flight attendant kept announcing, "Please choose any seat except for the first and last 6 rows." I thought that was kind of strange, but being a cheap airline I suppose they were trying to be as fuel efficient as possible. The flight attentand (who was speaking in English since it was an Irish airline) was struggling to get everyone's attention for the safety briefing, so she started yelled over the intercom. She was clearly not pleased and with a most fierce tone bellowed, "This is a FEDERAL REGULATION WITH WHICH YOU MUST ALL COMPLY. We WILL NOT move this aircraft further until everyone is giving us their FULL ATTENITION." They did stop the aircraft right there as we were taxiing for take-off. One thing that is for sure the Spanish are a loud bunch. We ended up leaving about half an hour late, but somehow arrived only about 5 minutes late. Not too bad.
First thing I saw after filling out a quick form and clearing the UK border? Two British police officers waling throught the Stansted airport with assault rifles. Yeah that's right; just on a stroll around the airport with enough bullets for about 200 rounds. Welcome to the UK! Still not to London yet though, we had to take the Stansted Express train from the airport to Liverpool Street. I loved the train it was fast and highly efficient.
When we finally arrived in London it was midnight and we were all starving. So Melissa, some of her friends from the University of Portland program, and I walked straight out of the station into a restaurant and had an English Breakfast. Most delicious!!! They don't really do breakfast in Spain, so I've really been missing it. Also they have American sized coffee which is amazing since in Spain there is only one size (small).
After dinner/breakfast we headed outside and took a taxi to our hostel in South Kensington since the underground had already closed. It was a very nice place for a hostel and they had breakfast included which is nice (though I only made it to breakfast one morning since the hours were very limited).
On Friday we took the metro to the Thames and began walking around at Big Ben and Parliament. I saw the House of Commons and the House of Lords before crossing to the other side to see the Eye of London and the Globe Theatre. There is a really awesome footbridge across the river called the Millenium Bridge, though it felt a bit wobbly as we crossed. We were going to go to the London Bridge which apparently is not the bridge I was expecting. We walked out of the underground and saw a sign that said "London Bridge," so I looked down the river and the next one was the "Tower Bridge" which has the elevated pathway you can walk across. So we called that good and went to lunch. Well...yeah...I had English breakfast again except it was more authentic this time and included an egg sunny side up, chips (fries), beans, and a tomato.
After lunch/breakfast we visited Buckingham Palace and I snapped a few pictures of the traditional guards. After that we went back to the hostel for a rest. After that we met Jackie and the UP friends and ate dinner at a delicious Indian food restaurant. Garlic Naan. Chicken Tikka Masala, of course. After that we went back to our neighborhood to an Irish Pub and I enjoyed a Guiness (naturally).
On Saturday I was really tired and our flights left that evening because they are very much cheaper. We made sure to visit the BBC briefly and Platform 9 3/4 at the King's Cross station as an homage to Harry Potter! Before getting on the train to the airport we had a quick bite to eat at an Irish restaurant on Liverpool St. Fish and Chips=delicious!
This time my flight left about 15 minutes early because the airline hustles the process along. About half of the plane was empty which was incredible for me because I had an entire row to myself. It's a pretty bare bones airline...I mean the service is great but nothing is included. If you want a snack or refreshment you have to buy it a la carte. Also about half way through the flight they sell scratch tickets for 2 euros or 2 pounds. After we landed (about 20 minutes early) they played da-da dun da-da dun da-da dun dun da-dun da-dun....CHAAAAARRRRGE! You've just landed on another on-time flight with RyanAir. The Spaniards started clapping and I started cracking up.
It was pouring all the way home from Girona to Barcelona, but all in all the trip was a great success! London is my favorite city ever! Oh and yesterday it snowed almost a foot paralyzing the entire city, so I was lucky that I got out when I did. My roommate was there and flew out yesterday morning. All flights were cancelled in London shortly after that (lucky). I always thought snow was common in London...apparently that's not the case.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Weekend Trip to Girona
Last weekend the roommates invited me to go to a small city north of Barcelona called Girona. We left Saturday early in the morning and I had my first (ever) experience riding a train. All of Spain has the nationalized railway system called RENFE which is an amazingly convenient means of travel. It took us longer than expected to get there, around two and a half hours, becuase we tooke the Cataluna Exprés which stopped at every tiny town along the way. Honestly we were maybe going around 60 km-h; we could actually see the cars passing us on the freeway. On the return trip we made sure to take the Rodalies Regional which went much faster and proabably went in excess of 100 km/h (just an estimate). Once we figured out how to purchase a ticket, only 6 euros each way, it was very easy and convenient.
Upon arrival we meandered out of the train station toward the Placa Catalunya (apparently every town has one). After wandering and snapping pictures for a while we made our way toward the edge of Girona. There we found a huge fortress wall that once surrounded the entire city and currently a large portion of it still stands. We were able to walk along it and through the courtyards.
Atop one of the rotunds at the fortress I felt one of the largest wind gusts of my life. Later we each received a phone call from Dr. Cesar Alegre, the Director of IES Barcelona, who informed us that we needed to stay away from the coastal areas due to the strong winds. The weather wasn't actually that bad...besides the category 2 hurricane winds. Luckily we were not in Barcelona to experience the unpleasant weather. Sunday morning we turned on the tv and what is the first thing we see on CNN+? High winds in Barcelona and 5 deaths even due to a soccer stadium roof collapse as a result of the weather. It wasn't too bad in Girona.
We had lunch at a local cafe ouside in the cobble-stone street. Most delicious pizza and espresso! I learned that if you order a coffee here you get espresso. If you want a regular coffee you have to ask for Café con Leche (with milk). But I'm easy I can handle a shot of espresso. There we met a Scotsman and and an Irishman who live in Girona and they recommended a place for dinner called El Bretton, a crepería (more on that later). We headed to the hotel after that by foot since we thought it was only about 2.5 km away. An hour later we decided it was actually about 4 km of an interesting walk. Most of the larger intersections are roundabouts here and when you get to one the sidewalk disappeared. Not to mention the fact that people drive like maniacs here it was an interesting walk.
Let's just say we took a cab each way after that since there were eight of us to split it with two cabs. So we headed to the Crepe restaurant around 9pm, and they informed us that it would be an hour wait...after seeing the crepes people were eating we decided to wait. So we headed down the street to and Irish pub and watched the first half of the FC Barcelona soccer game. To commemorate being at a pub I had a cider which was kind of like a sweet beer. I'd never heard of anything like it but it was delcious. Back to the crepe restaurant...they offered a wide variety of both sweet and savory crepes. I ordered one with potatoe, cheese, bacon, egg, and creme=amazing and definitely worth the wait!
On Sunday we went back into the city and visited the enormous Catedrál. Per chance it was during mass, but luckily that was in a secluded portion of the church. After that we hit the Café Café at the train station and headed back to Barca.
P.S. It was 68 degrees on Friday.
Upon arrival we meandered out of the train station toward the Placa Catalunya (apparently every town has one). After wandering and snapping pictures for a while we made our way toward the edge of Girona. There we found a huge fortress wall that once surrounded the entire city and currently a large portion of it still stands. We were able to walk along it and through the courtyards.
Atop one of the rotunds at the fortress I felt one of the largest wind gusts of my life. Later we each received a phone call from Dr. Cesar Alegre, the Director of IES Barcelona, who informed us that we needed to stay away from the coastal areas due to the strong winds. The weather wasn't actually that bad...besides the category 2 hurricane winds. Luckily we were not in Barcelona to experience the unpleasant weather. Sunday morning we turned on the tv and what is the first thing we see on CNN+? High winds in Barcelona and 5 deaths even due to a soccer stadium roof collapse as a result of the weather. It wasn't too bad in Girona.
We had lunch at a local cafe ouside in the cobble-stone street. Most delicious pizza and espresso! I learned that if you order a coffee here you get espresso. If you want a regular coffee you have to ask for Café con Leche (with milk). But I'm easy I can handle a shot of espresso. There we met a Scotsman and and an Irishman who live in Girona and they recommended a place for dinner called El Bretton, a crepería (more on that later). We headed to the hotel after that by foot since we thought it was only about 2.5 km away. An hour later we decided it was actually about 4 km of an interesting walk. Most of the larger intersections are roundabouts here and when you get to one the sidewalk disappeared. Not to mention the fact that people drive like maniacs here it was an interesting walk.
Let's just say we took a cab each way after that since there were eight of us to split it with two cabs. So we headed to the Crepe restaurant around 9pm, and they informed us that it would be an hour wait...after seeing the crepes people were eating we decided to wait. So we headed down the street to and Irish pub and watched the first half of the FC Barcelona soccer game. To commemorate being at a pub I had a cider which was kind of like a sweet beer. I'd never heard of anything like it but it was delcious. Back to the crepe restaurant...they offered a wide variety of both sweet and savory crepes. I ordered one with potatoe, cheese, bacon, egg, and creme=amazing and definitely worth the wait!
On Sunday we went back into the city and visited the enormous Catedrál. Per chance it was during mass, but luckily that was in a secluded portion of the church. After that we hit the Café Café at the train station and headed back to Barca.
P.S. It was 68 degrees on Friday.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Mis Clases
Well I have officially completed week one of actual classes here in Barca, and that has kept me pretty busy. I like most of my classes and all but one teacher is from Spain. Monday through Thursday my first class is at 9 am, so that keeps me on a pretty regular schedule. Each day I have a 3 hour and 45 minute break (SIESTA!), so I usually head home on the metro for a few hours. It only takes about 20 minutes to get from our homestay to IES which is extremely nice. Best part of my week is that I only have Spanish class on Friday and it doesn't start until 2:05.
I am taking Media and Politics as well as Advanced Spanish I on Monday and Wednesday (and Spanish on Fridays). Tuesday and Thursday I am in Contemporary History of Spain, History of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and Language, Culture, and Communication: The Spanish Perspective.
We have no class next Friday, so on Thursday I am flying to London to meet Melissa, who has been in Salzburg, Austria studying abroad with the University of Portland since September. Also my friend Jackie from WSU is studying abroad in London for the semester. My hostel is actually very close to IES Abroad London as it turns out. I'm flying on the famously cheap RyanAir which is an Irish airline. The price of my ticket was 5 Euro each way including taxes as part of a special, but of course they have some additional fees. Though my total was only 30 Euro round trip ($40 US). The only thing is that they fly out of smaller airports, so I have to transfer from Barca to Girona by bus and from Stansted to London proper. All in all flying is pretty cheap and I'm excited to travel!
I am taking Media and Politics as well as Advanced Spanish I on Monday and Wednesday (and Spanish on Fridays). Tuesday and Thursday I am in Contemporary History of Spain, History of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and Language, Culture, and Communication: The Spanish Perspective.
We have no class next Friday, so on Thursday I am flying to London to meet Melissa, who has been in Salzburg, Austria studying abroad with the University of Portland since September. Also my friend Jackie from WSU is studying abroad in London for the semester. My hostel is actually very close to IES Abroad London as it turns out. I'm flying on the famously cheap RyanAir which is an Irish airline. The price of my ticket was 5 Euro each way including taxes as part of a special, but of course they have some additional fees. Though my total was only 30 Euro round trip ($40 US). The only thing is that they fly out of smaller airports, so I have to transfer from Barca to Girona by bus and from Stansted to London proper. All in all flying is pretty cheap and I'm excited to travel!
Second Week
This week we visited the Arc de Triomf (turns out there is one in Barcelona and one in France). It's located at one end of a pedestrian street while at the other end is Parc Citudella.
At the end of Las Ramblas (opposite Plaza Catalunya) there is a statue of Christopher Columbus, seeing as he was funded by the Spanish to "discover" the Americas. The port is very near here and we walked past the marina on the Mediterranean.
Tuesday we went to a place called "Sports Bar" after class to watch Obama's speech, which was pretty awesome by the way. It's kind of an American/British bar that has a bunch of TVs and show NFL and English Premier League Soccer and apparently important political events. I was quite surprised to walk into a fairly full bar that was silently engrossed with Obama's speech...here in Barcelona. Every Spaniard that I have talked to has told me that they really like Obama. Awesome.
I've been thinking about how strange it is that I am already pretty comfortable with myself here. I can pretty well communicate and have even had a few conversations with Spaniards. The last two days I have been asked questions by locals and have been able to answer both of the (by sheer luck, of course). One thing that is difficult is that many, if not most, speak English as it is the main language taught in schools beginning at a young age. So often I will speak to them in Spanish and they reply in English to me, but I just try to keep talking in Spanish because I want to learn it!
Ciao
At the end of Las Ramblas (opposite Plaza Catalunya) there is a statue of Christopher Columbus, seeing as he was funded by the Spanish to "discover" the Americas. The port is very near here and we walked past the marina on the Mediterranean.
Tuesday we went to a place called "Sports Bar" after class to watch Obama's speech, which was pretty awesome by the way. It's kind of an American/British bar that has a bunch of TVs and show NFL and English Premier League Soccer and apparently important political events. I was quite surprised to walk into a fairly full bar that was silently engrossed with Obama's speech...here in Barcelona. Every Spaniard that I have talked to has told me that they really like Obama. Awesome.
I've been thinking about how strange it is that I am already pretty comfortable with myself here. I can pretty well communicate and have even had a few conversations with Spaniards. The last two days I have been asked questions by locals and have been able to answer both of the (by sheer luck, of course). One thing that is difficult is that many, if not most, speak English as it is the main language taught in schools beginning at a young age. So often I will speak to them in Spanish and they reply in English to me, but I just try to keep talking in Spanish because I want to learn it!
Ciao
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
FOOD
So we found a grocery store about a block away from our apartment and it is pretty cheap. About every other day I buy a baguette and then get some cheese and meat for lunch. It's a delicious money saver. I feel like I am eating a ton here because breakfast is at 9 am and dinner is at 9 pm which means I almost need 2 meals during the day.
Today before our walking tour of architecture we went to a café next to the IES Center and I ordered Chocolate y Bizcochos, little sugar covered baked treats. It was pretty delicious, but the chocolate is so thick you can barely drink it. The top layer in my cup kept solidifying if I didn´t stir it.
Our typical meals start with a vegetable or noodle soup, then we move on to a meat like chicken or beef. After that we have a salad and then some fruitñ however the portions are generally smaller here. One night our senora made a triple decker sandwich with beef, mayo, vegetables, and a fried egg. It was increible! Other entreés we have eaten include a spaghetti with cheese and herbs and a sausage soup.
19th Century Architecture
Tonight we went on a walking/metro tour of some of the 19th century architecture. We began at La Sagrada Familia which is a church, designed by Antoní Gaudi, that has been under construction for over 200 years. It was started to get dark by the time we got there so some of the pictures aren't the best.
After stopping here for a while we walked up a very beautiful diagonal street until we reached our final stop which is Hospital De La Sant Creu I Sant Pau. This hospital is the second oldest in Europe (only behind one in Paris). The hospital has about 20 seperate buildings that are connected via underground tunnels (used to trasport patients). Being inefficient in modern times a new single-building hospital has been constructed at one end and facilities are slowly being moved there. The original hospital will be closed by next summer.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Daytrip to Vic and Besalú
Last Saturday everyone at IES went on an orientation trip north of Spain to the towns of Vic and Besalú.
We went to Vic first which was actually kind of boring...guided tour for about an hour...cathedral...market...etc. Then we had about 3 hours of free time, so we went to a museum...an episcopal museum. Yeah I've never seen so much religion in my life. So that was kind of boring but then we had lunch at a small pizza and coffee place called Mr. Coffee. The pizza they made was frozen but very good; we had the d'Queso which was loaded with delicious cheeses. After lunch we still had a lotof time so we went to the town casino.There I had a delicious cappucino at the bar. So good.
From there we went back to the buses and drove through the countryside to Besalú which was more interesting...it was kind of like a city all within walls with thousand year old buildings. It included a Jewish Quarter and the Christian Community; they were separate of course. That was more interesting and picture-worthy. Though we didn't stay there very long.
By this time it was approaching dusk and we headed back to Barcelona. When we arrived we were informed that there was a protest in the plaza in support of Gaza. IES advised us that they were going to drop us off at a different location because of this. It wasn't a big threat but enough to take precautions since we are foreigners here. All in all it was a pretty interesting day.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Barcelona Photos
This is the giant cat statue (below) on the lower portion of Las Ramblas. We had to find and identify the artist as part of our "Gymkhana" or scavenger hunt for the IES program. There is another statue in the El Prat-Barcelona Airport by Boltero called the giant horse.
Arrival Update
My travels (surprisingly) went very smoothly! My flights were both on time and the Minneapolis-Amsterdam flight was awesome...but very long. The Amsterdam airport is extremely confusing but luckily I had 3 hours to deal with the 800 gates (prolly not an exaggeration). The arrival/departure board listed walking times to your gate...yup it's that big.
KLM is super and I love the Dutch! Delicious on-board coffee and honestly the plane food wasn't too bad. I sat next to a very nice German who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba now. He talked a lot but that was ok...I have already talked to foreigners about politics=oops oh well.
I felt fine most of the way except for my back was killing me with about 3 hours left on my long flight. The only scary part of mytrip was finding the IES people in the airport because I was conveniently in the wrong terminal.
Plus my flight was late so I didn't get off of it until after 4:30 and I had to meet IES by 5, so I thought screw my luggage and I found some other people who were also trying to find the Boltero statue, a giant black horse (this was the meeting point for IES students). So together we went to the IES room and then had to go back through security into the terminal to get our luggage afterward.
Then I took a cab and the driver dropped me off a block early and I struggled trying to find this building. I saw 55, 57...62 and I needed 59! But eventually after walking around like an idiot for 10 minutes I found the building. There is a doorman in our building so I made a tad nervous trying to get into the building and use the weird tiny elevator (maximum of 3 people).
I like my senora a lot so far...she made me tea when I got here. I have my own room and this apartment is quite nice. There is a metro across the street and it takes me directly to the IES Center in about 10 minutes which is so good.
Oh and I just found the hugest starbucks with 2 floors and it was as if people were simply sitting and enjoying their coffee (in mugs mostly). I had a mocca blanc of course (I was afraid they might not have those here). It was kind of rich since I didn't feel like trying to ask for it non-fat with no whip.
KLM is super and I love the Dutch! Delicious on-board coffee and honestly the plane food wasn't too bad. I sat next to a very nice German who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba now. He talked a lot but that was ok...I have already talked to foreigners about politics=oops oh well.
I felt fine most of the way except for my back was killing me with about 3 hours left on my long flight. The only scary part of mytrip was finding the IES people in the airport because I was conveniently in the wrong terminal.
Plus my flight was late so I didn't get off of it until after 4:30 and I had to meet IES by 5, so I thought screw my luggage and I found some other people who were also trying to find the Boltero statue, a giant black horse (this was the meeting point for IES students). So together we went to the IES room and then had to go back through security into the terminal to get our luggage afterward.
Then I took a cab and the driver dropped me off a block early and I struggled trying to find this building. I saw 55, 57...62 and I needed 59! But eventually after walking around like an idiot for 10 minutes I found the building. There is a doorman in our building so I made a tad nervous trying to get into the building and use the weird tiny elevator (maximum of 3 people).
I like my senora a lot so far...she made me tea when I got here. I have my own room and this apartment is quite nice. There is a metro across the street and it takes me directly to the IES Center in about 10 minutes which is so good.
Oh and I just found the hugest starbucks with 2 floors and it was as if people were simply sitting and enjoying their coffee (in mugs mostly). I had a mocca blanc of course (I was afraid they might not have those here). It was kind of rich since I didn't feel like trying to ask for it non-fat with no whip.
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