Sunday, May 31, 2009
Things I will miss about Granada
Jim and Emilio
Mirador de San Nicolas
Paseo de los Triste
Magnums Ice Cream
Kinder Buenos (chocolate)
Plazas
European Fashion
European children
Barcelona futbol
being able to walk everywhere
old Spanish senoras that walk arm in arm
the architecture
churros with chocolate
spanish ice cream flavors
schawarmas or kebabs
seeing all the rastas
european scarfs
speaking spanish
the family farm
bocadillos
tappas
tinto de verano
fanta limon
claras
olives
manchengo cheese
alioli sauce
hormiguerro ( a spanish night time show)
the gypsies on the streets with their stupid twigs
accessible travel
and so much more that I can't even think of......
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Back to barcelona
I could not leave Spain without one last trip to Barcelona and of course to see Jim and Emilio. This time I brought my friend Ann with me and got there early Friday morning. That Friday Ann and I toured Las Ramblas, saw everything Gaudi including the Sagrada Familia and Parque Guell. It was so relaxing and finally good weather. This semester was weird weather for Spain and it was finally a little bit warmer. Just strolling the streets was great. I noticed a lot more tourists this time in late April more than I did when I was there in February. When we came home from a great night, Jim and Emilio made a great dinner for us. We tried to keep the conversation in Spanish the best we could. After dinner and a great deal of wine we were ready for sleep because it was off to the Picasso museum Saturday morning.
That morning we went to the picasso museum while Jim wrote and Emilio had work. Ann and I loved the musuem because the building was beautiful and it had so many of his personal works. My favorite was his whole interpretation on "Las Meninas" the famous painting by Velazquez. It took us a good part of the morning. After touring, Ann and I went with Jim and Emilio back to Sitges. It got a little bit colder out by this time of the weekend but it was no big deal. That night Jim and Emilio encouraged us to see the night life. It was fun and not too late of a night on Spain's terms. We only came home around 4 am! That morning it rained so no beach for us. Instead we had the best catalan meal with Jim and Emilio for Siesta. They made us hand rolled pasta that was filled with meat and also calsotts. Calsotts are sweet onions that are seasonal. We dip them in a type of salsa that was awesome. I definatley did not go hungry this weekend. Sitges was beautiful and I honestly can't wait to return to Espana just to go to Barcelona again. What a perfect last hurrah!
Discovering Madrid
At this point of our semester most of us were getting pretty exhausted. With only 3 weeks left of school, we had a lot of school projects and exams. I knew I could not leave Spain having not been to Madrid. Lindsey, Martha and I took a bus from Granada that was 5 hours long Friday morning. Upon arriving we found our hostal close to the street called Gran Via. This is the equivalent of our main streets and there is a street called gran via in every city. Our hostal had three beds with a shower in our room but no toilet. It was the weirdest set up, but the best we could find for the weekend. After getting settled we headed out to see the Plaza de Espana and the Palacio Real de Madrid. The Palacio Real was beautiful and supposed to be Spain's equivalent of Versailles in France. The Palacio Real was created by a Spanish King that grew up in Versailles and wanted to make palace bigger and better then Versailles. I personally still like Versailles in France better.
The next day I separated from the group and went to Segovia for a day by myself. I knew if I didn't go there I would regret it. Segovia has one of the two castles that Walt Disney modeled the Disney World Castle off of. I went all over the city and saw the roman aqueducts, a beautiful cathedral, and of course the castle. It was a great day. On my little trip out there it was amazing to see the difference in the landscape from central Spain from the south. Everything was much greener and it seemed there were actual established suburbs of Madrid. Granada is definitely smaller and a whole other world in Spain compared to the other cities.
Saturday night we went to the Reina Sofia and saw Picasso's Guernica. It was awesome to see that in person because we learned all about it in my art history class. After we went for dinner at a place that offered wine, bread, salad, entree, and dessert all for 12 Euros. I had the best fish I have ever had there. That night we met up with some of Lindsey's family friends where they showed us the night life of the city. By the time that was done, around 4 am, I was exhausted.
Sunday before we left we took a stroll through the parque retiro and saw the Pardo museum. All in all the weekend was great and jam packed.
Week two with Stan and Lana
Rule number one: never rent a car in
After arriving to our destination in Lisboa (
Monday was our spiritual journey to
After Fatima we had half a day left and decided to go see the
It might not have been such a good idea to leave so late cause we did not get into
Im assuming now that the kkk has a derivative from this type of religious brotherhood but the two types are not related today. They can’t even see in front of them, but are directed instead. Training is required for months to perform this and the whole city comes out to see it. Along with the procession local orchestras accompany with intense music and drums that put the fear of God in you. When we returned to
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Week one with Stan and Lana
Well right before my second week off this semester, my parents came to visit for a two week vacation. When the arrived after a long time of traveling both of them were so thankful to be and the apartment that we rented. It had a perfect location in the center of the city and close to my school. The first dinner my mom made chicken legs cooked in olive oil. We made the best dues we could with what we had to cook with, but the meal was truly wonderful. I really needed some American mommy meanls. After they adjusted to the time after a good nights sleep I took them to meet Franciso, my favorite Spaniard, for a wine and tappas tasting with Kelley's family. This was a 4 hour shindig and opened my mother's eyes to the world of cooking with olive oil. We tried 3 different oils along with meats and cheeses, gazpacho, olives, hams, and spanish food galore. Not to mention the 4 different wines too. This really got us into the mood of enjoying Spain and all the wonders it has to offer. My mom's oilve oil tastebuds will never be the same.
That week I also took my parents to the Mirador de San Nicolas so that they could see the best view of the Alhambra. After they made the trek up there they loved it. Both of them kept commenting on how good the air smelled. So for a while we looked at the Alhambra, and listened to the hippie music. On the way back down we took a different route and saw the paseo de los tristes and did some shopping in the Moroccan styled shops. This paseo is a path of the sad because it used to be a place for people to visit a cemetery. However now it shows beautiful ruins on the side of the Alhambra and is no longer a cemetary as it was centuries ago.
On Friday we went to the Alhambra. My mom got some good ideas for her garden and got to look up into the city where we were the day before at the Mirador de San Nicolas. I tried to be the best tour guide, telling them everything I have learned about the Alhambra, considering this was about my 6th time being at the palace. I wore them out that day. On Saturday we started out trip to Portugal, more to come on that part of the trip.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Climbing a mountain on your twenty first birthday: priceless
So this weekend was hectic with the past couple weeks of school just not letting me have a moment to think. Friday at 8:30 in the morning we headed off to the Alpujarras mountains in
I couldn't sleep completely that night because I knew that the next morning was my birthday and also because I knew I had such a day ahead of me. This day the first hour and a half was the most streneous becuase it was our climb to the mountain peak. Some of us girls found ourselves singing "Living on a prayer" by Bon Jovi because the song says that we are oooo we're half way there ooooo living on a prayer....this mind set was so necessary at some points. Once we got there everything faded because we could see the rest of the world below us.
We continued the day down a mountain that was part of the Sierra Nevadas instead of Alpujarras. That was my favorite sight I have ever seen in
After I went out to a Italian restaurant and out with my friends. It was definately a night to remember!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
¡Un día al campo!
The drive was about 20 minutes outside of Granada. We drove though so many olive groves that there was no way I could find my way back if I got lost there. The house itself was pretty cool. It had a standard layout of one great room with a large fire place. This was how it was when it was first built, the "Abuela" or grandma added a new kitchen and extra rooms on the first floor as well as a whole second story. We started the day out as the men did some yard work, of course making the Sunday meal. We cooked a lot of potatoes, and I mean a lot on the hearth fire. It was quite an extravaganza to see another culture work together to make the family meal. After the potatoes they put big slices of bacon on a tool to cook over the fire. The bacon tasted like BBQ and I was quite satisfied to have something American tasting.
After the meal, all of the men took a little nap and the women talked for about an hour. It was nice to be in this family atmosphere listening to Spanish gossip. What I have come to understand about people is that at the end of the day we are actually more alike then we are different.
Also after lunch two of the little grandsons, my little host brother included, wanted to go on an excursion out into the farm. Apparently they do this all the time. Their tradition is to get a backpack of food and go wander for a couple of hours. I seriously thought this was so cool and wished I was 10 again to have the innocent freedom. While the little boys did this, we cleaned up and went for a walk around the property with the grandma. I met two other American girls studying abroad in Granada that were staying with the grandma. So us 4 went in search of wild asparagus. All over her yard is olive trees and some family garden plots. There was also a common water fountain with a basin used for washing. There are actually fish that live in that basin all year round too. It was so nice to get this introduction. I could probably spend the rest of my life in Spain, and never know all that there is too know about Spain.