Here is the awaited list of what I will miss from Spain. The actual list that I've composed is a lot longer than this one, but I thought I would put the most important here.
-My family here
-Spanish
-The beach and the Mediterranean Sea
-Paella!!!!
-llao-llao (frozen yogurt place)
-All of our adventures throughout Spain
-My mama (especially when she says things like "you're crazy for wearing flip-flops! It's so cold out!" (when it was 65degrees!!))
-Public transportation
-Spaghetti nights at Jenn's house
-climbing mountains
-That I had a castle in my town
-I can walk to everything within 20 min
-hot bread!
-The pastries in the supermarkets
-Worshiping God in another language
-The weather
-Denia in general
yeah, so there are just a few of the things that i'm going to miss, the list goes on and on and on!! Tonight is the last night that I have here with my family and I'm going to miss them so much! They have been a wonderful Christian example for me and have been there when I needed them. My mama also makes the best food ever and I will miss all our talks during lunch before my papa came home. I've had the best experience here and don't want it to end. Regretfully, my ticket is bought and the bus leaves Denia at 3:00am this coming morning. I would not change anything on this trip. I've learned more about myself and about letting go and just diving into life. It has been a wonderful experience with strong friendships that have come out of it. I will never forget this time or the wonderful people that I've met and hung out with for the past five months. My biggest fear as I head back is losing contact with these people that I have come to consider family. We are a strong group and it's been incredible the way we've gotten along these past months. In a group with 6 guys and 18 girls you would expect some drama and bickering, but that has not happened to us. We've been able to grow close and learn to love and get along with each other through the thick and the thin. I love each and every person on this trip and would not change a thing. Thank you all for your support and prayers over the last months.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Something Alicante...
This week Tuesday I went with a couple others for one last ride on the train down towards Alicante. Our intentions were to go to the Valor Chocolate Factory (which I've already talked about/been to) and then head to the beach. Ben and Josiah, who were on their way to Alicante and then Sevilla decided to stop with us and get some free chocolate (which always makes your day better!) After our wonderful tour with free chocolate in the end we all decided to join Ben and Josiah as they continued to Alicante so that we could explore the castle there. (free stuff is a good initiator)
So we got there, climbed to the top of the castle, and there, with a 360 degree view of the mar and Alicante we ate lunch and talked for about 2 hours.
After that we headed back down and had to part ways. This was incredibly sad as it was the first of the goodbyes for this trip. :( We had a wonderful day though and it was fun that we could just spontaneously change plans and spend the day with each other!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Something sexy....
hehehe, ok, no I don't have a Spanish boyfriend (don't worry dad) I just thought it would be interesting to tell you about some of the things seen and heard in the streets of Spain. To start out I would like to explain that Spanish men like shouting out stuff to women as they walk down the streets. I have composed a very short list of things that have been said to me and the other girls in my group as we walked down the streets of Spain....
-Hola guapa (hey beautiful)
-Te quiero or I love you
-Ven conmigo chica (come with me girl)
-Ven aqui! (come here)
There's more, but that gives you a little glimpse into our lives here. Now another thing that you should know that may shock many of you are the looks that we get from those same guys who call out to us....and from most other guys in the streets. Most of the times I walk outside there is at least one creepy old man who looks at me as I walk past as if I was some sort of sexual object, it is just a blunt stare...like the ones that start when you are 5-10 feet away and end when you are 5-10 feet beyond in the other direction (very awkward, and even more awkward because most of the guys are 30-40 years old.) Normally this is combined with one of the cat calls from the previous section. Another thing, that normally makes me laugh when I experience this are the drunk guys who walk up to you, tell you you're beautiful and they want to marry you. That is always an interesting experience. A normal response to these looks and the words is just to ignore them. The guys actually don't do anything, they just enjoy calling out to girls that walk past (especially blonde ones) and laugh when we ignore them.
Another interesting/sexual thing about the Spanish culture is the nude/partially nude beach. When we go to the beach here (only a 20 min walk) we frequently see half naked women laying out. As a cultural thing, I've gotten used to it over the last few months, but it sometimes is still a little bit of a shocker to see a woman just strip down on the beach!
Finally I just thought I'd tell you that Spanish women know how to dress well. I feel under-dressed every time I step out of my house here. They wear nice clothes at all times and always look put together. (in other words bring more than 15 shirts to Spain!!!)
Sorry if that was a little more than you wanted to know, but it's true, and I just want to help you all experience a little of Spanish culture. :P
-Hola guapa (hey beautiful)
-Te quiero or I love you
-Ven conmigo chica (come with me girl)
-Ven aqui! (come here)
There's more, but that gives you a little glimpse into our lives here. Now another thing that you should know that may shock many of you are the looks that we get from those same guys who call out to us....and from most other guys in the streets. Most of the times I walk outside there is at least one creepy old man who looks at me as I walk past as if I was some sort of sexual object, it is just a blunt stare...like the ones that start when you are 5-10 feet away and end when you are 5-10 feet beyond in the other direction (very awkward, and even more awkward because most of the guys are 30-40 years old.) Normally this is combined with one of the cat calls from the previous section. Another thing, that normally makes me laugh when I experience this are the drunk guys who walk up to you, tell you you're beautiful and they want to marry you. That is always an interesting experience. A normal response to these looks and the words is just to ignore them. The guys actually don't do anything, they just enjoy calling out to girls that walk past (especially blonde ones) and laugh when we ignore them.
Another interesting/sexual thing about the Spanish culture is the nude/partially nude beach. When we go to the beach here (only a 20 min walk) we frequently see half naked women laying out. As a cultural thing, I've gotten used to it over the last few months, but it sometimes is still a little bit of a shocker to see a woman just strip down on the beach!
Finally I just thought I'd tell you that Spanish women know how to dress well. I feel under-dressed every time I step out of my house here. They wear nice clothes at all times and always look put together. (in other words bring more than 15 shirts to Spain!!!)
Sorry if that was a little more than you wanted to know, but it's true, and I just want to help you all experience a little of Spanish culture. :P
Friday, May 13, 2011
Something Missed...
So I know that you might be sick of my blogs, but this is what we call....constructive procrastination. That is where I spend more time writing blogs that are somewhat interesting about life here while successfully not writing the final essay and homework that I have to do. :) This blog is going to be about some of the little things that I've missed while I've been here in Spain. I'm not going to talk about events, more random things that I can remember that I've wanted to eat, see, or do while here in Spain. It has been a great semester, but there are always small things that pop up every once in a while when you realize...wow, I really, really want to eat that right now.
-My family
-HUGS from anyone and everyone.
-fresh milk of any kind (except skim)...milk here has a shelf life yuck!
-seeing more than 24 people every day (I have grown to love and cherish all the members of this group though)
-my mom's homecooked food
-being able to have friends over to watch a movie or just chat
-my friends; college, camp, church, high school, and more!
-being able to fully express my feelings and desires to others in my own language
-some of the freedoms we take for granted at college, like coming home whenever you want and not having to tell your family every time you leave.
-peanut butter....(and jelly sandwiches)
-riding horses
-knowing what is happening in people's daily lives
-being able to cook,and bake chocolatey deliciousness!
-being able to clean and do my own laundry, and having a dryer (pants fit better with a dryer)
-chocolate chip cookies....and every other dessert that my family normally has
-my clothes!!!
-being able to worship in my own church in my own language
-Grass, and green trees etc
-being able to walk the streets and stare at people/saying hi to everyone on campus, even if I don't know then (and not worry about being hit on)
-walking around barefoot in my house and outside
-My cell phone!! not having to worry about it running out of money while I'm talking to someone
-carpet!!!
I'm sure there are lots more...but I'm having writers block and can't think of any. In a couple days I will post a blog sharing all the things that I will miss about Spain. (that list is much, much longer)
-My family
-HUGS from anyone and everyone.
-fresh milk of any kind (except skim)...milk here has a shelf life yuck!
-seeing more than 24 people every day (I have grown to love and cherish all the members of this group though)
-my mom's homecooked food
-being able to have friends over to watch a movie or just chat
-my friends; college, camp, church, high school, and more!
-being able to fully express my feelings and desires to others in my own language
-some of the freedoms we take for granted at college, like coming home whenever you want and not having to tell your family every time you leave.
-peanut butter....(and jelly sandwiches)
-riding horses
-knowing what is happening in people's daily lives
-being able to cook,and bake chocolatey deliciousness!
-being able to clean and do my own laundry, and having a dryer (pants fit better with a dryer)
-chocolate chip cookies....and every other dessert that my family normally has
-my clothes!!!
-being able to worship in my own church in my own language
-Grass, and green trees etc
-being able to walk the streets and stare at people/saying hi to everyone on campus, even if I don't know then (and not worry about being hit on)
-walking around barefoot in my house and outside
-My cell phone!! not having to worry about it running out of money while I'm talking to someone
-carpet!!!
I'm sure there are lots more...but I'm having writers block and can't think of any. In a couple days I will post a blog sharing all the things that I will miss about Spain. (that list is much, much longer)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Something called Exams....
Exam week = stress + beautiful skies(of course) + so much studying!!! So obviously since it's exam week we've been spending all our "free time" in study groups here and there throughout Denia trying to find the best place with the most concentration available. I'm now halfway through with only 2 more of my 4 exams to go and let me tell you, studying is a lot easier when it is cold, rainy and you're not in Spain. At the moment there is a cloudless, sunny sky and a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean Sea that is just calling my name. Trying to combine the two doesn't work either. I take my notes to the beach every time I've gone, I open them when I first get there and then realize an hour later that I still haven't turned the page. Studying in cafe's doesn't work very well either. TV's with football (soccer) on, creepy men to talk about, distractions all around. With the end approaching very rapidly we also have the distraction of trying to do things and see things that are fun and group oriented. It is a very difficult thing to have exams when you are trying to suck in as much culture and Spain as possible!!! So since it's been such a trial finding a place to study, I've ended up at home or in the UNED (where we have class) studying with others and by myself, trying to forget the distractions for the moment. Thankfully we have several days after exams finish to hang out, take a million pictures with each other and of Denia and go do some last minute shopping at the mercadillo before we head back to the States. :)
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Something Cologne and more...
The next day was Sebastian's birthday (Steffi's brother) We had omletes for breakfast and I did some homework and slept until the party that night. After the party Steffi and I just hung out and talked for a while and then went to bed kinda late. Thursday we slept in and then Steffi drove me to the airport and we said goodbye and I came back to Denia! It was a wonderful week with Steffi and so much fun to see all of the cool history and interesting stuff!!
The rest of that week I just worked on homework and hung out with some of the girls on my trip who were here in Denia when I got back. We had a great time watching movies and having some girl talk! It was good to be back in Denia! :)
Something Berlin...
After Poland we headed back into Germany for the next three days of exploring Berlin. It was incredible! That first day we went right away to the Ka De We, which is a huge shopping mall.
It is famous because it was partially destroyed in the second world war, but was rebuilt. The prices were ridiculous but it was fun to wander through for a bit. Then Steffi and I went to do a little shopping and then headed off to dinner, which I think was McDonalds...first time I've eaten it since coming here. Later that night Steffi and I went out to an Irish pub for a while to sit and chat and have a beer, great way to end the evening! :)
Sunday began with us waking up and eating an amazing breakfast of fresh rolls with nutella and jam! So delicious!! We then took the bus to a cool cathedral in Berlin (Berlinerdom I think it was called).
It was very cool! We couldn't go inside because of the Easter services that were in session, but it was still fun to see it! Then we wandered around, looked at some statues (cause they are allll over Europe!) and then we took a boat tour!!
This was pretty sweet..although it would have been a little better if I had been able to understand the guide, but Steffi translated for me so i was able to catch some of it. We boated around museum island and then saw the parliament buildings and the place where the German Chancellor lives...it's three times the size of the white house!! After our boat tour we meandered through the little market that was right by the river for a while and then headed off to see some more monuments including a war memorial and the Brandenburg gate which was one of the dividing lines between east and west Germany.
Then I got a very cool candy apple which kinda tasted like hardened cotton candy and we went to one of the famous parliament buildings. This building had a cool dome on top which we got to climb up in!
It was pretty sweet and had a cool view of the city!
After we spent some time there we hopped on the metro and went to Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most famous places with pieces of the Berlin wall left over. It was sweet! We got there and they still had the checkpoint set up in the middle of the road with some guards (not sure if they were real) wearing US uniforms and the sign saying you were leaving the US area or leaving the Soviet area!
Then we took a walk of about five minutes to where the wall was. It was cool to see that part of history. I liked the parts with graffiti the most, but the wall was cool! We spent a while there and then headed back for dinner which consisted of a beautiful food that looked like a gyro. yummy :)
The next day we woke up early, ate our wondrous breakfast and went off to Museum Island. The reason we went was to see the bust of Nefertiti an Egyptian queen. It was beautiful, I tried to take an illegal picture, but it failed so you will all just have to look her up on the internet. :) Then we left Berlin and went to Sanssouci which is a park outside of Berlin with a building that was designed with Versailles as a model. It was beautiful and green! (That is something I noticed on this trip...everything is so green and there are real trees with lots of leaves!)
Berlin was a great time!!
It is famous because it was partially destroyed in the second world war, but was rebuilt. The prices were ridiculous but it was fun to wander through for a bit. Then Steffi and I went to do a little shopping and then headed off to dinner, which I think was McDonalds...first time I've eaten it since coming here. Later that night Steffi and I went out to an Irish pub for a while to sit and chat and have a beer, great way to end the evening! :)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Something Poland...
There wasn't much to see in Poland, but we stopped at a Polish Bazaar for a couple of hours. Now being the Spanish-loving snob I am, I was not very impressed by this market...the one in my town is just as good...if not better. But it was fun to see the stuff that they had.
Which included everything from underwear to guns and knives to food back to cigarettes.
Steffi and I weren't sure what we thought of the Bazaar..hence the looks.
After the Bazaar we went to lunch in a little Polish place nearby and I ate Schnitzel!!! (ya know like in the Sound of Music song, except without the noodles) It was pretty good!!
It was kinda interesting...but more fun just to be able to say that I've been in Poland. :)
Something Netherlands...
Thursday was my traveling day. I started at 8am and began my trip to the Valencia airport. Once there I spent all day sitting doing homework and listening to lots and lots of music and then I flew out around 7pm. I arrived on time in Germany around 9pm and met Steffi and her friends in the airport!! It was great to see her again and to be able to chat! We drove home that night...on the autobahn!!! That was super fun! :) Steffi lives in Wermelskirchen, Germany in a cute little house. That night we stayed up a little and talked about what we were going to do.
I found out that the next day we were headed off to the Netherlands. Apparently from her house it is only about 1 hour or so to the Netherlands and a city there called..Maastricht It was a cute city on the river and it was fun to be able to cross borders and watch the language change and just to wander around the town and say that I've been in the Netherlands.
So Steffi and I just kinda wandered around and took lots of pictures and
ate huge fries,
took more pictures, and just had a good time. (I also bought fresh stroopwafels...soooooo good!!!) That day was super fun. We got back to Steffi's house around 7pm and had dinner and drinks and then Steffi and I talked for a long time, got caught up and headed off to bed because the next day we were headed off to Berlin...at 6am!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Something relaxing....
So after the disaster of Friday I decided that it would be beneficial to spend the next 2 days doing nothing. Therefore on Saturday I woke up at 12, went to the beach, ate lunch at 2 with my family, went to the beach 2 more times (pretty impressive huh :P ), watched a movie, and went to bed. Sunday (Palm Sunday) I woke up, went to church. (hehe, there was a skit in church and it was supposed to be serious, but I couldn't help laughing because at one point "Jesus" sang with another woman..who i have no idea which biblical character she was..or if she even was; then there was a break dance in the skit with 2 guys. We've hypothesized that they were either the 2 criminals that died with Christ or just trying to worship with their break dancing...not sure which. either way it was very, very interesting.) After church I at ensaladilla rusa (russian salad) and fried fish with my family and then took a 2 hour siesta. :D Then I worked on some homework for Tuesday and did some other housekeeping stuff that I'd been putting off. Overall, I think this weekend was somewhat redeemed after Friday! Now for all you who read my blog (even when it is ridiculously long) I just want to inform you that I'm off to Germany this week to spend some time with Steffi, the exchange student who lived with my family for a while. So if I don't write for a while I'm seriously not committing Internet negligence (cough. Joel). So don't worry, I will keep sharing my stories after I get back!! :)
Something like Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day....
Today's Agenda: Bike to Pego
Yeah, bad day. In fact, it was so bad that it gets it's own post. So the day started off good, Josiah, Rachel, Kevin and I met at 9:30am and walked over to the tourist office for maps and then the bike shop to rent bikes. The owner seemed really nice and even gave us a little discount. Then we headed off. The route that we were going to take from Denia to Pego involved an old train track transformed into a bike path.
View Larger Map
This picture shows our path. It was pretty crazy!!!! So we're on this nice little path, it's gravel, but a very nice gravel, and easy to bike on. Spirits are up because it is taking a lot less time than we initially though it would. Then the true disaster began. Kevin and Rachel were riding behind Josiah and I and they called out to us to stop. We turn around and notice that Kevin is bending over his...flat tire. We should have known to turn around and just forget about it, but we just were so excited about Pego. So we sent Kevin and Josiah back to exchange bikes and Rachel and I kept riding. Since the guys were not with us we did end up getting lost about 4 times, but between asking directions from like 5 Spaniards and just guessing we ended up eventually finding our way. It took about 45 minutes to an hour for Rachel and I to get to Pego which included a little spill on Rachel's part, which may have been because I ran into her...oops. Once we were in Pego and getting close to the part where the Natural park began we realized that Rachel also had received a....flat tire. This meant that she had ridden the 2 hours to Pego and was now not going to be able to see it because she had to start back to Denia...walking. About that time the guys caught up with us, Kevin had gotten a new bike so he was set to go. We were kinda frustrated and hungry so we sat down and ate our lunch on a road between orange tree orchards. After lunch Rachel began her long walk home and Kevin, Josiah, and I headed off to see the Nature Reserve of Pego. We were super sad to leave Rachel, but she insisted, and we figured we were going to catch up any ways, since she was walking. So off we went. The first part surprisingly went rather smooth, the only glitch being that we accidentally missed the first turn off, and had to take another a little later on.
This dirt road lead us up to the river. Now let me say, I've never been more disillusioned by a river in my life. It was really ugly and there was trash in it, and it was a let down. It did sound pretty though.
From there we decided to follow a terrible dirt road. I'm sure if it could have been any worse I would have been off my bike instead of just bouncing around. After a while of following this road, we stopped to look at the map and try to find a way back towards Pego...only to realize that we were officially not on the map anymore. Now, we weren't lost, just north of the map.
So we took a path back south a bit and found the road that looked like the highway again. At this point we just decided to head towards the sea...because we actually knew where that was!! So we biked for like a few minutes and then saw a sign that said....Provincia de Valencia! That was not such a good thing cause we live in the provincia de Alicante, which meant we were now like a looooooonnnnnggg way from home. We decided continue in the direction of the highway we could sort of see and ended up finding another road along side it.
About now Kevin, Josiah and I are talking about how unfortunate all this is and kinda moping, so to life spirits I commented on how this dirt road wasn't too bad. Wouldn't ya know it but like 10 seconds after that the road turns into the worst dirt road ever, I mean like even worse than before filled with potholes and rocks of all sizes. Next we found a viewing deck of the marshlands....very uninteresting, all grass.
(that's Pego in the background)
Continuing on the torturous road we next found a puddle, but we were able to bike around it. Then, of course, as Kevin is thinking in his head "well it could have been worse" there appears in front of us a HUGE puddle. I'm talking like river across the road.
It was huge and we couldn't go around it so we ended up biking right through it. Now we're really laughing cause this day is such a ridiculous failure that it just cannot get worse...hopefully. We ended up finding some really crappy bridge to cross the river (boards laid across the metal frame of a telephone pole).
After this things went a little smoother for a while...we crossed another river (thankfully with a real bridge) and actually found the real road, which we almost got run over on...that was slightly scary. Then the trip back to Denia went pretty well for a while. We had about 20 min where nothing happened and our spirits were lifted a little. Then, it happened. Josiah and I stopped to wait for Kevin because he had been doing something with his bike (and we realized we were on the wrong road). Kevin pulled up next to us, stopped his bike, and said "look" and pointed down. There was ANOTHER flat tire. Well, by this point we were so fed up with all the awful horrid things that had gone on that we just walked over to the right road and then hopped on our bikes (Kevin with his flat tire and all) and rode off. In another 10 minutes or so we caught up to Rachel still walking her bike and Kevin and I got off and walked the last like 4 or 5 miles back home, hoping that our troubles were over.
Back at the bike shop we tried to express just how unhappy we were with our experience and how much of and inconvenience it was for us, but the owner was very unsympathetic. He was upset with us for all the dead bikes and we ended up having to pay him 20 euros on top of what we had already paid. It was ridiculous, but we were just sick of it. After that we went to llao-llaos and ate frozen yogurt to help us feel a little better about the day. So basically, it really was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...except for the frozen yogurt, chocolate and company.
Yeah, bad day. In fact, it was so bad that it gets it's own post. So the day started off good, Josiah, Rachel, Kevin and I met at 9:30am and walked over to the tourist office for maps and then the bike shop to rent bikes. The owner seemed really nice and even gave us a little discount. Then we headed off. The route that we were going to take from Denia to Pego involved an old train track transformed into a bike path.
View Larger Map
This picture shows our path. It was pretty crazy!!!! So we're on this nice little path, it's gravel, but a very nice gravel, and easy to bike on. Spirits are up because it is taking a lot less time than we initially though it would. Then the true disaster began. Kevin and Rachel were riding behind Josiah and I and they called out to us to stop. We turn around and notice that Kevin is bending over his...flat tire. We should have known to turn around and just forget about it, but we just were so excited about Pego. So we sent Kevin and Josiah back to exchange bikes and Rachel and I kept riding. Since the guys were not with us we did end up getting lost about 4 times, but between asking directions from like 5 Spaniards and just guessing we ended up eventually finding our way. It took about 45 minutes to an hour for Rachel and I to get to Pego which included a little spill on Rachel's part, which may have been because I ran into her...oops. Once we were in Pego and getting close to the part where the Natural park began we realized that Rachel also had received a....flat tire. This meant that she had ridden the 2 hours to Pego and was now not going to be able to see it because she had to start back to Denia...walking. About that time the guys caught up with us, Kevin had gotten a new bike so he was set to go. We were kinda frustrated and hungry so we sat down and ate our lunch on a road between orange tree orchards. After lunch Rachel began her long walk home and Kevin, Josiah, and I headed off to see the Nature Reserve of Pego. We were super sad to leave Rachel, but she insisted, and we figured we were going to catch up any ways, since she was walking. So off we went. The first part surprisingly went rather smooth, the only glitch being that we accidentally missed the first turn off, and had to take another a little later on.
This dirt road lead us up to the river. Now let me say, I've never been more disillusioned by a river in my life. It was really ugly and there was trash in it, and it was a let down. It did sound pretty though.
From there we decided to follow a terrible dirt road. I'm sure if it could have been any worse I would have been off my bike instead of just bouncing around. After a while of following this road, we stopped to look at the map and try to find a way back towards Pego...only to realize that we were officially not on the map anymore. Now, we weren't lost, just north of the map.
So we took a path back south a bit and found the road that looked like the highway again. At this point we just decided to head towards the sea...because we actually knew where that was!! So we biked for like a few minutes and then saw a sign that said....Provincia de Valencia! That was not such a good thing cause we live in the provincia de Alicante, which meant we were now like a looooooonnnnnggg way from home. We decided continue in the direction of the highway we could sort of see and ended up finding another road along side it.
About now Kevin, Josiah and I are talking about how unfortunate all this is and kinda moping, so to life spirits I commented on how this dirt road wasn't too bad. Wouldn't ya know it but like 10 seconds after that the road turns into the worst dirt road ever, I mean like even worse than before filled with potholes and rocks of all sizes. Next we found a viewing deck of the marshlands....very uninteresting, all grass.
Continuing on the torturous road we next found a puddle, but we were able to bike around it. Then, of course, as Kevin is thinking in his head "well it could have been worse" there appears in front of us a HUGE puddle. I'm talking like river across the road.
It was huge and we couldn't go around it so we ended up biking right through it. Now we're really laughing cause this day is such a ridiculous failure that it just cannot get worse...hopefully. We ended up finding some really crappy bridge to cross the river (boards laid across the metal frame of a telephone pole).
After this things went a little smoother for a while...we crossed another river (thankfully with a real bridge) and actually found the real road, which we almost got run over on...that was slightly scary. Then the trip back to Denia went pretty well for a while. We had about 20 min where nothing happened and our spirits were lifted a little. Then, it happened. Josiah and I stopped to wait for Kevin because he had been doing something with his bike (and we realized we were on the wrong road). Kevin pulled up next to us, stopped his bike, and said "look" and pointed down. There was ANOTHER flat tire. Well, by this point we were so fed up with all the awful horrid things that had gone on that we just walked over to the right road and then hopped on our bikes (Kevin with his flat tire and all) and rode off. In another 10 minutes or so we caught up to Rachel still walking her bike and Kevin and I got off and walked the last like 4 or 5 miles back home, hoping that our troubles were over.
Back at the bike shop we tried to express just how unhappy we were with our experience and how much of and inconvenience it was for us, but the owner was very unsympathetic. He was upset with us for all the dead bikes and we ended up having to pay him 20 euros on top of what we had already paid. It was ridiculous, but we were just sick of it. After that we went to llao-llaos and ate frozen yogurt to help us feel a little better about the day. So basically, it really was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...except for the frozen yogurt, chocolate and company.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Something Sevilla.....
So to continue with the whole adventure every weekend I decided to head off to Sevilla this weekend. After a very hurried lunch on Thursday our group met at the train station and began our long journey to Sevilla. We arrived at our hostel after traveling for several hours by train, bus, plane, bus and finally walking. That night we just decided to crash in our hostel because we were exhausted, so we made plans and then headed off to bed.
Friday morning we woke up early ate breakfast and headed out right away. Our first stop was the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts). It is located in a pretty little plaza and in a pink (or salmon-colored building) This museum was filled with artwork by famous people like Velazquez and Murillo and also some more recent not as well known artists. Now if you have ever seen me in an art museum you know that it is not the best thing. I try to avoid them because I end up just mocking every painting....well I tried to admire....but it kinda failed. I did like a lot of the work though and it was fun that I recognized the artists from my Spanish Art class here in Denia. Hey....I actually am learning something here!!! :) After around 2 hours in Bellas Artes our dear friend Hannah left us to go meet with her friend who lives in Sevilla and the rest of us headed off to the rio Guadalquivir for some more exploring. We saw some pretty sweet arte callejera (street art) and some pretty cool bridges, including the Puente de Isabel II (bridge of Isabel II) which is apparently pretty famous.
From that we walked across the bridge to the Bull Stadium (Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria). This was sweet, we got to take a tour and got inside the stadium and the museum. It was sweet. In a bull fight (corrido) there are 2 people on horseback and 3 people (toreros) on foot in the stadium. An interesting (although very sad) fact is that before the horses wore protection approx. 15 horses would die every corrido. That is like twice as many bulls, and after the corrido they would give the bull and horse meat out to the public; so the more horses and bulls that died, the better it was for the people! How sad. :(
After the Plaza de Toros we walked a little further until we reached the Torre de Oro (Gold Tower)
This was cool, but closed so we couldn't get in. Apparently it's called the Torre de Oro because it was supposedly where the gold was kept for Sevilla.
Then, since it wasn't quite lunchtime yet we headed in the direction of the Catedral de Sevilla and the Giralda. This was by far one of my favorite parts of Sevilla. The Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It has HUGE pillars inside and is just huge and Awesome in general!!! I was so impressed by the size and grandeur of it. Once we had explored the cathdral for a bit we went over the Giralda (which used to be the Alminar of a mosque, but was later converted into a bell tower.) The Giralda has 34 + stories and there is a ramp in order to get to the top because at one point they brought horses/mules up there for some reason. Once in the top you got a view of the whole city and the rio!
It was super cool, especially when the bells chimed while we were up there! :) After that we found a place to buy food and had some lunch.
Oh, and we also found some flamenco dresses that Jenn and I tried on. They were super sweet!!!!
Then we headed off in the direction of a bridge that one of our friends (Josiah) loves. Now this would have been fun, but it was like 4pm and around 95 degrees, so we were hot, tired and it took forever to get there. Once there we had no one around to explain to us the reason this bridge was so cool, so us girls were a little put out....but it was still cool none the less. I later found out that the reason it's so cool is that it has no supports underneath, it is supported by the counter-weight of the large metal pole and the huge cables. After that we headed back through town with a stop at the Basilica of the Macarena. (side note: they don't dance the macarena there, well, not when we were there).
It was beautiful and very detailed. After that we walked back to our hostel (with a stop for ice-cream from the mercadona). That night we ate out at a restaurant and had some tapas, then we headed to bed "early".
Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and then headed off to the Alcazar. This was a palace/fortress built by the muslims and then taken over by the Spanish monarchs. It had a really cool mixture of the two cultures with gorgeous designs in the walls. It was sweet!!!!! It also had Huge gardens. We wandered around taking picture in them for a while before we left.
The Plaza de Espana was next on our list. This place is a huge plaza with a banco for every provincia in Spain. It has really cool tiling and is painted with some sweet colors!!
At this point we also had the privilage to meet Hannah's friend Amanda. Amanda then became our tour guide for the rest of the day! Then we ate lunch and wandered around the gardens next to the plaza de Espana then headed off to the barrio (neighborhood) next to the Cathedral. It used to be the Jewish quarter of the city and it has narrow streets and is just a really pretty part of the town. That evening Hallie and I decided to be cheap, so while everyone else went out to dinner we bought bread and cheese at the store and ate in our hostel. Then to complete our evening we headed off to see the Giralda lit up at night. It was beautiful, stunning, absolutely wonderful! I forgot my camera, so I don't have a picture, but it was fantastic!! I had an Awesome weekend!!!
Friday morning we woke up early ate breakfast and headed out right away. Our first stop was the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts). It is located in a pretty little plaza and in a pink (or salmon-colored building) This museum was filled with artwork by famous people like Velazquez and Murillo and also some more recent not as well known artists. Now if you have ever seen me in an art museum you know that it is not the best thing. I try to avoid them because I end up just mocking every painting....well I tried to admire....but it kinda failed. I did like a lot of the work though and it was fun that I recognized the artists from my Spanish Art class here in Denia. Hey....I actually am learning something here!!! :) After around 2 hours in Bellas Artes our dear friend Hannah left us to go meet with her friend who lives in Sevilla and the rest of us headed off to the rio Guadalquivir for some more exploring. We saw some pretty sweet arte callejera (street art) and some pretty cool bridges, including the Puente de Isabel II (bridge of Isabel II) which is apparently pretty famous.
From that we walked across the bridge to the Bull Stadium (Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria). This was sweet, we got to take a tour and got inside the stadium and the museum. It was sweet. In a bull fight (corrido) there are 2 people on horseback and 3 people (toreros) on foot in the stadium. An interesting (although very sad) fact is that before the horses wore protection approx. 15 horses would die every corrido. That is like twice as many bulls, and after the corrido they would give the bull and horse meat out to the public; so the more horses and bulls that died, the better it was for the people! How sad. :(
After the Plaza de Toros we walked a little further until we reached the Torre de Oro (Gold Tower)
Then we headed off in the direction of a bridge that one of our friends (Josiah) loves. Now this would have been fun, but it was like 4pm and around 95 degrees, so we were hot, tired and it took forever to get there. Once there we had no one around to explain to us the reason this bridge was so cool, so us girls were a little put out....but it was still cool none the less. I later found out that the reason it's so cool is that it has no supports underneath, it is supported by the counter-weight of the large metal pole and the huge cables. After that we headed back through town with a stop at the Basilica of the Macarena. (side note: they don't dance the macarena there, well, not when we were there).
It was beautiful and very detailed. After that we walked back to our hostel (with a stop for ice-cream from the mercadona). That night we ate out at a restaurant and had some tapas, then we headed to bed "early".
Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and then headed off to the Alcazar. This was a palace/fortress built by the muslims and then taken over by the Spanish monarchs. It had a really cool mixture of the two cultures with gorgeous designs in the walls. It was sweet!!!!! It also had Huge gardens. We wandered around taking picture in them for a while before we left.
The Plaza de Espana was next on our list. This place is a huge plaza with a banco for every provincia in Spain. It has really cool tiling and is painted with some sweet colors!!
At this point we also had the privilage to meet Hannah's friend Amanda. Amanda then became our tour guide for the rest of the day! Then we ate lunch and wandered around the gardens next to the plaza de Espana then headed off to the barrio (neighborhood) next to the Cathedral. It used to be the Jewish quarter of the city and it has narrow streets and is just a really pretty part of the town. That evening Hallie and I decided to be cheap, so while everyone else went out to dinner we bought bread and cheese at the store and ate in our hostel. Then to complete our evening we headed off to see the Giralda lit up at night. It was beautiful, stunning, absolutely wonderful! I forgot my camera, so I don't have a picture, but it was fantastic!! I had an Awesome weekend!!!
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