Well, even though I've sucked recently at blogging and I still have my past 3 weeks to blog about...I decided to write one last post while I am in Sevilla. It is Wednesday night, and although I am not leaving until Friday, I have to turn in my modem tomorrow...so it is the last night I can write this blog from Sevilla!!! Wow, I really cannot believe how time has flown, yet at the same time it feels like such a long time since I've been home. Time here has and still is a very strange concept.
Although these past two weeks have been jam packed with last nights out, last minute errands and more importantly, FINALS and final papers, I have managed to still have a great last two weeks here in Sevilla. I have somehow remained pretty calm throughout it all- it is hard to be stressed when I know I will be home with my family, friends and Aaron in such a short time. And I am also trying to enjoy Sevilla as much as I can in my last few days. I have not walked past the Cathedral this week without stopping to take a good look at it, and maybe even a picture or two on my disposable camera (I lost my camera on my birthday...oops...21??). Speaking of which, I have not forgotten about my Paris, Feria, and birthday blogs. I promise to put them up when I get home next week!
Mostly though, I can't wait to get home and share my experiences with everyone in person. I have so many pictures and stories from Sevilla and from my travels that I can't wait to share with all of you. While I am starting to get really sad about leaving Sevilla and the amazing friends I have made here this semester, I am also very excited to get back to everyone at home. I really didn't even think I would have such a hard time leaving Sevilla- but looking back on how amazing this semester was, it is much harder to comprehend leaving than I thought! But like I said, I am very excited to be home in exactly 48 hours from now!!!!! Wow.
Before I go, let me tell you all my travel plans...because I am really not looking forward to them! Haha. So I leave at 6 am to catch a cab to the Sevilla train station, where I will be taking a 6:45 am train to Madrid. From there, I will take a cab to the airport, where I have a flight at 12:35 pm to Philly (luckily I know a bunch of people on the flight- slightly less painful 8.5 hours). I land at 3 pm Philly time, then I have a 3 hour layover which would be awful EXCEPT for the fact that EMILY has the same layover as me!!! So we will get to hang out for a few hours one last time before we both go home. My flight leaves at 5:55 pm ET and gets into Chicago at 7:18 pm CT, where my parents (and Joey??) will be waiting to pick me up!!!! Overall, it will be a pretty long 20 hours of travelling...but it will definitely be worth it!
Millones de besos a todos mis amigos por la última vez de Sevilla, y que nos veamos muy pronto :)
SEE YOU ALL SOOONNNNN!!!!!!!!! Adios España, ¡te quiero!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Time I Went to Africa for the Weekend
After Lagos, it was pretty rough going back to school after an 11 day vacation. But I only had one week until I went to Morocco!! This trip was organized through my interest group, which I think I mentioned before. My program has a bunch of different interest groups, and I decided to join with with Jillian called 4 Cultures: Jews, Christians, Muslims and Gypsies. Our trip consisted of about 25 students, a professor from our school, and a 23 year old Spanish student...both of whom were very cool!! The best part about this trip was that we only had to pay 50 euros since it was through our program. I really don't think I'll ever have the opportunity again to go to Africa for 50 euro!!
We left early Friday morning and spent a lot of the day traveling. We had to take a bus, a ferry, and another bus to get to our first destination and hotel where we stayed both nights in Tetuan. Luckily Morocco is 2 hours behind, so we picked up some time in order for more sightseeing. We checked into our hotel which was also unbelievably nice (I was roommates with Jillian and this other random girl who I can't even remember her name) and then headed out. Our tour guide this day was hilarious, his name was...something Arabic, but he told us to call him Michael Douglas because he "looked" like him (wrong, he did not, but it was still funny). Our first stop was an art workshop/academy...for kids who do not want to go to traditional school, they can go to art school basically and learn that instead. Unfortunately the students weren't there when we went because it was the time of day on Friday where Muslims go to the mosques and pray, but we saw tons of cool crafts; woodwork, ridiculously intricate painting, plaster, leather, etc. It was cool.
After that, we walked through the medina (city center) of Tetuan, which was definitely a highlight of my whole experience in Morocco. It was such a shock seeing some of the things beind sold in the markets. Upon first walking up we saw a huge cardboard circle filled with baby chicks. After walking a little more we saw a large variety of bread, fruits, eggs, and vegetables, and then your less typical things such as oh you know, entire dead fish of all shapes and sizes, dead headless chickens hanging from stands, large parts of cow meat just dangling everywhere. The usual! It was crazy. It also smelled HORRIFIC and there was literally blood on the sidewalks in some places from the freshly dead products. It was ridiculous, but very very cool to see.
A man carrying bread in the market
After that pleasant experience we walked through some very small and windy streets and then made it to lunch, thank god because we were all starving, even after the dead animals. We had a good first taste of Moroccan food: vegetable soup, little chicken shish kebabs, delicious couscous, and then for dessert orange slices with cinnamon on them. After lunch we had Arabic tea, which is definitely something everyone should try at some point...it is basically REALLY sweet, minty tea. It's pretty good actually.
After lunch we did more touring around the medina. Walking around the markets here was really one of my favorite parts of the trip...it was just so cool seeing all the different things they were selling (meat, grains, produce, beans, nuts, dyes, fabrics, shoes, clothing, soaps, herbs, etc.). We also saw the Royal Palace, went to a leather tannery (AWFUL smelling- they gave us each a sprig of spearmint to sniff while we walked though), and we even went to this tiny little hole in the wall synagogue! Later, we went back to the restaurant we had eaten at previously and listened to a Morrocan university student (who spoke English) talk to us about Islam in Morocco over some tea. It was very interesting! After the talk we went back to our hotel, waited a little, had dinner in the hotel dining room, hung out a little after, and called it a night really early because we were EXHAUSTED.
On Saturday, we had to wake up very early, grab some breakfast in the hotel (Moroccan breakfast was pretty interesting!), and hop on the bus to go to our first stop of the day, a town called Assilah. We had a few hours to explore Assilah, which was a small but very pretty coast town. We walked along the coast, saw beautiful murals painted on the white walls of the town, and stopped at a lookout point for a beautiful view. Then we explored the tiny streets some more, and did some shopping in the markets. Shopping in Morocco is unlike anything I've ever experienced. More on that later though, as I didn't really buy anything in this town...I was still warming up.
Beautiful view in Assilah
Our next stop was Tangier, and we got there just in time for lunch. For lunch we had salad, and then a typical Moroccan dish called pastela. Basically it was seasoned chicken and almonds inside a sphere shaped pastry, with cinnamon and sugar on it. Needless to say, it was very interesting. For dessert we had tea (obviously) and some Arabic treats (most have almonds or some type of nut involved, very good though). After lunch, we headed to the Caves of Hercules, which was a very cool cave where supposedly Hercules rested after his 12 labors (don't really know what that means....never saw that Disney movie). The coolest part was that there was a hole in the rocks looking out to the ocean that looked like it was the shape of Africa. It was very pretty- check it out in my pics!
We left the caves, got back on the bus, and took a short ride to our next activity: riding CAMELS! This was one of the coolest parts of the trip. Even though we each only rode for about a minute, it was such a fun and unique experience. Camels have such awkwardly tall legs that when they stand up or sit back down, it feels like you are going to fall off for sure!! Also, obviously my camel had some sort of wetness on the blanket covering its back...which I can ONLY assume was camel pee. Lovely, my calves were wet after getting off. My friend Becky took some good pictures of me camel-riding though, so check them out! After the camels, we had about 20 minutes to walk on a beautiful beach for a while, until it was time to get back on the bus and head to the city of Tangier.
Me as the camel is standing up!
A stop sign...in Arabic
We got there, toured around the medina a little (unfortunately our guide from Friday got sick, so we had a weird guide on Saturday who basically just smoked cigarettes the whole time), and then had some free time to walk around ourselves and do some shopping. Here is when we really started to get into the Moroccan shopping. Basically, if you've ever experienced people trying to sell you crap in Mexico on the streets, imagine that times about...500. These Moroccan street vendors/store owners are INSANE. They start at such a high price and you have to barter them...and in order to do so you have to REALLY barter, they don't give in easily!! Making it especially difficult was the fact that we had to barter in dirham (the Moroccan currency)- as if converting euros to dollars all the time didn't already confuse me enough! It was intense but also pretty funny. My favorite part was that all the people spoke so many languages and did so much code switching in order or to cater to their buyers. You would hear a vendor talking to his friend in Arabic one minute, then speaking to someone in French, then two seconds later trying to sell his stuff to me in Spanish, and if I didn't answer quick enough, he'd start speaking English. It was pretty cool actually. Needless to say, I did some good shopping in Tangier, and then we headed back to our hotel in Tetuan where we ate dinner, watched a little of the and once again went to bed very early!
On Sunday we had to get up super early so we could eat breakfast, check out, and get on the bus by 7 am, where we then headed to our last city, Chefchaouen. This city was SO cool- all the walls were blue!!! We had a guided tour for a while (in the rain) with another weirdo guide, and although I had a hard time paying attention to what he was saying, it was so cool walking around the town and seeing the blue walls- I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book. We also saw some beautiful mountains, hills, and streams. After the tour, we had some more free time to wander around and shop...this was when I did my serious shopping. All in all, I exchanged 50 euro into dirham- and came back with a TON of stuff!! Morocco treated me well. After shopping we had lunch, and then got back on the bus to start our long journey back to Sevilla.
The beautiful blue city of Chefchaouen
Overall, Morocco was a VERY cool trip. I had a great time, and had great people in my interest group to experience it with!! I feel like I've skimmed over a lot of details about this trip...there's just so much to tell! Luckily I will be home in 9 DAYS (!!!!) and can fill you all in on more details then!!! Here are my pictures from Morocco:
Morocco Pt 1- Tetuan
Morocco Pt 2- Assilah, Tangier, and Chefchaouen
We left early Friday morning and spent a lot of the day traveling. We had to take a bus, a ferry, and another bus to get to our first destination and hotel where we stayed both nights in Tetuan. Luckily Morocco is 2 hours behind, so we picked up some time in order for more sightseeing. We checked into our hotel which was also unbelievably nice (I was roommates with Jillian and this other random girl who I can't even remember her name) and then headed out. Our tour guide this day was hilarious, his name was...something Arabic, but he told us to call him Michael Douglas because he "looked" like him (wrong, he did not, but it was still funny). Our first stop was an art workshop/academy...for kids who do not want to go to traditional school, they can go to art school basically and learn that instead. Unfortunately the students weren't there when we went because it was the time of day on Friday where Muslims go to the mosques and pray, but we saw tons of cool crafts; woodwork, ridiculously intricate painting, plaster, leather, etc. It was cool.
After that, we walked through the medina (city center) of Tetuan, which was definitely a highlight of my whole experience in Morocco. It was such a shock seeing some of the things beind sold in the markets. Upon first walking up we saw a huge cardboard circle filled with baby chicks. After walking a little more we saw a large variety of bread, fruits, eggs, and vegetables, and then your less typical things such as oh you know, entire dead fish of all shapes and sizes, dead headless chickens hanging from stands, large parts of cow meat just dangling everywhere. The usual! It was crazy. It also smelled HORRIFIC and there was literally blood on the sidewalks in some places from the freshly dead products. It was ridiculous, but very very cool to see.
A man carrying bread in the marketAfter that pleasant experience we walked through some very small and windy streets and then made it to lunch, thank god because we were all starving, even after the dead animals. We had a good first taste of Moroccan food: vegetable soup, little chicken shish kebabs, delicious couscous, and then for dessert orange slices with cinnamon on them. After lunch we had Arabic tea, which is definitely something everyone should try at some point...it is basically REALLY sweet, minty tea. It's pretty good actually.
After lunch we did more touring around the medina. Walking around the markets here was really one of my favorite parts of the trip...it was just so cool seeing all the different things they were selling (meat, grains, produce, beans, nuts, dyes, fabrics, shoes, clothing, soaps, herbs, etc.). We also saw the Royal Palace, went to a leather tannery (AWFUL smelling- they gave us each a sprig of spearmint to sniff while we walked though), and we even went to this tiny little hole in the wall synagogue! Later, we went back to the restaurant we had eaten at previously and listened to a Morrocan university student (who spoke English) talk to us about Islam in Morocco over some tea. It was very interesting! After the talk we went back to our hotel, waited a little, had dinner in the hotel dining room, hung out a little after, and called it a night really early because we were EXHAUSTED.
On Saturday, we had to wake up very early, grab some breakfast in the hotel (Moroccan breakfast was pretty interesting!), and hop on the bus to go to our first stop of the day, a town called Assilah. We had a few hours to explore Assilah, which was a small but very pretty coast town. We walked along the coast, saw beautiful murals painted on the white walls of the town, and stopped at a lookout point for a beautiful view. Then we explored the tiny streets some more, and did some shopping in the markets. Shopping in Morocco is unlike anything I've ever experienced. More on that later though, as I didn't really buy anything in this town...I was still warming up.
Beautiful view in AssilahOur next stop was Tangier, and we got there just in time for lunch. For lunch we had salad, and then a typical Moroccan dish called pastela. Basically it was seasoned chicken and almonds inside a sphere shaped pastry, with cinnamon and sugar on it. Needless to say, it was very interesting. For dessert we had tea (obviously) and some Arabic treats (most have almonds or some type of nut involved, very good though). After lunch, we headed to the Caves of Hercules, which was a very cool cave where supposedly Hercules rested after his 12 labors (don't really know what that means....never saw that Disney movie). The coolest part was that there was a hole in the rocks looking out to the ocean that looked like it was the shape of Africa. It was very pretty- check it out in my pics!
We left the caves, got back on the bus, and took a short ride to our next activity: riding CAMELS! This was one of the coolest parts of the trip. Even though we each only rode for about a minute, it was such a fun and unique experience. Camels have such awkwardly tall legs that when they stand up or sit back down, it feels like you are going to fall off for sure!! Also, obviously my camel had some sort of wetness on the blanket covering its back...which I can ONLY assume was camel pee. Lovely, my calves were wet after getting off. My friend Becky took some good pictures of me camel-riding though, so check them out! After the camels, we had about 20 minutes to walk on a beautiful beach for a while, until it was time to get back on the bus and head to the city of Tangier.
Me as the camel is standing up!
A stop sign...in ArabicWe got there, toured around the medina a little (unfortunately our guide from Friday got sick, so we had a weird guide on Saturday who basically just smoked cigarettes the whole time), and then had some free time to walk around ourselves and do some shopping. Here is when we really started to get into the Moroccan shopping. Basically, if you've ever experienced people trying to sell you crap in Mexico on the streets, imagine that times about...500. These Moroccan street vendors/store owners are INSANE. They start at such a high price and you have to barter them...and in order to do so you have to REALLY barter, they don't give in easily!! Making it especially difficult was the fact that we had to barter in dirham (the Moroccan currency)- as if converting euros to dollars all the time didn't already confuse me enough! It was intense but also pretty funny. My favorite part was that all the people spoke so many languages and did so much code switching in order or to cater to their buyers. You would hear a vendor talking to his friend in Arabic one minute, then speaking to someone in French, then two seconds later trying to sell his stuff to me in Spanish, and if I didn't answer quick enough, he'd start speaking English. It was pretty cool actually. Needless to say, I did some good shopping in Tangier, and then we headed back to our hotel in Tetuan where we ate dinner, watched a little of the and once again went to bed very early!
On Sunday we had to get up super early so we could eat breakfast, check out, and get on the bus by 7 am, where we then headed to our last city, Chefchaouen. This city was SO cool- all the walls were blue!!! We had a guided tour for a while (in the rain) with another weirdo guide, and although I had a hard time paying attention to what he was saying, it was so cool walking around the town and seeing the blue walls- I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book. We also saw some beautiful mountains, hills, and streams. After the tour, we had some more free time to wander around and shop...this was when I did my serious shopping. All in all, I exchanged 50 euro into dirham- and came back with a TON of stuff!! Morocco treated me well. After shopping we had lunch, and then got back on the bus to start our long journey back to Sevilla.
The beautiful blue city of ChefchaouenOverall, Morocco was a VERY cool trip. I had a great time, and had great people in my interest group to experience it with!! I feel like I've skimmed over a lot of details about this trip...there's just so much to tell! Luckily I will be home in 9 DAYS (!!!!) and can fill you all in on more details then!!! Here are my pictures from Morocco:
Morocco Pt 1- Tetuan
Morocco Pt 2- Assilah, Tangier, and Chefchaouen
LAGOS!
Well, it's official...I have become a bad blogger. Now that I am nearing the end of my semester abroad, I am finding myself with very little time to blog about my experiences because I am really trying to soak everything in before it's all over! I'll try to give a brief synopsis of each of my past 3 trips though, as well as the holiday we just had in Sevilla.
I'll start with my trip to Lagos, Portugal April 10-12th. I had just gone to Italy, had a few days in Sevilla for Semana Santa, and then headed off once again to Lagos, which is a beach town in the Algarve region of Portugal. Chrisy, Franny, Jillian and I, along with a bunch of other friends of ours, went through a travel company called DiscoverSevilla, so it was very nice not having to deal with anything...we did sort of feel like we were on a high school field trip at some points though. Overall, we had an AMAZING weekend in Lagos. Despite some questionable weather, it was an absolutely beautiful place.
We took a bus there early Friday morning, and arrived at our gorgeous hotel in the afternoon. I shared a room with Chrisy and Franny and we were basically in awe the whole weekend of how nice the hotel was, especially compared to our homestays! After settling in, we headed down to a beach called Praia Dona Ana. Although it drizzled for a few minutes, was chilly and windy, and the clouds kept going in and out, the beach was absolutely breathtaking. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. We got some lunch and spent a few hours at the beach...basically freezing the whole time haha. At night, we went into the small town area of Lagos and had dinner at a great restaurant called Nah Nah Bah and afterwards headed to a bar where DiscoverSevilla was having a party (high school? we even got fake money to buy drinks with). It ended up being very fun though, mainly because Franny and I danced as though we were at a Bat Mitzvah the whole time.
On Saturday we got up and met in the hotel lobby to go on a "Sangria Cruise"...aka we went out on a big sailboat and they came around with Sangria, which pretty much no one wanted to drink much of since it was 11 am. Although it was pretty cold for most of the sailboat ride, it was still very fun, and so pretty! We sailed for about 40 minutes and then anchored near these beautiful grottos, where 9 people at a time got to go on a little motor boat to explore them. This was my favorite part of the boat ride. The waves were huge and it was so windy, so we were laughing throughout the entire ride. On top of that, the grottos were SO cool. I got some great pictures, check them out in the facebook link I will post at the bottom!
After the boat, we headed back to the same beach, where it was finally nice out by the afternoon!!! Despite putting on sunscreen, I still got fried. Obviously. And we're talking genuine Jessica Seiler burns here, as in bright red with fingerprints and all (don't worry, I peeled like crazy about a week later. My belly button even peeled...oversharing?). Anyways, it was a really fun day at the beach regardless. At night, they took us to this place called Cabo San Vicence, which was believed to be the end of the world back in the day, and I can see why! Although it was the windiest experience of my entire life (my hair literally was standing up straight the whole time), it was an amazing view. We watched the sunset there, and even though it was a pretty cloudy one, it was still beautiful. After that, we went back to the hotel. Chrisy, Franny and I had bought food from a store and so we cooked ourselves a nice little family dinner!! It was a lot of fun. We went out again into the town and met up with some other friends of ours on the trip, where more embarassing dancing took place. It was lots of fun even though I was pretty exhausted!
On Sunday we headed to the beach one last time. It was a pretty nice day, some clouds here and there but overall nice! We had a lot of fun just hanging out, and especially people watching. Highlights included an OBESE woman playing paddle ball while wearing a pink bikini skimpier than mine, and a 10-ish year old child who we could not figure out for the LIFE of us if "it" was a boy or girl (we had decided officially on boy, until we later saw it in line for the girls bathroom!!!). Clearly, it was another great day at the beach. We headed back to Sevilla around 6 and got home around 10. It was an amazing weekend!!! Check out the pictures here (and let me know if these links don't work!):
Lagos Pictures!
I'll start with my trip to Lagos, Portugal April 10-12th. I had just gone to Italy, had a few days in Sevilla for Semana Santa, and then headed off once again to Lagos, which is a beach town in the Algarve region of Portugal. Chrisy, Franny, Jillian and I, along with a bunch of other friends of ours, went through a travel company called DiscoverSevilla, so it was very nice not having to deal with anything...we did sort of feel like we were on a high school field trip at some points though. Overall, we had an AMAZING weekend in Lagos. Despite some questionable weather, it was an absolutely beautiful place.
We took a bus there early Friday morning, and arrived at our gorgeous hotel in the afternoon. I shared a room with Chrisy and Franny and we were basically in awe the whole weekend of how nice the hotel was, especially compared to our homestays! After settling in, we headed down to a beach called Praia Dona Ana. Although it drizzled for a few minutes, was chilly and windy, and the clouds kept going in and out, the beach was absolutely breathtaking. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. We got some lunch and spent a few hours at the beach...basically freezing the whole time haha. At night, we went into the small town area of Lagos and had dinner at a great restaurant called Nah Nah Bah and afterwards headed to a bar where DiscoverSevilla was having a party (high school? we even got fake money to buy drinks with). It ended up being very fun though, mainly because Franny and I danced as though we were at a Bat Mitzvah the whole time.
On Saturday we got up and met in the hotel lobby to go on a "Sangria Cruise"...aka we went out on a big sailboat and they came around with Sangria, which pretty much no one wanted to drink much of since it was 11 am. Although it was pretty cold for most of the sailboat ride, it was still very fun, and so pretty! We sailed for about 40 minutes and then anchored near these beautiful grottos, where 9 people at a time got to go on a little motor boat to explore them. This was my favorite part of the boat ride. The waves were huge and it was so windy, so we were laughing throughout the entire ride. On top of that, the grottos were SO cool. I got some great pictures, check them out in the facebook link I will post at the bottom!
After the boat, we headed back to the same beach, where it was finally nice out by the afternoon!!! Despite putting on sunscreen, I still got fried. Obviously. And we're talking genuine Jessica Seiler burns here, as in bright red with fingerprints and all (don't worry, I peeled like crazy about a week later. My belly button even peeled...oversharing?). Anyways, it was a really fun day at the beach regardless. At night, they took us to this place called Cabo San Vicence, which was believed to be the end of the world back in the day, and I can see why! Although it was the windiest experience of my entire life (my hair literally was standing up straight the whole time), it was an amazing view. We watched the sunset there, and even though it was a pretty cloudy one, it was still beautiful. After that, we went back to the hotel. Chrisy, Franny and I had bought food from a store and so we cooked ourselves a nice little family dinner!! It was a lot of fun. We went out again into the town and met up with some other friends of ours on the trip, where more embarassing dancing took place. It was lots of fun even though I was pretty exhausted!
On Sunday we headed to the beach one last time. It was a pretty nice day, some clouds here and there but overall nice! We had a lot of fun just hanging out, and especially people watching. Highlights included an OBESE woman playing paddle ball while wearing a pink bikini skimpier than mine, and a 10-ish year old child who we could not figure out for the LIFE of us if "it" was a boy or girl (we had decided officially on boy, until we later saw it in line for the girls bathroom!!!). Clearly, it was another great day at the beach. We headed back to Sevilla around 6 and got home around 10. It was an amazing weekend!!! Check out the pictures here (and let me know if these links don't work!):
Lagos Pictures!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Catching up- Semana Santa!
Hi everyone!!! I have to apologize again for being a slacker on the blogging…with all the traveling on the weekends, my weeks have been very filled with actual school work. I FINALLY finished a huge project that had been stressing me out for about 3 weeks now yesterday. I was in a group with my friend Chrisy and another girl in our class, and we had to write a 10 pg paper about a Linguistics topic and give a 15 minute presentation on it. We chose Spanglish (it's apparently an actual language). Our paper turned out well, and our teacher said our presentation was great...so I am VERY happy to have that over with!!
Anyways, I have not written about my few days in Sevilla during Semana Santa (holy week), or my trip to Lagos, or my trip this past weekend to Morocco!! Let me start with Semana Santa (last week).
As I mentioned before, Semana Santa is a HUGE deal in Sevilla. It’s a pretty big deal in all of Spain because it’s so Catholic, but especially in the Andalucía region, and ESPECIALLY in Sevilla. People come from all over to see Semana Santa here, we’re a pretty big deal. Basically, the whole city shuts down for an entire week and becomes devoted to Semana Santa. The celebrations revolve around these huge religious-themed floats called pasos. Most of the churches in Sevilla have 1 or 2 floats, and they are basically these HUGE wooden things with ridiculous detail in the wood, in gold or silver, with glass, wax, flowers, or any combination of those things. Most of them are very old, and some of they weigh up to a metric ton. The coolest part is that they are carried through the streets by MEN. Anywhere from 20-50 men, called costaleros, support the huge paso by standing under it and carrying the weight on their necks. You can’t see them because they are covered by a curtain that hangs down from the paso, but I literally cannot even comprehend how these guys can carry these things; they are so big and look so heavy! And they carry them for several hours at a time! Each float starts at its own church and they each take different routes around the city, stopping at the Cathedral at some point, and ending up back at their church. The streets are FILLED with people watching the floats, and the people that accompany them. These guys are called nazarenos, they are the members of the brotherhood of the church. They dress up in robes and capes head to toe, and wear hats that are basically the exact same as the KKK. So for us Americans it is a very interesting sight, but for the Spanish people it is just tradition. They even have little kids running around in these outfits. Kinda creepy. All in all, Semana Santa was very cool to see. For some Sevillanos, it’s a very serious religious holiday, but for others it represents the Sevillan culture and tradition. As my Señora put it, to her, the pasos don’t really have any religious meaning, rather they are amazing works of art put on display every year for free in the street. I definitely agree with her!!
Here is a link to my Facebook album with Semana Santa pictures:
Semana Santa in Sevilla
Check them out! Lagos and Morocco blogs coming up next!!
Anyways, I have not written about my few days in Sevilla during Semana Santa (holy week), or my trip to Lagos, or my trip this past weekend to Morocco!! Let me start with Semana Santa (last week).
As I mentioned before, Semana Santa is a HUGE deal in Sevilla. It’s a pretty big deal in all of Spain because it’s so Catholic, but especially in the Andalucía region, and ESPECIALLY in Sevilla. People come from all over to see Semana Santa here, we’re a pretty big deal. Basically, the whole city shuts down for an entire week and becomes devoted to Semana Santa. The celebrations revolve around these huge religious-themed floats called pasos. Most of the churches in Sevilla have 1 or 2 floats, and they are basically these HUGE wooden things with ridiculous detail in the wood, in gold or silver, with glass, wax, flowers, or any combination of those things. Most of them are very old, and some of they weigh up to a metric ton. The coolest part is that they are carried through the streets by MEN. Anywhere from 20-50 men, called costaleros, support the huge paso by standing under it and carrying the weight on their necks. You can’t see them because they are covered by a curtain that hangs down from the paso, but I literally cannot even comprehend how these guys can carry these things; they are so big and look so heavy! And they carry them for several hours at a time! Each float starts at its own church and they each take different routes around the city, stopping at the Cathedral at some point, and ending up back at their church. The streets are FILLED with people watching the floats, and the people that accompany them. These guys are called nazarenos, they are the members of the brotherhood of the church. They dress up in robes and capes head to toe, and wear hats that are basically the exact same as the KKK. So for us Americans it is a very interesting sight, but for the Spanish people it is just tradition. They even have little kids running around in these outfits. Kinda creepy. All in all, Semana Santa was very cool to see. For some Sevillanos, it’s a very serious religious holiday, but for others it represents the Sevillan culture and tradition. As my Señora put it, to her, the pasos don’t really have any religious meaning, rather they are amazing works of art put on display every year for free in the street. I definitely agree with her!!
Here is a link to my Facebook album with Semana Santa pictures:
Semana Santa in Sevilla
Check them out! Lagos and Morocco blogs coming up next!!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Roma!
So as I said, Dori and I arrived in Rome around 9:30 pm on Friday night and took the bus to Emily's apartment which is about a 5 minute walk from the Vatican- what a location! Her apartment was adorable and felt very Italian. Speaking of Italian, I thought that knowing Spanish would sorta just mean that I could understand Italian....wrong! I definitely could understand a lot of words, but in conclusion: Spanish does NOT equal Italian haha. Anyways, we went out Friday night to a club and met up with some of our friends from Wisconsin, so it was great to see them even just for a little!
Saturday was a beautiful day in Roma! We decided to take advantage of the proximity and head over to the Vatican. I had no idea what to expect and was shocked at how HUGE Vatican City, or whatever they call it, really is. We waited in line for a while and then went into St. Peter's Basilica (the church in the Vatican) which was unbelievably beautiful. It was so big and so ornately decorated....very cool to see. We then decided to be brave and climb up to the top of the Basilica where we heard there was an amazing view. The sign warned us that there were 551 stairs to climb....but we figured we'd be fine. Needless to say we thought we were dying climbing to the top haha. It was so hot because we had to cover our shoulders with our sweaters, SO claustrophobic, and so exhausting. The whole time I kept saying no WAY does the Pope climb this when he wants to go to the top, and wondering where his secret elevator was that I could take. But we eventually made it to the top, and the view was amazing- well worth it.
After taking the elevator= 231 additional stairs. This little notice should also include out of shape people, beware.
As if we weren't struggling enough as is, the walls were slanted to the right in the last part of the climb. So much fun for all!
View from the top, including the Vatican. Very worth the climb!
After our near death experience, we were famished and got some lunch at a cute little cafe. Pizza and gelato, of course (the eating theme continued into Rome). Then we went back over to the Vatican, but this time to the Vatican Museum, where the Sistine Chapel is. It is a pretty long museum and the Sistine Chapel is the very last room, but walking through was actually very cool. We got to see some more amazingly decorated rooms and some very famous frescos (my favorite: School of Athens by Raphael, courtesy of Emily!). We finally made it to the Sistine Chapel and were in awe. The chapel itself is huge and every tiny inch is decorated with such detailed works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, etc. I snapped an illegal picture, but it came out blurry (and my head was accidentally in it). Oh well! Saturday night we went out to celebrate a friend from Wisconsin's birthday who was studying in Rome, which meant we got to see a lot of our Wisconsin friends! Two of our friends were even visiting from Israel on their spring break! It was a lot of fun to hang out with them, especially in such a fantastic city!
Sunday was another hot and sunny day (we couldn't have gotten luckier with the weather the whole time!). We got to sleep in which was so nice because normally when I'm visiting a city it's only for a weekend and we have to cram things in, but this time we could take our time! So after lunch we went into downtown Rome. We saw what remains of the ancient Roman Forum, and then went to the Colosseum, which was definitely one of my favorite parts of Rome. It is just so hard for me to believe that it was built in the year 80 AD and is still standing. And that I got to stand in it!
Some ruins of the Roman Forum (central area around which ancient Roman civilization developed)
Dori and Emily inside the Colosseum!
Us outside of the Colosseum
Saturday was a beautiful day in Roma! We decided to take advantage of the proximity and head over to the Vatican. I had no idea what to expect and was shocked at how HUGE Vatican City, or whatever they call it, really is. We waited in line for a while and then went into St. Peter's Basilica (the church in the Vatican) which was unbelievably beautiful. It was so big and so ornately decorated....very cool to see. We then decided to be brave and climb up to the top of the Basilica where we heard there was an amazing view. The sign warned us that there were 551 stairs to climb....but we figured we'd be fine. Needless to say we thought we were dying climbing to the top haha. It was so hot because we had to cover our shoulders with our sweaters, SO claustrophobic, and so exhausting. The whole time I kept saying no WAY does the Pope climb this when he wants to go to the top, and wondering where his secret elevator was that I could take. But we eventually made it to the top, and the view was amazing- well worth it.
After taking the elevator= 231 additional stairs. This little notice should also include out of shape people, beware.
As if we weren't struggling enough as is, the walls were slanted to the right in the last part of the climb. So much fun for all!
View from the top, including the Vatican. Very worth the climb!After our near death experience, we were famished and got some lunch at a cute little cafe. Pizza and gelato, of course (the eating theme continued into Rome). Then we went back over to the Vatican, but this time to the Vatican Museum, where the Sistine Chapel is. It is a pretty long museum and the Sistine Chapel is the very last room, but walking through was actually very cool. We got to see some more amazingly decorated rooms and some very famous frescos (my favorite: School of Athens by Raphael, courtesy of Emily!). We finally made it to the Sistine Chapel and were in awe. The chapel itself is huge and every tiny inch is decorated with such detailed works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, etc. I snapped an illegal picture, but it came out blurry (and my head was accidentally in it). Oh well! Saturday night we went out to celebrate a friend from Wisconsin's birthday who was studying in Rome, which meant we got to see a lot of our Wisconsin friends! Two of our friends were even visiting from Israel on their spring break! It was a lot of fun to hang out with them, especially in such a fantastic city!
Sunday was another hot and sunny day (we couldn't have gotten luckier with the weather the whole time!). We got to sleep in which was so nice because normally when I'm visiting a city it's only for a weekend and we have to cram things in, but this time we could take our time! So after lunch we went into downtown Rome. We saw what remains of the ancient Roman Forum, and then went to the Colosseum, which was definitely one of my favorite parts of Rome. It is just so hard for me to believe that it was built in the year 80 AD and is still standing. And that I got to stand in it!
Some ruins of the Roman Forum (central area around which ancient Roman civilization developed)
Dori and Emily inside the Colosseum!
Us outside of the ColosseumWe then went to the Pantheon, which was also very cool to see, but after coming from the Colosseum seemed a little lame haha. After walking around a little more downtown, we headed back with very tired feet! Sunday night we cooked an adorable Italian meal in Emily's kitchen (pasta with olive oil, tomato, and basil and chicken with pesto sauce) and decided to just stay in and hang out which included lots of laughing and finally lots of much needed sleep.
On Monday we had some excellent salads for lunch (not pizza!) and then headed back into town. We walked around a lot and saw the Spanish steps, Piazza de Popoli, and finally the Trevi fountain (and yes, I did pretend I was in the Lizzie McGuire movie...I didn't run into Paolo or Ms Ungermeier though).
Us sitting on the Spanish steps!
And us sitting by the Trevi Fountain (I figured the pictures with us are a little more interesting haha)
Our hands with the pennies, right before we made a wish and threw them in the fountain!
After heading back to Emily's apartment (she had class), Dori and I had some interesting adventures trying to find some things for Emily's birthday (wine, eggs and cheese for omelettes, an Italian birthday card, a piece of cake). We pretty much felt like fools in a foreign country, but found everything we needed! Then I had the pleasure of meeting up with an old friend, Alanna Morgan, for coffee. We've gone to school together since preschool, so it was very fun to catch up on our first semester not going to school together ever, especially in such a place like Rome!
Tuesday was Emily's 21st birthday (!!!!), so we began the celebrations on Monday night. We went to one of her favorite restaurants, Jasmine, and each had a GIANT pizza to ourselves (shoot, I didn't have pizza for lunch but I guess I had it for dinner). It was delicious, as usual. Then Dori and I decided we had to tell our waitress it was Emily's birthday and get her a dessert with a candle, and Dori somehow convinced me that I had to go tell our non-English speaking waitress it was her birthday because I "spoke Italian". Right. So I basically told her it was Emily's birthday in Spanish, but switched cumpleaños to cumpleannos, one of the few Italian words I knew. Somehow she understood, and brought out Emily a beautiful piece of chocolate cake with a candle! We sang to her in English while the whole restaurant stared, and at the end they all clapped!
Emily, slightly embarassed, with her birthday cake.
Us sitting on the Spanish steps!
And us sitting by the Trevi Fountain (I figured the pictures with us are a little more interesting haha)
Our hands with the pennies, right before we made a wish and threw them in the fountain!After heading back to Emily's apartment (she had class), Dori and I had some interesting adventures trying to find some things for Emily's birthday (wine, eggs and cheese for omelettes, an Italian birthday card, a piece of cake). We pretty much felt like fools in a foreign country, but found everything we needed! Then I had the pleasure of meeting up with an old friend, Alanna Morgan, for coffee. We've gone to school together since preschool, so it was very fun to catch up on our first semester not going to school together ever, especially in such a place like Rome!
Tuesday was Emily's 21st birthday (!!!!), so we began the celebrations on Monday night. We went to one of her favorite restaurants, Jasmine, and each had a GIANT pizza to ourselves (shoot, I didn't have pizza for lunch but I guess I had it for dinner). It was delicious, as usual. Then Dori and I decided we had to tell our waitress it was Emily's birthday and get her a dessert with a candle, and Dori somehow convinced me that I had to go tell our non-English speaking waitress it was her birthday because I "spoke Italian". Right. So I basically told her it was Emily's birthday in Spanish, but switched cumpleaños to cumpleannos, one of the few Italian words I knew. Somehow she understood, and brought out Emily a beautiful piece of chocolate cake with a candle! We sang to her in English while the whole restaurant stared, and at the end they all clapped!
Emily, slightly embarassed, with her birthday cake.That night we went out to a bar and met a lot of Emily's friends and had a great night celebrating her 21st birthday!!! Dori and I were so glad we could be there to celebrate with her; I'm very sad that I won't get to be with most of my friends on their 21st birthdays!
Tuesday morning Dori and I got up and made Emily some breakfast in bed :). We hung out in her apartment for a while before going to this cute little area and grabbing some lunch (sandwiches!) on top of a hill where we had a great view of Rome. After lunch we walked around for a little while, then headed back to her apartment. Dori left for the airport around 5:30, and after Emily and I watched the Lizzie McGuire movie, I left for the airport to go back around 7:30. It was a slightly stressful trip back, I thought I was almost going to miss my flight because the bus and train to the airport took longer than expected, but I made it. Then my flight was delayed on top of it. I landed in Sevilla around 1:30, and finally arrived at my house around 2:30.
Overall, I had such an amazing time in Italy. It is such an amazing country with all its history, culture, and great food of course! It was also so nice to spend time with Emily and Dori; we wished that all our friends could have been together!! But we had a really great time together, and it was definitely a trip I will remember forever!
I have spent yesterday and today in Sevilla, doing lots of things I need to get done before we go to Lagos, Portugal tomorrow morning. This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week), and it is a HUGE holiday in Sevilla. We saw a little yesterday and are seeing more of the festivities today, so I'll be sure to post about that and Lagos next week. In the meantime, happy Pesach and happy early Easter to all! Unfortunately I cannot keep Passover this year, mainly because bread and rice products are basically a staple of my diet here (lovely), not to mention that matzah doesn't really exist (as I said, there is one synagogue in Sevilla). I was actually supposed to go to a seder tonight, but unfortunately don't think I'll have time because of all the things I need to get done! Oh well :(
Miss and love you all!,
Jess
Tuesday morning Dori and I got up and made Emily some breakfast in bed :). We hung out in her apartment for a while before going to this cute little area and grabbing some lunch (sandwiches!) on top of a hill where we had a great view of Rome. After lunch we walked around for a little while, then headed back to her apartment. Dori left for the airport around 5:30, and after Emily and I watched the Lizzie McGuire movie, I left for the airport to go back around 7:30. It was a slightly stressful trip back, I thought I was almost going to miss my flight because the bus and train to the airport took longer than expected, but I made it. Then my flight was delayed on top of it. I landed in Sevilla around 1:30, and finally arrived at my house around 2:30.
Overall, I had such an amazing time in Italy. It is such an amazing country with all its history, culture, and great food of course! It was also so nice to spend time with Emily and Dori; we wished that all our friends could have been together!! But we had a really great time together, and it was definitely a trip I will remember forever!
I have spent yesterday and today in Sevilla, doing lots of things I need to get done before we go to Lagos, Portugal tomorrow morning. This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week), and it is a HUGE holiday in Sevilla. We saw a little yesterday and are seeing more of the festivities today, so I'll be sure to post about that and Lagos next week. In the meantime, happy Pesach and happy early Easter to all! Unfortunately I cannot keep Passover this year, mainly because bread and rice products are basically a staple of my diet here (lovely), not to mention that matzah doesn't really exist (as I said, there is one synagogue in Sevilla). I was actually supposed to go to a seder tonight, but unfortunately don't think I'll have time because of all the things I need to get done! Oh well :(
Miss and love you all!,
Jess
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Firenze!
Ciao everyone!!! I just got back late Tuesday night from an AMAZING 6 days in Italy. It was filled with great sights, unbelievable food, and lots of laughter with great friends!! Let me start from the beginning!
I woke up early Thursday morning to catch a 7:15 am flight to Rome (why am I always on the earliest flights known to man?). It wasn't that bad though because I was travelling with a bunch of my friends from here, who were also going to Italy at the same time as me. I split with them though after taking a train to Rome's main train station, where I met up with my friends Emily and Dori from Wisconsin (2 of the 8 girls I've been living with the past 2 years)! Emily is studying in Rome this semester, and Dori had flown in from Ireland, where she is studying, the day before. From there, Dori and I took a 4 hour train to Florence (the ticket lady told us we were getting on the 1.5 hour train, thanks a lot!), and we arrived around 5 pm. After checking into our hostel which was surprisingly nice, we did a little sightseeing before it started to rain....bummer. But we got to see the Duomo (the amazing cathedral in Florence), walk around the leather market, and have some great pizza and gelato, all before eating free pasta for dinner in our hostel (eating the amazing Italian food was a major theme of the trip). We went out that night and had a great time- it was so nice to catch up with Dori!
Friday was our only real day in Florence as we were taking the train back to Rome later that night. It was a beautiful day and we really got to appreciate how pretty Florence is. A lot of people say that Sevilla is the Spanish equivalent of Florence, so as you can guess, I liked it a lot! In the morning we saw Michelangelo's David in the Academia Galleria, the synagogue of Florence, and the Duomo once again. After pizza, we explored downtown Florence, got some gelato, walked across the famous Ponte Vecchio, and then climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo where we saw a gorgeous view of all of Florence. We caught a train back to Rome around 7 after a very fun day in Florence! Here are some of my favorite pictures from Florence, or Firenze as the Italians call it!
Pizza number one of many on the trip. They have it out all out like this, and you tell them what kind you want. Then they ask you how much you want and cut it, put it in the oven to warm it up, then you pay by the weight. It is delicious.
The Duomo! With some ominous clouds...it literally POURED about 20 mins later. And we only had one tiny broken umbrella to share of course!
The leather market after the rain. We walked through here a bunch of times...SO many beautiful leather jackets I was tempted to buy. Instead I bought a pretty leather wallet!
The next morning we went to the Academia Galleria to see Michelangelo's David. He is way bigger than I expected him to be!! I took an illegal picture!
The gorgeous, huge synagogue in Florence. It is unbelievable inside and out!
The famous Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) over the surprisingly dirty river.
GELATO! Had to capture its beauty.
Dori and I on the Ponte Vecchio!
Last but not least, the view from Piazza Michelangelo of all of Florence!
I woke up early Thursday morning to catch a 7:15 am flight to Rome (why am I always on the earliest flights known to man?). It wasn't that bad though because I was travelling with a bunch of my friends from here, who were also going to Italy at the same time as me. I split with them though after taking a train to Rome's main train station, where I met up with my friends Emily and Dori from Wisconsin (2 of the 8 girls I've been living with the past 2 years)! Emily is studying in Rome this semester, and Dori had flown in from Ireland, where she is studying, the day before. From there, Dori and I took a 4 hour train to Florence (the ticket lady told us we were getting on the 1.5 hour train, thanks a lot!), and we arrived around 5 pm. After checking into our hostel which was surprisingly nice, we did a little sightseeing before it started to rain....bummer. But we got to see the Duomo (the amazing cathedral in Florence), walk around the leather market, and have some great pizza and gelato, all before eating free pasta for dinner in our hostel (eating the amazing Italian food was a major theme of the trip). We went out that night and had a great time- it was so nice to catch up with Dori!
Friday was our only real day in Florence as we were taking the train back to Rome later that night. It was a beautiful day and we really got to appreciate how pretty Florence is. A lot of people say that Sevilla is the Spanish equivalent of Florence, so as you can guess, I liked it a lot! In the morning we saw Michelangelo's David in the Academia Galleria, the synagogue of Florence, and the Duomo once again. After pizza, we explored downtown Florence, got some gelato, walked across the famous Ponte Vecchio, and then climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo where we saw a gorgeous view of all of Florence. We caught a train back to Rome around 7 after a very fun day in Florence! Here are some of my favorite pictures from Florence, or Firenze as the Italians call it!
Pizza number one of many on the trip. They have it out all out like this, and you tell them what kind you want. Then they ask you how much you want and cut it, put it in the oven to warm it up, then you pay by the weight. It is delicious.
The Duomo! With some ominous clouds...it literally POURED about 20 mins later. And we only had one tiny broken umbrella to share of course!
The leather market after the rain. We walked through here a bunch of times...SO many beautiful leather jackets I was tempted to buy. Instead I bought a pretty leather wallet!
The next morning we went to the Academia Galleria to see Michelangelo's David. He is way bigger than I expected him to be!! I took an illegal picture!
The gorgeous, huge synagogue in Florence. It is unbelievable inside and out!
The famous Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) over the surprisingly dirty river.
GELATO! Had to capture its beauty.
Dori and I on the Ponte Vecchio!
Last but not least, the view from Piazza Michelangelo of all of Florence!My Rome post is coming next!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Aaron and Jess Do Spain!
Hi everyone!!! So now that I am officially settled back in to my home in Sevilla, and leaving in two days for Italy, I figured it was time to begin the blog about Aaron's visit to Spain. I think I have been putting it off a little because writing about all the fun we had makes me miss him!! Well, and the fact that we did so much, I don't even know where to start!
I guess I will start from Friday morning though (March 20th), the day that Aaron arrived! I got up at 5:30 am to catch a train to Malaga at 7:35 am. The train right was almost 3 hours and I was exhausted, but I was so excited that I couldn't sleep for a second. I got to Malaga at 10:15 and then figured out the trains to the airport, where I was going to meet Aaron after his flight got in at 10:50! Well, unfortunately, I JUST missed the 10:18 train to the airport, and had to wait for the next one at 10:50. I figured I would still make it in time to be waiting outside of baggage claim though when he arrived (which was the plan all along). Well, I was wrong. The train took longer than expected, and once I got off, I had to literally walk across the whole airport to get to his terminal! None of this would have been a problem, except that he didn't have a cell phone, so he had no way of contacting me while he was waiting for me in the airport for 20 minutes worrying! Anyways, I finally made it to his terminal, and went to the receiving area for when people come out after baggage claim. After searching around there for a minute or two, I did not see him anywhere, and decided to walk around to get a better view. It was on my way to the other side when I finally spotted him, frantically putting euro coins into a Spanish payphone to try to call me. I yelled his name, and he hung up the phone with a HUGE visible sigh of relief. Then I gave him a big hug!
From there, we caught a bus to Marbella, which only took about 25 minutes. We then hopped in a taxi, which took us to where we would be staying for the weekend- La Trinidad. My Uncle Fred's friend Jamie was nice enough to let us stay in his apartment for the weekend, and it turned out to be one AMAZING apartment!!! We were so fortunate to be able to stay there, here are a few pics of the apartment:
The living room.
The view of the complex from the apartment!
Aaron in front of the pool!
Anyways, we got settled in there, and decided to take a walk to the nearest beach which was about 5 minutes away. It wasn't perfect weather, but was gorgeous in the sun. We were starving so we decided to eat at this little restaurant on the beach. Turned out to be probably the most expensive restaurant we ate at the entire time because of its location, but we were just so hungry and so happy to be together that it didn't even matter at the time. We had some delicious calamari and salad (Aaron was VERY happy that I like calamari now!). We walked on the beach a little more after lunch, and then decided to go back to La Trinidad and lay out by the pool while it was still sunny. We did this for an hour or so, until it got too chilly, then went inside for a much needed siesta for the both of us. For dinner that night we went into the downtown part of Marbella, not that we knew what it was, we just asked to be taken to the centro. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant where we shared a delicious paella!! I am happy to say that I think Aaron enjoyed his first paella experience!! It was a great first day and night in Marbella!
Aaron eating paella. Yum! We tried to be brave and eat the shrimp, but they had eyeballs. Unsuccessful.
On Saturday, we were hoping for a beautiful day so we could hang out at the beach all day. Well, that was just about the opposite from what we got. We even brought our bathing suits and towels with us around all day, just in case the weather got nice...which it did not. It was pretty chilly and windy all day long! It was a bummer, but we still had a fun day walking around the really nice harbor area in Marbella called Puerto Banus. There are tons of ritzy stores and restaurants lining the harbor that is filled with huge, fancy boats. We also walked to a "flea market" that turned out to be like 10 stalls of strange artwork, walked around the shopping malls that were around there, and had some good pizza for lunch. I have to say, Aaron was a pretty good shopper this day! He got a little sick of it by the end, but overall, he was a trooper! I don't think either of us actually bought anything though besides two oranges, chocolate, batteries, and wine. Oh well! It was a pretty long and chilly day of walking around, but it was great just to spend time together. After going back to the apartment to siesta, shower, and get ready, we took a cab back into the Puerto Banus area for dinner (unfortunately we had to take cabs everywhere...this really added up). We went to this Italian restaurant that we had spotted earlier which was very affordable and turned out to be good food!! After dinner we went into a few bars around that area, one in particular where they were playing basketball!! We were happy to catch even a few minutes of the tournament, so it was fun. Aaron also had the pleasure of realizing how expensive mixed drinks are here, when our 2 rum and cokes turned out to be 10 euros. Despite some bad weather, we had a great day and night in Marbella.
On Sunday, we had to leave around 1 pm to catch a taxi to the bus station in Marbella to get back to Malaga to catch our bus back to Sevilla! We decided not to waste the money on a cab to get food, so we were literally starving by the time we got to the bus station, but figured there would be food there. Well, the restaurant was really sketchy looking, so our only other option was to buy lots of chips, and a 90 cent freshly baked baguette of bread from the gas station. The bread turned out to be kind of amazing, but we both felt disgusting after eating such an unhealthy lunch.
Our lunch on the bus. Yikes...
We also were a little nervous that we were not going to have enough time to catch our bus in Malaga to Sevilla, but it all worked out well and we even had time to spare. We got to Sevilla in the late afternoon, and checked into our hotel, Hotel Catalonia Giralda. The room was nothing special, but overall the hotel was pretty decent, and we had free internet! It was great. We decided to go exploring a little bit, and I realized that our hotel was actually very close to my school, and to where we go out! So it turned out to be a great location. We sat at a little restaurant bar and had some cafe con leche and two tapas to hold us over until dinner. Aaron tried tortilla (the Spanish egg and potato omelette thing), and really liked it! I was happy. Later that night, we showered and went to dinner at another restaurant where we had some more delicious tapas. We came back to our hotel, watched Slumdog Millionaire on Aaron's computer (I had never seen it!), and went to bed. It was a great first weekend :)
Ok well seeing as this post is already really long and I've only done one weekend, I guess I should stop giving so many details. I don't know why I always end up doing that, I guess I blog as if I am telling this story in person to any of you! Oh well, like I always say, feel free to skim at any time. I'll try and be a little more succinct!
So we spent Sunday night- Thursday night in Sevilla, and had a great time. The hardest part was forcing myself to go to my classes (don't worry, I did!). On Monday, we went to Plaza de España, Parque María Luisa, walked along the river, saw the bullfighting ring, and ate lunch with my friends outside in our usual lunch spot. At night, we went out for some more tapas at this restuarant called Levíes Cafe which is right near my school, and discovered that it was amazing! We accidentally ordered all our tapas at once though, which we soon realized was a bad idea because then you have TONS of food on your table and look like huge fatasses, while everyone else in the restaurant stares at you, oops! After dinner we met up with my friends Franny and Chrisy and went to La Carbonería, that flamenco bar that I also took my family too. I don't think Aaron enjoyed the show as much as my dad did, but he liked it, and got to experience some real Andalucían culture! It was a fun night!
Some of our tapas!
On Tuesday we woke up to very gross weather unfortunately. It was rainy and pretty chilly. We decided to go to the Cathedral and La Giralda because they are inside activities. Well, it was only drizzling when we went out, but by the time we had been walking for about 10 minutes with no umbrella, we were soaked. So we stopped in a little souvenir store and got one, however this did not prevent my cute mocassins from getting completely soaked. Major bummer. We took a good tour of the Cathedral and then climbed La Giralda. This was I think my 5th time doing both, but oh well, I was glad to show them to Aaron! We had some cafe con leche, and then headed into Triana to go to....my señora's house for lunch!! She had invited Aaron and I to come to lunch there one day, and Tuesday was our day. Overall it went very well. She told me that Aaron was MUCH more handsome in real life than in the picture I have of him in my room, and that I needed to get a new picture!! She served us stew with chicken, beef, potatoes, and garbanzo beans (actually one of my favorite things she makes!), and I was really nervous that Aaron would not eat it, but he did a great job and ate it all! I was so proud :). We had to leave because I had class, so it was a nice, not too lengthy visit. She told me she really liked him.
Me outside my bedroom window! I swear it looks less jail-ish from the inside.
Tuesday night we went to a yummy fish restaurant which was recommended by the New York Times. It was very good, slightly pricey but it was our one nice dinner in Sevilla so we didn't mind. The highlight was when I asked how much sea bass would be (because it said depending on market price) and he came out with a full dead fish on a platter to show me the one they could cook for us. Luckily, the fish tasted a lot better than it looked on that platter haha.
Wednesday we had to switch hotels to one just down the street because we had originally planned on going to Córdoba for a night, but decided against that plan. Unfortunately we couldn't get the same great rate for our other hotel for that night, so we just switched. This hotel was pretty nice too! Anyways, Wednesday was a nicer day, and we did some shopping (as much as Aaron could stand), eating, and drinking wine outside in between my classes. At night, we had tapas again for dinner (I swear we did eat other things), and then met up with my friends and went out in Sevilla! We went to a few bars and then headed to this discoteca called Catedral. We didn't stay too long, but I was glad Aaron got to get a glimpse of what a disco looks like!
Thursday was our last day in Sevilla, and it turned out to be gorgeous weather. We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, and then we headed to Reales Alcázares (the royal palace and its gardens). I showed Aaron around the palaces, and then we spent a while walking around the beautiful gardens in the amazing, sunny weather!
Us in the palace! I was not very happy that Aaron chose to wear an orange shirt; we clashed big time!
I guess I will start from Friday morning though (March 20th), the day that Aaron arrived! I got up at 5:30 am to catch a train to Malaga at 7:35 am. The train right was almost 3 hours and I was exhausted, but I was so excited that I couldn't sleep for a second. I got to Malaga at 10:15 and then figured out the trains to the airport, where I was going to meet Aaron after his flight got in at 10:50! Well, unfortunately, I JUST missed the 10:18 train to the airport, and had to wait for the next one at 10:50. I figured I would still make it in time to be waiting outside of baggage claim though when he arrived (which was the plan all along). Well, I was wrong. The train took longer than expected, and once I got off, I had to literally walk across the whole airport to get to his terminal! None of this would have been a problem, except that he didn't have a cell phone, so he had no way of contacting me while he was waiting for me in the airport for 20 minutes worrying! Anyways, I finally made it to his terminal, and went to the receiving area for when people come out after baggage claim. After searching around there for a minute or two, I did not see him anywhere, and decided to walk around to get a better view. It was on my way to the other side when I finally spotted him, frantically putting euro coins into a Spanish payphone to try to call me. I yelled his name, and he hung up the phone with a HUGE visible sigh of relief. Then I gave him a big hug!
From there, we caught a bus to Marbella, which only took about 25 minutes. We then hopped in a taxi, which took us to where we would be staying for the weekend- La Trinidad. My Uncle Fred's friend Jamie was nice enough to let us stay in his apartment for the weekend, and it turned out to be one AMAZING apartment!!! We were so fortunate to be able to stay there, here are a few pics of the apartment:
The living room.
The view of the complex from the apartment!
Aaron in front of the pool!Anyways, we got settled in there, and decided to take a walk to the nearest beach which was about 5 minutes away. It wasn't perfect weather, but was gorgeous in the sun. We were starving so we decided to eat at this little restaurant on the beach. Turned out to be probably the most expensive restaurant we ate at the entire time because of its location, but we were just so hungry and so happy to be together that it didn't even matter at the time. We had some delicious calamari and salad (Aaron was VERY happy that I like calamari now!). We walked on the beach a little more after lunch, and then decided to go back to La Trinidad and lay out by the pool while it was still sunny. We did this for an hour or so, until it got too chilly, then went inside for a much needed siesta for the both of us. For dinner that night we went into the downtown part of Marbella, not that we knew what it was, we just asked to be taken to the centro. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant where we shared a delicious paella!! I am happy to say that I think Aaron enjoyed his first paella experience!! It was a great first day and night in Marbella!
Aaron eating paella. Yum! We tried to be brave and eat the shrimp, but they had eyeballs. Unsuccessful.
On Saturday, we were hoping for a beautiful day so we could hang out at the beach all day. Well, that was just about the opposite from what we got. We even brought our bathing suits and towels with us around all day, just in case the weather got nice...which it did not. It was pretty chilly and windy all day long! It was a bummer, but we still had a fun day walking around the really nice harbor area in Marbella called Puerto Banus. There are tons of ritzy stores and restaurants lining the harbor that is filled with huge, fancy boats. We also walked to a "flea market" that turned out to be like 10 stalls of strange artwork, walked around the shopping malls that were around there, and had some good pizza for lunch. I have to say, Aaron was a pretty good shopper this day! He got a little sick of it by the end, but overall, he was a trooper! I don't think either of us actually bought anything though besides two oranges, chocolate, batteries, and wine. Oh well! It was a pretty long and chilly day of walking around, but it was great just to spend time together. After going back to the apartment to siesta, shower, and get ready, we took a cab back into the Puerto Banus area for dinner (unfortunately we had to take cabs everywhere...this really added up). We went to this Italian restaurant that we had spotted earlier which was very affordable and turned out to be good food!! After dinner we went into a few bars around that area, one in particular where they were playing basketball!! We were happy to catch even a few minutes of the tournament, so it was fun. Aaron also had the pleasure of realizing how expensive mixed drinks are here, when our 2 rum and cokes turned out to be 10 euros. Despite some bad weather, we had a great day and night in Marbella.
On Sunday, we had to leave around 1 pm to catch a taxi to the bus station in Marbella to get back to Malaga to catch our bus back to Sevilla! We decided not to waste the money on a cab to get food, so we were literally starving by the time we got to the bus station, but figured there would be food there. Well, the restaurant was really sketchy looking, so our only other option was to buy lots of chips, and a 90 cent freshly baked baguette of bread from the gas station. The bread turned out to be kind of amazing, but we both felt disgusting after eating such an unhealthy lunch.
Our lunch on the bus. Yikes...Ok well seeing as this post is already really long and I've only done one weekend, I guess I should stop giving so many details. I don't know why I always end up doing that, I guess I blog as if I am telling this story in person to any of you! Oh well, like I always say, feel free to skim at any time. I'll try and be a little more succinct!
So we spent Sunday night- Thursday night in Sevilla, and had a great time. The hardest part was forcing myself to go to my classes (don't worry, I did!). On Monday, we went to Plaza de España, Parque María Luisa, walked along the river, saw the bullfighting ring, and ate lunch with my friends outside in our usual lunch spot. At night, we went out for some more tapas at this restuarant called Levíes Cafe which is right near my school, and discovered that it was amazing! We accidentally ordered all our tapas at once though, which we soon realized was a bad idea because then you have TONS of food on your table and look like huge fatasses, while everyone else in the restaurant stares at you, oops! After dinner we met up with my friends Franny and Chrisy and went to La Carbonería, that flamenco bar that I also took my family too. I don't think Aaron enjoyed the show as much as my dad did, but he liked it, and got to experience some real Andalucían culture! It was a fun night!
Some of our tapas!
Me outside my bedroom window! I swear it looks less jail-ish from the inside.Tuesday night we went to a yummy fish restaurant which was recommended by the New York Times. It was very good, slightly pricey but it was our one nice dinner in Sevilla so we didn't mind. The highlight was when I asked how much sea bass would be (because it said depending on market price) and he came out with a full dead fish on a platter to show me the one they could cook for us. Luckily, the fish tasted a lot better than it looked on that platter haha.
Wednesday we had to switch hotels to one just down the street because we had originally planned on going to Córdoba for a night, but decided against that plan. Unfortunately we couldn't get the same great rate for our other hotel for that night, so we just switched. This hotel was pretty nice too! Anyways, Wednesday was a nicer day, and we did some shopping (as much as Aaron could stand), eating, and drinking wine outside in between my classes. At night, we had tapas again for dinner (I swear we did eat other things), and then met up with my friends and went out in Sevilla! We went to a few bars and then headed to this discoteca called Catedral. We didn't stay too long, but I was glad Aaron got to get a glimpse of what a disco looks like!
Thursday was our last day in Sevilla, and it turned out to be gorgeous weather. We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, and then we headed to Reales Alcázares (the royal palace and its gardens). I showed Aaron around the palaces, and then we spent a while walking around the beautiful gardens in the amazing, sunny weather!
Us in the palace! I was not very happy that Aaron chose to wear an orange shirt; we clashed big time!After the palace and gardens, we stopped to take a few pictures outside the Cathedral and Giralda since it was a beautiful day. I include this part in my blog because it is a great example of how AWFUL people on the streets are at taking good pictures. Over and over we would kindly ask people to take a picture of us in front of some monument, such as the Cathedral, and over and over they would cut out half the monument. Here is an example:
We set up this picture perfectly so that the whole Cathedral would be in the background, and this dumb guy managed to cut out the left two-thirds of it! Ridiculous. Would have been such a great picture. And don't worry, we tried asking more than one person- all failures!
We set up this picture perfectly so that the whole Cathedral would be in the background, and this dumb guy managed to cut out the left two-thirds of it! Ridiculous. Would have been such a great picture. And don't worry, we tried asking more than one person- all failures!After the unsuccessful pictures, we walked into this area called Santa Cruz to get some lunch. We saw the Judería, the old Jewish quarters where all the Jews lived before they were kicked out during the Spanish Inquisition. Then we had some lunch in the sun, did a little souvenir shopping, and headed back to our hotel before my class. After class, we grabbed our stuff and went to the train station to catch our train to Madrid. We took the high speed train so it only took us about 2 and a half hours to get to Madrid- it was great! Once we got to Madrid, we took a cab to our hotel, checked in, and rushed to a restaurant before their kitchens all closed at 12. We walked around a little afterwards, and then went back to our hotel, exhausted! This hotel was called Senator Gran Vía, it was on the big Gran Vía street in the center of Madrid- perfect location! It was also very nice!! Aaron did a great job finding hotels!
We woke up early Friday, as we only had one full day in Madrid. We decided to skip out on all the art museums (I didn't think Aaron would really enjoy seeing hundreds of old religious paintings), and instead do the more fun things! We walked down Gran Vía, went to Plaza de España, and then headed to the Royal Palace which was great to see again, and Aaron enjoyed it too. From there we went to Plaza Mayor where we hung out for a while, looked at all the weirdo street performers, and had two mini Coca Cola Lights for over 6 euro. Lesson learned: do not order soft drinks at restaurants. I'm pretty sure beer is about half the price.
Example of the weird street performs: crazy fruit lady.
We kept on walking (I remembered how to get everywhere from last time! for the most part), stopped for some lunch at a Mexican place (being in Spain makes me miss Mexican food!!), and headed towards el Parque del Retiro, this very pretty park that my parents went to when they were in Madrid, but that I never saw. We walked past the Prado along the way, so Aaron could at least say he saw it from the outside! The park was gorgeous- we walked around for a few and once again enjoyed the beautiful weather. There was this really cool glass building that had these crystal snowflake statue thingies in it (great description huh?). Here's a picture haha:
You could take cool reflective pictures in these things, like the bean!
Aaron and I in front of a pretty pond. Someone finally took a decent picture of us!!
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and did some packing and preparing for our travels home the next day. We showered and got ready, and had an amazing dinner at that Argentinian steak place I went to with my family where my dad ate a whole cow. I don't think Aaron or I ate a whole cow alone, but combined....it was very possible. After dinner we walked around a cute little area of Madrid that had lots of night life. We sat outside and had some wine, and had a very lovely last night together.
Saturday morning was very sad. We woke up, finished packing, enjoyed our free hotel breakfast, and then grabbed our stuff and checked out of the hotel. Aaron was going to the airport to catch his flight home at 11:50, and I was going to the train station to catch my train at 10:05, so we left at the same time in two separate cabs. Saying goodbye to him and then watching him get in one cab as I got in another was very, very difficult, as was the 3 hour train ride home alone. Adjusting back to being in Sevilla and living in my homestay proved to be a little challeging after being with Aaron at all times (except for class) for a whole week. I really miss him a lot. But the important thing is that we had an AMAZING week together, and I am so so so grateful that he came to visit me!! It was a week I will never forget!
Anyways, I only have a 3 day week this week, because I am going to Italy on Thurday morning to be with Dori and Emily!!! I am flying into Rome with my friends here, but then we are all going our separate ways. I am going to meet up with Dori at the train station, and we are going to spend Thursday and Friday in Florence. We come back Friday night, when I will finally get to see Emily! We are staying with her in Rome until Tuesday (which is also her 21st birthday!). Two of my other friends from school will also be in Rome over the weekend, so I am very excited to see them too! I have no school next week because it is Semana Santa (Holy Week), and Sevilla is famous for their celebration of this week, which includes everyone having the week off of school and work! So I get to stay in Italy until Tuesday of next week, I will be in Sevilla to see Semana Santa Wednesday and Thursday, and then we are going to the beach in Portugal on Friday! It should be a great next week and a half!
I'll do my best to post on here when I can, but I can't promise anything since I don't know how often I'll have access to a computer. I miss everyone at home a lot and I hope everyone had great spring breaks! I also hope the weather starts to get nicer in the Midwest...no more snow!! I'm sure the lovely spring weather will start soon :)
Love you all,
Jess
We woke up early Friday, as we only had one full day in Madrid. We decided to skip out on all the art museums (I didn't think Aaron would really enjoy seeing hundreds of old religious paintings), and instead do the more fun things! We walked down Gran Vía, went to Plaza de España, and then headed to the Royal Palace which was great to see again, and Aaron enjoyed it too. From there we went to Plaza Mayor where we hung out for a while, looked at all the weirdo street performers, and had two mini Coca Cola Lights for over 6 euro. Lesson learned: do not order soft drinks at restaurants. I'm pretty sure beer is about half the price.
Example of the weird street performs: crazy fruit lady.We kept on walking (I remembered how to get everywhere from last time! for the most part), stopped for some lunch at a Mexican place (being in Spain makes me miss Mexican food!!), and headed towards el Parque del Retiro, this very pretty park that my parents went to when they were in Madrid, but that I never saw. We walked past the Prado along the way, so Aaron could at least say he saw it from the outside! The park was gorgeous- we walked around for a few and once again enjoyed the beautiful weather. There was this really cool glass building that had these crystal snowflake statue thingies in it (great description huh?). Here's a picture haha:
You could take cool reflective pictures in these things, like the bean!
Aaron and I in front of a pretty pond. Someone finally took a decent picture of us!!Saturday morning was very sad. We woke up, finished packing, enjoyed our free hotel breakfast, and then grabbed our stuff and checked out of the hotel. Aaron was going to the airport to catch his flight home at 11:50, and I was going to the train station to catch my train at 10:05, so we left at the same time in two separate cabs. Saying goodbye to him and then watching him get in one cab as I got in another was very, very difficult, as was the 3 hour train ride home alone. Adjusting back to being in Sevilla and living in my homestay proved to be a little challeging after being with Aaron at all times (except for class) for a whole week. I really miss him a lot. But the important thing is that we had an AMAZING week together, and I am so so so grateful that he came to visit me!! It was a week I will never forget!
Anyways, I only have a 3 day week this week, because I am going to Italy on Thurday morning to be with Dori and Emily!!! I am flying into Rome with my friends here, but then we are all going our separate ways. I am going to meet up with Dori at the train station, and we are going to spend Thursday and Friday in Florence. We come back Friday night, when I will finally get to see Emily! We are staying with her in Rome until Tuesday (which is also her 21st birthday!). Two of my other friends from school will also be in Rome over the weekend, so I am very excited to see them too! I have no school next week because it is Semana Santa (Holy Week), and Sevilla is famous for their celebration of this week, which includes everyone having the week off of school and work! So I get to stay in Italy until Tuesday of next week, I will be in Sevilla to see Semana Santa Wednesday and Thursday, and then we are going to the beach in Portugal on Friday! It should be a great next week and a half!
I'll do my best to post on here when I can, but I can't promise anything since I don't know how often I'll have access to a computer. I miss everyone at home a lot and I hope everyone had great spring breaks! I also hope the weather starts to get nicer in the Midwest...no more snow!! I'm sure the lovely spring weather will start soon :)
Love you all,
Jess
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