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!!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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!
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