This last weekend we took a day trip to Segovia and Pedraza. Segovia has this awesome castle that looks like Cinderella's castle, complete with secret passages underneath...we were all in search of the one that goes back to Madrid, but to our dismay we were unable to find it. Later on, we visited the Cathedral there. There was a really cool name for it, but I can't remember right now. It was one of the first Cathedrals to be built using the Renaissance style instead of the Gothic style. They also used a different kind of stone to built the exterior, so it looks a lot lighter, and has almost a gold-ish color to it. It was really pretty! My favorite part of Segovia was seeing the Roman aqueducts...they were so cool! It's crazy how long they've lasted. I wish you could see what they looked like when they were first built. While we were waiting for some people in that plaza, I noticed a little game of soccer going on in a little corner. I watched it for a little bit, and was about to jump in and play, but then they stopped playing because some people had to go. There were a few who stayed and kicked it around and juggled, so then I asked if I could jump in and play. They looked at me as if thinking, "yea right you can play..." but they said I could, so I juggled with them for a few minutes. By the time I had to go, I think I had impressed them that an American girl could play soccer...I was pleased, haha.
Our next stop was in Pedraza, which is a really cute little town that has kept the medieval look really well...there's almost nothing that looks modern in the whole town. Needless to say, it was dead. It took maybe 10 minutes to circle around the town, and find all the streets completely empty. We had reservations for dinner for about 2 hours later, so we had to find something to keep us entertained. We took some cool pictures of the castle there, and then had fun playing those games from girls camp we are all too familiar with. We also had some fun playing hacky sac which is one of the popular past times of our group when waiting for buses or between class.
Finally, the time came for our dinner. We had been anticipating it all day. We ate at this famous restaurant there, and had an amazing 5 course meal...complete with blood sausage and roasted lamb. Here's where the story gets good...I was lucky enough to get one of the few pieces of lamb that had the testicle still attatched, so I...of course...had to eat it. One of the most culturing experiences I've had yet...and not one I plan to repeat in the future. Everyone, including myself, was very impressed that I ate it. Two other lucky girls ate one too. We also had a lot of fun playing with the pig's hoof that was still attatched to another girl's meal...we played some fun pranks with it that night. It made for some good laughs.
That's the end of this story, and as always, I'll try and get photos up one of these days. Love you guys!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Andalucia
Alright, this is the new stuff from just this last week. It's been quite a week of traveling, so I don't know how detailed this will be. I'll try to make it interesting with fun details but not too long...
We took a bus down to the Andalucia area(southern parts of Spain) to see Merida, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. Our first stop in Merida was only for one afternoon, and we saw some Roman ruins dating back some two thousand years...it was awesome! There was an amphitheater where they would do gladiator fighting, or fill it with water and do battles on smaller boats. There was also a theater that they used for plays and other social gatherings. There was a roman museum there with other artifacts, but we only got to spend about 40 minutes inside before they kicked us out to close for the siesta. We were all practically running and just snapping pictures of whatever we saw so we could look later...it was kind of funny, but too bad we couldn't stay longer.
We spent a little time just walking around the city, and it was so cool to me because they had orange trees everywhere! They smelled so good and looked so pretty! I couldn't pass it up, so a few of us picked an orange to eat. We quickly found out why nobody else was eating them...it was the most sour orange I have ever eaten! Haha, all the locals were laughing at us.
In Seville, we saw the cathedral which has a 350 foot tower. We climbed it, all 35 levels of stairs and ramps... and the view was amazing. The cathedral was really pretty too, but a lot of it was under rennovations. They supposedly have Christopher Columbus's bones there, and the biggest pearl. They also had a random alligator hanging outside in one of the corners of the courtyard...couldn't figure that one out? After the cathedral we went to the Alcazar. This may have been one of my favorite places the whole trip. It was filled with the mudejar style, and it had really bright colors everywhere, and beautiful tyle work. There was also really beautiful gardens there, that just go on and on...I just kept thinking how amazing it would have been had it been in full bloom. It was really great though, if any of you get a chance to visit Seville, this is one place you can't miss.
After the Alcazer, two girls and I were sent out to find a Flamenco show for that night. We had a lot of fun searching the town, and talking to the locals trying to find something. The only one we actually found was way too expensive for the group budget, so our professor ended up just finding something with the hotel's help. We spent the rest of the afternoon seeing Seville on bikes. It was so much fun to ride a bike again! They had these bike stations everwhere in the city, and you could rent it for about 2 hours for only 1 euro...it was so fun! We rode along the river there, across the bridges, into gardens and parks, and then over to the Plaza de Espana. We also took a ride the next morning before we had to leave, but it was so fun to ride a bike through Seville! Everyone was jealous of us :)
That night, the flamenco show was so fun! It was very cool to think that there I was in Spain, watching Flamenco...just one of those many moments that it hits me...that I'm in Spain! They had two guys playing guitar in the background, and then two guys singing. The dancers were amazing, I can't believe how fast their feet move! The girls who dance love to make dramatic faces that to me look like crusties, and almost all the guys have really long hair that they wet down before they come out to dance, haha and then of course they make some great faces too. It was great experience though.
The next day we spent in Cordoba, where the Mezquita is. It was originally the Muslim synagogue, but when the Christians took over they changed it into a cathedral. Everyone thinks that what the Christians did to change it into a cathedral ruined it because they styles dont' fit, and it just doesn't look good together. The synagogue had hundreds of these marble columns, and then arches striped red and gold. The christians put a chapel and choir in the very middle of all of it. It really doesn't fit at all. Seperately, they would both be beautiful, but they just dont' fit together at all. It was very peaceful inside though. The sun shines throught the small windows and lights up just enough so you can see the beautiful architecture, and the columns go on forever it seems. You can still se where they kept the Koran and some of the original stone where they prayed...they said to try to imagine thousands of men all knelt down praying...that would be so awesome.
That night, we took some really fun pictures just after the sun had set at the Roman bridge they had there. The mezquite was in the background all lit up, and the sky looked really pretty. Then we went and ate kabobs for the first time. It's so delicious...pita bread with kabob meat, lettuce, onions, tomato, and really good sauce. yum!
The next morning, we went into the alcazar and the gardens there. This was the alcazar of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Christian Kings. The gardens were so beautiful again, but would be amazing in full bloom. If any of you have read Nora's Castle, it reminded me of that, as we climbed into the towers of the castle and explored as much of it as we were allowed to. It also reminded me of Monty Python, when King Arthur asks if they want to join his quest for the Holy Grail, and they tell him they've already got one...haha.
Our last day in Granada was a fun one. We stayed in a hotel right next to the Alhambra, which is the cool thing to see there. It was also at the top of the city in the mountains, so anytime we went down into the other part of the city, it was an intense hike back up. The Alahambra was very neat. It's where the Moors did a lot of government/political stuff, and also had a lot of palaces for the rulers the stay in. Each ruler added another palace during his reign. It also had amazing gardens, maybe the coolest of the whole trip. It was so fun to walk through it! This is also a place you shouldn't pass up if you get the chance to visit southern Spain.
On our way home(a 6 hour bus ride) we stopped to see the windmills that inspired Cervantes when he wrote Don Quijote. We had fun taking pictures there, and then climbed back on the bus and rode for another few hours. It was a great trip though, and it was so much fun to see more of Spain! The sad part is my camera was dead all week, so I have to get pictures from about 5 different people, so until then I have no pictures to put up. I'll try to get them soon though! Love you guys!
We took a bus down to the Andalucia area(southern parts of Spain) to see Merida, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. Our first stop in Merida was only for one afternoon, and we saw some Roman ruins dating back some two thousand years...it was awesome! There was an amphitheater where they would do gladiator fighting, or fill it with water and do battles on smaller boats. There was also a theater that they used for plays and other social gatherings. There was a roman museum there with other artifacts, but we only got to spend about 40 minutes inside before they kicked us out to close for the siesta. We were all practically running and just snapping pictures of whatever we saw so we could look later...it was kind of funny, but too bad we couldn't stay longer.
We spent a little time just walking around the city, and it was so cool to me because they had orange trees everywhere! They smelled so good and looked so pretty! I couldn't pass it up, so a few of us picked an orange to eat. We quickly found out why nobody else was eating them...it was the most sour orange I have ever eaten! Haha, all the locals were laughing at us.
In Seville, we saw the cathedral which has a 350 foot tower. We climbed it, all 35 levels of stairs and ramps... and the view was amazing. The cathedral was really pretty too, but a lot of it was under rennovations. They supposedly have Christopher Columbus's bones there, and the biggest pearl. They also had a random alligator hanging outside in one of the corners of the courtyard...couldn't figure that one out? After the cathedral we went to the Alcazar. This may have been one of my favorite places the whole trip. It was filled with the mudejar style, and it had really bright colors everywhere, and beautiful tyle work. There was also really beautiful gardens there, that just go on and on...I just kept thinking how amazing it would have been had it been in full bloom. It was really great though, if any of you get a chance to visit Seville, this is one place you can't miss.
After the Alcazer, two girls and I were sent out to find a Flamenco show for that night. We had a lot of fun searching the town, and talking to the locals trying to find something. The only one we actually found was way too expensive for the group budget, so our professor ended up just finding something with the hotel's help. We spent the rest of the afternoon seeing Seville on bikes. It was so much fun to ride a bike again! They had these bike stations everwhere in the city, and you could rent it for about 2 hours for only 1 euro...it was so fun! We rode along the river there, across the bridges, into gardens and parks, and then over to the Plaza de Espana. We also took a ride the next morning before we had to leave, but it was so fun to ride a bike through Seville! Everyone was jealous of us :)
That night, the flamenco show was so fun! It was very cool to think that there I was in Spain, watching Flamenco...just one of those many moments that it hits me...that I'm in Spain! They had two guys playing guitar in the background, and then two guys singing. The dancers were amazing, I can't believe how fast their feet move! The girls who dance love to make dramatic faces that to me look like crusties, and almost all the guys have really long hair that they wet down before they come out to dance, haha and then of course they make some great faces too. It was great experience though.
The next day we spent in Cordoba, where the Mezquita is. It was originally the Muslim synagogue, but when the Christians took over they changed it into a cathedral. Everyone thinks that what the Christians did to change it into a cathedral ruined it because they styles dont' fit, and it just doesn't look good together. The synagogue had hundreds of these marble columns, and then arches striped red and gold. The christians put a chapel and choir in the very middle of all of it. It really doesn't fit at all. Seperately, they would both be beautiful, but they just dont' fit together at all. It was very peaceful inside though. The sun shines throught the small windows and lights up just enough so you can see the beautiful architecture, and the columns go on forever it seems. You can still se where they kept the Koran and some of the original stone where they prayed...they said to try to imagine thousands of men all knelt down praying...that would be so awesome.
That night, we took some really fun pictures just after the sun had set at the Roman bridge they had there. The mezquite was in the background all lit up, and the sky looked really pretty. Then we went and ate kabobs for the first time. It's so delicious...pita bread with kabob meat, lettuce, onions, tomato, and really good sauce. yum!
The next morning, we went into the alcazar and the gardens there. This was the alcazar of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Christian Kings. The gardens were so beautiful again, but would be amazing in full bloom. If any of you have read Nora's Castle, it reminded me of that, as we climbed into the towers of the castle and explored as much of it as we were allowed to. It also reminded me of Monty Python, when King Arthur asks if they want to join his quest for the Holy Grail, and they tell him they've already got one...haha.
Our last day in Granada was a fun one. We stayed in a hotel right next to the Alhambra, which is the cool thing to see there. It was also at the top of the city in the mountains, so anytime we went down into the other part of the city, it was an intense hike back up. The Alahambra was very neat. It's where the Moors did a lot of government/political stuff, and also had a lot of palaces for the rulers the stay in. Each ruler added another palace during his reign. It also had amazing gardens, maybe the coolest of the whole trip. It was so fun to walk through it! This is also a place you shouldn't pass up if you get the chance to visit southern Spain.
On our way home(a 6 hour bus ride) we stopped to see the windmills that inspired Cervantes when he wrote Don Quijote. We had fun taking pictures there, and then climbed back on the bus and rode for another few hours. It was a great trip though, and it was so much fun to see more of Spain! The sad part is my camera was dead all week, so I have to get pictures from about 5 different people, so until then I have no pictures to put up. I'll try to get them soon though! Love you guys!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Toledo
Last weekend our group took a trip to Toledo, which is about an hour from Alcala de Henares. It was such a beautiful little town! It was first ruled by the Moors, and then sometime in the 13th century the Christians took over. It took quite awhile for the Christians to take over, because the center of Toledo is at the top of this huge hill, and the hill is surrounded by a river on 3 sides. The streets are all really windy and narrow, and it's really easy to get lost because it's like a maze...so attacking the city wasn't easy for the Christians. Anyway...I'm sure you all wanted to know the history behind Toledo...
We first visited the Cathedral there, and it was so beautiful! It was huge, and there was a ton of tiny intricate designs everywhere you looked. They have the red cardinal's hats hanging from the ceiling above the spot where the cardinal was buried, and the hat stays there until it rots away...that was pretty interesting to see. It was also fun to see this huge collection of robes from former arch bishops. They were really pretty and it's amazing to think that they were hand made... it's so detailed and fancy. I wish I could have taken pictures, but that wasn't allowed.
We also visited a Jewish synogogue which is now a museum, and that was pretty interesting, but I definitely liked the Cathedral better. We would have gone to visit the Alcazar too, but it was under construction or refurbishing of some kind.
We all had a lot of fun just wandering around and trying to find our way through the maze of streets. Sometimes it felt like we went back in time because you would turn down a street, and there would be nobody around, no cars...nothing, and the streets were all cobblestone, and all the buildings look older. It was a lot of fun. We found this place where Nuns sell Mazapan, so we all tried some. At first I thought it was pretty weird. It was like sugar cookie dough with almond flavoring and lots of sugar...but with a really weird texture. I ended up liking it a lot though. While Natausha and I were just wandering around, I noticed a statue of the Christus, and then a figurine of some elder missionaries. We stopped to check it out, and it was just this random store that has a bunch of stuff like that. The guy working there told us he was a member, and then he took us to a "special room" that was full of swords and armor and shields. He showed us that they had that sword of Captain Moroni, haha I thought that was pretty funny. We got to take a lot of fun pictures with the swords and the armor...it was great.
The second day we took a really long walk around the outside of the city, and that was great for picture taking. It was nice to get out and walk around in fresh air too; we get so sick of walking in the smoke filled air in Madrid. We stopped at a little shop where this guy was making plates and bowls and painting them. These plates were all over Toledo, but it was fun to see someone actually making them.
This last week Natausha and I have had a lot of fun. We live right by this park that looks like a playground, but it's just a bunch of machines for people to work out on. We thought we'd go try it out, haha, it was awesome. They're meant for old people b/c it's really low resistant, but it was still fun to play around on them. We're going to make a workout video using all the machines, so hopefully I'll find a way to post it on here so you can all see how cool it is!
We went to Madrid last night, and found an ice cream shop for some gelado. It was so delicious...I'm not sure if it was really good because I haven't had ice cream for a long time, or if it's just really good gelado, but it was good. Don't worry...I play soccer a lot here, and we've made a workout program we're gonna stick with, so I'm not gonna come back fat, haha...at least we hope so. But they have a lot of great stuff here...pastries, gelado, mazapan, chocolate con churros.
This next week we're going to Andalucia and stopping in Merida, Seville, Cordoba, and then Granada. I'm excited to spend almost a whole week out traveling! I'll try to keep this updated with posts and pictures. Thanks for all your comments, I hope you all don't get bored reading about all this stuff. :)
p.s The night before we went to Toledo, I dyed my hair brown! It's a fun change, and my Mom didn't get too upset when she found out, so everything is good, haha. And by the way Katie, Mom didn't cry when she found out, so you owe me ten bucks.
p.p.s I accidentally only saved this as a draft, and I've been gone all week w/o internet, so this is from over a week old.
We first visited the Cathedral there, and it was so beautiful! It was huge, and there was a ton of tiny intricate designs everywhere you looked. They have the red cardinal's hats hanging from the ceiling above the spot where the cardinal was buried, and the hat stays there until it rots away...that was pretty interesting to see. It was also fun to see this huge collection of robes from former arch bishops. They were really pretty and it's amazing to think that they were hand made... it's so detailed and fancy. I wish I could have taken pictures, but that wasn't allowed.
We also visited a Jewish synogogue which is now a museum, and that was pretty interesting, but I definitely liked the Cathedral better. We would have gone to visit the Alcazar too, but it was under construction or refurbishing of some kind.
We all had a lot of fun just wandering around and trying to find our way through the maze of streets. Sometimes it felt like we went back in time because you would turn down a street, and there would be nobody around, no cars...nothing, and the streets were all cobblestone, and all the buildings look older. It was a lot of fun. We found this place where Nuns sell Mazapan, so we all tried some. At first I thought it was pretty weird. It was like sugar cookie dough with almond flavoring and lots of sugar...but with a really weird texture. I ended up liking it a lot though. While Natausha and I were just wandering around, I noticed a statue of the Christus, and then a figurine of some elder missionaries. We stopped to check it out, and it was just this random store that has a bunch of stuff like that. The guy working there told us he was a member, and then he took us to a "special room" that was full of swords and armor and shields. He showed us that they had that sword of Captain Moroni, haha I thought that was pretty funny. We got to take a lot of fun pictures with the swords and the armor...it was great.
The second day we took a really long walk around the outside of the city, and that was great for picture taking. It was nice to get out and walk around in fresh air too; we get so sick of walking in the smoke filled air in Madrid. We stopped at a little shop where this guy was making plates and bowls and painting them. These plates were all over Toledo, but it was fun to see someone actually making them.
This last week Natausha and I have had a lot of fun. We live right by this park that looks like a playground, but it's just a bunch of machines for people to work out on. We thought we'd go try it out, haha, it was awesome. They're meant for old people b/c it's really low resistant, but it was still fun to play around on them. We're going to make a workout video using all the machines, so hopefully I'll find a way to post it on here so you can all see how cool it is!
We went to Madrid last night, and found an ice cream shop for some gelado. It was so delicious...I'm not sure if it was really good because I haven't had ice cream for a long time, or if it's just really good gelado, but it was good. Don't worry...I play soccer a lot here, and we've made a workout program we're gonna stick with, so I'm not gonna come back fat, haha...at least we hope so. But they have a lot of great stuff here...pastries, gelado, mazapan, chocolate con churros.
This next week we're going to Andalucia and stopping in Merida, Seville, Cordoba, and then Granada. I'm excited to spend almost a whole week out traveling! I'll try to keep this updated with posts and pictures. Thanks for all your comments, I hope you all don't get bored reading about all this stuff. :)
p.s The night before we went to Toledo, I dyed my hair brown! It's a fun change, and my Mom didn't get too upset when she found out, so everything is good, haha. And by the way Katie, Mom didn't cry when she found out, so you owe me ten bucks.
p.p.s I accidentally only saved this as a draft, and I've been gone all week w/o internet, so this is from over a week old.
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