at that weird amusment park thing. excited, clearly
jumping on the bed at our 5 star hotel in complementary robes, very excited to NOT be with the pilgrims
extremely windy at the top of the highest cliff in spain
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
galicia pis 2
fog at the highest cliff in spain
horse! sorry it's sideways, dunno what happened
inside the Santiago de Compostela cathedral
queso de tetilla (nipple cheese) it was pretty good actually, it tastes like swiss cheese
galicia pics
torre de hercules
beautiful coast!
some weird "amusment" park that was built in the 1800s - had weird stuff in it like a dinosaur statue and caves, considered scandalous at the time
Galicia
Soooooooooo here's probably a super long post...that i'm just deciding to shorten and just tell the best parts...
Sunday we got back from Galicia. We had a minor incident on Friday...The program ends on Friday and then a bunch of us opted to stay until Sunday at Santiago de Compostela (northwestern Spain). I was so excited to find a hostal that was only 18 DOLLARS a night, each person! I found it before we arrived, so I booked it online, etc. So the bus leaves with all of our program leaders and we set out to find this hostal....
sidenote: People make pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. They walk or bike 100 km at least to get there, so see the burial cite of St. James (although they actually don't even know if they are his remains or not). Also they swing this huge inscense thingy, they started it because they allowed the pilgrims to sleep in the cathedral once they reached the city and since they smelled so bad they had do put incense in the whole church. Also their symbol is a sea shell, and all of the little ridges on the shell stand for all of the different routes to Santiago, where they all meet up.
ANYWAY...so we get to this Hostal Seminario menor....it is huge on this big hill. We get there and there are pilgrims in line in front of us. Gross, dirty, sweaty pilgrims. We find out that you cannot talk in the room with the beds (oh yes, one room, at least 30 beds barely 2 feet apart) and that there is a 12 o'clock curfew. and you have to leave by 9:30 so that they can clean. Soooo we walk up, and it looks like a hospital from WWII. Bed after bed, and in these tiny little beds are PILGRIMS, old men, some scantily clothed, and smelly and the one that was supposed to be sleeping across from our assigned beds had a bloody food. THANK YOU BUT NO. So we RAN down to the internet and I then found a really, really good priced FIVE STAR HOTEL for us to stay at for the weekend. Then as we were leaving, there were 10 minutes left of internet. A woman was sitting there and I told her she could use the internet, but she said she didn't have the password or whatever, and I said she could use my last 10 mintues. She then says, "you are true peregrinos." yeah right, well whether i'm a true pilgrim or not, we got out of there FAST. Our hotel was more than amazing, with little bath robes and a SHOWER and everything! We spent the weekend just walking around the city, eating a TON. I tried octopus and shark and their queso de tetilla (nipple cheese....yes, that's what it's called...I'll put up pictures hopefully). And I just had a really great time, the cathedral is beautiful, there's this guy that is stationed near the church and plays the bagpipes for donations and you can hear him from pretty far away so it's like a celtic sound track (there are lots of celtic influences there).
Galicia had really cool things...first of all they speak Gallego, which is a mix of Spanish and Portugese (wow I can't remember how to spell that in English) but it's pretty easy to understand, although we really udidn't hear it all that much to be honest. Also, there is a lot of folklore about magic! They sell little keychains of witches everywhere, and little statuette things. So I bought a Bruja de Estudios, a witch to help me with my studies :) She's really cute and just hangs out on my desk.
Also, we stayed at a rural house. Like, imagine summer camp but in northern spain. It was really cool though, you could see all of the stars and we got to know eachother more as a group, I think. My favorite part, though, was the last night. They had a "surprise" for us...Queimada! It's this drink where you take basically straight alcohol, put in apple peel and limon and orange zest and a TON of sugar and then light it on fire for 20 minutes or so. The bowl lights up blue, and you know it's done when it turns to orange fire. Then you say this really creepy "magical" chant to get all of the bad witches away, and to keep the good ones. It was really awesome. Didn't taste so great (read: tastes like sweetened rubbing alcohol) but oh well. Then we learned some traditional gallego dancing! It was really fun.
On the trip we also went to the Torre de Hercules, one of the oldest lighthouses ever, we had a tour ON TOP OF the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, we went to a little town of St. Frances which was beautiful, you could see the sea, then we went to the highest cliff in Spain, with a visibility of 1 meter - we were literally in a cloud. The trip overall was really cool and I'm really glad that i stayed the weekend!!
Got back Sunday to start classes on Monday...Monday I only had one class though, my USP (universidad de San Pablo) class was canceled...because it was the first day of classes, no one goes to class...So yep. Then Tuesday, I got lost going to schoool. It was so pathetic. I've been there so many times! But our Metro stop just reopened after a lot of construction...Well each metro stop has more than one exit/entrance, and I couldn't for the life of me, find it. so I wandered around until I found another one....THEN once i got to the correct stop for my school, i left out of the wrong exit!! Then I asked a traffic guy where my street I was looking for was, and he didn't even know. blahhh. I was about 15/20 minutes late for class, but the professor didn't seem to care at all. It was just so annoying and I was sooo frustrated because what should take 30 mins took me an hour to do. But today I got there and back just fine...thank God.
Also, I got my USP student ID! So that's exciting. I had to wait in line with a bunch of other international students which was cool because they were speaking in German and Italian and some in broken English to eachother.
I haven't gone to my USP class yet, I have class on thursday, (tomororw) and i'm really excited to see how it goes! OH and also, everyone at my school dresses REALLY REALLY nice. Every girl I see, I want her whole outfit. And on my walk to school, I pass by Zara, H&M, Bershka and Mango is not too far either. and starbucks! It's really bad...Luckily they don't open until 10 so if I had an early morning I can't accidentally wander in, but I think this may be dangerous...
anyways, love an dmiss you all!! xoxo
Sunday we got back from Galicia. We had a minor incident on Friday...The program ends on Friday and then a bunch of us opted to stay until Sunday at Santiago de Compostela (northwestern Spain). I was so excited to find a hostal that was only 18 DOLLARS a night, each person! I found it before we arrived, so I booked it online, etc. So the bus leaves with all of our program leaders and we set out to find this hostal....
sidenote: People make pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. They walk or bike 100 km at least to get there, so see the burial cite of St. James (although they actually don't even know if they are his remains or not). Also they swing this huge inscense thingy, they started it because they allowed the pilgrims to sleep in the cathedral once they reached the city and since they smelled so bad they had do put incense in the whole church. Also their symbol is a sea shell, and all of the little ridges on the shell stand for all of the different routes to Santiago, where they all meet up.
ANYWAY...so we get to this Hostal Seminario menor....it is huge on this big hill. We get there and there are pilgrims in line in front of us. Gross, dirty, sweaty pilgrims. We find out that you cannot talk in the room with the beds (oh yes, one room, at least 30 beds barely 2 feet apart) and that there is a 12 o'clock curfew. and you have to leave by 9:30 so that they can clean. Soooo we walk up, and it looks like a hospital from WWII. Bed after bed, and in these tiny little beds are PILGRIMS, old men, some scantily clothed, and smelly and the one that was supposed to be sleeping across from our assigned beds had a bloody food. THANK YOU BUT NO. So we RAN down to the internet and I then found a really, really good priced FIVE STAR HOTEL for us to stay at for the weekend. Then as we were leaving, there were 10 minutes left of internet. A woman was sitting there and I told her she could use the internet, but she said she didn't have the password or whatever, and I said she could use my last 10 mintues. She then says, "you are true peregrinos." yeah right, well whether i'm a true pilgrim or not, we got out of there FAST. Our hotel was more than amazing, with little bath robes and a SHOWER and everything! We spent the weekend just walking around the city, eating a TON. I tried octopus and shark and their queso de tetilla (nipple cheese....yes, that's what it's called...I'll put up pictures hopefully). And I just had a really great time, the cathedral is beautiful, there's this guy that is stationed near the church and plays the bagpipes for donations and you can hear him from pretty far away so it's like a celtic sound track (there are lots of celtic influences there).
Galicia had really cool things...first of all they speak Gallego, which is a mix of Spanish and Portugese (wow I can't remember how to spell that in English) but it's pretty easy to understand, although we really udidn't hear it all that much to be honest. Also, there is a lot of folklore about magic! They sell little keychains of witches everywhere, and little statuette things. So I bought a Bruja de Estudios, a witch to help me with my studies :) She's really cute and just hangs out on my desk.
Also, we stayed at a rural house. Like, imagine summer camp but in northern spain. It was really cool though, you could see all of the stars and we got to know eachother more as a group, I think. My favorite part, though, was the last night. They had a "surprise" for us...Queimada! It's this drink where you take basically straight alcohol, put in apple peel and limon and orange zest and a TON of sugar and then light it on fire for 20 minutes or so. The bowl lights up blue, and you know it's done when it turns to orange fire. Then you say this really creepy "magical" chant to get all of the bad witches away, and to keep the good ones. It was really awesome. Didn't taste so great (read: tastes like sweetened rubbing alcohol) but oh well. Then we learned some traditional gallego dancing! It was really fun.
On the trip we also went to the Torre de Hercules, one of the oldest lighthouses ever, we had a tour ON TOP OF the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, we went to a little town of St. Frances which was beautiful, you could see the sea, then we went to the highest cliff in Spain, with a visibility of 1 meter - we were literally in a cloud. The trip overall was really cool and I'm really glad that i stayed the weekend!!
Got back Sunday to start classes on Monday...Monday I only had one class though, my USP (universidad de San Pablo) class was canceled...because it was the first day of classes, no one goes to class...So yep. Then Tuesday, I got lost going to schoool. It was so pathetic. I've been there so many times! But our Metro stop just reopened after a lot of construction...Well each metro stop has more than one exit/entrance, and I couldn't for the life of me, find it. so I wandered around until I found another one....THEN once i got to the correct stop for my school, i left out of the wrong exit!! Then I asked a traffic guy where my street I was looking for was, and he didn't even know. blahhh. I was about 15/20 minutes late for class, but the professor didn't seem to care at all. It was just so annoying and I was sooo frustrated because what should take 30 mins took me an hour to do. But today I got there and back just fine...thank God.
Also, I got my USP student ID! So that's exciting. I had to wait in line with a bunch of other international students which was cool because they were speaking in German and Italian and some in broken English to eachother.
I haven't gone to my USP class yet, I have class on thursday, (tomororw) and i'm really excited to see how it goes! OH and also, everyone at my school dresses REALLY REALLY nice. Every girl I see, I want her whole outfit. And on my walk to school, I pass by Zara, H&M, Bershka and Mango is not too far either. and starbucks! It's really bad...Luckily they don't open until 10 so if I had an early morning I can't accidentally wander in, but I think this may be dangerous...
anyways, love an dmiss you all!! xoxo
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Vale (means ok)
BUENAS TARDES!!
sorry that I haven't blogged in like, at least a week. I know you are all just dying to hear all about my life. I apologize immensely and thus will tell you all about it pronto.
Well, last week on Tuesday everyone in the program had to meet up at our university for our 6 hour chartered bus ride down to Granada! It was actually a lot of fun, everyone got a good nap in and it was cool to see Spain flying past us. Once we got to Granada we had some free time, so about 6 of us girls all went to explore the city, and it was SO ADORABLE. I really, really, really like Granada. The streets are really cute and there are a lot of plazas, etc. Then we decided to get some ice cream....at Hagen Daaz or however you spell that. Very spanish, I know...Well anyway we were sitting outside when this group of 4 boys walked up to our table and one literally RAN into our table, which was really weird (my friend Beth grabbed her purse on impulse b/c she thought he was trying to steal it, it was hilarous.....you probably had to have been there). Anyway, about 3 minutes later they all just walk up to our table and pull up chairs and literally surroud us and just sit down. We were like, what the hell is this?? They looked like 16 at the oldest. Well, they wanted a picture with us (or really i think my friend Steph who is blonde. and also he said she was guapa so of course he'd want a picture), but I told him in Spanish that he would have to pay to get a picture with us. I think that may have surprised them because we had all been speaking in English to eachother so they probably didn't think we understood them. Anyway, they sat there the whole time we ate our ice cream even though we told them to leave, but it was actually really funny. We were kind of being really mean to them, asking if they were 14, etc. And one said I looked like Hannah Montanah. (who actually IS about 16/17 years old, so that's kind of a slap in the face...) Anyway, then all of the sudden they just got up and left. It was an interesting start to the trip.
Then we all met up and took a guided tour of Granada, and our tour guide was very nice and knowledgable. But he kind of kept repeating words in English which was annoying b/c it wa slike dudeee we understand your spanish! But he was just trying to be helpful. Well we went into the cathedral which was beautiful! no pictures allowed inside though. Then we went up a mountain to where the Arabs/Muslims lived back in the day (Before 1492 when the conquista happened). The roads are really narrow b/c it provides more shade so everything is cooler, (like the houses shade eachother) and they are harder to attack! While walking up I even heard people speakin Arabic! Anyway, we climb this HUGE mountain thing that is very exhausting, then we come to the MOST amazing view of La Alhambra, the last thing that the Arabs did. It's this huge palace thingy that is seriously amazing, but were only able to live in it (the sultan i think?) for not very long b/c the Christians conquered them shortly after and changed the mosque into a church and stuff. (Actually, I think the only mosque that wasn't destroyed and rebuit as a church is in Cordoba, but we didn't go there).
Then we climbed down the mountain and had some amazing dinner! it was great. Then Beth and I decided to go have some wine after dinner and we made friends with our waiter (read: he thought we were really annoying. And also thought we were German...) but we had a really good time!
Wed - we actually WENT to La Alhambra...it is just impossible to describe so I'll put up pictures. We had a guided tour and stuff too. It was awesome! There's even a little room where Washington Irving stayed, he wrote stories about it. Also there's a "summer" house, literally across a little moat where they would go to live for the summer, I guess to physically remove themselves from the normal palace part, even though the weather and temperature, etc, is exactly the same. But the gardens were fabulous, there were a lot of patios and cool mosaics and everything!
Then we left Grandada for Sevilla! We took a little bus panoramic tour but did't really get to see anything. Then we ate and then I went to sleep because I was SO TIRED. Traveling/touring is very exhausting...
In Sevilla we had a tour of the Cathedral which was HUGE and super cool! We also climed up to the very top tower where you could see all of Sevilla! But the best part was the story of Christopher Columbus...his remains are in the cathedral! the thing is, they tried to give his remains to America, but we didn't want them apparently, and then to the islands and no one wanted him. He crossed the Atlantic 15 times while dead, and only 4 times while alive! So now he's laid to rest in Sevilla. however, with all of that traveling, they lost a lot of parts of his body, so they only have a part of his head and then an arm and his pelvic bone, etc. But then 3 places claimed to have his bones! So they did DNA testing and they found that some of the bones they had in Sevilla weren't his at all, but some were, so they have his real body. And they know it is his DNA b/c his son is also buried in the same cathedral! (i think). Anyway, it was a good story.
Then we probably walked around the city more and ate a lot of yummy food. I honestly can't remember...?
THURSDAY
We woke up and went to the museum of Flamenco! We took a 45 minute flamenco dance class which was super fun and also HILARIOUS! Then we learned about how it came to be and how it's a mix of so many different cultures (cuban, indian, etc) and it is a very awesome dance. I like it a lot.
Okay i've realized that I've mixed up a lot of the days but oh well....
Then on Friday we went to the Palace of the Spanish Kings and queen and it was very beautiful, similar to La Alhambra, and there were peacocks outside which i thought was really cool!
Then Friday our professors left us and we hopped on a train to Cadiz, a city in southern spain on the beach!!! our hotel was AWESOME, although we fit 6 people into a 4 person room...but it all worked out great! Then we went out and tried to find this specific club and couldn't find it which was annoying but whatever, we had a good time. On Saturday we spent the day at the beach, and a lot of people got sunburned pretty bad...but I managed to avoid anything too bad! Then we bought bagettes and brie cheese and wine and just sat in a plaza and ate and drank, it was sooo much fun! definitely an amazing dinner. :)
Sunday we left Cadiz and had to go through sevilla then back to Madrid. It was really nice to be home (yes home! crazy but it really did feel like home) with yummy food made by Sol!!
Monday we had more orientation stuff talked about our classes. Then we went out to Malasana, a district with lots of prostitutes and stuff. Okay that sounds bad, but it was SO much fun! We went out to a gay bar (although there were straight people there too...evidenced by the oldish couple making out in the back...) and it was seriously so much fun! they played the best music!
Tuesday we learned all about Galicia, where we are headed tomorrow, the north western part of Spain! They even have their own language, Gallego, it's a mix between Spanish and Portuguese so I can kind of understand it, which is really awesome.
Well we have to catch a flight tomorrow at 9, thus be there at 8, so gotta leave the house by 7 so I need some sleep! love you all!! Talk to you on Sunday!! xoxox
sorry that I haven't blogged in like, at least a week. I know you are all just dying to hear all about my life. I apologize immensely and thus will tell you all about it pronto.
Well, last week on Tuesday everyone in the program had to meet up at our university for our 6 hour chartered bus ride down to Granada! It was actually a lot of fun, everyone got a good nap in and it was cool to see Spain flying past us. Once we got to Granada we had some free time, so about 6 of us girls all went to explore the city, and it was SO ADORABLE. I really, really, really like Granada. The streets are really cute and there are a lot of plazas, etc. Then we decided to get some ice cream....at Hagen Daaz or however you spell that. Very spanish, I know...Well anyway we were sitting outside when this group of 4 boys walked up to our table and one literally RAN into our table, which was really weird (my friend Beth grabbed her purse on impulse b/c she thought he was trying to steal it, it was hilarous.....you probably had to have been there). Anyway, about 3 minutes later they all just walk up to our table and pull up chairs and literally surroud us and just sit down. We were like, what the hell is this?? They looked like 16 at the oldest. Well, they wanted a picture with us (or really i think my friend Steph who is blonde. and also he said she was guapa so of course he'd want a picture), but I told him in Spanish that he would have to pay to get a picture with us. I think that may have surprised them because we had all been speaking in English to eachother so they probably didn't think we understood them. Anyway, they sat there the whole time we ate our ice cream even though we told them to leave, but it was actually really funny. We were kind of being really mean to them, asking if they were 14, etc. And one said I looked like Hannah Montanah. (who actually IS about 16/17 years old, so that's kind of a slap in the face...) Anyway, then all of the sudden they just got up and left. It was an interesting start to the trip.
Then we all met up and took a guided tour of Granada, and our tour guide was very nice and knowledgable. But he kind of kept repeating words in English which was annoying b/c it wa slike dudeee we understand your spanish! But he was just trying to be helpful. Well we went into the cathedral which was beautiful! no pictures allowed inside though. Then we went up a mountain to where the Arabs/Muslims lived back in the day (Before 1492 when the conquista happened). The roads are really narrow b/c it provides more shade so everything is cooler, (like the houses shade eachother) and they are harder to attack! While walking up I even heard people speakin Arabic! Anyway, we climb this HUGE mountain thing that is very exhausting, then we come to the MOST amazing view of La Alhambra, the last thing that the Arabs did. It's this huge palace thingy that is seriously amazing, but were only able to live in it (the sultan i think?) for not very long b/c the Christians conquered them shortly after and changed the mosque into a church and stuff. (Actually, I think the only mosque that wasn't destroyed and rebuit as a church is in Cordoba, but we didn't go there).
Then we climbed down the mountain and had some amazing dinner! it was great. Then Beth and I decided to go have some wine after dinner and we made friends with our waiter (read: he thought we were really annoying. And also thought we were German...) but we had a really good time!
Wed - we actually WENT to La Alhambra...it is just impossible to describe so I'll put up pictures. We had a guided tour and stuff too. It was awesome! There's even a little room where Washington Irving stayed, he wrote stories about it. Also there's a "summer" house, literally across a little moat where they would go to live for the summer, I guess to physically remove themselves from the normal palace part, even though the weather and temperature, etc, is exactly the same. But the gardens were fabulous, there were a lot of patios and cool mosaics and everything!
Then we left Grandada for Sevilla! We took a little bus panoramic tour but did't really get to see anything. Then we ate and then I went to sleep because I was SO TIRED. Traveling/touring is very exhausting...
In Sevilla we had a tour of the Cathedral which was HUGE and super cool! We also climed up to the very top tower where you could see all of Sevilla! But the best part was the story of Christopher Columbus...his remains are in the cathedral! the thing is, they tried to give his remains to America, but we didn't want them apparently, and then to the islands and no one wanted him. He crossed the Atlantic 15 times while dead, and only 4 times while alive! So now he's laid to rest in Sevilla. however, with all of that traveling, they lost a lot of parts of his body, so they only have a part of his head and then an arm and his pelvic bone, etc. But then 3 places claimed to have his bones! So they did DNA testing and they found that some of the bones they had in Sevilla weren't his at all, but some were, so they have his real body. And they know it is his DNA b/c his son is also buried in the same cathedral! (i think). Anyway, it was a good story.
Then we probably walked around the city more and ate a lot of yummy food. I honestly can't remember...?
THURSDAY
We woke up and went to the museum of Flamenco! We took a 45 minute flamenco dance class which was super fun and also HILARIOUS! Then we learned about how it came to be and how it's a mix of so many different cultures (cuban, indian, etc) and it is a very awesome dance. I like it a lot.
Okay i've realized that I've mixed up a lot of the days but oh well....
Then on Friday we went to the Palace of the Spanish Kings and queen and it was very beautiful, similar to La Alhambra, and there were peacocks outside which i thought was really cool!
Then Friday our professors left us and we hopped on a train to Cadiz, a city in southern spain on the beach!!! our hotel was AWESOME, although we fit 6 people into a 4 person room...but it all worked out great! Then we went out and tried to find this specific club and couldn't find it which was annoying but whatever, we had a good time. On Saturday we spent the day at the beach, and a lot of people got sunburned pretty bad...but I managed to avoid anything too bad! Then we bought bagettes and brie cheese and wine and just sat in a plaza and ate and drank, it was sooo much fun! definitely an amazing dinner. :)
Sunday we left Cadiz and had to go through sevilla then back to Madrid. It was really nice to be home (yes home! crazy but it really did feel like home) with yummy food made by Sol!!
Monday we had more orientation stuff talked about our classes. Then we went out to Malasana, a district with lots of prostitutes and stuff. Okay that sounds bad, but it was SO much fun! We went out to a gay bar (although there were straight people there too...evidenced by the oldish couple making out in the back...) and it was seriously so much fun! they played the best music!
Tuesday we learned all about Galicia, where we are headed tomorrow, the north western part of Spain! They even have their own language, Gallego, it's a mix between Spanish and Portuguese so I can kind of understand it, which is really awesome.
Well we have to catch a flight tomorrow at 9, thus be there at 8, so gotta leave the house by 7 so I need some sleep! love you all!! Talk to you on Sunday!! xoxox
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