This is it. The last day. The last ... oh! In about 24 hours I will be hugging my mom and dad in the Atlanta airport (I hope) ... oh my!
Before I begin, an update on the flight of my Marist companions: Two of them successfully took their original flight on Sunday and arrived home. The others were disappointed at not getting home but their sadness was playcated by a free dinner, free hotel room last night and 600 euros in cash ($800). They left on a flight Madrid-London this morning and at 7 pm tonight took off on a London-New York flight. They are now on their way home (a little more than a day later) but I am glad they are home. However, please everyone hope that I don't encounter that delay. PLEASE!
Ok, now to today ... Elena and I enjoyed sleeping in (as we both do) and rose around 11:30. We both made it to the couch (under blankets again) and watched one of my most favorite Christmas movies: Love Actually. I had to do a tiny bit of translating (there is one scene where an entire conversation is written in English on these big poster cards) but it went well ... and she liked it :) After this we siesta-ed (a great thing for my last day in Spain I think) and then we began decorating. We put up sparkly things on the doors. We put out red decorations on the tables. We hing the light-up star in the window. But, out work of art for the day was the tree! Elena bought a real tree last year and it died and shed needles everywhere. So she is thinking about buying a fake tree in the future. So, Elena's brother had brought her some branchy branches from teh country to make a tree ... which we did! The tree consists of two natural branches, and a big single branch in the back painted gold and accented with gold glitter. We did all the painting and glittering ourselves (Elena prefers handmade decorations to store-bought ones). I still have glitter all over my clothes, hands (and face, according to Elena). The tree came out beautifully though. I wrapped some of the branches with tiny red tinsel and we decorated it with only red and gold ornaments. Oh it is so pretty!!! I am trying to take some pictures that do it justice, but I won'd be able to put them up until I get home to a computer (thanks to my dead laptop). I love the decorated house though and it makes me sad to leave it ... but at least I could help make it cheerful for the holidays since I have to leave Elena here by herself. I am going to really miss her, but we have promised to keep in touch - and we are facebook friends so that helps (one of the many benefits of having a younger señora).
I also taught Elena to make chocolate covered pretzles today! It brought me back to memories of sitting in our dorm room last year with wax paper covering our tiny sofa and making them with my girls. Miss you guys and see you soon!!! :) Elena loved it and we now have two papers full, drying in the kitchen. What a wonderful Christmassy day! And the perfect way to spend my last day with Elena, who has made my experience here wonderful!!!
Now, as I sit here, I am a few hours away from bed. (After a supper of tortilla española I think :D ). Then tomorrow morning I rise early to allow extra, extra time for the metro to the airport ... my last metro. My last flight out of Madrid. My flight home. I leave at 11:30 and am Atlanta bound where my parents will be waiting for me. I cannot wait to see you guys!! I have missed you TONS but I have had an unbelievable, unforgettable semester. Thank you so much. And thanks to my loyal readers. I'll see ou guys soon too :)
For now, signing out for the last time from Spain, yours truly, the Kid in (but about to leave) Madrid! ... Besos a todos. Hasta ahora :)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Mi Último Domingo
This is it ... my last 48 hours in Spain. Oh my. I remember when the count was over 100 days. What happened? Well, a lot i guess. According to the blogs anyway. But that doesn't mean that I can't make a little more happen before I come home. So ...Today, my last Sunday, John and I decided to do one more Spanish mass, this time at La Iglesia de San Francisco, El Grande. Now this was a huge church. So I am assuming that El Grande refers to the largeness of the church itself and is not a comment on 
the largeness of San Francisco's waistline. This church is known for the large dome (something like the largest in ... Spain, maybe?). It was beautifully painted and the mass was nice.
the largeness of San Francisco's waistline. This church is known for the large dome (something like the largest in ... Spain, maybe?). It was beautifully painted and the mass was nice. After mass we had a few things on our agenda ... we were heading to the Prado to see a Renior exhibit. But first we wanted to have Chocolate con Churros and a Calamares Bocadillo. In that order. We went first so San Gines for a last taste of chocolate con churros. 
¡Qué rico! Then we went to El Brillante, for "Madrid's best calamares bocadillo" (fried squid sandwich). I have come to adore these ... and am sad to leave them! This was a wonderful goodbye Madrid lunch! Then, we made our way to the Prado only to find the Renior exhibit sold out. Oh well. This weekend was a long, holiday weekend in Madrid and everything seemed a but more crowded. However, I have been so lucky to see TONS of artistic masterpieces today so missing this one wasn't too devastating. So, we continued with our other possible outing and went to see a movie. The movie Biutiful (with Javier Bardem) opened this past weekend and has had some Oscar talk around it. John had heard of it and stays up on the movies so I took his word for it and we went. Additionally, this movie would be our final Spanish test as it was entirely in Spanish with no subtitles. It was a very good movie and I found myself a few times just watching it and enjoying it ... like any other movie. That was incredible. However, then a line would come out too fast or with unfamilar words and I would be reminded that however much I have learned here ... my Spanish education is not yet over and I know I will continue with it when I return :) Anyway, I recommend the movie. It's hard at some points and confusing at others but I enjoyed it very much. To my fellow students of Spanish I encourage you to watch it while looking at the subtitles as little as possible :) After the movie I said goodbye to John (until we both return to Stetson) and went back home for supper and bed. One day left! ¡¡¡No puedo crearlo!!!
¡Qué rico! Then we went to El Brillante, for "Madrid's best calamares bocadillo" (fried squid sandwich). I have come to adore these ... and am sad to leave them! This was a wonderful goodbye Madrid lunch! Then, we made our way to the Prado only to find the Renior exhibit sold out. Oh well. This weekend was a long, holiday weekend in Madrid and everything seemed a but more crowded. However, I have been so lucky to see TONS of artistic masterpieces today so missing this one wasn't too devastating. So, we continued with our other possible outing and went to see a movie. The movie Biutiful (with Javier Bardem) opened this past weekend and has had some Oscar talk around it. John had heard of it and stays up on the movies so I took his word for it and we went. Additionally, this movie would be our final Spanish test as it was entirely in Spanish with no subtitles. It was a very good movie and I found myself a few times just watching it and enjoying it ... like any other movie. That was incredible. However, then a line would come out too fast or with unfamilar words and I would be reminded that however much I have learned here ... my Spanish education is not yet over and I know I will continue with it when I return :) Anyway, I recommend the movie. It's hard at some points and confusing at others but I enjoyed it very much. To my fellow students of Spanish I encourage you to watch it while looking at the subtitles as little as possible :) After the movie I said goodbye to John (until we both return to Stetson) and went back home for supper and bed. One day left! ¡¡¡No puedo crearlo!!!Saturday, December 4, 2010
Well I'm Bummed :(
I have sad news my friends. I did not have the pleasure of spending the day with my wonderful friend Kaleb. His flight was indeed cancelled. Stupid strike. What was worse (for both of us) was that they cancelled it 15 minutes before departure. He took the train from Avignon to the airport in Marseilles, went through security and everthing just so that (15 muintes before borading) they could cancel the flight ... ¡Qué PENA! Plus, because of limited inter-country communication while in Europe, I then went to the airport and waited for a bit before asking an official about his flights. He told me that Ryanair had cancelled everything (even if the board still said it was flying). So we both returned home sad not to be spending the weekend together. Boo!!! But, at the very least I we have the pleasure of returning to the US to the same place and we can see each other next semester.
So today, after our flight fiasco, Lindsay and I met up. We made a final trip to the Corte Ingles. Then we met up with John and did some Geocaching!!! For those of you who are not familiar with this very fun
passtime I shall breifly. To geocache you must have a GPS. Then you log onto geocaching.com where you can find information on caches. People have hidden these caches all over the world. Caches are usually a small box or film canister. Sometimes they have things in them but they might just have a log to sign. The main fun of geocaching is not in what you find but in the act of finding itself! This website then has the GPS coordinates where each cache is located and usually information about the location (and sometimes a few hints about how to find it). It is really fun - believe me! And today we found three!!! When I went to the Czech Republic in May 2009, I geocached with friends. So I have now been caching in 3 countries. Woo-hoo!
After this we took John to Cortilandia because he hadn't seen it. Then we went to a bar for drinks and reflective chatting on our last night as a trio. Finally, we considered seeking out Chocolate con Churros but it was cold and places were crowded so John and I might do that tomorrow. All in all, the day was certaintly not a waste, but I wish I could have spent it with Kaleb. Thus are the pains of this crisis .... but I wish that it wouldn't mess up the travel plans of my friends! I am now hoping that the Marist group flies tomorrow without too many problems. My thoughts are with them. Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy my last two days in the city ... oh how short a time that is! Besos.
So today, after our flight fiasco, Lindsay and I met up. We made a final trip to the Corte Ingles. Then we met up with John and did some Geocaching!!! For those of you who are not familiar with this very fun
passtime I shall breifly. To geocache you must have a GPS. Then you log onto geocaching.com where you can find information on caches. People have hidden these caches all over the world. Caches are usually a small box or film canister. Sometimes they have things in them but they might just have a log to sign. The main fun of geocaching is not in what you find but in the act of finding itself! This website then has the GPS coordinates where each cache is located and usually information about the location (and sometimes a few hints about how to find it). It is really fun - believe me! And today we found three!!! When I went to the Czech Republic in May 2009, I geocached with friends. So I have now been caching in 3 countries. Woo-hoo!
After this we took John to Cortilandia because he hadn't seen it. Then we went to a bar for drinks and reflective chatting on our last night as a trio. Finally, we considered seeking out Chocolate con Churros but it was cold and places were crowded so John and I might do that tomorrow. All in all, the day was certaintly not a waste, but I wish I could have spent it with Kaleb. Thus are the pains of this crisis .... but I wish that it wouldn't mess up the travel plans of my friends! I am now hoping that the Marist group flies tomorrow without too many problems. My thoughts are with them. Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy my last two days in the city ... oh how short a time that is! Besos.
Friday, December 3, 2010
No more classes! So let's party it up!!
Thursday a grand thing happened. I went to campus, took an Arte Exam with that my fall semester ended! I left campus for the final time and am now on winter break until mid-January. ¡Que guay!
Thursday afternoon I packed a bit, skyped a bit and rested a bit. Then, I dressed up for a night on the town with our whole program. We went first to Isabel's house for a final Christmas party. She has a tini-tiny flat but she still had us all over. There wasn't room for everyone to sit, but this past semester we've become close so it was perfect. We arrived to a table covered with yummy treats. She had tons of food including many Christmas treats like turron, candy covered pine nuts, chocolate three kings and the torta de Reyes tradicional (traditional 3 kings cake). We chatted and finished final business (like program evaluations). During the end of the party Steph revealed the "superlative game" that she had prepared for our final party. She had written superlatives (most likely to...) on slips of paper for us to read out and award. It was great because they weren't generic ones. She had written them specifically about out trip so the game turned into a memory of the semester and all we've done. And what was I awarded? Most likely to be a Señora, Most likely to look like their mom (mom and I got pegged as twins when whe visited), Most likely to return to Spain and Most likely to write a book (this is based mainly on their reading of my lengthy blog entries). After this wonderful party, we did a hard thing. We said goodbye to Isabel. We don't have plans to see her again before we leave ... so this night was goodbye. She cae downstairs with us to say goodbye and it was sad. However, we were cheered by the suprise of falling snowflakes outside (and Isabel's adorable face when she saw the snow). We took a final picture and gave her big hugs. Goodbye Isable, the best program director ever. Thanks for everything! And come visit Stetson so I can see you again!!
Then, after this party, we had decided to go out as a group. This would me my first time really saliendo por la noche (going out, and this time later than the last metro) ... and I figured I would give it my best efforts. We started our night by botellón-ing (enjoy my Spainglish). Botella means bottle in Spanish and to botellón is to drink in the open air (aka, parks, streets, plazas). Drinking in the streets is totally legal in Spain and it is a much cheaper way to drink than buying drinks in the clubs and bars. Lindsay and I classily split a 1.30 euro box of red wine. It tasted alright actually, which was suprising. We botellóned on the metro to our intended bar, and we arrived feeling relaxed and ready to dance. The bar is called Leche de Pantera (Panther's milk). The inside is made to look like a cave and it was a neat bar. Its name comes from the fish bowl drinks (to share) that they sell ... Leche de Pantera because the taste like spiked chocolate milk (someone described it as a giant white russian, but having never had a white russian I cannot defend nor deny this statement). I actually didn't get anything at the bar except a glass of water because I was bubbly enough with the wine I had on the way. This bar was a blast. The music was fun, it wasn't too very crowded and we had a big group to dance with. There were only a few hiccups. When we first arrived, a group of Spanish boys insisted on playing darts where we wanted to dance. We all decided that a dartboard in a bar where there is lots of dancing = a bad idea. No one got hit though, and the stopped playing after a bit, which was much appreciated. Also, there was blue-striped shirt guy ... the very persistant Spainard who wouldn't take No, Gracias for an answer and returned no less than half a dozen times seeking a dance partern. It got to the point that Lindsay and I (my fellow non-single lady) developed a strategy. When he came near, we danced with each other. I would grab her shoulder and we'd hold hands and close him out. This was very successful. Lindsay and I made good "novias españolas" since we weren't looking for "novios" here :) This made dancing much more fun as we were able to defer all unwanted advances. We danced until 3 when the bar closed. After this, we contemplated moving to another bar or club and staying out till the metro re-opened at 6 am ... but tired from our night, 6 of us decided to head home. But first, we stopped in Sol at the 24 hour Pizza shop for warm slices of heaven. After this, I ended up home and in bed around 4:30 am. I was dead tired ... and this is still earlier than the average Spanish night out (all nighters). But I had a great time going out with everyone and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the semester!!
Friday morning, I woke without an alarm at 11:00 am. This was earlier than I had expected but I felt well rested. I think I slept solidly for those 7 hours so they felt like longer. The first thing I did upon getting up was shower. My hair reeked of tobacco smoke (as well as did my clothes from last night). I am looking forward to returning to the land of "No Smoking"establishments!! During the day I rested and packed a little more. I skyped a little and made evening plans. At 5 I met John and we went out the end of the green metro line to Caso de Campos. This land used to be the king's old hunting grounds. Now it is the location of the Zoo, Aquarium and Amusement Park. We didn't arrive early enough to enter any of these things but we walked around the area and peeked through the fence at some of the animals. It wasn't a long outing, because it has gotten quite cold. But, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit and see yet another part of Madrid. I returned home for an evening with Elena, eating dinner, talking about out days and watching a little TV. It was nice. We also discussed a worrying piece of news: an Air Traffic Controlers Strike started today without warning all across Spain ... cancelling ALL FLIGHTS in and out of these airports today. This is bad news bears for 2 reasons. One, my friend Kaleb (a re-appearing figure in this blog) is scheduled to fly into the Madrid airport tomorrow morning. I am worried about his flight. The flights are scheduled to re-open at 1:00 am though so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Two, I am of course thinking about my own flight, the very important one back home, and praying that it is not affected. Elena says that these strikes are usually concentrated on puentes (long holiday weekends like this one) and that my Tuesday flight should hopefully remain unaffected. However, the entire Marist group is scheduled to fly out Sunday. Oh my. Too much to worry about and we know too little about how long it will last right now. But for now, I just hope that Kaleb can get here safely to enjoy a weekend in Madrid with us a tour guides. Here's hoping!
Thursday afternoon I packed a bit, skyped a bit and rested a bit. Then, I dressed up for a night on the town with our whole program. We went first to Isabel's house for a final Christmas party. She has a tini-tiny flat but she still had us all over. There wasn't room for everyone to sit, but this past semester we've become close so it was perfect. We arrived to a table covered with yummy treats. She had tons of food including many Christmas treats like turron, candy covered pine nuts, chocolate three kings and the torta de Reyes tradicional (traditional 3 kings cake). We chatted and finished final business (like program evaluations). During the end of the party Steph revealed the "superlative game" that she had prepared for our final party. She had written superlatives (most likely to...) on slips of paper for us to read out and award. It was great because they weren't generic ones. She had written them specifically about out trip so the game turned into a memory of the semester and all we've done. And what was I awarded? Most likely to be a Señora, Most likely to look like their mom (mom and I got pegged as twins when whe visited), Most likely to return to Spain and Most likely to write a book (this is based mainly on their reading of my lengthy blog entries). After this wonderful party, we did a hard thing. We said goodbye to Isabel. We don't have plans to see her again before we leave ... so this night was goodbye. She cae downstairs with us to say goodbye and it was sad. However, we were cheered by the suprise of falling snowflakes outside (and Isabel's adorable face when she saw the snow). We took a final picture and gave her big hugs. Goodbye Isable, the best program director ever. Thanks for everything! And come visit Stetson so I can see you again!!Then, after this party, we had decided to go out as a group. This would me my first time really saliendo por la noche (going out, and this time later than the last metro) ... and I figured I would give it my best efforts. We started our night by botellón-ing (enjoy my Spainglish). Botella means bottle in Spanish and to botellón is to drink in the open air (aka, parks, streets, plazas). Drinking in the streets is totally legal in Spain and it is a much cheaper way to drink than buying drinks in the clubs and bars. Lindsay and I classily split a 1.30 euro box of red wine. It tasted alright actually, which was suprising. We botellóned on the metro to our intended bar, and we arrived feeling relaxed and ready to dance. The bar is called Leche de Pantera (Panther's milk). The inside is made to look like a cave and it was a neat bar. Its name comes from the fish bowl drinks (to share) that they sell ... Leche de Pantera because the taste like spiked chocolate milk (someone described it as a giant white russian, but having never had a white russian I cannot defend nor deny this statement). I actually didn't get anything at the bar except a glass of water because I was bubbly enough with the wine I had on the way. This bar was a blast. The music was fun, it wasn't too very crowded and we had a big group to dance with. There were only a few hiccups. When we first arrived, a group of Spanish boys insisted on playing darts where we wanted to dance. We all decided that a dartboard in a bar where there is lots of dancing = a bad idea. No one got hit though, and the stopped playing after a bit, which was much appreciated. Also, there was blue-striped shirt guy ... the very persistant Spainard who wouldn't take No, Gracias for an answer and returned no less than half a dozen times seeking a dance partern. It got to the point that Lindsay and I (my fellow non-single lady) developed a strategy. When he came near, we danced with each other. I would grab her shoulder and we'd hold hands and close him out. This was very successful. Lindsay and I made good "novias españolas" since we weren't looking for "novios" here :) This made dancing much more fun as we were able to defer all unwanted advances. We danced until 3 when the bar closed. After this, we contemplated moving to another bar or club and staying out till the metro re-opened at 6 am ... but tired from our night, 6 of us decided to head home. But first, we stopped in Sol at the 24 hour Pizza shop for warm slices of heaven. After this, I ended up home and in bed around 4:30 am. I was dead tired ... and this is still earlier than the average Spanish night out (all nighters). But I had a great time going out with everyone and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the semester!!
Friday morning, I woke without an alarm at 11:00 am. This was earlier than I had expected but I felt well rested. I think I slept solidly for those 7 hours so they felt like longer. The first thing I did upon getting up was shower. My hair reeked of tobacco smoke (as well as did my clothes from last night). I am looking forward to returning to the land of "No Smoking"establishments!! During the day I rested and packed a little more. I skyped a little and made evening plans. At 5 I met John and we went out the end of the green metro line to Caso de Campos. This land used to be the king's old hunting grounds. Now it is the location of the Zoo, Aquarium and Amusement Park. We didn't arrive early enough to enter any of these things but we walked around the area and peeked through the fence at some of the animals. It wasn't a long outing, because it has gotten quite cold. But, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit and see yet another part of Madrid. I returned home for an evening with Elena, eating dinner, talking about out days and watching a little TV. It was nice. We also discussed a worrying piece of news: an Air Traffic Controlers Strike started today without warning all across Spain ... cancelling ALL FLIGHTS in and out of these airports today. This is bad news bears for 2 reasons. One, my friend Kaleb (a re-appearing figure in this blog) is scheduled to fly into the Madrid airport tomorrow morning. I am worried about his flight. The flights are scheduled to re-open at 1:00 am though so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Two, I am of course thinking about my own flight, the very important one back home, and praying that it is not affected. Elena says that these strikes are usually concentrated on puentes (long holiday weekends like this one) and that my Tuesday flight should hopefully remain unaffected. However, the entire Marist group is scheduled to fly out Sunday. Oh my. Too much to worry about and we know too little about how long it will last right now. But for now, I just hope that Kaleb can get here safely to enjoy a weekend in Madrid with us a tour guides. Here's hoping!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Uniformed men on horseback and Nuns who make cookies
It hit me today that I am in the "less than a week" period. In less that a week now I will be home. I am incredibly excited to see you guys. I have missed you terribly and welcome the sight of your faces smiling at me (outside of my computer screen). However, as I was walking from Sol to Plaza Mayor today ... it hit me that I am going to really miss these streets. This is the first city that I have gotten to know almost completely on my own. Madrid has been a wonderful home to me these past few months so these feelings are not surprising. But I will miss her. And the shorter my time here, the more I realize that. These streets are familiar now and I love walking them. And I know that it will be hard to leave them. But I have to. And all I can do is hope to revisit them soon. Ok, enough sappy reflection ...
So today Lindsay checked a few more things of our Madrid bucket list. The first of these was to buy cookies from the nuns! These are the cloistered nuns that make cookies and sell them through a lazy susan so that they can remain cloistered ... after already having tried this a few times unsuccessfully, I had my fingers crossed. I pushed the buzzer and heard a nun-ish voice reply "¿Hola? ¿Dulces?" Dulces were what we wanted so I answered Sí! and she buzzed us in. We walked through a passage, then through a small courtyard and finally into another small hallawy to the a brown window with a lazy susan in it. There the crackly voice of a nun called out to us and told us that they only had almond cookies right now. They were making others but they wouldn't be ready until 11:30. We said almond were fine and the laz susan whirled around with a box of cookies sitting there. This was exciting. We got our cookies (I even got normal change - a 5 euro bill) and made out way back outside. Nun candies at last!
Then we continued on to a cafe for a much needed café con leche to combat the cold. We warmed up in a cosy corner and drank our coffee as we reviewed history notes together. Then at 11:30 we paid and went to the Palace to get a spot to watch the Solemn Changing of the Gaurd. This event only happens the first Wednesday of every month so this was our chance to see it! It was pretty impressive. The show started as mounted uniformed soldiers on horses appeared from the side of the palace at about 11:45. We watched them process and followed
them into the plaza between the Cathedral and the Palace. They trotted around in a circle for a while before entering the Palace courtyard. They performed some neat military style formations. Then a band came from around the corner (from whence the horses came) followed my men with rifels. They too continued into the courtyard. They mounted men, foot soldiers, mounted band and foot band played and marched for a while. An announcer then came on to tell us about the history of this unit and its importance ... this was a good tiny review for our exam later that day. The show continued until at about 11:35 two men switched places with two other men who had been just standing there the whole time (and the gaurd was changed). Then they all processed out again and the show was over. It was very impressive and I am glad we got to see it while we were here. 
After this we too the necessary metros and busses to get to school. There we ate lunch and studied, studied, studied until our 4 o´clock history exam. Lots of writing, my hand hurt after ... but if all goes well I think I came out ok in that class. Now I sit back under my favorite leopard print blanket, writing a blog as I study for another exam, Art this time. The only exceptional thing about this exam: It is the LAST ONE!Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Finals and Flurries
When I procrastinate you get a blog. So, I of course should be studying for my history exam. But I have decided that it is much more pressing that I tell about what I did yesterday. Namely: exams. Fair warning, this blog will not be very exciting but it includes a wintery surprise at the end so stay tuned :)
Tuesday (today) I slept in until 11 which I haven't done for about 2 weeks. I have been on and off studying for my Spanish History exam tomorrow. It's a lot of review but the test itself will be easy as long as I study ... which I am. Today it is cold and wet outside but I have so far spent the entire day inside Elena's warm house and often under her delightfully cosy leopard print blanket. And this is how I plan to spend the rest of the day. Cosily studying and relaxing. Tomorrow I have some plans that included a Solemn Changing of the Gaurd and nun-made cookies but those will come in another blog. Until then ... I leave you with a photo of Elena's first Christmas decoration. We are going to decorate next Monday (my last day here) but she put this out the other day. "Para la Navidad" she said as she flipped the switch to turn it on. I love that she put up a lava lamp for Christmas. She is such an awesome señora!!
Yesterday I made it to school despite the chilly cold. I printed papers, studied and visited Isabel all before my 10:00 exam. (Isabel loved her gift. "It's like Cañelaland!" She said ... cañela means cinnamon ... Thanks to Mom for bringing all the cinnamon candy when she came to visit me. Isabel is just elated!). I then took my lit exam, turned in my paper and by 11:30 was done with one class! I hate studying for finals. But I love the light, happy feeling I get after finishing an exam - the stresses for that class lift off and fly away!
After that it was my sack lunch and my language notes for my hour between exams to study. I was not looking forward to this exam. There was just so much to remember. But I studied and was feeling at least prepared when I went up the the 3rd floor to take it. And then I looked out the window and felt 100 times better ... I smiled and took it as a good omen as I watched the light fluffy snowflakes float down outside the window. Snow in Spain! It was so pretty and it put me in a much needed good mood for my exam. Fatima, my langua professor told us that snow is actually very rare in the city. It normally only snows a few times a year in Madrid and usually not until the colder months in January and February. So, I decided that the falling flakes were a lucky Christmas surprise from Spain. Thanks Spain!
After the test I went outside and was slightly dissappointed at the bare ground. I had been hoping for a white dusting but this snow was the kind that turns to rain about 2 inches before hitting the ground. Sad, but it was at least pretty to see it floating through the air.
After this I returned home. I took off my cold, wet clothes, changed int PJs and curled up under my blanket to listen to an episode of This American Life. If you have never lived somewhere where it snows ... you will not understand the wonderful feeling of going from cold wet snowy clothes to dry comfy warm ones ... it was heavenly. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and allowed myself a study-free night. (With over a day before my next exam).
Tuesday (today) I slept in until 11 which I haven't done for about 2 weeks. I have been on and off studying for my Spanish History exam tomorrow. It's a lot of review but the test itself will be easy as long as I study ... which I am. Today it is cold and wet outside but I have so far spent the entire day inside Elena's warm house and often under her delightfully cosy leopard print blanket. And this is how I plan to spend the rest of the day. Cosily studying and relaxing. Tomorrow I have some plans that included a Solemn Changing of the Gaurd and nun-made cookies but those will come in another blog. Until then ... I leave you with a photo of Elena's first Christmas decoration. We are going to decorate next Monday (my last day here) but she put this out the other day. "Para la Navidad" she said as she flipped the switch to turn it on. I love that she put up a lava lamp for Christmas. She is such an awesome señora!! Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Weekend Before FINALS (dum, dum, dummmmmmm)
So this is my last weekend before finals ... and it pretty much feels similar to my weekends before finals at Stetson. Namely, I really don't feel like studying, I can think of a million other cool things to do but I have a lot of work so I have to deal with it and do it. Same story different country. Go figure :) But this weekend I have managed to balance the non-productivity with getting my work done so yay!
Saturday, I woke up fairly early to go with Lindsay and John to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (the third in the "Museum trio" on the Paseo del Prado). The Prado and the Reina Sofia together house Madrid's art collection (and most of the Spanish artists major works). The Thyssen was actually a private collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Barons until they donated it to the city. (How nice of them). Giant portraits of Baron and Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza hang in the museum next to equally giant portraits of the king and queen. Needless to say, they are very well regocnized for donating this huge collection of art that now bears their name. It was a great opportunity to go though. We first saw a temporar exhibit (Impressionist Gardens) and I knew many names in this exhibit - from Manet and Monet to Van Gogh and Cézanne. It was pretty because they were all pictures of flowers, gardens or landscapes. Next we toured the 2.5 huge floors of the exhibit. These Barons had a wonderful collection of art ranging from Medieval art to the most modern art. Our journey through the museum was a journey in time (as it was organized from oldest to newest) and it was delightful. Big names I remember are Carravagio, Rubens, Degas, Rembrant, Georgia O'Keefe and Dalí. It was a nice morning activity and now I have seen the three big museums of Madrid!
After the Thyssen, we went to Starbucks for coffe (to-go) and did a little walking around the city before heading home. Once home, I ate lunch with Elena and then set about writing my art paper. It took a while. I couldn't find my focus and I distracted myself for a while with faceboook and the like ... as a result of my procrastinating you guys got yesterday's blogs :) Eventually though I did complete my paper (finally) and thus completed all of my papers for the semester. Yay! Now all I have left is to study. I went to bed a happy girl.
Sunday, I rose early again for another venture to the Rastro. Lindsay, Kristy and I were successful shoppers and each made out with a couple bag-fulls of purchases and lighter wallets. After our shopping we made our way to the cathedral for mass. Today is the first sunday of Advent and we wanted to go to church ... I was a little dissappointed in the lack of "Christmas-ness" about the cathedral. There were no decoraciones except for the advent wreath and there was no Christmas music. But it was a nice service. And I made friends with a Spanish lady in the pew beside me. She smiled at me when we sat down and said (in Spanish of course) "How nice to see young people here" ... I guess that we are below the average age for mass attendants. She started talking to me about where I was from and how long I would be in Spain. "Que pena" she said when she learned I was only here for a week more. She went on telling me that there is going to be a big youth rally in the Catholic church next August and that I should come back for it then ... she was very sweet. "Even the Pope is going to be here" she told me ... a small reminder that live will go on here in Spain even when I leave it. But I love these kinds of interactions because they embrace the essence of learning another language. I knew Spanish so we had this conversation. If I didn't know Spanish we wouldn't have spoken. It is as simple as that. You could certaintly get along in Spain without knowing Spanish ... but you miss out on the little things like that. Talking with a nice old lady at church. It was nice and I'm glad I could.
After church, I returned home for lunch with Elena and hit the books. With two exams (Literature and Language) tomorrow I had a lot of studying to do. So I studied for a while. Talked with my family (on their way back from Thanksgiving in St. Louis) ...studied a little more. And then, around 6, Elena confirmed that we had plans for the evening. I was excited because her brother and sister-in-law had offered to take Elena and I around Madrid in their car to look at the Christmas ligths all over the city (more than around Sol). Elena told me that they could do it tonight. I was excited. Then she said that they were planning on going to a store first and would we like to come. She described the store as a "store where there are lots of decorations. A furniture and decoracions store where young people go to buy furniture for their houses." ... I said that sounded fun and I needed a study break so at 8 they picked us up. Again, wierd to be in a car given that this is only my second car ride in Madrid (cabs don't count).
Now, the suspicion had crossed my mind at Elena's description so I wasn't at all surprised to see the bold, yellow font spelling out IKEA as we reached the "decorations and furniture store" that Elena described. Now, I realized as I entered the huge store that, though I have known of Ikea and seen products that others have bought at Ikea, I have never been inside an Ikea store. So my first Ikea experience was in Spain. Funny? Maybe. Fun? Yes. We walked around the entire store. Elena's brother and wife are looking for a new couch for their flat so we sat and tested couches. They looked at closets and wardrobes (also for their house). I especially enjoyed the little trees that decorated the corners of the model house rooms. Very festive of Ikea to put them there (with their price tags attached). We found the Christmas decoration part of the store (smaller than last year apparently, a result of the economic crisis they told me). Our Ikea journey ended with a Perro Caliente (Hot Dog) from Ikea Food. They had been going on and on about the wonderful flavor of these hot dogs and I will say that it was yummy. However, I was most excited about a simpler pleasure - crushed ice! I surpressed a small squeal of joy as I put my cup to the ice dispenser and saw the crumbled icy goodness that poured forth ... too much? I filled my cup twice and even took a full cup of ice out to the car in the cold weather. If you weren't aware, crushed ice is the world's best kind of ice.
After this, we drove about the city to see the lights. I had already seen those in Sol but I had heard from Elena and others that the rest of the town is too illuminated by lots of lights and I was excited to see them. However, as we drove around Elena and her brother lamented the general lack of lights around town. There were no big trees (like the one in Sol) in any of the other plazas where they usually are. We drove down Paseo del Prado and saw lit trees lining the road ... but Elena said these trees are usually also hung with lights that form a roof over the street. Plus, usually all the fountains are lit too, but all the fountains are bare this year. We finally found a part of the city alight - the neighborhood of Salamanca (one of Madrid's weathiest). There we found circle lights, square lights, and lights in the shape of chandaliers lining the streets. Elena, her brother and his wife were very disappointed at the lack of lights. They mused that it was most likely an economic decision as a result of the crisis to put up fewer lights. The royal palace had no lights and they told us that it is usually very decorated. But, if the city is cutting back and facing economic hard times, then it would look Marie Antoinett-ish if the royals covered their palace in lights. It makes sense, we all agreed but it was still sad to miss seeing the city that I love lit in all its glory.
Ok, a little more repaso before my tests ... A little nervous about them but trying my best and hope that I'll do alright. Be checking back in with you all soon. Besos <3
Saturday, I woke up fairly early to go with Lindsay and John to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (the third in the "Museum trio" on the Paseo del Prado). The Prado and the Reina Sofia together house Madrid's art collection (and most of the Spanish artists major works). The Thyssen was actually a private collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Barons until they donated it to the city. (How nice of them). Giant portraits of Baron and Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza hang in the museum next to equally giant portraits of the king and queen. Needless to say, they are very well regocnized for donating this huge collection of art that now bears their name. It was a great opportunity to go though. We first saw a temporar exhibit (Impressionist Gardens) and I knew many names in this exhibit - from Manet and Monet to Van Gogh and Cézanne. It was pretty because they were all pictures of flowers, gardens or landscapes. Next we toured the 2.5 huge floors of the exhibit. These Barons had a wonderful collection of art ranging from Medieval art to the most modern art. Our journey through the museum was a journey in time (as it was organized from oldest to newest) and it was delightful. Big names I remember are Carravagio, Rubens, Degas, Rembrant, Georgia O'Keefe and Dalí. It was a nice morning activity and now I have seen the three big museums of Madrid!
After the Thyssen, we went to Starbucks for coffe (to-go) and did a little walking around the city before heading home. Once home, I ate lunch with Elena and then set about writing my art paper. It took a while. I couldn't find my focus and I distracted myself for a while with faceboook and the like ... as a result of my procrastinating you guys got yesterday's blogs :) Eventually though I did complete my paper (finally) and thus completed all of my papers for the semester. Yay! Now all I have left is to study. I went to bed a happy girl.
Sunday, I rose early again for another venture to the Rastro. Lindsay, Kristy and I were successful shoppers and each made out with a couple bag-fulls of purchases and lighter wallets. After our shopping we made our way to the cathedral for mass. Today is the first sunday of Advent and we wanted to go to church ... I was a little dissappointed in the lack of "Christmas-ness" about the cathedral. There were no decoraciones except for the advent wreath and there was no Christmas music. But it was a nice service. And I made friends with a Spanish lady in the pew beside me. She smiled at me when we sat down and said (in Spanish of course) "How nice to see young people here" ... I guess that we are below the average age for mass attendants. She started talking to me about where I was from and how long I would be in Spain. "Que pena" she said when she learned I was only here for a week more. She went on telling me that there is going to be a big youth rally in the Catholic church next August and that I should come back for it then ... she was very sweet. "Even the Pope is going to be here" she told me ... a small reminder that live will go on here in Spain even when I leave it. But I love these kinds of interactions because they embrace the essence of learning another language. I knew Spanish so we had this conversation. If I didn't know Spanish we wouldn't have spoken. It is as simple as that. You could certaintly get along in Spain without knowing Spanish ... but you miss out on the little things like that. Talking with a nice old lady at church. It was nice and I'm glad I could.
After church, I returned home for lunch with Elena and hit the books. With two exams (Literature and Language) tomorrow I had a lot of studying to do. So I studied for a while. Talked with my family (on their way back from Thanksgiving in St. Louis) ...studied a little more. And then, around 6, Elena confirmed that we had plans for the evening. I was excited because her brother and sister-in-law had offered to take Elena and I around Madrid in their car to look at the Christmas ligths all over the city (more than around Sol). Elena told me that they could do it tonight. I was excited. Then she said that they were planning on going to a store first and would we like to come. She described the store as a "store where there are lots of decorations. A furniture and decoracions store where young people go to buy furniture for their houses." ... I said that sounded fun and I needed a study break so at 8 they picked us up. Again, wierd to be in a car given that this is only my second car ride in Madrid (cabs don't count).
Now, the suspicion had crossed my mind at Elena's description so I wasn't at all surprised to see the bold, yellow font spelling out IKEA as we reached the "decorations and furniture store" that Elena described. Now, I realized as I entered the huge store that, though I have known of Ikea and seen products that others have bought at Ikea, I have never been inside an Ikea store. So my first Ikea experience was in Spain. Funny? Maybe. Fun? Yes. We walked around the entire store. Elena's brother and wife are looking for a new couch for their flat so we sat and tested couches. They looked at closets and wardrobes (also for their house). I especially enjoyed the little trees that decorated the corners of the model house rooms. Very festive of Ikea to put them there (with their price tags attached). We found the Christmas decoration part of the store (smaller than last year apparently, a result of the economic crisis they told me). Our Ikea journey ended with a Perro Caliente (Hot Dog) from Ikea Food. They had been going on and on about the wonderful flavor of these hot dogs and I will say that it was yummy. However, I was most excited about a simpler pleasure - crushed ice! I surpressed a small squeal of joy as I put my cup to the ice dispenser and saw the crumbled icy goodness that poured forth ... too much? I filled my cup twice and even took a full cup of ice out to the car in the cold weather. If you weren't aware, crushed ice is the world's best kind of ice.
After this, we drove about the city to see the lights. I had already seen those in Sol but I had heard from Elena and others that the rest of the town is too illuminated by lots of lights and I was excited to see them. However, as we drove around Elena and her brother lamented the general lack of lights around town. There were no big trees (like the one in Sol) in any of the other plazas where they usually are. We drove down Paseo del Prado and saw lit trees lining the road ... but Elena said these trees are usually also hung with lights that form a roof over the street. Plus, usually all the fountains are lit too, but all the fountains are bare this year. We finally found a part of the city alight - the neighborhood of Salamanca (one of Madrid's weathiest). There we found circle lights, square lights, and lights in the shape of chandaliers lining the streets. Elena, her brother and his wife were very disappointed at the lack of lights. They mused that it was most likely an economic decision as a result of the crisis to put up fewer lights. The royal palace had no lights and they told us that it is usually very decorated. But, if the city is cutting back and facing economic hard times, then it would look Marie Antoinett-ish if the royals covered their palace in lights. It makes sense, we all agreed but it was still sad to miss seeing the city that I love lit in all its glory.
Ok, a little more repaso before my tests ... A little nervous about them but trying my best and hope that I'll do alright. Be checking back in with you all soon. Besos <3
Saturday, November 27, 2010
La luces de la Navidad
Friday, I had a productive work day. After finishing classes I only have exams to study for and papers to write. And Friday, I finished a good chunk of my paper-writing! My Lit paper (7 pages) and my History paper (11 pages) are completly finished and ready to print :) I am so happy to have things completed. Especially that history paper - which was a beast to write. I've only got one more paper (art) and some studying to complete now. So after a productive day of paper writing I met some of our group down in Sol because tonight was the first night that they would be illuminating the Christmas lights all over Madrid. We grabbed a coffe (Starbucks because only 
American chains give coffee 'to-go') and watched the lights light up at 6:00. There is a big tree in Sol (one of several throughout the city I think) and there are different lights down every street. In Plaza Mayro there are circles of lights hung across the entire plaza forming a magical kind of floating roof. And best of all there is a Christmas shopping village with lots of little shops selling Christmas things! There's even a carosal in the corner (that I was tempted to ride before realizing that the passengers were primairly 4-year-olds and learning that the price for one ride was 3 euroes) So I refrained from this childhood fun and simply relished in the beauty of the lights. After this we went to a cafe and shared in a round of drinks before dinner (tinto de verano for me ... a mixture of red wine and lemon Fanta, yum!). After this Lindsay and I shared a plate of mini sandwiches for dinner because we were staying out in the center to meet with Elia (my intercambio frient). With dinner I had the other common mix (half beer, half lemon fanta ... the spainards sure to love their lemon fanta!). After dinner we walked around and saw more lights. My favorite thing was probably the lights at the Corte Ingles (the big Spanish department store). One one side the building was completely covered with snowflakes that lit up with music 
as it played. AND ... on the other side there was a whole display of figurined mounted on the large awning. These figures were talking landmarks and children from around the world. The display is called "Cortylandia" and the characters talk to each other about Christmas traditions around the world in a cute way. It was adorable and we watched the display for a while ... until we had to go meet Elia. We met up with her and went walking around a bit to see the lights. Then we went to a warm cafe for a round of cañas (small beers) and some wonderful conversation. It was great to see her again on this our last weekend ... She goes on break on Friday so we're planning on hanging out a lot this weekend since it will be the last we see of each other for a while (until she comes to the US or I come back here ... though we are planning to skype!). It was a nice night of wonderful conversation. Lindsay and I were doing some semester reflection and realizing mow much we are going to miss Madrid (even though we are both really looking forward to going home to see our much-missed families and boyfriends). I love Madrid and I loved seeing her alight with the beautiful Christmas lights that shone about the city.Special thanks to Lindsay for these photos! (which I stole off her Facebook ... my photos will not be put up until my return due to the condition of my computer). Check out her blog and her version of these events if you'd like :)
Pavo Day! (and LAST Day of Classes!!)
Hello all. Things are finishing up here. For the first time I am beginning to realize that I am doing some things for the last time. This is the beginning of the end of my time here and it's a little sad. I can accept that though as long as I am getting the fullest experience out of those last things - which I am making sure I do. Also ... I will be blogging regularly for these last 10 days. (I realized that I am close to the 50 mark and I have a secret wish to make 50 blogs. We'll see.)
So Happy Thanksgiving from Spain! Here of course we didn't have a holiday and I didn't get to see the Macy's parade (sad face). But, Thursday we did get a bit of a treat. Thursday was the last day of classes! Woo hoo, no more classes this fall :) I realized that I'll only go to UC3M three more times (for final exams). It's wierd and kinda sad to think that I am leaving so soon. Thursday we made our final art visit (to see some sculptures in a public space under a bridge) and we talked about art in public spaces. Then Thursday night we did get to celebrate el Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) a little bit. We had a Thanksgiving/Farewell Dinner with all of the students and 
their Señoras. It was at Botín which is, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, the oldest restaurant in the entire world. They had pictures up on the walls that showed this restaurant throughout the years and it was pretty cool. We didn´t have the traditional Spanish food though ... instead they had prepared for us a Thanksgiving dinner complete with Pavo! (Turkey, potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, turkey soup and cranberry sauce). The verdict? Well It wasn't the Thanksgiving I usually have with my Mommy's food, Dad's carved turkey and my family all around. But, it was a nice dinner with my Spain family. (And I'll see my family SO SOON, so I wasn't too homesick on this day that celebrates family - but I do miss you guys!) It was a nice dinner. It was fun to see everyone's señoras after hearing about them all semester. We also got a neat surprise: Tunas! So here tuna isn't a fish. It's actuall a kind of band. They are groups of university students who dress as minstrels and sing in restaurants to earn money while at school. They were very entertaining! 
Altogether it was a lovely dinner though different from other Turkey Days. FELÍZ DÍA DE ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS A TODOS!
Ps. Funny thing I forgot to put in ... when we first sat down the Señora next to me and I started chatting away. I was friendly and didn't think much of it. Then, the Señora next to Elena looked at her and said slowly "¿Entiendes bien el Español?" (Do you understand Spanish well?). Elena was like "Yeah, I'm Spanish" ... then the Señora was like "Oh I thought you were the American student and she was the Spanish señora" (pointing at me). Then I found out that the Señor next to me thought the same thing ... I have chosen to take this as a compliment. Elena looks very young so it is easy to see how someone might have trouble seeing who's older (even though 12 years separate us). And I think it means I look Spanish whish is fun :) Ok ... that was all <3
So Happy Thanksgiving from Spain! Here of course we didn't have a holiday and I didn't get to see the Macy's parade (sad face). But, Thursday we did get a bit of a treat. Thursday was the last day of classes! Woo hoo, no more classes this fall :) I realized that I'll only go to UC3M three more times (for final exams). It's wierd and kinda sad to think that I am leaving so soon. Thursday we made our final art visit (to see some sculptures in a public space under a bridge) and we talked about art in public spaces. Then Thursday night we did get to celebrate el Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) a little bit. We had a Thanksgiving/Farewell Dinner with all of the students and 
their Señoras. It was at Botín which is, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, the oldest restaurant in the entire world. They had pictures up on the walls that showed this restaurant throughout the years and it was pretty cool. We didn´t have the traditional Spanish food though ... instead they had prepared for us a Thanksgiving dinner complete with Pavo! (Turkey, potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, turkey soup and cranberry sauce). The verdict? Well It wasn't the Thanksgiving I usually have with my Mommy's food, Dad's carved turkey and my family all around. But, it was a nice dinner with my Spain family. (And I'll see my family SO SOON, so I wasn't too homesick on this day that celebrates family - but I do miss you guys!) It was a nice dinner. It was fun to see everyone's señoras after hearing about them all semester. We also got a neat surprise: Tunas! So here tuna isn't a fish. It's actuall a kind of band. They are groups of university students who dress as minstrels and sing in restaurants to earn money while at school. They were very entertaining! Altogether it was a lovely dinner though different from other Turkey Days. FELÍZ DÍA DE ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS A TODOS!
Ps. Funny thing I forgot to put in ... when we first sat down the Señora next to me and I started chatting away. I was friendly and didn't think much of it. Then, the Señora next to Elena looked at her and said slowly "¿Entiendes bien el Español?" (Do you understand Spanish well?). Elena was like "Yeah, I'm Spanish" ... then the Señora was like "Oh I thought you were the American student and she was the Spanish señora" (pointing at me). Then I found out that the Señor next to me thought the same thing ... I have chosen to take this as a compliment. Elena looks very young so it is easy to see how someone might have trouble seeing who's older (even though 12 years separate us). And I think it means I look Spanish whish is fun :) Ok ... that was all <3
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Walking in the rain in Cordoba (& other reflections)
Hello all! So I have returned to my blog and I will be authoring it now until I leave. (Sadly there will be no more guest appearances so you're stuck with just me). This past Saturday I went to Cordoba with my program. I will tell you about that in one second ... first lets take a moment to ponder the calendar shall we? Today is Tuesday. Two more days of classes left (Wed, Thurs). Two more weekends in Spain. Finals are next week (Mon-Thurs). In a week I will have taken 2 finals and be two tests away from finishing my academic term here in Madrid. In 2 weeks - ready for this - I will be in the airport: In exactly 2 weeks, I will be sitting in the Madrid airport, a place I have visited often and come to know well, awaiting the boarding call for my flight home. Oh my! But in this short two weeks I have a lot planned. The short list: 2 more essays, 4 final exams, city-wide Christmas lights illumination, Thessyn Museum, Nun candies, El Rastro , Lope de Vega house, a night on the town with Elia, Kaleb's visit, Chrsitmas decorating with Elena! And I am sure I have left out things that I still want to do. Let's just say I am busy. Ok, enough with the future. Let's go back to this past weekend ...
So Thursday night, I was super productive and (drum roll please) I completed my 6.5 page Lit essay in a total of 4.5 hours. Yay for productivity. Friday, I also got headway research done on history (my next hurdle) so I was feeling pretty good by Saturday when we left on the train for Cordoba. Cordoba is in Southern Spain (near Granada and Seville) and it also has evidince of a tri-religion past (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim). We visited the Cathedral of Corodba (that used to be a mosque ans still looks very much like a mosque). It was beautiful with rows and rows of double arched columns: Fun fact, most of the columns are different because lots 
of them were recycled from Roman ruins. The roman influence is evident too in the (reconstructed) roman bridge that we walked on that still rests on it's somewhat original foundations accross the river. The mosque was every bit as impressive as I had been hoping. It is weird to think of it as a cathedral though. It literally looks like a mosque with a high alter/chior plopped down in the middle. There is even currently a squabble going on. Muslims in Cordoba want the right to go here to pray. But the bishop won't have that because the building is Cordoba's cathedral now. Also the bishop gets really irritated when people refer to it as the mosque of cordoba (Misquita de Cordoba), which nearly everyone does. It is techincally the Mosque/Cathedral of Cordoba. But the bishop is working his hardest to get the word mosque removed completely and have everyone refer to it as the only the Cathedral of Cordoba. It is said that Spain throughout much of it's history has been a land with the rich history of three religions. However, their co-existance is rich. But, as in the past, it is not always peaceful.
After seeing the mosque, we took a walk. It was drizzly all day so this walk was damp and chilly, but still pretty. I tried my hardest to focus on the pretty. We saw several of these hanging gardens that Cordoba is famous for. They were beautiful, made by hanging potted plants on the wall. They filled the patios with life and I loved them. Cordoba actually has a competition every year and people come from all around the world to see these hanging gardens. So pretty! After our walk, Kristine, Molly, Lindsay and I made our way to a tea room for lunch. Isabel negotiated with the owner and arranged it so that we could eat our sack lunches in the warm tea room if we bought tea. It was lovely. We sat in the low couches and tables and warmed up from the cold. We had several yummy tea flavors (including ttwo herbal teas, chai tea, vanilla and (my favorite) cinnamon!). We even got an order of hummus - which I love dearly and have greatly missed during my time here! After lunch, we went to explore the third religious influence of Spain, the Jewish culture. We went to the Jewish neighborhood and went to an old house that is now a museum. My favorite part of this was the mini-concert at the end. A kid studying traditional Jewish violin played some songs (a la Fiddler on the Roof) for us and it was hauntingly beautiful. Finally, we headed home for a final Spanish train ride.
On Sunday, I did some other homework and did my best to be producive. It was difficult because all day I wasn't thinking about my work. I was thinking about that night. Because we had reserved tickets ... for HARRY POTTER 7!! Here: Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte. We did see it in English so try not to judge me too harshly. Mainly, I wanted to see it in English first and I really don't like dubbed films no matter the language. Anyway, I think it has been possibly my favorite film so far. I have been a fan of the Yates influence in the seires and hope that he is able to round out the final film as well as he did this first half. However, I missed seeing this film with my usual midnight-premiere buddies and am glad that the series will not end until the summer when I am back home with you guys. :)
So Thursday night, I was super productive and (drum roll please) I completed my 6.5 page Lit essay in a total of 4.5 hours. Yay for productivity. Friday, I also got headway research done on history (my next hurdle) so I was feeling pretty good by Saturday when we left on the train for Cordoba. Cordoba is in Southern Spain (near Granada and Seville) and it also has evidince of a tri-religion past (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim). We visited the Cathedral of Corodba (that used to be a mosque ans still looks very much like a mosque). It was beautiful with rows and rows of double arched columns: Fun fact, most of the columns are different because lots 
of them were recycled from Roman ruins. The roman influence is evident too in the (reconstructed) roman bridge that we walked on that still rests on it's somewhat original foundations accross the river. The mosque was every bit as impressive as I had been hoping. It is weird to think of it as a cathedral though. It literally looks like a mosque with a high alter/chior plopped down in the middle. There is even currently a squabble going on. Muslims in Cordoba want the right to go here to pray. But the bishop won't have that because the building is Cordoba's cathedral now. Also the bishop gets really irritated when people refer to it as the mosque of cordoba (Misquita de Cordoba), which nearly everyone does. It is techincally the Mosque/Cathedral of Cordoba. But the bishop is working his hardest to get the word mosque removed completely and have everyone refer to it as the only the Cathedral of Cordoba. It is said that Spain throughout much of it's history has been a land with the rich history of three religions. However, their co-existance is rich. But, as in the past, it is not always peaceful.
After seeing the mosque, we took a walk. It was drizzly all day so this walk was damp and chilly, but still pretty. I tried my hardest to focus on the pretty. We saw several of these hanging gardens that Cordoba is famous for. They were beautiful, made by hanging potted plants on the wall. They filled the patios with life and I loved them. Cordoba actually has a competition every year and people come from all around the world to see these hanging gardens. So pretty! After our walk, Kristine, Molly, Lindsay and I made our way to a tea room for lunch. Isabel negotiated with the owner and arranged it so that we could eat our sack lunches in the warm tea room if we bought tea. It was lovely. We sat in the low couches and tables and warmed up from the cold. We had several yummy tea flavors (including ttwo herbal teas, chai tea, vanilla and (my favorite) cinnamon!). We even got an order of hummus - which I love dearly and have greatly missed during my time here! After lunch, we went to explore the third religious influence of Spain, the Jewish culture. We went to the Jewish neighborhood and went to an old house that is now a museum. My favorite part of this was the mini-concert at the end. A kid studying traditional Jewish violin played some songs (a la Fiddler on the Roof) for us and it was hauntingly beautiful. Finally, we headed home for a final Spanish train ride.
On Sunday, I did some other homework and did my best to be producive. It was difficult because all day I wasn't thinking about my work. I was thinking about that night. Because we had reserved tickets ... for HARRY POTTER 7!! Here: Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte. We did see it in English so try not to judge me too harshly. Mainly, I wanted to see it in English first and I really don't like dubbed films no matter the language. Anyway, I think it has been possibly my favorite film so far. I have been a fan of the Yates influence in the seires and hope that he is able to round out the final film as well as he did this first half. However, I missed seeing this film with my usual midnight-premiere buddies and am glad that the series will not end until the summer when I am back home with you guys. :)
So, thus rounds out my weekend. Yesterday marked my final busy Monday (my day with 3 classes streatching from 9:30 am - 7:00 pm). Today I am on campus with the intention of writing a history paper (a daunting 11 pages) and then Wednesday and Thursday I will be finishing class. I'll probably be back later this week to talk about celebrating Turkey Day outside of the good ole USA. Until then, I miss you all lots and lots. I feel proud that I've kept this up and promise to end the year strong and fill you in on every detail (you know me) of my last two weeks. Chao for now. <3>
Friday, November 19, 2010
Spain Again & Saying Goodbye
Monday, while Suzanne had classes, I struck out on my own and traveled by bus to the city of Toledo. Perched atop a tall hill (with the bus station alllll the way at the bottom) it was a great day trip. I saw a beautiful cathedral and a museum. Not to mention more swords and knives than I have ever seen in my life. Mostly though I wandered the narrow streets and explored, popping in and out of shops and stopping for coffee. I made my way back to Madrid and finished up the last of my souvenir
shopping, including getting my very own pooping nativity figurine (see previous post). For some reason there were a lot more living statue people out on Monday. My favorite was when I saw a guy dressed as Charlie Chaplin talking to a fat man in a Spider Man costume. I tried to get a picture but they parted ways before I could get one. When I met back up with Suzanne we went to a bar and had a final dinner of tapas and sangria. It was a great end to a great trip. After dinner it was back to Elena’s to finish packing for the return.On Tuesday we headed out for the airport laden down with many a souvenir. My bag was just a taaad overweight when I got there. If anyone asks, three bottles of wine weighs about 8 pounds. And with a sad goodbye and reassurances that it wouldn’t be too much longer till we saw each other again, Suzanne and I parted ways. And that brings us to the present.
It was a funderful trip and I’m glad I got to go. Arrivederci amici.
-Patrick, signing off
Milano, an Italian Weekend
Finally we boarded our plane and set out for Milan. We arrived in Italy and worked our way to the hotel, passing the Sforza Castle and Arch of 
Peace. We decided to skip trying to get tickets to La Scala in exchange for a nap. Two operas in one week, we decided, would be a bit much. After our nap we struck out for the city. We walked through parco sempione and made our way to the Duomo for our first look at the soaring cathedral. We walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It is named after the first king of unified Italy and is the precursor to the modern shopping mall. The Galleria is basically two corridors that intersect in the middle and are covered by a roof of arching glass and iron. Inside are a number of famous stores and restaurants. We passed through and on the other side was the world famous La Scala opera house. I must say that it is a rather
unassuming building from the outside. The outside only serves to hide the lavishness that greeted us on the inside. The theatre was beautiful, even if the boxes didn’t exactly offer the best of views. We then proceeded to tour the theatre museum. After our tour we went to one of the restaurants in the Galleria and had our first Italian meal (P- Spaghetti Carbonara, S- Ravioli) followed by that Italian frozen nectar of the gods –Gelato. Then it was back to the hotel to rest.
We woke up on Saturday and got cappuccinos at a local café before heading into the Sforza Castle. The castle houses a number of museums and we saw most of them: Museum of Ancient Art, Museum of Antique Furniture, Museum of Applied Arts, Museum of Instruments. The coolest thing was at the end of the Ancient Art museum, the Rondanini Pieta. This is the last work of Michelangelo and remains unfinished. You can see on the
sculpture where he had started to make changes to the design including an arm that no longer belongs to any of the figures. There were two more museums but we were hungry and set out for a delicious lunch of some authentic Italian pizza. We stopped in the Duomo for the end of an organ concert and to look around. While it was dark and cloudy outside it was much darker in the church. The outside stone is very bright but inside it is much greyer. This, combined with the dark stained glass, made for a somewhat somber feeling church.
Sunday was a bit rainy and so we slept in and then made our way down to the cathedral for mass. Afterwards we climbed to the top of the cathedral. This was extremely cool as you get to be up close to all the statuary and embellishments on the roof that are hard to appreciate from the ground. Possibly my favorite thing about the trip to the roof was the trip back down. While 
walking along the roof you have to pass through a number of archways. We were following a girl with a big blue umbrella. When she came to the first arch she tried to simply walk through with her umbrella open over her shoulder. It didn’t fit however and she got a little stuck, freed herself, and continued on. Then she did it again at the next doorway not 30 feet away. Then she did it AGAIN!!!!! I don’t know why she couldn’t learn that the arches were too narrow. I got a picture on the third time and so we missed her going through the fourth arch but we know by the fifth she had learned her lesson. We went to our last lunch in the Galleria and listened to the soccer fans chanting. It was a big game between AC Milan and Internazionale (both Milanese teams.) Lunch was a little slow and so as soon as it was over we started running to make sure we made our plane. Suffice it to say that it was a close call. A really close call. But we made it and that’s what counts. And what’s an adventure without a little panic. We returned to Elena’s and had a delicious homemade meal. -Patrick
Guest blogger #2: Madrid :)
Buon giorno tutti! This is Suzanne’s second guest blogger, Patrick, recently returned from a great trip. It’s strange to think that I just spent a week over four thousand miles away and am now back home in my living room. At any rate, here is an accounting of my adventures. Where appropriate, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
I arrived in Madrid on Tuesday morning. This worked out great since Suzanne didn’t have any classes on Tuesday and was able to meet me at the airport and guide me into the city. We took the train into town and checked into my hostel to drop off my suitcase. I stayed at the Way Hostel which was great because it was right in the middle of town and within walking distance of everything. Suzanne then took me on a whirlwind orientation tour of Madrid. We basically walked from one end of the city to the other catching glimpses of Plaza Mayor, Sol, The Cathedral, The Palace, Plaza de Espana, The Opera House, and Temple De Debod. Tuesday was also the celebration of the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin of La Almudena. On the 9th of November, St. Almudena is 
remembered. Her image was supposedly brought to Spain by the Apostle Santiago (St. James) and hidden away inside a city wall when the Moors invaded in year 783. Two centuries later, the legend goes, the wall fell away exposing the same lit candles she had been hidden with. This made our tour even more interesting as there were 
lots of worshipers in traditional clothes making their way to the cathedral, there was a mass being said in Plaza Mayor, and later we saw some traditional dancing in the plaza. Our tour also took us to the old royal gardens, now a sprawling public park. The park was great with the changing leaves, Crystal Palace, and (perhaps my favorite part) a grassy spot to take a nap. We ended the night with dinner and a flamenco show. The flamenco was just as great as Suzanne’s previous posts have indicated. Finally worn out by an intense day I headed back to my hostel.
Wednesday began with a trip to a bakery in Sol where Suzanne and I had a delicious breakfast
with pastries and café con leche. I actually returned to this bakery every morning I could. We then set off for the cathedral. We went through the cathedral museum, climbed to the roof for a spectacular view of the city, and ended with a walk through in inside. I really liked this cathedral for how bright it was inside. The stone is white and the stained glass is colorful without being heavily saturated, letting in lots of natural sunlight. Right when we came out of the cathedral, Suzanne and I noticed a 
crowd forming in front of the palace and so we headed over. The palace does a ceremonial changing of the guard on Wednesdays and so we got to watch the soldiers march in formation as well as a few horses. After this, Suzanne left me to my own devices and headed off to class. I headed back to the Egyptian temple for a tour in the daylight. Then it was off to the royal palace. Oddly enough I think one of my favorite parts about touring the palace was the grand staircase right at the beginning. You can’t walk up a staircase like that and not feel cool. After my tour of the palace and the armory and the pharmacy I walked to the back of the cathedral and toured the crypt which was cool. Exhausted I headed back to my hostel. On the way I passed the convent where the 
cloistered nuns sell their sweets. Suzanne and I had tried to get some the day before but they were out by the time we got there. On a whim I decided to stop and try my luck. I buzzed the door and new that I had to say “Dulces” to let them know I wanted candy. This I did and was buzzed in. I made my way to the window where you order via a lazy susan with dividers so that you can’t see the nun on the other side. Unfortunately she didn’t speak any English and my translator was not with me. I was a bit at a loss until the lazy susan started to spin and there was suddenly a box of cookies in front of me. Not knowing what else to do I took the cookies and put some money down and spun the susan back around and waited for some change. Nuns give the worst change! I returned for more cookies on another day and both times I got handfuls of coins as my change. That evening Suzanne and I went to the opera house for a performance of “The Turn of the Screw” and churros con chocolate. The opera was good with some very interesting staging and set pieces and the churros were every bit as delicious as I had hoped.
Thursday was my big museum day. I started out with breakfast at the aforementioned bakery and then headed down to the Prado. The museum was really nice and I was able to get through almost all of the rooms and see the highlights before I had to meet Suzanne at my second museum, Renia Sofia. We had some lunch and then Suzanne’s art teacher was nice enough to get me a free student ticket to the museum. I followed the class around looking at Picasso and Dali. After a full day of museums we headed to the San Miguel market. San Miguel used to be a covered market. The original cover structure still stands but it is now glassed in and is filled with gourmet food and wine vendors. We hopped from stall to stall sampling bits of food and glasses of wine. After this delicious meal we headed to Elena’s to pack for our trip to Milan! Because we had such an early flight we decided to spend the night in the airport. This was terrible. Marble is a very uncomfortable surface to sleep on. The best part of the stay at the airport was eavesdropping on a guy’s phone conversation. Here is the transcript: “Mama..mama..no I…mam..I told th..no….mama…ma…….whatever you want mama.”
-Patrick
I arrived in Madrid on Tuesday morning. This worked out great since Suzanne didn’t have any classes on Tuesday and was able to meet me at the airport and guide me into the city. We took the train into town and checked into my hostel to drop off my suitcase. I stayed at the Way Hostel which was great because it was right in the middle of town and within walking distance of everything. Suzanne then took me on a whirlwind orientation tour of Madrid. We basically walked from one end of the city to the other catching glimpses of Plaza Mayor, Sol, The Cathedral, The Palace, Plaza de Espana, The Opera House, and Temple De Debod. Tuesday was also the celebration of the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin of La Almudena. On the 9th of November, St. Almudena is 
remembered. Her image was supposedly brought to Spain by the Apostle Santiago (St. James) and hidden away inside a city wall when the Moors invaded in year 783. Two centuries later, the legend goes, the wall fell away exposing the same lit candles she had been hidden with. This made our tour even more interesting as there were 
lots of worshipers in traditional clothes making their way to the cathedral, there was a mass being said in Plaza Mayor, and later we saw some traditional dancing in the plaza. Our tour also took us to the old royal gardens, now a sprawling public park. The park was great with the changing leaves, Crystal Palace, and (perhaps my favorite part) a grassy spot to take a nap. We ended the night with dinner and a flamenco show. The flamenco was just as great as Suzanne’s previous posts have indicated. Finally worn out by an intense day I headed back to my hostel.Wednesday began with a trip to a bakery in Sol where Suzanne and I had a delicious breakfast
with pastries and café con leche. I actually returned to this bakery every morning I could. We then set off for the cathedral. We went through the cathedral museum, climbed to the roof for a spectacular view of the city, and ended with a walk through in inside. I really liked this cathedral for how bright it was inside. The stone is white and the stained glass is colorful without being heavily saturated, letting in lots of natural sunlight. Right when we came out of the cathedral, Suzanne and I noticed a 
crowd forming in front of the palace and so we headed over. The palace does a ceremonial changing of the guard on Wednesdays and so we got to watch the soldiers march in formation as well as a few horses. After this, Suzanne left me to my own devices and headed off to class. I headed back to the Egyptian temple for a tour in the daylight. Then it was off to the royal palace. Oddly enough I think one of my favorite parts about touring the palace was the grand staircase right at the beginning. You can’t walk up a staircase like that and not feel cool. After my tour of the palace and the armory and the pharmacy I walked to the back of the cathedral and toured the crypt which was cool. Exhausted I headed back to my hostel. On the way I passed the convent where the 
cloistered nuns sell their sweets. Suzanne and I had tried to get some the day before but they were out by the time we got there. On a whim I decided to stop and try my luck. I buzzed the door and new that I had to say “Dulces” to let them know I wanted candy. This I did and was buzzed in. I made my way to the window where you order via a lazy susan with dividers so that you can’t see the nun on the other side. Unfortunately she didn’t speak any English and my translator was not with me. I was a bit at a loss until the lazy susan started to spin and there was suddenly a box of cookies in front of me. Not knowing what else to do I took the cookies and put some money down and spun the susan back around and waited for some change. Nuns give the worst change! I returned for more cookies on another day and both times I got handfuls of coins as my change. That evening Suzanne and I went to the opera house for a performance of “The Turn of the Screw” and churros con chocolate. The opera was good with some very interesting staging and set pieces and the churros were every bit as delicious as I had hoped. 
Thursday was my big museum day. I started out with breakfast at the aforementioned bakery and then headed down to the Prado. The museum was really nice and I was able to get through almost all of the rooms and see the highlights before I had to meet Suzanne at my second museum, Renia Sofia. We had some lunch and then Suzanne’s art teacher was nice enough to get me a free student ticket to the museum. I followed the class around looking at Picasso and Dali. After a full day of museums we headed to the San Miguel market. San Miguel used to be a covered market. The original cover structure still stands but it is now glassed in and is filled with gourmet food and wine vendors. We hopped from stall to stall sampling bits of food and glasses of wine. After this delicious meal we headed to Elena’s to pack for our trip to Milan! Because we had such an early flight we decided to spend the night in the airport. This was terrible. Marble is a very uncomfortable surface to sleep on. The best part of the stay at the airport was eavesdropping on a guy’s phone conversation. Here is the transcript: “Mama..mama..no I…mam..I told th..no….mama…ma…….whatever you want mama.”-Patrick
Monday, November 15, 2010
Bad News Blogs
So ... I´ve got good news and bad news. Let´s do the good news first. I had a wonderful weekend in Lisbon last week and Milan this weekend. Great travels, lots to share with you ...
But now sharing will be a little slower in coming. Yesterday, my computer (that has served me faithfully with no problems for 3 years) died. At least not it won´t turn on beyond a blue screen. I could take it into a computer store and try to work through a language barrier (I know little Spanish about couputers). But, I have info on that computer that I don´t want to risk so I will probably not take it anywhere except an apple store when I get back to the states.
This means: 3 weeks of word-processing and working completely on campus. As I have three papers (24 pages) to write for the final week I am a little distressed. However, I can only manage my time and hope to finish it all. However, my stress levels are rising.
Also, I am going to probably feel most homesick these last three weeks as my main comunication (Skype) has essentially died as well. I can only skype in wireless with my phone now, so I will seek out wireless that I can use of campus if possible. Why couldn´t this problem have waited three weeks??? I miss you all terribly and feel that this computer crash has horrible timing. I´d appreciate any words of encouragement that you have to offer me.
So, I will try to update you on my travels as much as I can ... but no guarantees. Signing off. S
But now sharing will be a little slower in coming. Yesterday, my computer (that has served me faithfully with no problems for 3 years) died. At least not it won´t turn on beyond a blue screen. I could take it into a computer store and try to work through a language barrier (I know little Spanish about couputers). But, I have info on that computer that I don´t want to risk so I will probably not take it anywhere except an apple store when I get back to the states.
This means: 3 weeks of word-processing and working completely on campus. As I have three papers (24 pages) to write for the final week I am a little distressed. However, I can only manage my time and hope to finish it all. However, my stress levels are rising.
Also, I am going to probably feel most homesick these last three weeks as my main comunication (Skype) has essentially died as well. I can only skype in wireless with my phone now, so I will seek out wireless that I can use of campus if possible. Why couldn´t this problem have waited three weeks??? I miss you all terribly and feel that this computer crash has horrible timing. I´d appreciate any words of encouragement that you have to offer me.
So, I will try to update you on my travels as much as I can ... but no guarantees. Signing off. S
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Lisbon: Trying to speak Portuguese in a city by the sea
It amazes me that less than a week after returning to Madrid from Paris, I was lucky enough to be travelling again the next weekend: This time to Portugal! Another country, another adventure. I was very excited to be exploring Spain’s neighbour on the Iberian Peninsula. Our flight to Lisbon left Friday afternoon, and with delays/time changes that put our arrival in Lisbon during late afternoon. We checked into the hotel and then set out – trying to make it to a museum before it closed at 5:30. We did not make it to the museum. However, we did enjoy a pleasant walk along the harbour and figured out how to use the (shiny, new) Lisbon metro. We walked through some of the city at night, orienting ourselves and looking for dinner. We stumbled upon the capitol building which was prettily lit up at night. I was also surprised to find the city already hung with the beginnings of Christmas lights (keep in mind that is only just November). However, I love Christmas, and this year Christmas also means seeing my much missed family and friends … so these lights cheered me more than annoyed me by their earliness. We walked around for a while but all the restaurants we found were closed or not yet open (it was only 7 and still early for dinner). However, we were starving and finally found a place that boasted “Traditional Portuguese Cuisine”. We glanced and the menu and it looked passable so we went in … it was, well, not as we expected. We were seated and realized that we were the only ones in the restaurant. Now, I am not trying to stereotype by any means, but after meeting our wait staff, we realized that we were in an Indian Portuguese restaurant. Now I love Indian food with a passion … but Indian Portuguese food turned out to be, well, not that good. My tangerine orange soup veggie soup was ok, but the fried calamari was reminiscent of rubber and John’s salmon looked like it’d been too long out of the water. The chocolate mousse we ate for dessert was at least ok. And we were really hungry so any nourishment was good. But, I felt like we didn’t fully experience Portuguese cuisine after our first day. We returned to our hotel and slept well though that night after all the walking we did.
Day two, we got up early with lofty sightseeing goals. We began out day at the Monasterio de los Jerónimos. Near the monestary, we first grabbed breakfast. Ann Marie (a friend from the Morocco trip) had spent the summer in Portugal and recommended Pasteles de Belem – a kind of Portuguese pastry. I am never one to turn down a pastery recommendation so we stopped into the Pasteles de Belem Bakery (the one most famous for these, although we saw them everywhere) and got half a dozen to split. Oh MY! They were so good. They had a flak crust with a sweet warm cream cheesy interior. Plus, you got packets of sugar and cimmamon to sprinkle the with! Best breakfast ever!
So after this we made it to the monestary itself. It was really a beautiful site to visit. The cloister had all these carved columns - every one unique. The spires and arches were all intricately carved and designed. Then, in the sanctuary we got to see the buriel site of the fames Vasco de Gama. We heard a lot about this Portuguese explorer who made it to India. I think he is the biggest Portuguese name on the history books so seeing his tomb was a pretty big deal. Plus the sanctuary was also really pretty - with carved wooden columns and beautiful stained glass windows. As a side note - our decision to come here early was a good one because the monestary was closing at 1 that day for a "special event."
Next stop, the bay near the monestary to see the other 2 big monuments in Lisbon: the Discoverer´s monument and the Belem tower. The monument again emphasized Portugal in it´s golden time of discovery. The tower was an old prison. Now, it´s another thing to climb. And, while in Europe, climb towers! So we did. Again, both are beautifully carved out of this white stone (marble?) that was so pretty and intricate. We also got great views of the harbor and the bridge. There were TONS of sailboats on the water (Thought of you Daddy). They even had baby sailboats that you could rent 
and I think they were easy to control/sail with little to no experience. I overheard a guy telling his friends that he used one of those when he learned to sail. Anyway, next out touring took us to the Bernardo Modern Art museum. It was free and weird. The exhibits were all super modern (even more than what I'd seen in Reina Sofia). We saw a neat exhibit about Andy Warhol's dabbeling in television which was cool. I didn't know he did tv. The other stuff was strange and sometimes wildly weird, but it
was neat. Next we headed to the Portuguese ancient art museum, which really just meant older art (This was the one we tried to make it to the first day before it closed). It was awesome with lots of Portuguese/European painting, Japanese art, and Decorative arts. We saw another Bosch there. He his paintings both fascinate me and creep me out. They remind me of Where´s Waldo paintings only I'd Waldo probably wouldn't want to hand out in the with the fiendish characters in Bosch's hellish paintings. Still - neat to see. Also, I felt proud of my Spanish art knowledge as I recognized the styles of Murillio, Jose de Ribera and Zuberan before reading the plaques.
Finally, with time to spare in our day, we headed over to the Lisbon Aquarium - one of the largestin Europe. It was neat. The aquarium is located in a big cube building suspended over the 
water of the bay. You have to cross a footbridge over the bay to enter it. We saw tons of cool fishes. In the center of the cube is one big tank that you constantly circle as you walk down around the museum and 
see the other tanks. Among the highlights: Penguins (including a Surf's Up Robin Williams Penguin, a gigantic octopus, baracuda, sharks, rays, and a sunfish). If you don't know what a sunfish looks like, google it. It is a really strange fish - and the Lisbon aquarium is one of the few aquariums to keep one. It was a great end to a super full day! I love aquariums and this was only John's second one!
For our final day in Lisbon, we had the morning to explore before our later afternoon flight. We decided to explore the castel on the hill - Sant George's Castle. It took us a Long climp up and up and up until we finally reached the castel. (The climb felt longer because we had our backpacks having checked out of the hotel already). It was pretty cool. The castel was build long ago (like more fortresses in Eurpoe) and was eventually taken over by the Portuguese kings as Portugal became a country. Also, the views from castels are always great because they are so high (for defensive purposes) so we got some great shots of the rooftops of Lisbon. After seeing the castel we took a cab back to the airport and flew back to Madrid (on my first non-delayed flight since being in Europe!) It was a wonderful weekend ;)
Day two, we got up early with lofty sightseeing goals. We began out day at the Monasterio de los Jerónimos. Near the monestary, we first grabbed breakfast. Ann Marie (a friend from the Morocco trip) had spent the summer in Portugal and recommended Pasteles de Belem – a kind of Portuguese pastry. I am never one to turn down a pastery recommendation so we stopped into the Pasteles de Belem Bakery (the one most famous for these, although we saw them everywhere) and got half a dozen to split. Oh MY! They were so good. They had a flak crust with a sweet warm cream cheesy interior. Plus, you got packets of sugar and cimmamon to sprinkle the with! Best breakfast ever!
So after this we made it to the monestary itself. It was really a beautiful site to visit. The cloister had all these carved columns - every one unique. The spires and arches were all intricately carved and designed. Then, in the sanctuary we got to see the buriel site of the fames Vasco de Gama. We heard a lot about this Portuguese explorer who made it to India. I think he is the biggest Portuguese name on the history books so seeing his tomb was a pretty big deal. Plus the sanctuary was also really pretty - with carved wooden columns and beautiful stained glass windows. As a side note - our decision to come here early was a good one because the monestary was closing at 1 that day for a "special event."
Next stop, the bay near the monestary to see the other 2 big monuments in Lisbon: the Discoverer´s monument and the Belem tower. The monument again emphasized Portugal in it´s golden time of discovery. The tower was an old prison. Now, it´s another thing to climb. And, while in Europe, climb towers! So we did. Again, both are beautifully carved out of this white stone (marble?) that was so pretty and intricate. We also got great views of the harbor and the bridge. There were TONS of sailboats on the water (Thought of you Daddy). They even had baby sailboats that you could rent and I think they were easy to control/sail with little to no experience. I overheard a guy telling his friends that he used one of those when he learned to sail. Anyway, next out touring took us to the Bernardo Modern Art museum. It was free and weird. The exhibits were all super modern (even more than what I'd seen in Reina Sofia). We saw a neat exhibit about Andy Warhol's dabbeling in television which was cool. I didn't know he did tv. The other stuff was strange and sometimes wildly weird, but it
was neat. Next we headed to the Portuguese ancient art museum, which really just meant older art (This was the one we tried to make it to the first day before it closed). It was awesome with lots of Portuguese/European painting, Japanese art, and Decorative arts. We saw another Bosch there. He his paintings both fascinate me and creep me out. They remind me of Where´s Waldo paintings only I'd Waldo probably wouldn't want to hand out in the with the fiendish characters in Bosch's hellish paintings. Still - neat to see. Also, I felt proud of my Spanish art knowledge as I recognized the styles of Murillio, Jose de Ribera and Zuberan before reading the plaques.
Finally, with time to spare in our day, we headed over to the Lisbon Aquarium - one of the largestin Europe. It was neat. The aquarium is located in a big cube building suspended over the water of the bay. You have to cross a footbridge over the bay to enter it. We saw tons of cool fishes. In the center of the cube is one big tank that you constantly circle as you walk down around the museum and see the other tanks. Among the highlights: Penguins (including a Surf's Up Robin Williams Penguin, a gigantic octopus, baracuda, sharks, rays, and a sunfish). If you don't know what a sunfish looks like, google it. It is a really strange fish - and the Lisbon aquarium is one of the few aquariums to keep one. It was a great end to a super full day! I love aquariums and this was only John's second one!
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