Random Notes

April 30, 2008 at 8:11 am (Culture/Civilization/History, Daily Occurences, Travel)
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Last Saturday Kim and I went out to some tapas bars for drinks.  They gave us some delicious tuna like potato salad with mini forks to eat it.  And then they gave us potato chips with raw fish on top.

I’m really enjoying my flamenco dance class.  We’re currently learning a Rumba (I believe that’s what it’s called) and I’m actually picking up on it.  Less tripping over my feet and I can actually stomp on the beat and clap off the beat at the same time.  Impressive I know.  With my “amazing” musical talent one would think I have some sense of rhythm.  Between that and tripping over my feet at least once daily… I can dance flamenco though.  Or at least I’m working on it.
Six hour bus ride to Seville tonight.  I’m not looking forward to it, but there are worse things I could be doing.  I hope the weather is nice and I hope we have good luck backpacking through Andalucia!  That sounds very rugged and adventurous.  Don’t worry Mom and Dad.  Smiles and watch for an update on my “adventure!”

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long awaited update…

April 25, 2008 at 4:54 pm (Culture/Civilization/History, The University, Travel)
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I’ve been a terrible updater lately.  I really hope it hasn’t been since spring break, maybe it was Segovia… that I updated, but I fear that may be the case.  So to be briefly caught up:

 

I’ve been traveling every weekend since my parents left and this is my first weekend at home.  It feels wonderful to not have anything to do, especially since the weather has finally decided to cooperate.  Hot.  80 degrees, I’m going to the park after I write.  School on the other hand has finally decided to be work.  It’s felt like high school the whole time I’ve been here, mainly because there isn’t a true campus feel and I must commute to school each day, but now I have a college workload.  That’s what it should be I guess, but it hinders my after school activities of shopping and laying out… J

 

Alright.  Rome: April 10-12.  It was short and sweet and we managed to see everything in slightly less then two days.  Flying budget airlines equals true discomfort.  We spent Wednesday night in the airport waiting to check in for our flight and then to board.  I slept wherever I could find a spot, whenever I had at least 30 minutes to sit.  So Matt, Leah, and I arrived safely but slightly tired.  Our hostel was nice, the shower lacked water pressure and hot water, but breakfast was included.  I ate gelato everyday as well as the most delicious meatballs and pasta I’ve ever had.   And tiramisu.  Yum! 

 

Besides the food (I seriously think all I did was eat that weekend…) we saw:

-       The Vatican

-       St. Peter’s

-       Coliseum

-       Roman Forum

-       Trevi Fountain

-       Termini Station

-       Lots of churches

-       The Pantheon

-       Bernini’s fountains/ sculptures…

-       And a good variety of other monuments that I don’t recall the name

 

The city is soooo old.  It is amazing to see how old some of the ruins are.  The Pantheon for instance used to sit on a hill, but the ground around it is flat now.  It has been there for so long that all of the dust and dirt that has settled has caused the hill to completely disappear.  That is a lot of time.  The Vatican has a great collection of art, almost to the point where it is overwhelming.  I enjoyed the Sistine Chapel, just sitting there and taking it all in.  And I like the Swiss Guard.  J

 

This past weekend was one of my favorites too.  I took the Ave train to Barcelona.  HIGH SPEED!  We averaged 300 km an hour making it to Barcelona in 2.5 hours.  I met Molly (my roommate from Drake) there.  She is studying in Ireland and had flown to Barcelona for the weekend.  We spent Saturday and Sunday wandering the streets of Barcelona; with little to no agenda it was very relaxing.  The beach was beautiful, although it was still a little too cold to go swimming.  We ate some delicious food and tried out some cute hole-in-the-wall restaurants that were amazing.  Sunday night we took the bus back to Madrid arriving at 6:00 a.m., and I somehow made it to school by 10:00. 

 

Molly stayed until Wednesday afternoon.  She explored the city while I had school, after which we would meet, tour, and hit all of my favorite spots.  Great weekend, great week.

 

My homework is starting to pile up, but once I write my American History paper I think I’ll be okay!  It’s relays this weekend at Drake, and I wish I were home to enjoy that.  Next year.  At least the weather is gorgeous here.  Next weekend I’m going to Andalucia to see Seville (and Erin I hope!), Cadiz, and Cordoba.  Grenada the weekend after, and then Germany.  Following that I will have two weeks left.  This past month has sped by and I’m sure the next one will too.  I will miss Madrid and Spain when the time comes, but right now I’m excited to be home too.

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Roman Aqueducts and Russian Ballet

April 9, 2008 at 8:24 am (Culture/Civilization/History, Daily Occurences, Travel)
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It has finally hit me that my days here are numbered, in only 56 days I shall be returning to my well missed home in the U.S.  With that in mind I plan to do my best to enjoy the few that remain.
This past weekend was well received with continuous highs in the 80’s.  I now have a slight sunburn (it will turn into a glorious tan soon, I’m sure of it) from spending Friday soaking up the sun in Retiro park.  The weather has since disintegrated into cold rain and I can only patiently wait for the sun to reappear from behind the clouds so that I may resume my sunbathing habits.
Saturday Kim and I hopped a train to Segovia.  We were under the impression (from several guide books) that it was a two hour ride.  Our plan was to leave early, hopefully around 9:00 a.m. so that we would have adequate time to enjoy the seemingly small city of about 60,000.  We were shocked and please to discover that although our train wouldn’t leave until 10:35 that morning, leaving us over an hour of free time in the train station, it would only be a half hour ride.  A nice long cup of café con leche filled the delay and we were in the center of Segovia by 11:30 (including the bus ride from the train station).  The main attraction in Segovia is the 813 meter long Roman aqueduct built in 50 BC with 20,000 blocks of granite and absolutely no mortar, to pipe water from a river 18 km away.  Since we enjoy walking so very much, Kim and I followed the aqueduct along its route through the city.  It was just long enough to take about 50 pictures or so of stones and more stones, and arches…! The other Segovia must see (besides the usual cathedral and churches) is the Alcázar.  The 11th century fortress is said to be the model for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle.  It appeared to be a plausible claim since there are definite similarities between the spiral towers and pointed turrets.  Ice cream was our third and final Segovian highlight, and we once again enjoyed the pleasant weather as we wandered the streets, crashed a wedding party, and made friends with the birds.
I’m also almost done with ballet classes, and while I won’t be dropping out of school and running away to New York to join a company (they’d probably disapprove of my “pastry-eating” problem anyway), I can see a definite improvement in my flexibility and coordination which is promising since I can’t seem to make it a day here without tripping at least once, whether on the sidewalk or over my own feet.  My dream of becoming a ballerina however still very much exists.  Sunday night I attended the Moscow Ballet Company’s production of “El Lago de los Cisnes” or “Swan Lake” to the English speakers.  Breathtaking.  It was beautiful.  The movement, the music, the costumes, the performers, and the theatre.  I was familiar with the story from what else but Disney’s film version, and after reading the plot description in the program it was amazing to see the dancers convey the emotions, feelings, and words through their actions alone.  Very moving.  So maybe if the whole teaching/ Spanish thing doesn’t work out I can still become a dancer.  After the performance I went home and stretched!  
I’m going to Rome for a couple of days!  Excited, very!  
And I shall be returning Saturday just in time to celebrate by 100th day in Spain.  wow.
School continues to be school.  (speaking of which I should be studying for a test right now… ooops!)  I continue to learn more outside of the classroom then in, but I believe that is part of this whole experience.  
And with that, good night, good morning, have a wonderful day… depending on your time zone… where you are… when you read this…  ¡CIAO!

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