El Viaje a Portugal

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Monday, JANE arrived from Rome to travel with us to Portugal. We left via bus for Lagos in the afternoon. All of Tuesday was spent in Lagos, a beach town in Southern Portugal. We wanted to be able to go hiking and go on a little boat tour of the caves there, but it was raining all day, and nothing can happen in a beach town when it’s raining.

So, Wednesday we took a bus up to Lisbon. We only had that night and until the next afternoon there, so we went hard there, going to see their old cathedrals , el Castillo de San Jorge, el Torre de Belém, Jeronimos Monastery, Rossio, Park of Commerce, and Pasteis de Belém Café. But first, we had lunch, splitting fresh fish (whole) that the owner of the restaurant had just caught that day. SO flavorful.

We hiked up to el Castillo de San Jorge where we could see all of the city along with the ocean. The views were breathtaking and we had some funny ‘what if’ talks of what we would do if we lived in the castle way back when. Pasteis de Belém Café is a very famous bakery that sells Pastel de Belém/ Pastel de Nata. They are little pastries with cream in the middle. Unbelievable. They are little so it was the perfect treat, not too sweet and perfect to enjoy on our walk along the beach.

That night we went to tapas for dinner at a cool place called ‘We love wine’. There was a great guitarist there who sang and played all night long so the ambience was amazing. We sat and talked for quite some time, enjoying all being together again and observing some serious wine-o’s doing there thing.

Thursday Tay and I woke up early from our awesome hostel, Independente Hostal, to drink our coffee at the lookout, Miradouro de São Pedro, which was just across the street from our hostel. That was by far the coolest hostel I have ever stayed at. Only 12 euro a night, breakfast included, AND three story bunk beds!!

Before leaving, we explored the different barrios of Lisbon. They were filled with bookstores, restaurants, cafés, record shops, and art stores; each had such unique architecture and great graffiti. We tried this typical cherry drink there called Ginjinha, from a street vendor who was the most animated street vendor I have ever encountered, she was lovin’ life, shouting for people to try “Ginjinha!” over and over. And over. And over as we walked down the street.

Lisbon is very very hilly and there are trams everywhere. It looks a lot like San Francisco because of the hills and their Ponte 25 de abril (bridge) looks just like the Golden Gate Bridge.  

El Comienzo de Semana Santa

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We were sad to leave Madrid, but really wanted to start Semana Santa with our families for Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday). I had breakfast with my family and we talked about their different Semana Santa traditions and opinions. Then I headed out to tour a friend from Morale, Jenna, who was passing through Sevilla from Florence, on her way to Lagos. I loved playing tour guide and showing off the beautiful city and all of the sites to her. They just never get old so it was great to see everything and tell her stories while catching up.

For dinner I went to Taylor’s home for tapas, wine, processions, and conversations. Unfortunately, it was raining so many of the processions were cancelled, but I got to see one on Sunday that was from Triana, so I got to get a taste of Semana Santa right off the bat. 

El Concierto: Mumford and Sons

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Lots of travels to update on! Things have been wild and crazy these last few weeks because I decided to switch my homestay. I was not being challenged enough linguistically and culturally in my first home, and with two sisters (21 & 18) and a brother (15) it is VERY different.

This week is Semana Santa, and here in Sevilla, it is the biggest celebration in all of the world. But, we get the week off from school (along with most workers and all other students) so it has been a great week to travel.

First, Taylor and I went to Madrid from Thursday- Saturday. We saw MUMFORD AND SONS who were absolutely unbelievable. It was by far the best concert I have ever been to. And, not too shabby..I ran into Megan Taylor!!!! Had no idea she would be there..she is studying in Salamanca now! How wild.

The next day, Taylor and I started the day with café in La Plaza Mayor. It’s a huge Plaza that has lots of history and stories from the times of Franco. Next, we went to El Prado, which holds the royal family’s collection of art. We got to see Las Meninas, Goya, El Greco,  Ribera, and, my favorite, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch.  The museum was HUGE and so overwhelming to try to see everything.

Parque del Retiro

After El Prado, we met up with our friends from school, TJ and Saletta. TJ’s sister’s boyfriend lives in Madrid, so him and a friend showed us around the rest of the day to The Royal Palace, Almudena Cathedral, Parque del Retiro, el Paseo del Prado, and some different neighborhoods.

Pals by the Palace

That night, they wined and dined us with there Spanish friends. It was so fun to be translators for TJ and Saletta the whole time and to get to see the city through the eyes of a true Madrileño.

Plaza Mayor

El Fin De En BarTHelona

This weekend I had the most smooth, fun-filled, culture-filled, relaxing weekend I could possibly imagine! I visited Paige in Barcelona. From the get-go, we went site seeing, visiting Park Güell, Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Las Gracías, the Born area, the Gothic Quarter, and the Cathedral. After we got to see all of that we went to the beach to drink some wine and talk about our lives abroad. It was great because we talked the whole time in Spanish.

Park Güell

Park Güell

 After hanging out en el sol por la playa, we headed to a pub, George Payne, where we tried to watch the IU vs. U of I game (unsuccessfully). We still got to watch some fútbol though! That night, Paige and I met back up to go to two different bars and a club that she likes in Barcelona: Chupitos, make your own drink bar (don’t know the name), and Opium.

Font Magico

Out of this world works of Gaudi

 Saturday we woke up at 9 so that we could head straight over to the Sagrada Familia…no words for this one. We got the audio guides and spent a good two hours trying to soak in all of the details and their significance. I couldn’t possibly list everything I loved about the church or how moving all of the perfectly designed and constructed details are, but I think my favorite part was the close relation of each aspect of the church to nature. The second most moving part of the design was that the final tower (which hasn’t been built yet) will be just shorter than the tallest point in Barcelona, Tibidabo, because Gaudi believed that mankind should not trump what God created by building above it. Que guay!

http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/index.php <--Read that!

Hayyy cutie

 

After that, we ate at Bo Da B, an out of this world place for sandwiches. We had passed it the day before and there was a line all the way around the block, but luckily we got there at 12:50 and it opened at 1:00, so we were the fourth group in line! Later, we climbed up montjuic to see the '92 Olympic Stadium and the city from above..where we encountered a mob of Justin Beiber fans waiting for his concert that night. We proceeded to do the only appropriate thing and ask obsessed fans to take pictures of us looking super super excited with them. They were totally gung-ho about it, never suspecting the tiny bit of mockery there. 

Saturday night was low key because I had a 6 am flight Sunday. I went to Paige’s homestay for dinner. We played bingo and some games with her 7 year old sister then talked with her parents about our lives at home and here. It was fun seeing Paige’s daily life and meeting her family, chatting and learning.

Arc de triomphe

Altogether, last weekend could not have gone more smoothly. I found the metro surprisingly easy to navigate, and there was not a single problem the whole time..so much less stressful to travel with just one pal!!

La Gripe Estomacal

No trips for me this weekend other than countless trips to toss my cookies because I have the flu!! I did get to go out with some friends Thursday to see a Flamenco show at this bar, T for Triana, on calle Betis, which was great. We were talking about how it is so cool to see how Sevillanos and Españoles in general view beauty. Where as in the US, a polka-doted, ruffly dress would be a costume and would be seen as silly, men and women see it as beauty here. Lena, Dani, and I shared many laughs telling stories about our home stays that we didn't quite realize were so funny until we told each other. It was so nice finding out that other people are going through similar awkward moments like me.

Once again, my weeks have been filled with so many new sites, bites, and there is nothing else that rhymes with that. My Tolerance and Fanaticism class takes visits to different places in Sevilla once a week. We’ve been to Santa Cruz (the old Jewish Quarter), el museo arceología (museum of archeology), el Torre de Oro (Tower of Gold), and el Castillo de San Jorge (Castle of St. George). The last two visits were very interesting because we learned about what Sevilla used to be. The bridge in Triana that I use everyday was the original bridge that connected the city center to other land and used to be “una Puente de barcos” or a bridge of ships so that they could disconnect and defend themselves at any time. El Torre de Oro was a lookout tower over el Guadalquivir, and now it looks out over the expanse of Sevilla, a gorgeous view. El Castillo de San Jorge is just 10 minutes from my house, right by the Triana bridge. It was the home of some of the higher ups during the Spanish inquisition, and was where they held prisoners. It was interesting to read about all of the stories of individual prisoners. I always believed the inquisition to be of mass murder, but the death toll in comparison to most other genocides is extremely low, in the thousands, for a period that lasted a century. Most of the Inquisition was based off of ‘el auto de fe’ which was a publically held court that reminds me of the scarlet letter. If witches, Jews…basically all non-Catholics would repent and conform to Catholicism, they were spared death. 

Saludos,

Kelsey

El Fin de en Amsterdam

First, we went to Anne Frank House. I was so happy to have selected to read everything and listen to the videos in Spanish, because it definitely amplified the experience. Spanish has a distinct way of describing things that promote such amplified emotions and feelings than English can, so that definitely helped my experience. It was fascinating to read about Anne Frank beyond her diary and to actually see where her and her family lived in hiding. It was very powerful to read about what life was truly like for Anne Frank and to realize once again a specific story from the Holocaust. I simply cannot wrap my head around the idea that there were millions of people who experienced similar emotions and experiences to Anne Frank. Also, what powerful heros the Frank family had to bring them food and keep their secret. That definitely redeems some hope in the people.

Now that everyone was super somber, we went to a famous pancake restaurant that had unbelievable crepe-like pancakes. They were out of this world!

Next we went to the Heineken Brewery where we saw a whole different side of beer brewing. It was totally different from the brewery in Brussels. It was much more touristy and I wasn’t totally gung ho about it because it felt a lot like Willy Wonka, but it was (once again) interesting to learn about the brewing process at Heineken.

At night we went to the Red Light District, and of that, I was anything but a supporter. It was part of the culture that I knew I would regret not seeing, but it is definitely not a place I need to visit again.

Saturday in Amsterdam, Taylor and I visited the Van Gogh museum and spant hours there. We were stricken by every single piece and could not get enough of the unique style that Van Gogh used. Starry Night has always been my mom’s favorite, so I have read some about Van Gogh, but seeing his pieces, which he called ‘studies’,  made me appreciate his talent so much more. My favorite studies were his self portraits because it is fascinating to me to see hwo people view themselves and how they choose to portray themselves.

Sunday was where the real fun begins. Back to the internet ticket sites never working, Tay and I tried to get tickets for both the bus and two different busses without success. So, with 22 seats left on the bus, we thought we would be ok when arriving to Malaga. HA HA HA. We landed in Malaga and headed to the bus station without any problems until we talked to the ticket woman who chuckled at us and said the bus was llenísimo (full to the brim). So, we walked to the train station across the street to try for one of the two trains that were leaving that night. Once again, a chuckle from the ticket man who kindly told us to try the bus station. We tried waiting outside the bus to see if there was plaza (space) for us while brainstorming how we would make it home to Sevilla since we had class on Monday. The bus was full, as we expected, so we went back to plan Z…renting a car. Yep, we rented a car in Malaga and drove to Sevilla. Not just any car, a SMART CAR.

La moraleja de la historia…viajando NO está tan facil que pienses. Hay muchísimos factores en que necesitas pensar. Fue una fin de extravegante con muchísimos  historias, fotos, memorias y risas. Fue superdivertido, pero no puedo hacer cosas tan éuforico cada fin de. Cuando viajo, le echo de menos mi familia y amigos, también, le echo de menos Sevilla. Ahora está mi casa, mi vida está aquí y mientras mis viajes, la estraño mucho.

Hablaré contigo pronto!

 Kelsey

Banksy-esque

Beautiful flowers in the famous Tulip Market

El Viaje a Bruselas

¡Hola! It’s me, Kelsey!

This weekend I traveled to Brussels and Amsterdam and, what a weekend it was! My adventure began Wednesday afternoon (el día de Andalucía fue Thursday=> no tenemos clases) at 6. I took a bus to Madrid with some friends who were also traveling to Brussels and a few other countries. After the 6 ish hour bus ride to Madrid, we took the metro to the airport where we began our very cold wait for our 6 am flight. When we landed in Brussels, the two friends I was travelling with went on their way to Bruges and I was left to explore the metro in Belgium so that I could get to the hostel where my other friends, had arrived the night before. Luck was on my side (this time) because I got to the hostel JUST as Taylor, Maddie, and Aaron were about to head out and grab breakfast.

We spent the day in Brussels going to visit the Cathedral St. Michel et Ste. Gudule, Manneken Pis, the Grand Place, Town Hall, Les Galeries Saint Hubert, and a brewery, Brasserie Cantillon. We also managed to share French fries, Belgium waffles, and chocolate. If you don’t know, Manneken Pis is a bronze sculpture that is a fountain of a little boy peeing. It was made in 1619. There are many legends behind the sculpture that are pretty funny and mostly focused on finding a little boy peeing on someone or something. At Brasserie Cantillon, we went on a tour of the brewery that brews traditional Lambic beers. A Lambic beer is brewed based off of spontaneous fermentation and has a distinct taste from any controlled fermentation beers. It was interesting to learn about the importance of each step in the beer and how they contribute to the unique tastes.

After lots of trouble trying to buy train tickets online, Taylor and I got tickets for the 6:00 AM train to Amsterdam on Friday. It is quite complicated to buy anything online here because most of the time our credit cards don’t work, and the remainder of the time, the websites don’t work (more on this later). Luckily though, we were able to find a train in the morning, even though our initially planned 7:50 train might have allowed for more than 4 hours of sleep. Weellllll, after only one train mistake—we rode one stop past Amsterdam Centraal—we arrived in AMSTERDAM!!! We met up with our 7 friends who are studying in Florence.  Since there were 9 of us, we stayed in a great hotel that overlooked Amsterdam and was quite cheap when split between us. Immediately, it was off to site see. 

HAY MÁS. Lo continuaré pronto.