Madrid Sweet Madrid: Granada, Sevilla, Lisboa

I have returned from my South Spain/Portugal trip. It feels so good to be back. It looks like it's mildly sunny today; a nice welcome back.

So first comes first: GRANADA

Granada is a really cool town. It has a huge Moorish past, which is still very visible in everything. We stay down this cool street where all the teterias (tea houses) and arabic souveneir-type shops were. I bought a stitched india-inspired rug thing (You've seen them around it's just hard to explain) so I can hang on my wall because it matches my bedspread. I also looooved the teterias. They had over 50 different types of tea for really cheap!

Our hostal streets

We arrived at night the first day so we just relaxed, but the next day we went to the Alhambra. This palace/walled town had been switched from Moorish rule to Christian rule numerous times during the wars. It was HUGE and really beautiful. You could see influences from both. It was a relatively nice day so the sun felt great compared to the rain we left in Madrid. They have water ways all over the town running up from the castle all through the streets. They are still running with water, I believe as energy power.

gardens
Military area of the town
Tiny windows in a tower

Gorgeous views of the surrounding city

We had our hearts set on skiing the Sierra Nevada mountains an hour away, but unfortunately the weather conditions for that Sunday were poor and the mountains were closed. As predicted the next day was very windy with off-and-on showers. We went to the gypsy caves of Sacramonte, but since we were there during siesta hour most stuff was closed. We walked around Granada, half lost, half following the map up to a plaza with a great view of the Alhambra and some street jewelry.

The Alhambra

A plaza we went through while lost, also gray skies

Sacramonete hills

View of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from Granada

We heard about Granada's arabic bath houses and decided to go that night at 8pm. It was so worth it! There were about 3 different baths each of a different temperature. You also get a 15 minute massage. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. It was called Baño Hammam and it was so nice and my first massage!

The square at night

The next morning we left on a 3 hour bus to Sevilla.

SEVILLA

We arrive in beautiful Sevilla! The weather was warm the majority of the time we were there. We took full advantage and spent at least 2 hours on our hostal's roof soaking in the sun/napping.

We saw the famous cathedral. It's supposedly the biggest gothic cathedral in Europe. That was pretty cool. Personally I like the cathedral in Toledo more because it contained more intricate designs and mural work, but it was still beautiful. My camera died shortly so I only have a couple pics.

Cathedral

We also went to the Alcazar, which is another palace area designed by half Catholic/half Moorish inspirations. It was absolutely gorgeous (and free for students!). My favorite part was the gardens. I could have spent hours and hours in those gardens. We went through some hedge mazes and walked down the dirt paths. There were small gazebos, ponds with bright fish, and old walls covered in vines. Unfortunately I have no pictures because my stupid camera died, but Shae got a lot that she's going to give to me.

The next day, we saw the Plaza del Toros. Bullfights don't begin until May, but we got to take a tour and go in the museum. The stadium was really pretty and bright. It was also a lot smaller than I imagine. The tour was first in Spanish, then said in English, but I only needed to hear the Spanish version to understand. I was very proud of myself. The tour woman only addressed us in Spanish because she could tell we understood. It felt good :)

Sevilla is a famous city for bullfights

The same day, our hostal provides bikes for rent. Sevilla was sunny and gorgeous and flat, so we went on a ride. It was one of my favorite things we did in Sevilla. We went through a beautiful park and lots of squares. We stopped for lunch at a cafe that was delicious.

Taking pictures while riding...skill.

El parque

I really enjoyed Sevilla. Probably the most. I could have spent more time there, not sightseeing necessarily, just walking around and enjoying the sun. We ate some amazing tapas in Sevilla! We also met up with my friend Nick from Cal Poly who is studying in Germany, so that was fun! There are sooo many Germans in Sevilla for some reason so he got to practice as well!

We also went to the arabic baths in Sevilla, but I enjoyed the smaller Granada bath more.

We left Sevilla after a delicious dinner, and took a night bus to Lisboa, Portugal. We arrived in Portugal a lot earlier than expected so the metro was closed. Luckily the cab ride was only 8 euro and took us straight to our hostal door. We were too early to check-in so we slept in the living room until Jess and Addy arrived.

LISBOA, PORTUGAL

Our hostal was absolutely adorable. It is an old mansion converted into a hostal, so it felt like we were at someone's house the whole time. It was very comfortable, and like all our others, served free breakfast. All our hostals were the Oasis hostals, but each was different.

The first day in Portugal we didn't do much because we were planning on taking the tour the hostal offered the next day. We ate, relaxed, and caught up on sleep.

Elevator we went on to see Lisboa skyline

The next day we spent the whole day with Bruno, a native Lisboan, who offers tours to Oasis hostalers. He takes you to all the best places in his van. It was so convenient. I couldn't imagine getting to all those places by train and bus because not everything is in Lisboa. It's very spread out. Portugal is also famous for its pastries, so we also were taken to try the 3 most famous/DELICIOUS! Lisboa is so similar, yet different from San Francisco it was eery at first! They have a bridge designed by the same architect as the Golden Gate so it looks very similar! It is also VERY hilly and trolleys are everywhere. The weather was super foggy as well...I might as well have been home!

Nope, not San Francisco... LISBOA!

My first trolley ride!

Monastery

I didn't know this existed!

The symbol of Portugal

It was fun going to the beach, even in the rain

Very green! A perfect summer locale

The famous palace. Pictures don't do it justice

One of my favorite parts! The palace in Sintra

Sintra is a very cute town

The next day we didn't sightsee as much since we got so much in yesterday. We were also all very tired from traveling all week. It was difficult not knowing how to communicate in Portugal. I missed speaking Spanish and my bed in Madrid! We were all ready to go back after a long, fun week!

I tried to fit everything in this post without being overwhelming. Hopefully I summed it up well!

Miss you!

My host mom is the bestest ;)

After dinner every day I eat a little sugar muffin for dessert. This morning I was running late and grabbed the last one to go. She must've realized because this afternoon she already had another package in the cabinet PLUS another package of a chocolate variety! She's so nice!!!

I also get to eat dinner whenever I want because I don't think she really eats dinner per say. She just has a really tiny one, like cereal or something, probably because of how late her lunch is every day. Other students have to wait until 9:30pm or later even if they're starving because that's when the family eats. They also aren't spoiled with yummy food like peanut butter and muffins and tons of fruit!! :)

Carnaval!

I am back from Carnaval in Cádiz! It was a lot of fun. Basically, Carnaval is a week long celebration involving costumes and performances in celebration of lent arriving. We went with Forocio tours because they provided transportation, breakfast and a hotel. However, if I had to do it over again I wouldn't go with a tour. The reasons: 1) I could have actually spent less money if we had planned it sooner, but by the time we decided all the hotels/hostals were booked. 2) we barely spoke Spanish except at night when we were out. It was annoying. 3) our hotel was a 40 minutes drive away from the festivities! 4) I didn't even get to see the parades during the day!

It was still pretty cheap, but I really wanted to see the parades during the day. The problem was our hotel was 40 minutes away and the bus they provided didn't leave until 9:30pm. So we would had to take the train which was inconvenient. That aside, it was still a fun experience.

On Saturday we woke up really late from being out the night before. Friday night was calm because Carnaval doesn't officially start until Saturday but there was still people dressed in costumes. We were right by the beach, so even though it was cold we all went to the beach and hung out. Shae and I spotted a store with some soccer balls for sale so we ran over and bought one. We had a little pick-up game on the beach. It felt so good to play!!!!

Shae and I messing around playing soccer

Then, that night we got all dressed up in our costumes. Shae, Jess, and I were flappers. We were driven to the center and let out to roam the streets with the rest of Cádiz. It was basically a big street party with a food, drinks, and a stage with performers. The entire town was packed. It looked like Halloween.

Some of the group in costume on the ride to Cádiz

Speaking with Southern Spaniards is very difficult because their accent is different than Madrileños. As our teacher says, they swallow their words. Therefore, they annunciate less. I was still able to get by, but it was nice to come back to Madrid and be able to understand a lot more! And being back in my room was nice.

On the metro ride back from where the charter bus dropped us off, these three Americans got pickpocketed on the bus. All of a sudden, a man yelled "POLICIA," but it didn't looked like anything was going on. Then, I saw a woman hitting the same man until the doors opened and she ran off. The man and the two women he was with yelled to stop her and that she stole their money. It was then I realized the man had been pickpocketed.

Rule #1 of Europe: NEVER keep anything of value in your pockets or purses/bags without a zipper.

I felt bad for them, but I can't believe they would be careless enough to do that. It freaked me out a bit. Thankfully my stop wasn't too far away so I was home soon after.

Enseñando Ingles

So I taught my first English lesson today! Her mom picked me up from the metro stop and drove me to their house, but just to show me how to take the bus for next time. Muy fácil, thank god! Her mom is super cute and really nice. She wouldn't stop talking and the girl's like, 'Moooom.' It was funny. The girl's name is Irene and she is 14. We got along really well, so I'm excited about that! I love how the Spanish are such expressionists with their faces and hands. Now I'm really happy I didn't get that first kid because this girl is older (aka easier to talk to) and not a brat (as my friend told me she is experiencing!). We sat and ate cookies that the mom brought us. Fue mucho divertido! She speaks English relatively well. She has been to 'English' camps and has cousins in Washington D.C. But it was fun because sometimes she would start speaking in Spanish by accident but I could still totally understand her. I think she liked me as well because she said she liked the way I spoke English and how she liked that I knew Spanish because apparently the last girl couldn't speak Spanish at all and couldn't translate words for her. I could see how frustrating that would be! I get paid 15 euro an hour, so basically 15 euro every Tuesday unless she needs another day during the week. Perfecto, no? That is food money for the week, más o menos.

p.s. I added random Spanish phrases just for Roberto....happy?

Palacio Real, Toledo, and USAC Day Trip

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile! I've been busy busy busy.

Let's see. Carmen bought me peanut butter! They don't eat it here in Spain, but one of the girls she used to have loved it so she brought it home to see if I liked it. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY yum yum yum yum. I've had peanut butter toast the past two mornings! Some other things the Spanish need to be introduced to: salad dressing, butter for your bread, and casual wear.

Our class always gets a kick out of telling our teacher, Sara, about American things (like bumping fists, slang, etc). The other week we explained to her how Spanish people don't wear sweats or gym clothes. She thought they did. So we had to explain to her the art of college fashion. Sunglasses, hoodie with school name, gym shorts/sweats, and running shoes. She laughed when we told her pijamas were acceptable school wear. Therefore whenever I go to the gym here, I can't wear my workout clothes like I do at school, I have to CHANGE into them and out of them. Sigh.

We had our first midterm last Friday. Leave it to me to sleep through my alarm and show up an hour late. Thank God I'm a fast test taker. I eneded up getting a 91 too! Luckily my teacher is nice and understood.

We also discovered the art of picnicing! For 5euro each we get a feast! No more going out for lunch. Every Tues, Thurs, and Friday we have picnics in Retiro. It's looooovely. Mon and Wed we eat at the school restaurant for cheap. Yay for cheap meals!

Sandwiches, chips, popcorn, strawberries, pastries, huge waters, and coke for 15 euro

Strawberries: yummmmmm

Last weekend, I went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). It's gorgeous and I love the area around it (Plaza de España). We couldn't take pictures inside but these are the ones I got of outside:

Outside at sunset
The church in the distance
Outside square
Through the gates

Royal church

Also last weekend, on Sunday, I went to Toledo with two of my friends. It's about a 3o minutes train ride there. Once again, leave it to us to miss the first train (who knew there was a security check point for a short train!) and we had to buy another ticket there. Luckily it's not too expensive to cause tears. Toledo is the old capital of Madrid. It was so old, with tiny winding streets and a beautiful cathedral with intricate detail. We also ate really great food!

Castles everywhere!
Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo: one of the coolest I've seen!
Military academy...we couldn't go in
A moat! LOWER THE BRIDGE!

Walking to Toledo

Last night I went to "Chicago: El Musical!" So cool! Jess and I knew the plot line because we've seen the movie, but Shae didn't and was still able to basically know what was going on. I wasn't able to understand word-for-word, but I would recognize words and get the jist of what they were saying. It was really cool. 'All That Jazz' is 'Al Son De Jazz,' in case anyone was wondering.

Then today, USAC had one of their free day trips to El Escorial and Valle de los Caidos. They are about an hour away. Almost everyone went and it was a lot of fun. We have a good group of people. El Escorial is the palace of King Felipe when he passed on his reign as king. It was pretty cool, nothing amazing, but a lot of royalty is buried there in these intricate tombs. Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) is the burial grounds of the soldier casualties of the civil war and Franco himself. A lot of Spaniards won't go there because Franco is burried there. Unfortunately it is closed for restoration for the next couple months, but the outside is amazing. The building is built into the mountain side and there is a huge cross jutting above it all.

Getting ready: Our other friend has us in the air. It's awesome
The Group
View from the Valley
Walking up
Valle de los Caidos
View from the bus

El Escorial in the distance. We couldn't take pics inside and I liked the town

This weekend, we're trying new clubs/bars, buying our costumes for Carnaval in Cádiz next weekend, and going to El Rastro for some more cool shopping. Oh and we have our final on Wednesday. :(

Ok.... THE END.