Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, and a Visit from Home!

Hello everybody!

Once again, I’m slacking on this whole blog thing. SORRY! So here goes…

I went to MADRID awhile back, I can’t even remember exactly when now, so this part of the post will be short.  We took the long bus ride up and met our friend, Ashley, from the Cádiz program up there.  We stayed at her apartment for the duration of our stay.  She lives in an awesome location right outside of Plaza de España on a little street filled with ethnic restaurants (while we were there our dinners consisted of Mexican food (twice) and Thai food, 2 types of cuisine that are hard, if not impossible, to find in Granada.  The first day, we took a short bus ride to Toledo and spent the day wandering around there.  The cathedral in Toledo was ENORMOUS, and it was really cool, because all the side galleries and little nooks and crannies were open to the public so there was lots to see and tons to explore. The next day, we ran around Madrid all day, trying to cram everything possible in.  We went to Rastro, a gigantic open air market that stretches for something like 10 blocks of booths filled with shirts, bags, shoes, sunglasses, antiques, old books, you name it! Then we walked to Plaza Mayor, took a few pictures, and then headed to the Royal Palace, which unfortunately was closed for the day because of some national holiday (the reason we had a long weekend). Theeeeen, we went to El Retiro, a huge park in the city with a paddle boat pond and some pretty impressive statues.  Connected, or at least right around the corner, was the Prado, and since the museum is free on Sundays, a couple of us decided to wait in the line and go in. First, though, we tried to go to the other big museum, the Reina Sofia, that has all the more modern art like Van Gogh’s and Picasso’s famous “Guernica,” but unfortunately, like the Royal Palace, it was closed too. Drat! So we went back to the Prado, waited in line for a very short amount of time, and entered. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many famous paintings in one place (and in such a short amount of time) before (or at least not since the Louvre). It was really exciting to see all the Spanish paintings that I had read and learned about so many times in person. As usual, we spent far too much time looking at the Medieval paintings (Jesus after Jesus after Jesus…) and ran out of time to see some of the other parts of the museum. However, I did get to see all of Goya’s “Black Paintings,” painted on the walls of his house at the end of his life after he went blind, and a bunch of Velasquez’s work, including his masterpiece, “Las Meninas.” It was all very cool, but I wish I had had more time. Anyway, after all this, we got dinner, then ran (Literally. We were late.) to a movie theater to see Inglorious Bastards (“Malditos Bastardos”) in English!  For those of you who don’t know, it was a huge deal for us to see a movie in English, because all the movies are dubbed in Spain, UNLESS you’re in a big city like Madrid or Barcelona.  It was pretty good, but not the best pick as a break from Spanish since the movie is in English, French, and German, so we kept having to switch between reading Spanish subtitles and listening to English. Anyway, that was pretty much our trip to Madrid. It was a ton of fun, but there’s still so much to see, so I can’t wait to go back (which may actually be this weekend, because I have a field trip there with my Prehispanic Art class)!

Neeext, we took a few weekends off before I decided to travel to BARCELONA for Halloween weekend to visit and stay with some friends (again from the Cádiz program). This time I didn’t have any friends traveling with me, just me and my bag.  I flew into the airport in Girona (Ryanair’s airport closest to Barcelona), which apparently is an 1 and 15 minute bus ride away from Barcelona itself…Sheesh! But, the bus stop was literally around the corner from my friend’s apartment, so it was actually perfect. My friend, Tatiana, met me at the station and then we took the Metro to Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas.  She, unfortunately, had class, so she left me there to entertain myself for a few hours.  This, of course, was very easy to do. Just in that little area, I walked all the way down Las Ramblas and enjoyed all the street performers and booths full of birds, baby bunny rabbits, souvenirs, etc, explored the huge open air market, La Boqueria, saw the port and statue of Christopher Columbus, then turned around and explored the old Gothic neighborhood complete with a soaring cathedral, Roman ruins, old city walls, Jewish quarter, and shops galore! I had a lot of fun just wandering around and doing whatever I wanted.  Then Tatiana and I met back up and headed back to her apartment to rest. She lives with 3 Spanish guys, all of whom were very nice and happy to have me stay. 2 of them were leaving for the weekend, so one of them offered to let me use his bed while i was staying there…very nice. That night, we baked brownies from scratch (there are definitely no boxed cake or brownie mixes here), went to the University of Barcelona to do a quick “intercambio” (talking in English and Spanish for a few hours) with some Spanish students and then watched a movie with another roommate, Kilian. The next day, we went to Parc Güell, the huge “Gaudi Park” to the North of the city where lots of “Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona” was filmed. It was amazing! So many Gaudi sculptures, houses, caves, benches, and walkways all in one place with an awesome view of the entire city (although it was covered in haze…like my other home away from home, LA!). The weather was gorgeous, so Tatiana and I stayed awhile to sit and enjoy the breeze.  Later we met up with another friend from Cádiz, Kate, who also had friends visiting and was showing them around the city.  Together, we went to the Sagrada Familia, but didn’t go in because it was too late.  Still, it was  breathtaking to walk up out of the dark of the Metro station to see the huge elaborate facade of the Sagrada Familia towering over you. We walked around the cathedral to examine all of its sides and see the differences between Gaudi’s work and the more modern additions before heading back to Tatiana’s.  That night, we baked special Catalan cookies that are made for All Saint’s Day with her roommate Kilian and his friend.  Made from potatoes, flour, sugar, and lemon zest and topped with almonds, coconut, or pine nuts, they were delicious, but a little strange at first.  Then we went to hang out with Kate and her friends for the rest of the night. I think I’m getting my days a little mixed up, but the next day was Halloween, so Tatiana and I bought some cheap fairy wings that came with a wand and antennae from one of the Chinese stores (like a Dollar Tree pretty much) and headed to an Irish pub that was throwing a Halloween party. Pretty much everyone there was American, and I was surprised to see that there was almost no one dressed up out on the streets of Barcelona. I had expected Halloween to be more happening in Barcelona than in Granada, but judging by the pictures from Halloween in Granada, Granada was the best place to be because of the enormous student population. Oh well, we had a lot of fun in Barcelona anyway. The next day, the day of my departure, we woke up early and went to Mass at the Sagrada Familia, partially to see the inside for free and just to experience the whole thing. Then I hopped on a bus back to Girona and flew back to Granada.  But, the craziness didn’t end there.

I got back to my apartment around 11pm to hear some very strange noises: mostly feedback, whistling, and other strange electrical noises. As I walked up the stairs to my apartment, the noise got louder and louder, and I kept saying to myself, “That’d better not be coming from my apartment,” and sure enough, it was.  When I opened the door, literally just back from the airport, still with my bag in hand, there was a guy crouched on the living room floor with a self-invented musical instrument made of a broken fan, plastic trash bags, and tape hooked up to an amp.  Somehow, he was making all that racket with this strange thing, and to top it off there were about 20 Spaniards, friends of my roommate Raul, watching the “concert” from my living room. I was a little surprised, slightly peeved ’cause I was pretty tired, but also intrigued and incredulous at the whole scene.  One of Raul’s friends asked me (while I was cooking the last box of Kraft mac ‘n cheese in my slippers, because I was sooo hungry from the trip) if I knew anything about Raul’s proposed “Living Room Concert Series,” and I of course, said “Nope.” The friend seemed a little surprised, but was very friendly and offered me a glass of wine and a seat on the couch to watch the show. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who thought this whole thing was a little weird, because the Spaniards kept making comments like “Oh, is this supposed to be a new song? I thought we were still on the same one!” The show eventually ended, leaving us with a very dirty and trash-filled living room, but not before everyone started wrapping themselves in a role of black plastic.  It was a very strange night, fun, but exhausting, and that is where my Barcelona trip ended.

Then, this weekend on Friday morning, I left on a bus to Sevilla with my History of Ancient Spain class to see an exhibit at the Archaeological museum there. We drove about 4 hours to get there, spent an hour and a half at the museum, then had a good 3 hours to wander the city.  It was a lot of fun. We walked though one of the many huge parks in Sevilla called Maria Luisa, then came upon the enormous and gorgeous Plaza de España (many Spanish cities have one of these) with tower, colonnades, and row after row of tiled tributes to each province in Spain (we of course took pictures with those of Granada and Cádiz).  Then we wandered some more and ended up in the city center that reminded me of a cleaner Granada…very typically Spanish with whitewashed buildings, flowers, flamenco music, and Moorish influences.  I especially liked all the parks and tree lined streets.  We saw the famous cathedral and the Alcazar (only the outside) before having to head back to the bus (and taking a quick stop at a Starbucks. “Oh my God, it looks just like home!). We hopped on the bus and drove another 4 hours back to Granada. It was a long trip for not very much time in the city, but still a lot of fun.  I really loved Sevilla and can’t wait to go back to see more of it.

I almost forgot! The weekend before Sevilla, my friends Lindsay Meline and Evan Burford from high school came to visit me. Both are studying in the UK, Lindsay at St. Andrews in Scotland and Evan for a quarter in Canterbury, so they just hopped down here for the weekend. The first night we went tapa-hopping around the newer, student-oriented part of the city.  Then the next morning, we got up early to eat churros and chocolate for breakfast (very nutritious!) before going out to explore the city. We went to the cathedral, the old Moorish silk market (that is now just stall after stall of Moroccan souvenir shops), a few of the main plazas, and up to the Albaicin, the old Muslim neighborhood.  From there, we went to the most famous viewpoint of the Alhambra and then wandered our way back down the narrow winding streets back to the city center for a cup of Morroccan tea on the street lined with tea shops.  That night, we cooked dinner at my apartment before going out for a few hours.  Then, on Sunday, we toured the Alhambra, the main attraction of Granada, ate some Spanish tortilla sandwiches, and then took some time off to do some homework before Lindsay and Evan had to leave. They caught a bus out of Granada to Madrid at 1:30am and then spent the entire next day in Madrid before their flight back to London.  It was a very short but sweet trip. It was great so see some people from home, even if it was only for a few days, and it made me realize that there isn’t a ton of stuff to do in Granada (so when any of you visit, you don’t need more than 3 days here, probably, hahaha).

Up next, I’m going to visit Lindsay and Evan in Scotland and England from December 3rd to December 9th. Then I have a couple of weeks of class, then winter break starts, so I’m hoping to travel to Dublin and then Brussels with a group of friends before coming back to Spain to meet Caitlin and Lindsey in Madrid for the remainder of the break!!! I’m super excited and can’t wait to see them.

At the Cathedral in Toledo

Toledo is famous for its silver and cuttlery!

Out with friends in Madrid

Plaza Catalunya (Barcelona) with my amazing guide, Tatiana!

Drinking some fresh-squeezed juice in La Boqueria (Barcelona)

Halloween in Barcelona with our 5 euro costumes from the Chinese store.

Me and Kilian (Tatiana’s roommate)

Barcelona with Tatiana!

Welcome to Granada!

cheesin’ it up at the cathedral in Granada

exploring Granada with Lindsay and Evan

Lindsay and Evan come to visit! We’re at a teteria here (Moroccan tea shop)

at the Morroccan tea shop after a day of wandering Granada!

Lindsay was really tired. :)

At the Alhambra with Lindsay and Evan!!!

at the Alhambra with friends from home!

taking some time off to study

Goodbye, Lindsay and Evan!

Cool museum in Sevilla

We also looked at the Roman section of the museum in Sevilla

More wandering the park in Sevilla

Walking through the park in Sevilla while playing with an orange

We love Granada!

Cádiz tribute at Plaza de España in Sevilla!

I think that’s all for now. I have to go do some reading for class and then we’re having a movie/dinner night tonight to watch “Once,” because I bought tickets earlier this week to see the couple from the movie in concert in Madrid at the end of February with 2 friends.  Now, let’s see if I can add some pictures to this post. Hmmm… Love you all and miss you always! Please comment if you feel like it. I really enjoy reading them!

Advertisement