Summer in Spain

The second holiday I was to experience while in Spain was San Fermin, celebrated in Pamplona in northern Spain. This week-long celebration honors Saint Fermin, the patron saint of the Navarre which the province of Pamplona. This holiday was also made famous in Pamplona by Ernest Hemingway although it was not the original location of the festival, but nonetheless, San Fermin is the biggest internationally known celebration in Spain. Each day at 8am there is an encierro or "running of the bulls" for which the holiday is most commonly known, and this tradition begins July 7th of every year. My group and I booked a bus trip through a European travel agency to experience 12 hours of the madness, which was quite enough. In order to be properly prepared, any one who attends San Fermin must be clad in all white and expect to get very dirty and sleep very little while there. We left around 2pm on Saturday, July 9th and arrived in Pamplona around 8pm. It was a sight to see as our large coach bus entered the city. It was like the biggest themed-party I had ever seen! Everyone was all matching, and also adorned red scarfs and sashs which we were to buy for a few euros from street vendors. Throughout the city, the streets were packed with San Ferminians drinking and enjoying the massive party. There was also free concerts and other festivities going on everywhere you looked. After snagging a red scarf and a Doner kebab, we entered the fiesta. Thousands of people were doused in red wine, which is a common occurance at this time, and drinking merrily with friends and acquaintances. The entire night was a trip, and included an awesome display of fireworks that were reminiscent of the 4th, especially since America´s independence day had only been a week prior.

Red and white clad party people filling the streets

Friends at a pretty fountain

During the wee hours of the night, a few of us attempted to take a brief nap in the park but figured out that was impossible. The swarms of people and partying prohibited any down time, on top of the fact that about 50 yards from us was a live band blasting "Celebraaaate good times come on!" Needless to say, the bus ride a few hours later was a snooze-fest for us all. Also, a necessary sidenote, one major thing I could have gone without was the overwhelming smell of urine on all the streets. Like typical college kids, many drunk men decided that the outdoors was equivalent to a bathroom and took care of business essentially where ever they happened to be standing. I feel bad for the street cleaners the next morning. Anyways, we forced ourselves to stay awake and enjoy the atmosphere since the running of the bulls was only an hour or two from starting and definitely a must-see. I had wanted to run originally (a girl in my group had done it before and said it was the most exhilarating experience of her life and said it was not that dangerous if you did the right way) but noticing the slippery streets and how tired my legs were, I decided to watch from the sidelines instead. A few of my friends though did run, and said their adrenaline was rushing like crazy. All in all, Pamplona was definitely one for the books and was the craziest, most spiritied open parties I have ever been to. The Spanish truly know how to have a good time, that´s for certain.

Shawn and Ziev ride the bulls! Fake of course

Fireworks !!

The following weekend, I finally made plans to visit Cranbrook friends Jarrett Abraham and Felix Pastor. Felix was only at CK for one year as a study abroad type of deal, but is originally from Zaragoza, Spain which is about an hour from Pamplona in proximity. Jarrett has been living with Felix since June and working at a finance firm in the city for the summer. That Friday I took an afternoon bus ride and met the boys at the train station around 4:30pm. We went back to Felix´s house where we relaxed for a little and he told us of the plans for the evening. It was his friend Chechu´s birthday that night and we were going to a BBQ and swim to celebrate and then hit up a discotequa later on. At the pool, I met all of Felix´s friends and they are awesome and very friendly. I was so happy I could communicate with them too, seeing as I was one of two Americans amongst about twenty Spaniards. The cuisine at the barbacua (spanish word, very similar) was typical Spanish cuisine and much more authentic than what I have experienced in Madrid. There was two large skillets of paella (for those that don´t know, paella is a rice dish with seafood- delectable!), ensalada rusa a.k.a. potato salad, ham, bread, salsa pimienta, and mucho cerveza. For hours we enjoyed Chechu´s day and chatted as the sky became dark. We finally made our way to the club and boogied til dawn. Literally. Felix, Jarrett, and I crashed at Emilio´s house to sleep. When we woke up it was the afternoon, and we grabbed some carryout from a nearby cafe and watched the Tour de France back at Emilio´s. Our plan that evening was to go to a small beach town on the northern coast of Spain for the night, but since it was a 3 hour drive and was supposed to rain all evening Felix asked if we´d rather go to a concert in the Pyrenees mountains instead. Oh the possibilities while in Europe!!! We were stoked for our change of plans, although the beach town of Zarautz sounded awesome, and got ready to go. We went back to Felix´s to shower and pack his car, and there I met Mr. Pastor and his sister Irene. They were very warm and welcoming, and Mr. Pastor made us some homemade food to take with us and showed me his bodega/wine cellar in their basement. Mr. Pastor is very fond of cooking and fine dining, and gave me two bottles of wine to take back home with me. I was especially appreciative of this because I had been wanting to bring back some Spanish wine to the states and it couldn´t be more perfect that I got some from an authentic Spanish wine connoiseur. Finally we headed out, picked up Emilio on the way, and headed out to the mountains. Felix told us that the concert was that of Andres Calamaro, who is an Argentinian rock star and very famous in Spain. As we entered the mountain range Jarrett and I were in awe of the endless peaks and ridges jutting from the ground. Many of Felix and Emilio´s friends had houses in the mountains and they were fortunate to be able to frequent this amazing terrain quite often.

Chechu's birthday spread

Spanish amigos!

Jarrett, Emilio, Felix

The whole crew on the bluff

Andres Calamaro on stage!

Once we got there, we ate the delish food Mr. Pastor made us and made our way down to the stage area. This stage was down by a lake about 20 minutes from where we had parked. And not only was the stage near the lake, it was FLOATING on it. To avoid the 20 euro cover, we watched the concert from the nearby bluff which actually was a great view. Later, after Calamaro bid us farewell, we headed into the venue for the after party and sipped on some colimocho (red wine and coke, suprisingly tasty combo). Eventually we made it back to Felix´s condo which was nearby to catch some Zzzs. The area surrounding the condos was part of a ski resort called Formigal, one of the best in the Pyrenees. It reminded me a lot of Utah out west. The next day we were to make a pit stop in France since the Pyrenees are the border between Spain and France, and the country was literally 15 minutes away. During the short drive, we gawked at the mountains in the sunlight. They are amazing. So beautiful and beyond comparable. Finally, after crossing a basically un-patrolled "border" we were in France! The land was basically the same since we were still in the Pyrenees a this point, but something interesting was that as soon as we were officially out of Spain the sun turned into clouds. Since we were on a bit of a time crunch as my bus back to Madrid was later the evening (which I changed for a later time since I did not expect to go to France!) we stopped at the closest village which was another ski resort. We almost snuck onto a cable car that went up the mountain side but the conductor saw us at the last minute. We said au revoir to France and headed back to Epaña retracing our way we had taken the night before and this time stopping alongside the road for pictures. We got lunch in the city of Huesca, which is right outside the mountain range, at Emilio´s parents´ casita. There I met his family and their friends whom they were golfing with, and had some scrumpcious steak & potatoes. After we left, we stopped by one of the only hockey rinks in Spain which was in the next city called Jaca and also explored the center and old, ruined castle in Jaca as well. As it became late afternoon, we were finally on our way back to Zaragoza where Felix showed me the old town and Roman ruins amongst the modern city. We stopped quickly back at his house where I met his mom, and she briefly showed me their house before Mr. & Mrs. Pastor drove me, Felix, and Jarrett to the bus station to see me off. I had a wonderful time in this city since it was nice to see familiar faces and also experience a smaller-town (although Zaragoza is still a roughly "big" city, it is nothing compared to Madrid, the capital of Spain) atmosphere that I was used to.

France!

Crew on the French side of the Pyrenees

Felix and I

Beautiful lake, the concert was there at night

Chicos

Zaragoza was the last of my trips for two weekends before Ireland, which I will fly out to on August 1st for 2 days. This week is the penultimate week of my internship and this weekend is my friend Lena´s twenty first birthday, so we are enjoying Madrid and taking a travelling break for now. For the last weekend in July we plan to go hiking up in the sierra outside Madrid. It´s insane to think I only have 18 days left in España!! Summer is almost over as well as my European adventure. I definitely have learned a lot so far, and am going to make the most out of my 2 1/2 weeks left before I return to the States. For now, hasta ahora!

Continuing my weekend travel frenzy, I ventured to Valencia, Spain with my friend Lena and a few others from my MSU group. Lena and I had decided to go to Valencia last minute, so we stayed in the Red Nest Hostel and our other friends stayed in the Purple Nest. Side note to fellow travellers or backpackers: "Nest" Hostels are awesome. They have locations in Valencia, Barcelona, and a few other places in Spain and maybe internationally if I remember correctly. But the staff was so helpful and the amenities were top notch. I highly recommend staying there if you´re looking for somewhere cheaper than a hotel, and they also have planned events every night such as pub crawls or city tours during the day. Well worth your time and money! Anyway, after missing our first bus at 7am (by literally 5 minutes), we caught the 9am bus and were finally on our way to the coast on a 4 hour ride. Along the way we passed windmill farms, which were quite a site to see. In the middle of farmland stretching for miles all of a sudden rows upon rows of these mechanical apparatuses appear, all turning in sync. The Spanish countryside is a pleasant background to have to stare at for an extended period of time.

Lena & I exploring Valencia

Once we arrived into the city of Valencia, we checked into the Purple Nest, dropped off our luggage, and grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby cafe. Here, Lena and I planned out our weekend. That day, we decided to catch some rays at the beach since we were craving for coastline. After a quick stop at Corte Ingles for a beach bag and facewipes (necessities when travelling), we finally hopped on bus 32 toward the beach. The destination bus stop was literally where the sand met our feet. Just what we had been waiting for! The beach there was very wide and went for miles. There was a large marina and many sailboats to the right, and to the left a few sidewalk shops and large buildings in the distance. Lena and I set up camp and snoozed off our travelling lag in the summer sun. At dusk, we grabbed some roasted corn from the sidewalk vendors and made our way back to the hostel. We showered, got ready for a chill night out, and went back to the beach area to have some dinner and walk around the marina afterwards. We were browsing the various beachside restaurants when a host from Gabbana Beach approached us and told us the table at the front of the restaurant was especially for us- how convenient. We had some drinks and a nice dinner as we gazed out at the ocean and chatted with the other waiters and bartenders. They told us that at 3am when everyone goes out for the night (I told you about the late starts in España!) the place to be is Animas, which was a five minute walk from Gabbana Beach. We told them we´d keep it in mind for the next night. After the check was paid, we walked around the marina and a racetrack, randomly, and appreciated being on the water for the weekend.

Our first dinner on the beach

Out on the marina

La Ciudad de las Artes y la Ciencias

Lena riding the bull

Me next to a big, flowery, purple people eater

Cool architecture everywhere

The next day, our last full day, we got an early start and visited La Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias a.k.a. City of the Artes and Sciences. This "city" was a sprawling park-like area with fountains, pools, crazy architecture, an art and science museum, and an aquarium. Lena and I had an entertaining photo shoot there, I´ll only include the best picks since there are many. We then made our way to the beach, and ran into the marina we had visited the night before. We gawked at the large yachts parked at the docks and the tall masses and sails all throughout when we realized there was no connection from the part of the marina we were at to the beach we wanted to be at. After contemplating swimming across the 200 foot canal to reach the other side of the port, we decided to backtrack instead. All this time the sun was shining quite bright and we started to realize some sun tan lotion would do us good, as we forgot to put on any in the morning. We finally got to the beach and were reminiscent of the softball days when we realized our major farmers tans. Nice. After we left the beach we met up with our other Spartans at the Red Nest Hostel near by and had some dinner and beer with them before we headed out on the hostel bar crawl. We ended up at Animas later in the night courtest of VIP tickets we were given from our friends at Gabbana Beach which let us cut the ridiculously long line. Our Gabbana Beach friends had told us that the club averaged 8,000 people a night and we thought that was a far cry from reality. We were wrong. This entirely rooftop-terrace bar was INCREDIBLE and packed with people. I thought I was literally in a movie. Lena and I boogied on the dance floor with the open sky above us and mingled with the crowd, making some new Italian dancing partners. Later we walked along the beach as the sun came up. Truly a successful night. The next morning before our bus back in the evening, we went to the beach one last time and swam in the Mediterranean. SO REFRESHING. We then packed up our things at the Purple Nest and grabbed a scrumpcious Italian dinner and headed for the train station for our journey back to Madrid.

Hanging at the Marina

Valencia beach

Just keep swimming

Last day there

Bareclona was only 4 days away when we got back to the capital and I could not have been more excited! It was a holiday that weekend so we had 4 days to spend there. After a gruelling 8 hour, night-bus ride across the Spanish plains we finally arrived in the city at 9am. My group and I stowed our luggage at the B-Sound hostel and took a free walking tour offered by the hostel and explored Barça. Courtesy of our tour guide, Reuhl, we got to see and hear the history of the amazing architecture constructed by the famous artist Antoni Gaudi. Along the famous stretching road Las Ramblas, we saw his works of art known as "casas" that were built for various clients, especially Paulu Guell. Gaudi was very in touch with nature and his work reflected this, based on the wimsical designs and lack of any corners or 90-degree angles. Interesting fun fact, Star Wars mastermind George Lucas was influenced by some of Gaudi´s designs and used some specific characteristics for the style of the Storm Troopers´ uniforms in his movies. After the tour, we headed to the beach, which was PACKED. It made sense though, since Barcelona is very touristy. We found an open spot in the sand and took a dip in the ocean. The mediterranean is very warm and excellent for swimming. Some of us swam out to this line of cube-shaped rocks a bit off shore, where there were sea urchins down in the tidepools in between each boulder and little habitats scattered about. One of the girls in my group stepped on an urchin, ouch! Thankfully these ones were not poisonous. When we came back to our towels, we noticed the abundance of immigrant vendors who walked along the beach, in between the towels and umbrellas. They were selling beer, water, henna tattoos, massages, hair wraps, and other various beachy things. They also were very adament about their sales, repeating the same line "aguacervezacocola" and "masaje" over and over. I have to admit, it got quite repetitive and annoying since they never let down and would essentially get right in your face. This is when I realized the strong, touristic nature of Barcelona. We tried our best to ignore them. Another interesting characteristic of Barcelona beaches is the abundance of topless tanners. I forgot this event is a European thing, and happens everywhere (including when I was in Valencia). When the sun died down, some of us grabbed lunch at an Irish pub and later regressed to the hostel. That evening was the holiday called San Juan, where there were fireworks and lots of parties on the beach. The way that fireworks were handled here made me instantly understand why they are illegal in Michigan. People would just light one up, toss it in the street, and walk away with no warning. One ignited so close to my I thought for a second it blew my leg off! No joke. I wanted to keep my distance from those crazies. The amount of people out celebrating on the beach, on the other hand, was incredible. So many people for miles, gathered around bon fires and playing music. I met up with my friend Jimmy as he was in Barcelona that weekend too. Lena and I lost the group when we went to find him and after we parted ways, her and I grabbed a Kebob (delicious snack, highly recommend them) and got a cab back to the hostel.

Gaudi's "casas" along Las Ramblas

Close-ups of the ornate designs

This house depicted the ocean with the sandstone and wavy angles

Beach!

I'm on a boat

Jimmy!

Delectable kebab

The next day, a few of us toured another Gaudi masterpiece, still in the works actually, La Sagrada Familia. This church has been under construction since its foundation in 1882 and when Gaudi died in a tragic tram accident, progress slowed almost to a standstill. Through private donations and help of various counterparts, the basillica is projected be completed by 2026- the centennial of Gaudi´s death. This building was breathtaking. The designs were so intricate and ornate, and was very Catholic. Stained glass filled the interior and was very kaleidescope-esque. Truly an amazing work of art, I am excited to see pictures of the final completion. We later took the metro to the location of Gaudi´s house: Park Guell. Before we entered the actual park, we climbed up an extremely steep street up to the highest point before the park entrance where there was a spectacular view of Barcelona and the ocean. There was also a cross at the highest peak and a lot of wind. After we gazed at the view, we headed down into Park Guell. Here one can find more Gaudi artwork with colorful tiles and curvy designs located in the place of his inspiration, nature. We also toured Gaudi´s house, which was surprisingly extremely simplistic compared to his artwork.

La Sagrada Familia seen from the street

Cool chimneys

Crazy interior

Jesus Christo

Barcelona skyline

The following day, we tried to find the Olympic Stadium but failed in this attempt due to poor directions from locals. We ended up at a more low key part of the beach with few vendors and played volleyball with some Air Force guys for a couple hours. After a final swim in the Mediterranean, grabbed a nice seafood dinner at La Barceloneta and headed out for the night. I met up with my old roommate Kara who was in town for the weekend as well. Great to see a familiar face The following morning our bus ride back was at 11:30 and the return seemed much shorter than the ride TO Barcelona, thankfully. Back to the grind during the week until Lisbon that Friday!

Park Guell!

Gingerbread-looking house

Tiled sign

Great city

An early 7:10am flight took us to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal early Friday morning. With a smaller group this time, compared to 17 people in Barcelona, we settled in at the Lisbon Chillout Hostel and explored the city center. I had known practically nothing about the country of Portugal prior to my visit, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quiant buildings and hilly terrain. Almost every rooftop visible was made of the classic Spanish-style orange semicircle shingles and the roads were narrow and made of cobblestone. We checked out the nearby waterfront and after climbed up to Castill San Jorge, an old castle on the bluff overlooking the bay. Thanks to our student discounts (score!) we toured the castle and its grounds for a whopping 3.50€. From here we had an amazing view of the city and felt the medieval vibe of the ancient castle. We grabbed lunch afterwards at a local restaurant and made our way back to the hostel. That night, we were to eat an authentic Portuguese dinner cooked at our hostel and check out the bar scene at the famous Barrio Alto. The dinner we had was SO. GOOD. Portuguese food tops Spanish food any day, and it was a nice treat to have food with such flavor and variety! There was to be a BBQ the next night at our hostel and we immediately signed up for it. Barrio Alto was really neat, and took some climbing to get there. Some of the group checked out the bars and others checked out the amazing night sights.

View of Lisbon from our hostel

CIty center!

Puppy hanging out a window

Climbing up to the castle

Portugal!

Castillo San Jorge

PORTGEUSE FOOD mmmm mmm

Barrio Alto

Chicas guapas

Saturday morning, we headed out to Sintra, a small town about 45 minutes away via train to our destination of Cabo da Roca. This vantage point was the western-most point in Europe and had unbelievable views of the Atlantic and the Iberian coast. After a roller-coaster like bus ride up the winding roads through the countryside, we finally made it to Cabo da Roca. WOW! This place reminded me of Goodhart, up north in Michigan, with the sheet cliffs down to the water and the beautiful rolling hills, err mountains is more appropriate, in both directions. I waved to my homeland from the edge as that location was the closests I had been to the States since I left. We explored the rocky coast until the return bus came barreling back to return us to the train station. I also picked up some momentos clad with the Portugeuse symbol of a rooster. Upon returning to the hostel, we relaxed and ate another fabulous dinner, and a few of us visited Torre Belem, a monument down in the city that is the national symbol of Lisbon. We took a cat nap for our early 7am flight back to Madrid that ended up getting delayed for 3 hours when we were at the airport, so much for early rising. EasyJet, you were not so easy that day. Finally we got back to Madrid at 11:30am and caught up on some much needed sleep.

Ahhhhh breathe it in

Reminiscent of Goodhart

Cabo da Roca monument

Sprawling countryside

My friend Annalise & I

I love coastline

Torre Belem at night

This weekend, my entire group is going to a city north of Madrid called Pamplona for a national holiday and festival called San Fermin, or more commonly known as the Running of the Bulls! I plan to make a pit stop in Zaragoza, another city north of Madrid, to visit high school friends Felix Pastor and Jarrett Abraham and head to Pamplona with them for the festivities. Until then, çiao amigos!

Before I even left for Madrid, my mom was already planning her visit to come see me. I knew these 3 months away from home would be tough on her, since I have never been away from my family for this length of time before. Obviously I go away to school at State, but I come home often and cleary that is not possible when located halfway across the world! (To think about how far away I am from the states is bizarre to me each time). Anywho, Kathy´s plan was to come to Spain for 2 weeks, and be accompained by Mrs. Harbour for the first week. I was so happy that my mom had a travel buddy, especially Mrs. Harbour because she is well cultured in Europe and is an excellent co-pilot, but also because of the language barrier. I find myself constantly mentioning this fact or boundary, but it can be quite difficult to deal with at times because there is no other alternative if the Starbucks barista or Zara employee do not understand you- or vice versa. That being said, I knew that the two of them could conquer Spain together, and I was excited for their arrival. When I met them at the airport on the morning of Saturday, May 28th, we grabbed a bite to eat after we collected all the luggage and I told them about my time thus far in España. Then, after some time spent figuring out where the train station was and how to get their by Metro, we were headed North toward the beautiful city of Segovia! The 2 hour train ride was a relief after lugging around bags upon bags when we could finally sit back and watch the rolling countryside pass by. I decided to take a cat nap before we got to our destination so I popped in my headphones and drifted off to some Emancipator (for those who aren´t familiar with this artist, I highly recommend them if you like chill electronic beats- very peaceful and calming). The next thing I know, my headphones are ripped out of my ears by one of the train conductors and I shot up, quite startled. My mom looked over to me from the seat across from mine with a worried look, and I asked the man what was going on. He explained to me that our tickets were not valid, and I immediately felt like Steve Martin from the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Luckily, after some more conversation with the man, he explained that we had only bought tickets that validated part of the trip to Segovia, and all we needed to do was pay the remaining amount for a full roundtrip ticket. PHEW. An MSU Study Abroad representative had warned my group about instances like this (mosty when people were intoxicated, but nonetheless) where a previous Spartan had gone 300 miles in the wrong direction before, and thank god that was not happening to us. After a good laugh and feeling like typical American tourists, we continued our journey to Segovia.

View of the plaza outside our hotel

The cute town of Segovia as seen from the top of the castle

When we got there, the sun was shining and we began walking toward our hotel. We ended up having to take a taxi because our 15 minute journey turned out to be longer than we had expected. During this short cruise, we were able to view the ascending and descending terrain of Segovia and notice that almost all of the streets were either one-way or about 5 feet wide! And even with these close quarters between buildings, cab drivers drive VERY fast. Finally we entered a beautiful plaza straight from a movie (I find that much of what I experience/see in Europe makes me feel like I´m in a movie) and arrived at Hotel Infanta Isabel. This place was a gem, and highly recommended in Mrs. Harbour´s Frommer travel book- a great pick! After unpacking and freshening up a bit, we grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe in the plaza and began exploring the quaint town. We roamed the streets and window-shopped at nearby street vendors as we made out way toward the castle Alcazar of Segovia. Fun fact (we all know I love random facts), this castle was actually the inspiration for the one pictured in Walt Disney´s Cinderella! After stepping into medieval times and peering out across the countryside on top of the tower of John II, we made our way to the other famous landmark of Segovia: the Aquaducts! This is quite a site to see, especially if you are a visual person like myself. This structure stands high above the town streets and cannot be missed. Built by the Romans, actually their slaves, the aquaducts used to be the main way of transporting water into the city. We tried to figure out HOW exactly this was done and where the water came from, but some ancient creations remain mysteries even today. And of course in the plaza below the aquaducts, there was a protest against the government. We have experienced many of these since elections were just held when I arrived in Madrid and due to the high unemployment rate, 23%!, and other various unsatisfactions. We then had dinner at an authentic Segovian restaurant and tasted some Spanish delicacies and also confused an ashtray with a saucer of oil for dipping bread... make sure you ask what something is for before testing it out yourself in a foreign country, haha.

Mom exploring the top of the castle

Before our authentic Segovian dinner, with the skyline in the background

The Roman Aquaducts!

We were to leave in the early afternoon the next morning so we hit the hay and got an early start on Sunday to check out the intricate cathedral in our plaza. We also had some scrumptious pastries for breakfast- the Spanish sure have a sweet tooth! We were then on our way back to Madrid, where I was moving homestays that evening while Kathy & Lori checked into a hotel. We also had dinner at a mexican restaurant that night with my friend Jimmy Foster, who is in Madrid for 6 weeks. That week the two ladies were going to Barcelona for a few days, and I started my internship at ISO Expertise in Las Rozas, a community right outside of Madrid (as I explained in my previous video entry).

Kathy & Lori peering out onto the Spanish countryside

The following weekend, Friday night to be exact, we were off to Toledo. We took a highspeed train there and arrived in a half an hour to our hotel Hacienda Cardenal. This place was sweet! Once inside the walls (literally like castle walls) there was a gorgeous terrace-like interior with a bar, restaurant, comfortable seating, and much shrubbery. We got a jar of Sangria to start the evening and squired about town while dusk set in and a we viewed a beautiful sunset from atop the walls of the hotel. Toldeo is much different than Segovia, in that it is almost entirely surrounded by a river and is much larger. There too was a castle, also named Alcazar, and other points of interest like museums and cathedrals. The Spanish countryside was also beautiful to see since it surrounded the city.

An amazing sunset the night we arrived

Toldeo at night

Some delicious calamari at lunch

Kathy & Lori in one of the many narrow streets

We returned to Madrid on Saturday and that evening we saw a Flamenco show in la Plaza de Callao, and my friend Lena Pantely came too. This show was amazing!! I had a lot of respect for the dancers because Flamenco style is a lot like tap dancing, and I took tap lessons for 12 years. Flamenco also has a lot of passion, and I came to find out it was all improv! Truly remarkable. The show format was that of a dinner show, with a small stage in the center where the dancers performed. There were two either be a female or male dancer, or both together, and two other men in the background singing a Spanish love story and clapping the rhythm of the music performed by a small tri of guitarrists on the opposite side of the stage. The dancers, clad in ruffly long dresses or crisp suits, expressed the emotions of the singers through their intricate moves. My host mother, Esperanza, also accompanied us and explained the background behind the style of dance since she had been to many shows in her lifetime. Hopefully I can see one more Flamenco show before I return to the states because it was very entertaining!

Toldeo by day

Me on an ancient bridge over the river that surrounds the city

Castillo Alzacar in the distance

That evening, I said goodbye to Mrs. Harbour as her flight back home was early on Sunday morning. My mom was also flying out the next day, except to Ireland for a 3 day sight seeing trip! After she returned from Ireland she was to fly home the next day. I had a wonderful time with both Lori & Kathy and am so appreciative that they came to visit me I love you both very much!

Our group at one of the canals in the city of Amsterdam

Such a cute city!

The weekend after Lori & Kathy returned back to the States, I was off to Amsterdam! Along with a few other students from my group in Madrid, we had a lovely weekend despite the rainy weather both days. The city of Amsterdam is adorable- I had a totally different impression before I arrived there which was quickly changed as we toured the cobblestone streets and peered down the many canals. Many people spoke English there, as well as other languages and obviously Dutch. On that Friday, we explored the city and figured out where we wanted to visit the following day. We also visited the Anne Frank museum, which was her house partially remastered into a modern museum. This was an incredible experience. The townhouse was much larger, heigh-wise, than I had expected and it was interesting to learn that the lower portion of the building was actually Otto Frank´s office, and the Annex above and "hidden" in the back was where the Frank family lived invisibly. During the tour we saw preserved memories like duplicate entries of Anne´s Diary, portions of the wallpaper in her room decorated with magazine clippings and various momentos of the time period, and pictures of what their dwelling looked like while they were inhabitants. The next day, my group and I had a yummy brunch at a cafe, recommended by my friend Julia who visited Amsterdam during her semester abroad, called Bagels & Beans. Great coffee and grub!

All of us at the I AmSterdam sign

And again

Bagels & Beans! Yummm

Afterwards, we visited another museum, this time on a much lighter note! We toured the Heinekein Brewery were we learned the history of the beer, saw the instruments and ingredients used to make it, and got to sample 2 free glasses of the brew itself at the end. I was very impresssed quite actually and picked up a few souvenirs for my brother Jonathon and cousin Katie. I also got a pair of ski socks for myself that are yellow with a green stripe at the top displaying the Heineken label. That evening, we spent our final night in Amsterdam by touring the local bars and while some of my group members met up with a Pub Crawl, my friend Lena and I took a cab ride through the Red Light District (for reasons purely of curiosity) before we called it an early night for our flight out the following morning. We had decided to only pass by this area since it did not seem like the best idea for two young girls to stroll down the risky strip (pun intended haha) alone, so we asked our cab driver to drive by so we at least go to see it before we left. The area we saw was the lesser known part of the Red Light District and even so it had a major impact on us. As we drove past the red, illuminated glass boxes the two of us sadly realized that the business that was conducted there was a business for unhappy people. Glancing at the girls in the windows, we understood that they had no love for themselves and could only derive pleasure from life in the physical aspect. And likewise, the people who solicited these girls´services also lacked any self-love as they paid for their temporary happiness. Surely I don´t mean to lower the mood of this blog, but I thought it was worth adding the effect of seeing this well-known area since I did not expect it whatsoever.

Lena & I in of the old Heinenken labels

Old school kegs!

Holding the main ingredients to the Heinenken beer: barley and hops

View of inside the brewery

Sunday morning, we woke up early to pack our things and wait for the shuttle from our hotel to the airport at a nearby hidden lake that we found during the weekend. The lake was five minutes walking distance from the hotel entrance and we peered out at the water and bright morning sun. I had not seen a body of water since I arrived in Madrid and I was so thankful to spend some time there before we left because I absolutely love water, lakes, oceans, you name it. I also felt my first pains of homesickness at this moment because it reminded me of summers at home in Michigan: cruising on the lake, BBQs, and spending time up north with family and friends. I reminded myself that once I returned in August I still would be able to experience this before school, which comforted me right away.

Amsterdam at night

Secret lake near our hotel

I definitely want to make a trip back to Amsterdam in the future to take a boat ride down the canals and visit the Van Gogh museum! After a nice time in the Netherlands, I was to spend the following weekends in Valencia, Spain and later Barcelona. Another blog entry about those trips soon to come!

Soooo my vid seems to have cut off very close to the end, but essentially I was in the middle of saying that about sums up my time since I reported last, and adios from Spain! Peace & love to all

It's been a while since I've blogged! What a strange verb, to blog... anyway it's because Madrid is 'The city that never sleeps,' and for good reason! Where I left you was Thursday, and that night after I met with my group from State and found where our classes would be at the International House, we decided to get a taste of the night life. Conveniently chatting through our Facebook thread, all 17 of us were to meet at La Puerta del Sol, a very popular "nocturnal" hot spot riddled with discotecas (clubs), bars, and restaurants. Once you get off at the Sol metro stop, you are welcomed by a large courtyard with a few ginormous statues and a flowing fountain in the middle. I arrived by myself and thankfully saw three girls from my crew and joined them on our quest for our other amigos. People filled the square and we must have stuck out like a sore thumb because literally every 10 seconds some promoter of one of the various clubs and/or bars would approach us and ask us what we were doing tonight and if we wanted free "chupitas" or shots. They were like white on rice and wouldn't leave us alone, even when we told them that we weren't interested and were walking away. This is like this every night, as we also came to Sol for Saturday night as well. I felt like I was in a movie- the entire area was glittering with all the lights against the dark night sky. Sounds too good to be true, yet I kid you not. Also there are many random men carrying shopping bags with six-packs selling the individual cans for 1 euro. Not a bad deal honestly... After a valiant effort we figured the rest of our crew were off together somewhere, so we decided to take up the offer of those annoying club spokespeople and followed one to a nearby Irish pub. We ended up going to about 3 or 4 other places before we ended up at Joy. This club was the BOMB. Like nothing East Lansing or any college town has ever seen. First of all, Michael Jackson was there. Literally, this guy who was on stage clad in a red and gold-hemmed jacket with a white glove was freakishly MJ's reincarnation as he grooved on stage. There was a big bar in the middle and two lounge areas on either side of the place. It was pretty big, and we ended up getting out boogie on stage before we headed home. Friday, once all of us Spartans reunited, we ended up bopping around like the previous night to other various bars/clubs. An interesting detail that is all too crucial to add is that nightlife here is essentially night-til-morning life. Bars aren't even crowded til at least 1am and go til 4am. I didn't get home til 5:30am both night, and Mom & Dad/other family who reads this, that is normal- I repeat -THE NORM for going out here. I'll agree its quite a long, and late, night. Spaniards can magically wake up at 9am the next day and be ready to conquer the world. I must learn their ways.

La Puerta del Sol! Not my photo cred

Cheers to Spartan Spirit in Spain!

Saturday afternoon I went with my two German roommates to Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de el Escorial. It took a 45 minute bus ride to get to the live, working monastery but was totally worth it. Built in 1563, the monastery is home to all the previous kings and queens of Spain and their elaborately decorated tombs. There were an extreme abundance of paintings depicting Jesus, the birth, death, & resurrection of Christ, and many other Catholic symbols and stories. Also there were corridor-long murals of wars and battles significant to Spanish history. In total, the building has 15 cloisters, 13 oratories, 86 staircases, 88 fountains, more than 1,600 paintings, 9 towers and 73 sculptures. My roommate Christoph, sidenote who is the Vice President of the German & American Friendship Club (I am becoming a member!), knew all about the monastery's history and filled me in as I walked around in awe. I forgot just how Christian/Catholic Spain is! I really enjoyed this trip with them, very educational and they are really fun to have outings with. That evening I went to Bilbao, another hip area of Madrid and got tapas and sangria with my group and our leader, Pedro. He is really cool and used to work at a bar in that area before International House and gets us in to the best places with free cover and drinks! I'll vote for Pedro any day. By the way, "tapas" here is one of the best rituals ever. For every beer you order, you get four small plates of goodies- ranging from pizzas, to tortillas (which is like quiche made with potatoes and cheese served on bread slices), to fried eggs with chorizo. You don't even need to have dinner when you order tapas, the are quite filling and also delicioso! Also such a good deal when getting a drink. They come in courses too, so you can slowly sip away your poison and be served spanish delicacies every so often.

Real Monasterio de el Escorial. Clearly no photo credit

Group with Pedro

Sunday was a Spanish holiday called San Isidro and pretty much everything was closed. Me and my friends Lauren and Wolfgang from my group went to El Parque de Retiro, as you've seen from my last post, for a bit and then met up with a few other people in La Plaza de España to watch a free concert from a Spanish band. This was a wonderful day of sunny weather and chilling on a grassy stoop with friends.

"Summertime and the livin's easy" - Sublime

Monday we started classes at 9:30am at the International House. This is about a 30 minute walk from my apartment, or about a 15 minute metro haul. The metro is really legit here because unlike subways at home, it is clean and safe and EVERYONE takes it. My group was split up based on level of competency of Spanish and we each were in our respective sections until 1:30pm. We also have a weekly Business Spanish class on Wednesday evenings which will begin this week. After class, a few of us went to La Plaza del Sur, a shopping area, and visited H&M, Mango, Paul & Bear, and some other native Spanish boutiques. That evening, I ventured out with Christoph and Christine again, this time to a bullfight! Now, I know what some of you may be thinking, and yes I wasn't the biggest fan of seeing a couple bulls be put to death. However, this cultural event has been going on in Spain for hundreds of years so for the sake of España, I had to check it out. Christoph was especially stoked. And although all the bulls die, they are fully consumed afterwards- waste not want not! We got seats 4 rows up for only 15 euro (cheap! since prices range from 2-120 euro based on seats in the sun or shade, and what section). The beautifully constructed La Plaza de Toros was made of orange brick and looked very much like the parthenon. That evening at 7pm was an amateur show of matadors against 6 small bulls. I won't go in to detail, although it wasn't as bad as I thought, but the matadors (literally translating to "muderers") conquered the large, horned beasts for 2 hours. It was really neat, but I did turn away when the bulls seemed to be losing steam. Overall it was a great experience and afterwards us three amigos went to a local bar near our home, El Blanco Palmona (the white dove), for tapas and beer.

La Plaza de Toros!

Roomies!

Opening ceremony in the ring

El toro y el matador

Today, we had our 2nd day of classes and also had an orientation for our upcoming internships on what to expect, etc. After this I decided to go running in El Parque Oeste near mi casa and explored much more than I previously had last weekend. It's AMAZING. Super hilly, perfect for just walking alone, with many statues and waterfalls and people having picnics on the stretches of grass. I am so lucky to have this park so close to me. I met up later with my friend Lena and we did a 20 minute yoga workout in a different part of the park before dinner, which will be a frequent occurrence for us we decided. To nice of a time not to! And here I am, updating you folks with my life thus far. I'm sure there are some details I have left out but don't worry! I have included a Facebook link to my full album so you can see through my own eyes Tomorrow is the birthday of a girl, Jessica, in my group, and a few of us are having sushi and a night on the town to celebrate. I'm hoping to have another excursion soon with my German buddies and also travel somewhere else in Spain this weekend. More to come soon my friends! Stay classy.