Barcelona

We had no school Thursday for father's day and I didn't have any classes on Friday so I spent my long weekend in Barcelona! I absolutely loved the city. It is so beautiful and there is so much to see and do. Sondie, Christy and I decided to take the AVE train which is super fast rather than fly Ryan Air again. It was a very positive experience. Thursday morning we met at the train station and easily got our tickets and found our platform. Christy ended up having to take a later train because her ticket reservation had some problems. Me and Sondie were in different cars of the train so we set a meeting time for breakfast in the cafateria car. I loved being able to see the country as we rode. Trains are also nice because you can walk around if your legs get tired of sitting. While we ate, we looked at all of our tourist guides and maps and books to make a very detailed itinerary. There was so much we wanted to do so we really had to be organized. We maped everything out so we could maximize our time sightseeing and minimize our time traveling. When we got to Barcelona, we met our friend Katie who flew in that same morning. We went to our hostel which was super nice. There were 5 beds and our own bathroom. The kitchen was down the hall and was basicly ours since we were the only ones staying there. We droped our stuff and headed out to see the city. Our first stop was Casa Batllo. This is one of Gaudi's creations. We took a audiogude tour of the house but the best part was the roof. You could see the entire city from there! We ended up staying there for quite a while so once we left we were kind of hungry. We found a restaurant called Obama's, so of course we had to check it out. We ordered tapas and relaxed a little. Then we went grocery shopping and walked around Las Ramblas until Christy's train arrived. We took her back to the hostel and got her all settled. Then we decided to walk down towards the water via Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a street full of people, performers, and stores. When we got to the port, we saw a girl who is in Madrid on our same program! She was in Barcelona visiting her boyfriend. They recomended a good Mexican restaurant for us so we went. I have been craving Mexican food for quite some time so I was pretty happy with this decision. We had a nice huge meal outside on the tarrace. By the time we got back to the hostel it was close to midnight and we were exausted. We decided it made more sense to stay in and sleep so we would be ready for our big day on Friday.



Friday started out with a big American breakfast that we cooked in our kitchen. Then we set out to see the Cathedral of Barcelona and the whole gothic neighborhood. We made our way to the Picasso Museum which I really enjoyed. Some of his young paintings are there as well as his interpretations of Las Meninas, which were my favorite. Then we headed over to the Chocolate museum. It was basicly a historical look at how chocolate came to Barcelona. There were a ton of sculptures made of chocolate and I thought it was pretty great. After sampeling some chocolate we walked to a huge park to have our picnic lunch we brought. At the entrance to the park there is a giant arch named the Triumphal Arch. The park also has a zoo, a museum, and lots of fountains and paths to walk on. We walked until we were too tired to walk anymore. Then we went to Montjuic which means "Mount of the Jews". It is a part of the city that overlooks all of Barcelona. Our plan was to spend a good half of the day there but everything we did took longer than expected so it was already getting dark when we got there. Oh I almost forgot! We took a funicular up the mountain which was like a metro but above ground and going up a mountain. I was pretty excited by it. When we got there we walked around looking for the Poble espanol which has immitations of all of the villages in Spain. You can look at the arcitecture and they sell traditional things from each place. On our way there, we saw the magic fountains. My tour book talked about a water and light show at the fountains on the weekend nights. Of course we had to stop and watch. It was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. There were huge sprays of water in all different colors to choreographed music. It really was magical! By the time we got to Poble Espanol it looked pretty closed. We decided not to pay to get in since it wouldn't be open for long. We went back down the mountain and had dinner at an italian restaurant close to Las Ramblas. Then we went back to our hostel and changed for the night. We had plans to meet up with Jennette, the girl from our trip. She was going to take us to a discoteca on the port. We went and met her but found out that the discoteca was at capacity already so we couldn't go in. It was probably for the best since it was already almost 1 in the morning!

Saturday we got up bright and early for another day of tourism. We went to Segrada Familia first because we knew there would be lots of people there. We were right! We waited in line for quite a while just to buy our tickets. I think it was definitly worth the wait. Segrada Familia was started by Gaudi in 1883. He continued working on it until his death in 1926. This is said to be his greatest work. The church is still not nearly finished, but other people have continued working off his plans and it has made considerable progress. They are expecting to work on it at least another quarter century. The church was so different from all of the other cathedrals and churches we have seen. Gaudi's style really shines through. In the basement (which will eventually be the crypt) there is a musuem with models of what it will look like when its finished. I guess now I have a reason to come back in 25 years! After Segrada Familia we headed over to Park Guel, which is Guadi's famous park. He intended it to be a gated residence for rich people but at that time the wealthy wanted to live in the city, not on the outskirts. So now it is an amazing park. This is definitly what I think of when I think of Barcelona. It has the curvy mosaic benches and lots of green space for lounging. We ate lunch in the park and hung out there a while. Then we went to Casa Milla, another Gaudi designed house. This house is so interesting. There are 33 chimnies and the view from the roof is unreal. The house was built as an apartment building with two residents on each floor. One of the appartments is still intact with furniture and everything so you get to tour that. They give you a headset that tells you information as you go. I was fasinated by the entire thing. Casa Milla is very close to Casa Batllo, which we saw on the first day. We decided to walk past it on our way home so we could see it at night. It was beautiful! I'm glad we toured it during the day so we could see Gaudi's use of light on the inside, but it was good to go back and see the night effect too. Then we went back to our hotel and changed into something a little nicer. Our teacher recomended a nice restaurant to us so we were going to check it out. Amazingly, we found it and got a table. It was really late, even for Spain time. We ate a delicious meal except I had a little problem with ordering. There were no vegetarian options on the menu so I was asking the waiter the ingredients of many of the dishes. I have a hard time with food words because they always use very flowery words to make it sound better. I miss heard him and tried to repeat what he had said but accadentally said something very vulgur! I didn't even know that it was a bad word and I didn't understand why he was looking at me so strangely. My friends are taking a coloquial Spanish class and they told me later that I was not saying rabit, but instead a bad word for a female body part! I was so embarased! We made it through the rest of dinner without any drama. After dinner we went to meet up with Jennette since Friday night fell through. Her boyfriend knew of a bar with very extravegant drinks so we went to check it out. There were hundreds of drinks listed on the wall and they all had wild names... we opted for the Harry Potter. There was an orange slice and they put sugar and cinnamon on top and set it on fire! The cimmamon sparked like a magic wand!. It was pretty exciting. Then we went back to the hostel to sleep.

Sunday we got up early and cleaned before checking out. We went to the train station and back to Madrid. Our train experience was just as possitive except that there were no people on the train when we got on so we just sat together. We didn't realize that the train makes 4 stops and we were in someone's seat at the next stop. By that time someone was in our real seats so we just choose some other ones. But at the next stop these people came! We ended up moving about 4 times. It felt really good to be home. I was pooped! I'm still trying to catch up on sleep and school work. On that note, I'm going to go do some reading!

Prince Felipe

Me and my senora have been talking a lot lately and getting along really well. Yesterday she asked me if I wanted to go out for lunch with her and her friend. I said yes, and we went to a small pueblo outside of Madrid to their favorite resturant. It is famous for rabbit, which did not thrill me. I had some delicious grilled vegetables thought. My senora and her friend split a rabbit (ahhh!!!). It was nice to have the traditional long Spanish lunch. We sat around eating and talking until almost 5:00! Then we went to do a little shopping. My senora picked out a bunch of clothes for me to try on. I ended up with a really cute beach dress and a shirt. It was good to hang out with an adult for a change. I get so used to being with people my own age that I forget how nice it is to talk to grown ups.

Today I had a four hour art class in the Prado. We were having double class to make up for next week when we have a four day weekend. When we got there, there were tons of police. I asked my professor why there was so much security and she didn't know. It took us forever to get in and security was extra tight. While waiting in line for the metal detector, we found out that the Prince and his wife were expected at the Prado this morning! My professor wanted to continue with class, but we were all pretty excited. As we walked to go see Velazquez's work, the security woman made us move to the side because the prince (and about a million reporters and security people) were entering! We got to see them walk by! I know it isn't much, but I saw the future king of Spain! After that we had to continue with our VERY long class. I have been to the Prado three times now, and there is still so much left for me to see! This afternoon it was about 72 degrees so I did my homework outside on our patio. Then I went for a nice run in the park. I am definitly not missing the cold, that's for sure! Well, that's all for now!

Valle de los Caidos

My weekend full of class trips continued on Saturday with two excursions for my cultural studies class. The first was to the Reina Sofia art museum to see Civil War art. Many of the pieces we looked at I had just looked at with my parents but this time I had my teacher as a guide telling me the meaning. We studied Guernica in depth and looked at some Dali. Then we had a 20 minute break before our next trip. The second trip was to the Valley of the Fallen. This monument was built by Franco as a memorial to the victoms of the Spanish Civil War. It is also where he is burried. It is about 45 minutes outside of the city and is built underneath a mountain. The monument is quite controvercial because it was built by republican war prisioners and many died in the construction process. On top of the mountain there is a giant cross. You can see the cross from miles away. It was a pretty intense experience. Apparently this was Franco's pride and joy and his power is evident in every aspect. Inside there is a bisilica that still holds mass everyday. There are also the bodies of many people who died during the civil war. We got an extensive history lesson as we explored the grounds. I'm really glad I saw it, but I don't think I will be going back.

Today I had a great day! The AYA director invited us all over to her house for cooking class. We learned to make tortilla espanola, an omlet type thing. Then we made a spinach dish and arroz con leche for dessert. We learned to make sangria also! It was fun to work together to make a delicious spanish meal. I will definitly be repeating some of the recipies this summer for my family and friends. I'll leave you with some pictures of our wonderful cooking!

Medioambiente excursion

Today I had an excursion for my environment and society class. We took a big bus and drove through the mountains to our final destination of Segovia. We stopped three times on the way to see the change in climate and vegetation as the altitude increased. Our first stop was near a reservour at the bottom of the mountain. It was raining and quite windy, so this stop was brief and horible. We all got pretty wet from the water that blew off the reservour. Our teachers wanted to give us an entire lesson outside but we convinced them to do it from on the bus. Since we've been having such rainy weather lately, the bus couldn't go over the mountain so we had to go through a tunnel. We got to the other side, near the top, and got out at a national park. This would have been a lovely field trip had it not been raining. We learned about the different types of trees and why they can grow here but not lower on the mountain. We trudged through the snow to see the river that flows down the mountain. Many of the students in my class are from California and have never seen snow. They were not prepared at all for the cold. My feet were soaked, but I was not too uncomfortable. I had four layers on and two pairs of gloves. Today being from Wisconsin actually came in handy! When we were all too cold to walk anymore we got back on the bus and went to see the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. This is one residence of the king of Spain. It is beautiful but he only lives there during the summer months so it was pretty shut down. The gardens are supposed to be pretty amazing, but they looked a lot like snow to me. We walked around there for a while and learned a little about the history of the castle. Then we got back on our bus and headed to Segovia. Segovia is a great little town north of Madrid. It has a really famous aquaduct that I'd seen in many pictures. It was way cooler to see it in real life. It was made by the romans in the first or second century. I am very impressed by their arquitecture. The aquaduct carries water down from the mountains and ends up in a reservour to provide water to the people of Segovia. Although it no longer works, it is still quite a site to see. Then we went and looked at some of the arcitecture around the city and ended with the Alcazar castle. As we arrived at the castle, the sun began to set. It was beautiful! It was originally constructed as an arab fort but later was used as a residence for royalty. Rumer has it that this is the castle Walt Disney based his Cinderella castle off of. I can definitly see the resemblence. It was starting to get dark so we went back to our bus and back to Madrid. I was cold, wet, and tired by the time I got home. I really liked Segovia and wish I could have seen more of the city...I guess a day trip is in order soon!

Hannah the tour guide

As soon as my parents got here I got way to busy to write, so I'll fill you in on our time together. Sunday we woke up to a rainy morning. We got ready anyway and headed out to El Rastro, Europe's largest flea market. By the time we got there it was done raining and the sun came out! El Rastro is in the streets and it is a million little stalls, many of which sell the exact same thing. We looked around for a while and baught some souvinears. That afternoon we had lunch with my Senora. She made a vegetarian paella, which was delicious. It is usually a rice and seafood dish but she made it with vegetables instead. Then we had a traditional Madrid dessert but I forgot the name. It was a lot like french toast. We wanted to go to the Prado that night, but by the time we were done with lunch and back to the appartment it was already 6:30 and it is only free until 7. Me and my mom did some shoping instead and my dad rested at the appartment. We cooked some dinner and I headed home for the night.

Monday I only had one class so I decided to bring my parents to school with me. We took the train out to Getafe where the university is and I showed them around the city a little. I helped them to buy lunch at a famous little sandwhich shop and went to class while they ate. After class we went back into the city and went to the Retiro park. We rented a small row boat on the lake and paddled around for a while. In one of my tourist books we found this convent that has cloistered nuns that make sweets. We went there and had to say a password to get in. Then we had to put our money in a lazy susan contraption and out came our cookies! It was very strange. I showed my parents Plaza Mayor, which is quite a site. Then we went to the grocery store and got dinner supplies. We went back to the appartment and cooked and ate and I went home.

Tuesday I had class all morning so my parents were on their own. They were planning to go to the Royal Palace, but it was closed for a royal function until 11. In the meantime, they saw a cathedral and got some good views of Madrid. At 11 they got to go inside the palace, which I think is one of the coolest things I have seen here. After class, I met them at the appartment for lunch. My mom and I headed out for the clothing museum. My dad thought this might not be his scene so he went to take pictures around the city instead. We got a little lost on our way to the museum, but found it in pleanty of time. It was a really cool museum and very hands on. You got to see the evolution of Spanish clothing as well as try on some fashion trends from the past. We met up with my dad at the Prado and went to see some famous paintings. We saw Velazques, Goya, El Greco and a few others but that museum is huge! By 8:00 our feet were exausted so we left and went back to the appartment for dinner.

Wednesday I had a big test at 1:00, so I went to school early to study and my parents were on their own in the city. My test went well and then I met up with my parents at my senora's appartment. We gave her a present and they got to say goodbye. Then we went and saw where Goya is burried. It is kind of far away but it is in a little church covered with his frescos. It was absolutly beautiful. We planned to go out for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, but no restaurants open until at least 8:00. We had some time to kill so we wandered around the city a bit and then decided to walk to the restaurant instead of take the metro. It turns out it is really far and it was really windy and cold. We finally got there and it was closed, even though it said it opened at 8. We opted to go to an italian resturanted instead since they definitly had vegetarian food. It was a DELICIOUS meal. I had four-cheese ravioli with spinich. I haven't eaten a dinner out in Madrid since the first night here because my senora cooks for me every night. It was sooo good. Then I went home to sleep.

This morning I helped my parents check out of their appartment and took them to the metro that would take them to the airport. I couldn't take them all the way there because I had class, but I'm sure they made it fine. I headed off to school and had a regular day. I am super exausted. It is hard to go to school and play tour guide but it was definitly worth it. It was sad to say goodbye to my parents and even sadder to think that the next time I see them I will be in Wisconsin. I guess now I can look forward to Emily's visit over Easter!

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip to Segovia for my enviornment class. I am really looking forward to it except that we are stoping in the mountains and it's going to be really cold!! I do not miss the snow! I'll let you know how it goes!

I have visitors!

Today my mom and dad arrived in Madrid. Although their plane was super delayed and they missed their connection, they eventually made it safely. I picked them up at the airport and we came to my house so they could meet my Senora and see my house. She was so great and drove them over to their appartment that they rented. I had no idea how to get there and we had all the luggage so the ride was very much appreciated. The appartment they are staying in is sooo nice. There is a porch with a table, although it's not quite warm enough to use. There is a little kitchen with all the dishes and pots and pans we could possibly need. The living room has a sofa that folds out into a bed as well as a table and a tv. There is a nice bathroom and even a little staircase up to the roof! I think they are really going to enjoy living there for the week. After we dropped off all of their luggage and freshened up a bit, we went out to explore the city. I took them to the center of town and we saw the Royal Palace, one of the things on my mom's to-do list. They are going to go back one day while I am in school and go inside. Then we walked some more and saw Sol, the center of the city, and Gran Via. We accadentally walked all the way to the park so we decided to check that out too. Retiro park is my favorite place in this entire city so I loved showing it off to my parents. I showed them all the places I run and my favorite fountains and even the crystal palace. The Reina Sofia is free on Saturdays so we headed over there to see our favorite paintings. I have been learning about Guernica for my entire Spanish speaking career so it was pretty amazing to see it in real life. It is huge and really has much more meaning when you see it in person. I brought the book that Ben gave me for Christmas and read everyone the information provided about the painting. The other American tourists listened in and were thankful for the additional information. Slowly, we started fading and decided to head out and get some dinner. We went to a tapas bar that I have been to before and really enjoy. It was pretty empty since it was early for dinner (8:30). We ordered sangria and three different tapas. They were all delicious! Then we found a bakery and got some sweets to munch on as we walked back to the metro. I guided my parents back to their appartment to get some sleep. They are exausted since they haven't slept for approximately 48 hours. Tomorrow we are going to do some shoping and have lunch here at my house with my Senora. I am so happy that my parents arrived safely. I can't stop smiling, it is so good to see them and to play tour guide! I'm sure we'll have more adventures to comment on soon!

Carnival in Alicante

This past weekend, Christy, Sondie, and I flew to Alicante to visit some of our friends from Ripon who are studying there. Friday me and Sondie have art class in the morning so we couldn't leave until later in the day. For art class we went to the Palacio Real, which is not the palace where the actual King and Queen live, but it is still pretty amazing. This is where they host their royal functions and such. Every room has a famous fresco on the ceiling and is decorated very dramatically. I am really enjoying our art class because the format makes so much sense. Thrusdays we have class in the classroom and talk about a theme or type of art. Then Friday we meet somewhere in the city and actually see the art we just learned about. However I dislike the fact that it meets every Friday morning because it definitly makes traveling harder. Anyway, we left Friday night around 9:00. The flight is really short but our plane was an hour delayed. We arrived in Alicante at 11:20. The last bus from the airport was at 11:10. We were very sad but decided to just take a taxi. The taxi man droped us off right in front of our hostel and Theresa was there waiting for us! We checked in and went to check out our room. After my last hostel experience I was a bit hesatint, but it was great! There were three beds, two twins and one double. There was a little balcony and best of all there was heat! We decided to explore the town a bit before going to bed. When we planned this trip, we had no idea that this weekend was Carnival. Carnival is celebrated all around Spain but it is not a very big deal in Madrid. Alicante is on the mediteranean and it is celebrated much more there. There were decorations everywhere and three stages with concerts and such. We were all pretty tired so we just grabed a quick bite to eat and went to bed. In the morning we went on a hunt for a supermarket. We were trying to spend the least amount of money possible so buying groceries just made sense. We met up with Theresa and she showed us the market. The food was so fresh but I was not prepared to see fish THAT fresh. They still had heads and eyes!! We baught some delicious fruit and went to a real grocery store to get sandwhich stuff. Then we had to walk back to our hostel to put it all away because it was too heavy to carry around. Tour guide Theresa showed us all around her city, starting with the most important- the beach. Although it wasn't warm enough to swim or lay out or anything, it was still nice to see the ocean. There is a huge boardwalk that we walked out on to get a good view of the water. Then we looked at the little shoping stalls around the beach. We found a nice restaurant with outside seating and had lunch. Lunch in Spain takes about two hours so after lunch it was already 5:00. Theresa left us to go take a nap and get ready for her night and we decided to do some touristy things. There is a castle in Alicante that is super tall and from the top you can see the entire city and out into the ocean. We found the bottem and found an elevator that takes you to the top. It was the most amazing view I have ever seen. I knew it would be beautiful but I had no idea how far I would be able to see! We walked on the way down for as far as we could and then took the elevator the rest of the way. I guess the castle started as a fort for protection because you can see the entire city and protect all of the people. Over the years it housed various kings and had other various uses. Now it is a tourist attraction and has an art museum inside. After that we walked around the city a bit more and looked at the kids all dressed up in their costumes before heading back to our hostel to get ready for carnival. We weren't really sure what to expect so we each baught a mask and wore a niceish dress. Don't worry, we fit in quite well. We got beautiful and headed out to the city. The streets were full of people and music. We listened to some music, danced, and had a pretty good time. Me and Sondie even tried a gofer (a waffle with gooey chocolate all over). It was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. When we got tired we walked back to our hostel and went to sleep. We could still hear the party hapening in the streets all night long. Sunday morning we slept in a bit but had to check out by noon. Our flight wasn't until 11 at night so we had a lot of time to kill. We walked around the beach a bit more and found the bullfighting ring. We went out for ice cream and met up with our other friend Lindsay for lunch. We still had a lot of time left so we found a biodiversity exibit by the water and went. Sondie is a biology major so she was really interested in the science aspect of it all. I thought it was pretty interesting. Finally we were ready to catch the bus to the airport so we waited at the little stop. All of the sudden we saw our bus...going the other direction on the other side of the street. We ran to catch it but it didn't stop so we had to wait 40 minutes for the next one. We made to the airport ontime and caught our flight and everything. We made it home tired but it one piece. Now for another week of school! This week can't go fast enough because my parents are coming this weekend! It's pretty late here so I will post pictures later!