If you are ever having a bad day, just listen to some Mika. I start my morning off by turning up the volume on my Mika songs...I can't help but have a good day!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sevilla and Granada take two..
After my amazing weekend in Barcelona, my dad and I headed to Sevilla for two days and are currently in Granada for two days. I have already been to both Sevilla and Granada but my dad really wanted to see both cities so I compromised ;) It is amazing how much a little sunshine and blooming orange trees can change a girl's mind about a city...Sevilla was so much fun the first time I visited but has easily become my favorite city in Spain. The weather was absolutely incredible! My dad and I visited the Plaza de Espana, the Cathedral, and the Park Maria Luisa. I was glad that I was able to take my dad to all of those places, he fell in love as well! We spent our mornings sight seeing and our afternoons strolling the cobble stone streets, along the river, and enjoying good food and wine.
Yesterday we arrived in Granada. We checked into our hotel and then I showed my dad a few of the spots I remembered from my first visit. Unfortunately we didn't make reservations to the Alhambra but we were able to get tickets to the Gardens. My dad really didn't miss out on seeing anything by not getting the full tour. The only thing we couldn't do was enter the main palaces. The gardens were beautiful and I think my dad was fully satisfied. After visting the Alhambra I took my dad to the opposite side of the city so we could look at a full view of the Palace. We found ourselves inside a tradition Spanish bar where my dad tried the blood sausage...I couldn't do it. My spring break has been incredible so far and it's only going to get better. We are headed back in the morning to Alicante for a day and a half and then it's off to Italy to visit my brother and his family for a week. I already miss Sevilla, I can still smell the sweet orange blossoms...
Yesterday we arrived in Granada. We checked into our hotel and then I showed my dad a few of the spots I remembered from my first visit. Unfortunately we didn't make reservations to the Alhambra but we were able to get tickets to the Gardens. My dad really didn't miss out on seeing anything by not getting the full tour. The only thing we couldn't do was enter the main palaces. The gardens were beautiful and I think my dad was fully satisfied. After visting the Alhambra I took my dad to the opposite side of the city so we could look at a full view of the Palace. We found ourselves inside a tradition Spanish bar where my dad tried the blood sausage...I couldn't do it. My spring break has been incredible so far and it's only going to get better. We are headed back in the morning to Alicante for a day and a half and then it's off to Italy to visit my brother and his family for a week. I already miss Sevilla, I can still smell the sweet orange blossoms...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Barcelona
I just had an amazing weekend/start to my spring break, in Barcelona with my dad and Brittany! It was so much fun to spend a few days with two of my favorite people! Barcelona was an incredible city, but not my favorite of the cities I've been to in Spain. I loved the contrast of the city and the beach, Britt and I were able to lay out on Monday and soak up some Spanish sun. We visited Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Gruell Park...both were incredible! I think that Britt and my dad were tapa'd out by the time our weekend was over. It was such a treat to get to share my Spanish experience for a few days. I was sad that Brittany had to leave back to Budapest, but I am so happy that we were able to meet in Spain, who would have thought two Idaho girls on the beach in Barcelona :D
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
bi·zarre
bi·zarre
San Sebastian. There aren't words to describe the city that I truly fell in love with. My friend Melissa and I took an overnight bus ride (10 hours) to visit some of my friends from the Madrid tour. The city was nothing like I expected...I felt like every building was ornate, even the bridges had been thoughtfully designed. I loved the Basque influences throughout the city. Melissa studied last spring semester in San Sebastian so it was really nice to have someone who knew their way around the city. The weather was absolutely beautiful when we were there, which was a rare treat for the winter. I almost regretted not doing better research for my study abroad, San Sebastian would have been an amazing experience. Unfortunately I haven't downloaded any of my photos from the trip to San Sebastian so those will have to come later.
/bɪˈzɑr/ 
Toggle for Spelled">Show Spe
[bih-zahr]
markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd: bizarre clothing; bizarre behavior.
It had been forever since I've been able to update my blog because my computer suddenly decided to die--my friend Melissa is in Barcelona for the weekend and kindly offered to let me borrow her computer, so finally an update about the last month of my life. As you can see I've incorporated the work "bizarre" in several ways...first there is my title, then the pronunciation, and finally a definition of the word. I chose this for a very specific reason, this morning I was enjoying a cup of cafe con leche with some of my friends and we were discussing the series of events that have been occurring, more specifically the events of Semana Santa (I'll fill you in later), and my friend Morgen pointed out that if she could describe the festivals/celebrations of Spain in one word it would be "bizarre". I thought about it for a moment and then realized that if I could use one word to describe Spain in general it would be "bizarre". There are so many outrageously or whimsically strange events that occur every day. Then Morgen suggested that I start a new blog and share one "bizarre" story that happens to me each day...so, within the next few days I will be posting a link to my new blog about my bizarre experiences in Spain.
I'm struggling as I sit here trying to think of the best way possible to sum up EVERYTHING that I have done in the past month...
Sevilla. Sarah, Sara, Morgen, Mike, and I flew with Ryanair to Sevilla the weekend of March 5th. I had my first hostel experience. When we arrived our room wasn't ready so we had to leave our stuff in a back room so that we could wander through the city. The city was absolutely beautiful, even with the rain. We went to the cathedral and climbed to the bell tower..the view from the top was really amazing. We also visited the Plaza de Espana, which was probably one of my favorite parts just because it was a beautiful structure. Sarah, Sara, and I cooked dinner in our hostel both nights which was a lot of fun! Overall it was a really great experience!
Toggle for Spelled">Show Spe
[bih-zahr]
markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd: bizarre clothing; bizarre behavior.
It had been forever since I've been able to update my blog because my computer suddenly decided to die--my friend Melissa is in Barcelona for the weekend and kindly offered to let me borrow her computer, so finally an update about the last month of my life. As you can see I've incorporated the work "bizarre" in several ways...first there is my title, then the pronunciation, and finally a definition of the word. I chose this for a very specific reason, this morning I was enjoying a cup of cafe con leche with some of my friends and we were discussing the series of events that have been occurring, more specifically the events of Semana Santa (I'll fill you in later), and my friend Morgen pointed out that if she could describe the festivals/celebrations of Spain in one word it would be "bizarre". I thought about it for a moment and then realized that if I could use one word to describe Spain in general it would be "bizarre". There are so many outrageously or whimsically strange events that occur every day. Then Morgen suggested that I start a new blog and share one "bizarre" story that happens to me each day...so, within the next few days I will be posting a link to my new blog about my bizarre experiences in Spain.
I'm struggling as I sit here trying to think of the best way possible to sum up EVERYTHING that I have done in the past month...
Sevilla. Sarah, Sara, Morgen, Mike, and I flew with Ryanair to Sevilla the weekend of March 5th. I had my first hostel experience. When we arrived our room wasn't ready so we had to leave our stuff in a back room so that we could wander through the city. The city was absolutely beautiful, even with the rain. We went to the cathedral and climbed to the bell tower..the view from the top was really amazing. We also visited the Plaza de Espana, which was probably one of my favorite parts just because it was a beautiful structure. Sarah, Sara, and I cooked dinner in our hostel both nights which was a lot of fun! Overall it was a really great experience!
View from the bell tower of the Cathedral.
Entrance to the Cathedral
Another view of the Cathedral
San Sebastian. There aren't words to describe the city that I truly fell in love with. My friend Melissa and I took an overnight bus ride (10 hours) to visit some of my friends from the Madrid tour. The city was nothing like I expected...I felt like every building was ornate, even the bridges had been thoughtfully designed. I loved the Basque influences throughout the city. Melissa studied last spring semester in San Sebastian so it was really nice to have someone who knew their way around the city. The weather was absolutely beautiful when we were there, which was a rare treat for the winter. I almost regretted not doing better research for my study abroad, San Sebastian would have been an amazing experience. Unfortunately I haven't downloaded any of my photos from the trip to San Sebastian so those will have to come later.
The next trip in my series of weekend trips was Las Fallas in Valencia. Sarah, Melissa, and I took the train from Alicante to Valencia and spent the entire weekend there. First of all there were millions of people--the city was so crowded that it was impossible to navigate through certain parts. For those of you who aren't familiar with Fallas it is a festival that takes place each year in Valencia...artists spend an entire year designing and building paper mache sculptures and on the night, not to mention spend thousands of dollars, on the night of Las Fallas they burn all of the structures to the ground. The Fallas were truly incredible works of art, as an artist I would have been irritated and crushed to watch such an amazing creation be burnt to the ground in a matter of seconds. The weekend of Las Fallas was really exhausting but I'm really glad that I got to experience such a huge part of the Spanish culture.
[Pictures of Fallas to come]
Last weekend there was some sort of festival going on, it seems there is always a festival in Spain, and my friends and I ran into a Spanish rendition of Grease on the Explanada...I almost died of laughter because if was one of the funniest/strangest things I've ever seen. There was also some sort of pageant event in which girls were bawling because they had to give up their title as princess of the Explanada, fireworks, etc. it was a strange night.
Semana Santa, or better known as Holy Week, recently took place in Spain. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Spain loves their holidays! There was a 5 hour parade every single night during Holy Week. My dad arrived on Wednesday so he was able to experience one of these lovely parades [can you sense the sarcasm?] The parades consisted of traditional Spanish dress, music, and large statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary...it was interesting to say the least. However, 6 nights of the same parade lasting well into the night, it got a little old.
As I mentioned earlier, my dad arrived Wednesday...the poor thing had a walk about 10 miles the first day he was in Alicante because I'm not familiar with the bus system here because I walk everywhere. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon touring around the city. Thursday my host mother made a delicious paella for lunch and I got to work on my Spanish translation skills. Brittany arrived late Thursday night and also had to great joy of experiencing the 5th parade that week in Alicante. My dad, Britt and I had a great day in Alicante on Friday and left early Saturday morning for Barcelona. I will post a separate posting with details from our weekend in Barcelona along with more pictures!
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