Things that I miss about home:
American food: There are no corndogs, mac n cheese, wheat thins, good steak, or normal meats (behind the deli counter) sold here...
Having nice things: We have no carpet, spring mattress, couch, TV, ice, or oven. Going home is going to be amazing!
Dryers: I have to plan when I want to do laundry with the weather. Plus our washer takes an hour and a half...
Final schedules: I still don't know my finals schedule, and it spans over 4 weeks... Really hard to plan trips.
Cell phone: Here we have prepaid phones so everyone talks through facebook. No one ever really uses their phone, so when you do call them/me, we normally don't pick up...
No exchange rate: Not needing to worry if pulling out 150 euros today is more or less expensive than tomorrow
Getting to carry on 2 bags: Here you don't get a personal item when you fly, so you have to cram everything in 1 carry on for the weekend/the 2 weeks I'm gone come April 15th... We'll see how that goes.
My family and friends: I miss you guys! Thank goodness for gchat/skype, I don't know how people did this before...
Things that I don't miss about home:
Cell phone: Its really nice to not need to worry about picking up your phone all the time when you're out.
Being in Champaign: I love being in Europe! There is so much to see here!
Having actual work to do: Here, none of my classes really have work. I have to do maybe 5 hours of work a week, and that's pushing it.
Buying in bulk: I go shopping once a week and get fresh bread, inexpensive seafood, and amazing milk. Great stuff, and I don't have to store so much
Waking up at a reasonable hour: I get up here most days without an alarm clock. I have one class at 10:30 on Tuesdays, and other than that my first class is at 1:15 pm.
Always speaking in English: I love getting to speak in Spanish and practice other languages. Its so cool!
Being in the suburbs: Here in a metropolitan city, there are always things to do and places to see!
Driving everywhere: I love the public transit! I can fly, take a bus, or use the metro all the time. I never need a car! So convenient. And I don't have to worry about how I'll get home after a night out.
American desserts: The pastries in Europe are to die for! So fluffy and such a variety. Not to mention there is a pastelería every few blocks. I swear I salivate every time I pass one.
Policed internet: Here, downloading movies is not a problem. I have watched so many movies, its great!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Las Fallas
March 17-19 a group of friends went to a town 4 hours East of Madrid called Valencia. It is on the Mediterranean coast and has a large festival the week leading up to March 19th called Las Fallas. The festival has 3 main components:
1) The presentation of the flowers to the virgin
2) The Fallas, or sculptures, are made out of paper mache and are on display the week leading up to Saturday. On Saturday night at midnight and 1 am, they burn all of the Fallas to the ground.
3) The firecrackers and fireworks
So my group got there on Thursday night and we took the metro and walked up the coast to our hostel/apartment that we rented for the weekend. On the way we stopped for dinner and got calamari. The food was superb! Since we were on the coast, everything was so fresh and cooked to perfection. So much better than seafood in Chicago lol. Then, since our apartment was directly on the sea, we went for a walk along the Mediterranean under the stars. It was so relaxing and serene to hear the crashing of the waves. It made me so excited to move to LA and get to live near the beach all the time!
The next day we went into town to experience Las Fallas! We had heard about the general 3 components I pointed out to you, but had no idea when and where they occur. Sooo getting on a bus to go to the city center was step 1. While on the bus, we met some natives, who were extremely helpful and told us about the Big Bang which goes on at 2 in Plaza de Ayuntamiento, so obviously we went there. It was 75 degrees and sunny. Put that together with it being packed with people, and it was warm! I actually got a little sun even, very exciting since Madrid seems to like to rain a fair amount... (Its like I'm back in Champaign sometimes). The Big Bang is when they set off fireworks, directly in the square (They aren't big on safety) and it is a 20 minute firework show in broad daylight. Its an odd concept, but really they just want the noise, which we later learned is a huge component. During the finale, the windows of the buildings in the square were rattling and you could feel the noise in your chest! It was incredible, and if you look at my facebook, you can see pictures of the before and after. Before, it was sunny and clear skies; after, it was filled with smoke and ash. You couldn't see 20 feet in front of you.
The presentation of the flowers we heard started at 4 so we went there. The concept is that there is the skeleton of a 30 foot tall virgin and she is wearing a gown or cape basically. Then, everyone in the parade has a bouquet of flowers and presents them, which are used to make the gown/cape of the virgin. We asked around and people don't go through the parade twice and make loops, they have enough people involved to present the thousands of flowers and each person only does it once! The parade goes on for hours. We stayed and watched for probably 1 hours. It was really cool. All the women wear the same traditional gown and do their hair in the exact same way (it kinda looks like princess Leia). The men wear old fashioned suits, and everything is in bright colors. Not to mention people of all ages participate. There were babies in strollers and older couples with canes. Seeing everyone in the community get involved for this honor was exciting. Also, for those of you that feel this would get boring quite quickly, they have bands come through and play every 10 minutes or so. It really makes a different keeping the bystanders interested, trust me.
On Saturday morning, a friend and I woke up early and watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean. It was beautiful! I highly recommend getting up to watch something like that. There were 8 of us, and only Anna and I woke up for it (at 7 am). Clearly we're a bunch of college students on break, because 7 am really isn't early in the grand scheme of things lol.
Later we went and looked at last Fallas. They were really cool. Each was themed to represent something that had happened in the past year, and they are often satires. My favorite was about television. It had this old man watching TV holding out his remote with drool dripping from his mouth and his eyes were red and dry. Then on the back, there was another television showing "children's shows". It had 2 babies watching the TV, and on TV there were breasts, blood, alcohol, and I think someone was choking another person. Either way, they clearly got their point across.
During the entire weekend, there were also people with firecrackers. Like I mentioned before, Europe isn't as big on safety as America is. They hand out firecrackers like candy. You can literally hear a firecracker every 5 seconds when you are in the city center. And some of them are really loud! It really makes you feel a part of the environment and reminds you where you are. It was definitely a part of their culture.
Unfortunately for those of you that are waiting to hear about the burning of the Fallas, you won't hear about it from me. I returned to Madrid on Saturday night at 9pm so I could go pick up Brian from the airport on Sunday morning!!! Completely worth it in my opinion.
I had a wonderful time. Valencia is a beautiful city right on the sea, they are famous for their paella, which of course I tried and loved. They also are famous for their orxata (pronounced or-cha-ta). It is like a milkshake, but is the consistency of milk. I loved it and had it multiple times while I was there! So good!
Well, soon I'll write again to tell you about my week with Brian! Hasta luego!
1) The presentation of the flowers to the virgin
2) The Fallas, or sculptures, are made out of paper mache and are on display the week leading up to Saturday. On Saturday night at midnight and 1 am, they burn all of the Fallas to the ground.
3) The firecrackers and fireworks
So my group got there on Thursday night and we took the metro and walked up the coast to our hostel/apartment that we rented for the weekend. On the way we stopped for dinner and got calamari. The food was superb! Since we were on the coast, everything was so fresh and cooked to perfection. So much better than seafood in Chicago lol. Then, since our apartment was directly on the sea, we went for a walk along the Mediterranean under the stars. It was so relaxing and serene to hear the crashing of the waves. It made me so excited to move to LA and get to live near the beach all the time!
The next day we went into town to experience Las Fallas! We had heard about the general 3 components I pointed out to you, but had no idea when and where they occur. Sooo getting on a bus to go to the city center was step 1. While on the bus, we met some natives, who were extremely helpful and told us about the Big Bang which goes on at 2 in Plaza de Ayuntamiento, so obviously we went there. It was 75 degrees and sunny. Put that together with it being packed with people, and it was warm! I actually got a little sun even, very exciting since Madrid seems to like to rain a fair amount... (Its like I'm back in Champaign sometimes). The Big Bang is when they set off fireworks, directly in the square (They aren't big on safety) and it is a 20 minute firework show in broad daylight. Its an odd concept, but really they just want the noise, which we later learned is a huge component. During the finale, the windows of the buildings in the square were rattling and you could feel the noise in your chest! It was incredible, and if you look at my facebook, you can see pictures of the before and after. Before, it was sunny and clear skies; after, it was filled with smoke and ash. You couldn't see 20 feet in front of you.
The presentation of the flowers we heard started at 4 so we went there. The concept is that there is the skeleton of a 30 foot tall virgin and she is wearing a gown or cape basically. Then, everyone in the parade has a bouquet of flowers and presents them, which are used to make the gown/cape of the virgin. We asked around and people don't go through the parade twice and make loops, they have enough people involved to present the thousands of flowers and each person only does it once! The parade goes on for hours. We stayed and watched for probably 1 hours. It was really cool. All the women wear the same traditional gown and do their hair in the exact same way (it kinda looks like princess Leia). The men wear old fashioned suits, and everything is in bright colors. Not to mention people of all ages participate. There were babies in strollers and older couples with canes. Seeing everyone in the community get involved for this honor was exciting. Also, for those of you that feel this would get boring quite quickly, they have bands come through and play every 10 minutes or so. It really makes a different keeping the bystanders interested, trust me.
On Saturday morning, a friend and I woke up early and watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean. It was beautiful! I highly recommend getting up to watch something like that. There were 8 of us, and only Anna and I woke up for it (at 7 am). Clearly we're a bunch of college students on break, because 7 am really isn't early in the grand scheme of things lol.
Later we went and looked at last Fallas. They were really cool. Each was themed to represent something that had happened in the past year, and they are often satires. My favorite was about television. It had this old man watching TV holding out his remote with drool dripping from his mouth and his eyes were red and dry. Then on the back, there was another television showing "children's shows". It had 2 babies watching the TV, and on TV there were breasts, blood, alcohol, and I think someone was choking another person. Either way, they clearly got their point across.
During the entire weekend, there were also people with firecrackers. Like I mentioned before, Europe isn't as big on safety as America is. They hand out firecrackers like candy. You can literally hear a firecracker every 5 seconds when you are in the city center. And some of them are really loud! It really makes you feel a part of the environment and reminds you where you are. It was definitely a part of their culture.
Unfortunately for those of you that are waiting to hear about the burning of the Fallas, you won't hear about it from me. I returned to Madrid on Saturday night at 9pm so I could go pick up Brian from the airport on Sunday morning!!! Completely worth it in my opinion.
I had a wonderful time. Valencia is a beautiful city right on the sea, they are famous for their paella, which of course I tried and loved. They also are famous for their orxata (pronounced or-cha-ta). It is like a milkshake, but is the consistency of milk. I loved it and had it multiple times while I was there! So good!
Well, soon I'll write again to tell you about my week with Brian! Hasta luego!
Monday, March 14, 2011
The next week...
On the last night in Venice, Nora started to feel sick. She got a fever once we were back. On Wednesday morning, I ended up having the flu and didn't recover until Sunday. Anna ended up getting sick as well, and since Mel lives with me, she was unfortunately a victim as well. We didn't go anywhere, and it rained. Not a great week in Spain. I did watch some great movies in bed and ended up not spending any of my budget, so good news for Italy!
But now I'm healthy, and we're leaving for Valencia on Thursday for Las Fallas! So get ready!
Rome and Venice
After staying in Madrid for the first weekend since I got here, I couldn't resist the urge to travel once again. I went to Rome and Venice with 2 other girls in my program, Anna and Nora. Let me just start off by saying, BEST TRIP SO FAR! Super expensive, definitely went over what I budget for a week, but who cares? Its Rome and Venice! Luckily, my brother Brian also gave me some money so we're gonna say he paid for all the fun. Thanks Brian!
I visited Brian when he studied abroad in Italy 4 years ago, and he took Ashley and I to Rome, Florence, and Venice while we were there. I loved it, and have been itching to go back. In Rome, I ate gnocchi and had some wonderful house wine. We had pizza by the slice, and by the pie. We ate gelato like it was our job. I loved everything I ate there, and normally don't care that much about food. But in Italy, it was all so good! Plus, you know me, I'm the "bread queen" so I was quite happy being in Italy where they have great carbs all the time.
I think my favorite part about going back to Italy, was the familiarity of it. Brian had already given me a tour of St. Peter's, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the forum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain. Already having an introduction, I didn't feel overwhelmed like last time, and was able to finally understand some things that Brian had explained years before. I finally picked up on St. Peter being buried in the basilica and that he was the first Pope. I understood the general layout of the Vatican and St. Peter's square. Before I was moreso blindly following Brian (or as we called him Tour Guide Barbie).
The only thing that threw me off was the Colosseum. For the first 20 minutes of our visit, I confused it with the Arena in Verona and I thought we could climb it and sit around and hang out, so I was a little disappointed when we couldn't do that this time. Also, much like last time, I actually was not impressed by the interior of the Colosseum. I know it was built in 72 AD, held 70,000 people, and was home to exciting 'life and death' shows, but it just never grabs my interest. The outside however, is beautiful. And at night? It's even better! Our last night in Rome, we went there and enjoyed a glass of wine (in plastic cups of course, and not really a glass, but a carton of wine lol) while sitting on some ruins and watching the Colosseum shine! Now that was enjoyable.
My favorite part of Italy, surprise surprise, isn't the Colosseum, but is the Trevi Fountain. I could sit there for hours and just watch it and people watch. And next time I go to Rome, that is exactly my plan. I love the story of the fountain (which can be found in my facebook picture captions) and I love the beauty of the white stone contrasted with the soft blue water. It's perfect.
After Rome, we took an overnight train to Venice to save on getting a hostel. Word of advice: DON'T DO THIS! The train is freezing, is not comfortable, and when you get into Venice at 5:30 am, you are homeless... Once you get over that, you realize, you're in Venice and its Carnevale! As if a fantastic weekend in Rome isn't enough, I now got to dress up in a mask all day and see gorgeous costumes (also on facebook) and drink champagne. Great day! The best part was when we were eating lunch on the canal, and a tourist actually interrupted our lunch to ask if he could get a picture of us! People are wearing luxurious gowns and wigs and masks, and here we are three American girls in masks, one also with a wig, but no costumes, and he wanted our picture. We were so flattered and excited. The only thing I could want more, is someone getting a picture of him getting a picture of us!
Venice was beautiful and so much fun, but I definitely want to squeeze in another trip this semester. Going during carnevale is 100% different than going normally. Carnevale is crowded, loud, crazy, and did I mention crowded? Normally, it is calm and peaceful. I have done both and loved both, but there is one thing I have been wanting to do for at least a year, that I couldn't do with the crowds. Therefore I want to go back. When I went to Venice 4 years ago, we went to St. Marcos square and fed the pigeons and I got a picture. While I love this picture and the moment, I don't look that great. No blow dryer makes for a bad hair day. I want to go back, completely enjoy the moment like I did those 4 years ago, and get a marvelous picture of my perfect moment. I am going to enjoy it, and I will probably buy some Venetian glass while I'm out there. (There wasn't time or space in my carry on this time).
Also, this weekend was UnOFficIal!!! For Friday, we had an honorary Harp Beer at an Irish Pub before hitting up the ice bar. While at the ice bar, some of my friends decided to dispose of their glasses (which were made of ice, as was everything else) by throwing them on the ground - when no one was nearby. We were chastised and asked if "we thought it was normal". We responded by saying that no part of being in a bar made of ice is normal, so we had no idea what is ok. He didn't appreciate that, but we all got a nice laugh.
While in Illinois, the holiday was 2 days earlier, I decided that my UnOFficIal was on Sunday! I wore green, bought a green carnevale mask, and we drank all day in the streets. That's UnOFficIal if you ask me. And it was wonderful! I'll just have to do it again when I go to Ireland. (And I'll be wearing the lovely UnOFficIal shirt that my Brian (Cerier this time) designed).
This trip was perfect. Rome fulfilled my beauty and educational fix. It had old ruins and wonderful people, and even an ice bar! And Venice had fun and crazy college entertainment. I couldn't be happier with a trip! It was magnificent! I will definitely be going back before June 20th, you can count on it.
I visited Brian when he studied abroad in Italy 4 years ago, and he took Ashley and I to Rome, Florence, and Venice while we were there. I loved it, and have been itching to go back. In Rome, I ate gnocchi and had some wonderful house wine. We had pizza by the slice, and by the pie. We ate gelato like it was our job. I loved everything I ate there, and normally don't care that much about food. But in Italy, it was all so good! Plus, you know me, I'm the "bread queen" so I was quite happy being in Italy where they have great carbs all the time.
I think my favorite part about going back to Italy, was the familiarity of it. Brian had already given me a tour of St. Peter's, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the forum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain. Already having an introduction, I didn't feel overwhelmed like last time, and was able to finally understand some things that Brian had explained years before. I finally picked up on St. Peter being buried in the basilica and that he was the first Pope. I understood the general layout of the Vatican and St. Peter's square. Before I was moreso blindly following Brian (or as we called him Tour Guide Barbie).
The only thing that threw me off was the Colosseum. For the first 20 minutes of our visit, I confused it with the Arena in Verona and I thought we could climb it and sit around and hang out, so I was a little disappointed when we couldn't do that this time. Also, much like last time, I actually was not impressed by the interior of the Colosseum. I know it was built in 72 AD, held 70,000 people, and was home to exciting 'life and death' shows, but it just never grabs my interest. The outside however, is beautiful. And at night? It's even better! Our last night in Rome, we went there and enjoyed a glass of wine (in plastic cups of course, and not really a glass, but a carton of wine lol) while sitting on some ruins and watching the Colosseum shine! Now that was enjoyable.
My favorite part of Italy, surprise surprise, isn't the Colosseum, but is the Trevi Fountain. I could sit there for hours and just watch it and people watch. And next time I go to Rome, that is exactly my plan. I love the story of the fountain (which can be found in my facebook picture captions) and I love the beauty of the white stone contrasted with the soft blue water. It's perfect.
After Rome, we took an overnight train to Venice to save on getting a hostel. Word of advice: DON'T DO THIS! The train is freezing, is not comfortable, and when you get into Venice at 5:30 am, you are homeless... Once you get over that, you realize, you're in Venice and its Carnevale! As if a fantastic weekend in Rome isn't enough, I now got to dress up in a mask all day and see gorgeous costumes (also on facebook) and drink champagne. Great day! The best part was when we were eating lunch on the canal, and a tourist actually interrupted our lunch to ask if he could get a picture of us! People are wearing luxurious gowns and wigs and masks, and here we are three American girls in masks, one also with a wig, but no costumes, and he wanted our picture. We were so flattered and excited. The only thing I could want more, is someone getting a picture of him getting a picture of us!
Venice was beautiful and so much fun, but I definitely want to squeeze in another trip this semester. Going during carnevale is 100% different than going normally. Carnevale is crowded, loud, crazy, and did I mention crowded? Normally, it is calm and peaceful. I have done both and loved both, but there is one thing I have been wanting to do for at least a year, that I couldn't do with the crowds. Therefore I want to go back. When I went to Venice 4 years ago, we went to St. Marcos square and fed the pigeons and I got a picture. While I love this picture and the moment, I don't look that great. No blow dryer makes for a bad hair day. I want to go back, completely enjoy the moment like I did those 4 years ago, and get a marvelous picture of my perfect moment. I am going to enjoy it, and I will probably buy some Venetian glass while I'm out there. (There wasn't time or space in my carry on this time).
Also, this weekend was UnOFficIal!!! For Friday, we had an honorary Harp Beer at an Irish Pub before hitting up the ice bar. While at the ice bar, some of my friends decided to dispose of their glasses (which were made of ice, as was everything else) by throwing them on the ground - when no one was nearby. We were chastised and asked if "we thought it was normal". We responded by saying that no part of being in a bar made of ice is normal, so we had no idea what is ok. He didn't appreciate that, but we all got a nice laugh.
While in Illinois, the holiday was 2 days earlier, I decided that my UnOFficIal was on Sunday! I wore green, bought a green carnevale mask, and we drank all day in the streets. That's UnOFficIal if you ask me. And it was wonderful! I'll just have to do it again when I go to Ireland. (And I'll be wearing the lovely UnOFficIal shirt that my Brian (Cerier this time) designed).
This trip was perfect. Rome fulfilled my beauty and educational fix. It had old ruins and wonderful people, and even an ice bar! And Venice had fun and crazy college entertainment. I couldn't be happier with a trip! It was magnificent! I will definitely be going back before June 20th, you can count on it.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
First full weekend in Madrid!
Traveling every weekend is so much fun, and you get amazing experiences and pictures and stories, but let me tell you, its exhausting! I am so relieved to be staying in Madrid this weekend and having a low key few days. Not needing to pack anything up or sleep in linoleum floor, its a beautiful thing.
While staying in town this weekend, my friends and I went to most of our usual sights: El Parque de Retiro, El Rastro, El Palacio Real, a tapas bar. We'd already been to each place, but we did some different things and actually got to enjoy them, no rush, with a larger group of people. For Retiro, its pretty much like Madrid's version of Central Park. Its gigantic and has art exhibits and playgrounds and grass to hang out on and a mini pond to paddleboat in. Its really fun, I just can't wait for everything to be in bloom! But this weekend, a dozen of us went there and played games and hung out. One of the people that I met there, Phillip, he is a camp counselor, so he had plenty of games up his sleeve for us to fill our time with. He spoke like the truest American, knowing slang and having a great East coast accent, but insisted that he was from Austria and does in fact still live there! Anna and I didn't believe him for the longest time, and if you heard this "Austrian" speak you'd understand why, but turns out he's been going to the states for over 10 years to attend this camp, and the last 4 he's been a counselor there. So I guess learning the language intensely for 8 weeks a year for 10 years might add up and give you no accent. Very weird and very cool though!
I was also introduced to a new tapas bar. I'm sure I have mentioned the famous "El Tigre" to you all. It's supposedly the best tapas bar in Madrid. Well I went there a few weeks back and didn't have a good experience, so I'm not that interested in going back there. But this tapas bar is actually right next door, and is the exact same thing, just with better drinks! So how it works, for those of you like me that had never had tapas before, is that the bar has no tables, but instead is lined with a shelf for you to rest your drinks/tapas on. This place actually has stools for people to sit on as well (when its not packed) which is greatly appreciated by the end of the night. The beauty is, when you order a drink, you get a FREE plate of tapas! So if I get a small beer for 1.60 euros, I also get a plate of paella, or sausage and french fries, or fried mushrooms, or tortilla de españa, or whatever it is they serve you. Oh yes, that's right, you don't pick your tapas, they chose it for you. So you always get a random selection and something different! Its pretty cool and forces you to try new things.
Also, on the first Wednesday of each month, Palacio Real has a changing of the guard ceremony at noon. Since the following Wednesday was just that, we of course had to go. I had probably too high of hopes. I thought there would be a mini parade and music would be played and they would switch formations and move around. This is how it went down:
1) 29 men and 1 woman (yay) walked out in uniform with their fake guns and stood in formation (3x10). So far, so good.
2) 20 men on horses pranced out to join the formation behind the 30 people before hand. First problem arose: one of the horses is seriously foaming at the mouth. Very impressive lol.
3) They stood in formation while 2 of the horses took a dump.
4) The remained in formation. No music, no talking - unless you count the mumbling going on amongst the "guard" to one another. Very professional.
5) The still stood there! They stood there for 20 minutes doing absolutely nothing.
6) One of the men played a short note on his trumpet, everyone lifted up their weapons and turned 90 degrees to their right.
7) They stood like this for another 5 minutes.
At this point my friends and I are wondering if this is all it is. Every 20 minutes they turn! And to think there are at least 200 tourists watching this crap.
8) Finally something happens. 2 horses prance by in the back. Then 2 black Clydesdales prance by pulling a wagon.
9) Another guard in a different uniform comes out of the palace, playing a tune. And the entire guard leaves.
Yup, that as it. So, all in all, I highly recommend not going to one of these things unless its in London. Every tourist there that has actually been to London said the same thing. I'm assuming this is kinda like the Igleja de Santa Maria vs. Notre Dame experience.
Even though the changing of the guard was a bust, it was free and really I didn't have anything else I needed to do with my time, perfectly fine with me to see that so I can tell all you fine people about it. Besides, the rest of my weekend was perfect, and filled with parks and shopping down the main street Gran Via and at El Rastro. What more could this American girl want?
Well next weekend I'm off to Rome and Venice!!! I know I've already been to these places to visit my brother Brian when he was studying abroad, but that was 4 years ago and he was the most informative tour guide I've ever had, so I was a little overloaded with information. Going back again will be perfect! Hasta luego.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Off to Portugal!
Once again, I am quite behind on my blog entries, but my trip after Paris was the following weekend to Lisbon, Portugal. We flew out on Friday morning, so once again I slept at the airport. I think I'm learning a few tricks to the act:
1) Since they don't let you through security until around 4:00 am and there are no chairs or carpetted floors in the entrance area, bring something to sleep on because the linoleum floor gets mighty cold.
2) Eye masks are key. They help you just relax and sleep!
That's about it. Honestly, I don't think sleeping in airports is the end of the world, but I'm sure I'll change my mind once I'm not a college student trying to pinch every penny I have!
Once we arrived in Lisbon and had checked into our hostel, we went exploring. We walked through Lisbon on our way to Castelo de San Jorge. While on the way, we saw some really cute shops, well 1 really great shop: a purse store! The store was filled with boxes and boxes of purses for 15-25 euros, all made of leather! I'm pretty sure they were all made in China and just brought here since the store owner didn't speak a lick of English or Portugese, but either way, Anna and I decided we needed to come back the next day!
After that, we went to Castelo de San Jorge, which was beautiful. The castle was really more of a fort now. There wasn't an interior that we saw, just plenty of places to stand guard and watch for intruders. Still, since Lisbon gets rain ALL THE TIME, the trees and plants were gorgeous. All green!
Then for lunch we went to Lautasco, per Nora's request. Let me tell you, it was excellent! I got this Portugese dish that is a bread/seafood dish. It looked a little like mush, but tasted so good. Portugal is also known for its green wine, so of course we had to try a bottle. It is said that green wine is the most misunderstood wine in all of Europe, and I understand why. I didn't like it one bit, but a bunch of my friends did and reordered it during the weekend.
As you know, I went to Paris last weekend and saw Notre Dame. If you have ever seen that cathedral, you know its one of a kind and beautiful. Well, unfortunately for Portugal, I saw the mini version of Notre Dame 1 week after seeing the real deal. Igleja de Santa Maria is a church that seriously looks like a small town version of Notra Dame. So if you are ever going to see them both, do Santa Maria first, because otherwise you don't really appreciate it.
On Saturday, our group split up. Half of the group went to Bellum, while Anna, Mel, and I stayed to go shopping. Anna and I are coming back to Lisbon with our families and we figured we could go to Bellum then, but in the mean time we had a shopping fix to settle. Luckily, our plans were inside all day because Lisbon held up to its stereotype and rained all morning. We stayed in the stores and bought some really cute purses and other items. The man that works at the hostel poked a little fun at us saying how much American girls love to shop. Oh well, I can handle that stereotype!
That night we went out with a group of people from the hostel. Let me tell you, if you have never met Brazilian people, you're missing out. They're so much fun and so nice! Obviously there were a bunch of Brazilians in our hostel and just in Portugal in general because they speak the same language. Easy place to travel and study abroad. We all hung out in the hostel and cooked dinner together and played a Polish drinking game and then we went out to the erasmus corner (erasmus is the term for European study abroad students). Its an area with plenty of bars and music for young people, and most of them speak English!
I think the moment that I realized just how much nicer Lisbon is than any other place I've traveled was when we were trying to find our way back to the hostel. My friends and I decided not to join everyone else that was going clubbing, so we just headed back to the hostel. Only problem was, we didn't really know where it was. So we started walking and asking people to point us in the right direction. Every single person that we asked was happy to stop and look at our map and give us advice. One man even started telling us which streets to avoid for safety reasons and offered to drive us back. Of course, we were thinking stranger danger and didn't take him up on the offer, but it was a sweet thought. I didn't find Paris to be rude or anything, like people say, but I could see thinking that Paris is a bit snooty after visiting a place like this. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, it really was wonderful!
The last day there, we traveled to Sintra and Cascais. They are 2 cities outside of Lisbon. Sintra has a beautiful castle that is the kind of thing you think of when you hear the term "castle". They even have rooms on exhibit so you can see where the Queen and King lived. Very cool! Then in Cascais, there is a beach which we walked along and relaxed. Unfortunately in February, it is most certainly not warm enough to wade in, which one of my friends learned the hard way! But walking along the beach and looking at the stars was a great way to end the trip. Looks like I'm headed back to Madrid, and won't be traveling next weekend! Its the first weekend I'll be in Madrid the entire time, look out!
1) Since they don't let you through security until around 4:00 am and there are no chairs or carpetted floors in the entrance area, bring something to sleep on because the linoleum floor gets mighty cold.
2) Eye masks are key. They help you just relax and sleep!
That's about it. Honestly, I don't think sleeping in airports is the end of the world, but I'm sure I'll change my mind once I'm not a college student trying to pinch every penny I have!
Once we arrived in Lisbon and had checked into our hostel, we went exploring. We walked through Lisbon on our way to Castelo de San Jorge. While on the way, we saw some really cute shops, well 1 really great shop: a purse store! The store was filled with boxes and boxes of purses for 15-25 euros, all made of leather! I'm pretty sure they were all made in China and just brought here since the store owner didn't speak a lick of English or Portugese, but either way, Anna and I decided we needed to come back the next day!
After that, we went to Castelo de San Jorge, which was beautiful. The castle was really more of a fort now. There wasn't an interior that we saw, just plenty of places to stand guard and watch for intruders. Still, since Lisbon gets rain ALL THE TIME, the trees and plants were gorgeous. All green!
Then for lunch we went to Lautasco, per Nora's request. Let me tell you, it was excellent! I got this Portugese dish that is a bread/seafood dish. It looked a little like mush, but tasted so good. Portugal is also known for its green wine, so of course we had to try a bottle. It is said that green wine is the most misunderstood wine in all of Europe, and I understand why. I didn't like it one bit, but a bunch of my friends did and reordered it during the weekend.
As you know, I went to Paris last weekend and saw Notre Dame. If you have ever seen that cathedral, you know its one of a kind and beautiful. Well, unfortunately for Portugal, I saw the mini version of Notre Dame 1 week after seeing the real deal. Igleja de Santa Maria is a church that seriously looks like a small town version of Notra Dame. So if you are ever going to see them both, do Santa Maria first, because otherwise you don't really appreciate it.
On Saturday, our group split up. Half of the group went to Bellum, while Anna, Mel, and I stayed to go shopping. Anna and I are coming back to Lisbon with our families and we figured we could go to Bellum then, but in the mean time we had a shopping fix to settle. Luckily, our plans were inside all day because Lisbon held up to its stereotype and rained all morning. We stayed in the stores and bought some really cute purses and other items. The man that works at the hostel poked a little fun at us saying how much American girls love to shop. Oh well, I can handle that stereotype!
That night we went out with a group of people from the hostel. Let me tell you, if you have never met Brazilian people, you're missing out. They're so much fun and so nice! Obviously there were a bunch of Brazilians in our hostel and just in Portugal in general because they speak the same language. Easy place to travel and study abroad. We all hung out in the hostel and cooked dinner together and played a Polish drinking game and then we went out to the erasmus corner (erasmus is the term for European study abroad students). Its an area with plenty of bars and music for young people, and most of them speak English!
I think the moment that I realized just how much nicer Lisbon is than any other place I've traveled was when we were trying to find our way back to the hostel. My friends and I decided not to join everyone else that was going clubbing, so we just headed back to the hostel. Only problem was, we didn't really know where it was. So we started walking and asking people to point us in the right direction. Every single person that we asked was happy to stop and look at our map and give us advice. One man even started telling us which streets to avoid for safety reasons and offered to drive us back. Of course, we were thinking stranger danger and didn't take him up on the offer, but it was a sweet thought. I didn't find Paris to be rude or anything, like people say, but I could see thinking that Paris is a bit snooty after visiting a place like this. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, it really was wonderful!
The last day there, we traveled to Sintra and Cascais. They are 2 cities outside of Lisbon. Sintra has a beautiful castle that is the kind of thing you think of when you hear the term "castle". They even have rooms on exhibit so you can see where the Queen and King lived. Very cool! Then in Cascais, there is a beach which we walked along and relaxed. Unfortunately in February, it is most certainly not warm enough to wade in, which one of my friends learned the hard way! But walking along the beach and looking at the stars was a great way to end the trip. Looks like I'm headed back to Madrid, and won't be traveling next weekend! Its the first weekend I'll be in Madrid the entire time, look out!
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