Home is Where the Heart is

The month span from mid-March thru April has been the highlight of my semester so far! Brian visited me earlier, and my parents and brothers just visited me last week! Not to mention that I am now on spring break up in the UK and Ireland, definitely an exciting month.

When my family came and visited we met in Barcelona. Unfortunately they ran into many complications with flights and ended up being delayed, but everything worked out and we found each other after an hour or two. Once we were in Barcelona it was amazing! Honestly, we could have been in Kansas City and it would have been great; I just wanted to see them. We had a great time catching up and telling jokes. It felt like no time had passed at all. Since I only flew for 1 hour and didn’t change time zones, whereas they flew over 4,000 miles, everyone else was a bit tired. So we had a slower start than my typical trips, but people rotated staying awake and catching up with me. Later that night we saw a flamenco performance. It was very impressive and unique. Plus I was so glad I got to see it because, as you know, my attempt to see a performance in Cordoba failed.

Also while we were there, we went on a Gaudi walking tour. Gaudi is the most famous architect from Barcelona. He is from the late 1800s but did some wild stuff, even in the context of today. My dad describes his buildings as melting gingerbread houses. Gaudi loved nature and modeled his buildings after it by avoiding straight lines and using bold colors. The tour ended at Sagrada Familia, the church that Gaudi designed. It was like nothing I have seen before. It started being built over 100 years ago and is still not completed unfortunately. They are aiming to have it finished in 2026 for the 100^th anniversary of Gaudi’s death; I don’t really see that happening though because Spain works at a glacial pace and really enjoys their siesta.

Sagrada Familia was an incredibly ornate building from the outside and has 3 facades: the first for Jesus’s birth, the second for his death, and the third for the creation and eventual end to human life. The third façade hasn’t been completed yet, so I can’t tell you anything about how we will all perish lol. Entertainingly enough, the façade for his birth has a Cyprus tree at the top of it. Say what they will, it looks like a Christmas tree. Yes, that’s right: They put a Christmas tree front and center on a cathedral. The outside I found to be a bit over the top and much like other cathedrals, except for the tree part. The inside is what made me fall in love with Sagrada Familia. The inside looks brand new, mostly because it is, and has towering columns that reach the ceiling with choral seating all along the top. My favorite part was the stained glass. Look at my facebook, I can’t do it justice. But the windows create a sunrise and sunset, and once all of the windows are put into the entire cathedral, I definitely want to go back and see it. My brother Brian saw it 4 years ago, and back then it wasn’t completed on the inside. He said the changes from then to now are remarkable. I can’t imagine how it will look finished. I guess I just have to return to Europe. What a rough life…

One night Brian, Jeff, and I also went around to a few bars and ended in an Irish pub. I ended the night with a Guinness, and let me tell you, it was great!! I have been so excited to travel to Dublin and try the Guinness there. I hear that this beer doesn’t travel well, and is completely different, and infinitely superior in Dublin. For that reason, I have been telling people about my excitement and pumping it up in my mind. Well, while we were out I tried it in Barcelona. Even there it is so smooth! It is like a milkshake! By the end, it starts to be less smooth, but I really don’t care, it is like no beer I’ve had before. It has become my mission to drink Guinness whenever possible in Europe. I need to get my fill, obviously. Brian, Jeff, and I had a great night out and it was an excellent end to the weekend.

After we were in Barcelona, we went back to Madrid. I finally got to show off my city! When we were in Madrid, I got to show off my favorite aspects: the buildings, parks, and food. My favorite building in all of Madrid is Banco de España. It is gorgeous, and completely unnecessary. I took my family there during the night and day and both times they were blown away. Also, we walked along the main street: Gran Via, literally meaning the Great Way. At night it is a beautiful street that is lit up and filled with shopping and uniform wrought iron balconies. I have to say, I love those balconies. Since I do live in Madrid, I knew a bunch of things to see and dragged them around town. We were constantly busy, trying to fit in all of the culture, architecture, and food possible. To relax, we did a bus tour where I got to see the modern part of Madrid for the first time, and we spent our last day in Parque del Retiro. I have to say that was one of my favorite parts. It was slow paced and we just lied in the park and drank wine – sounds like a successful day to me.

Our last leg of the week and a half together was going to Lisbon, Portugal. This was the least glamorous part of the trip, but just as much fun because, let’s face it: I missed my family. As my family quickly decided, Lisbon is the well fed, well dressed city that lives in shacks. They rent control their housing, so everything is falling to shambles. Also, they are asking to get bailed out of their debt, so clearly their country isn’t doing that well.

While in Lisbon, we did a variety of things, and they were all new to me, even though I was in Lisbon back in February! My mom brought a Rick Steev’s book and we went on 3 guided walks and with them I was able to see an entirely new part of town. Also, the last time I was there, it rained almost the entire time and was quite chilly. This time, it was sunny as can be and around 85 degrees! I actually got a bit sunburned. To take a break from the sun, we stopped in for a wine tasting. We got to taste 4 wines a piece. My brothers chose the licorice wine for their 4^th wine, and both didn’t really like it, but enjoyed the tasting experience. My mom and I focused more on the whites and roses. I enjoyed mine, but when it came to the evaluation sheet, I was completely lost. See, I had never been to a wine tasting before. I have no idea what the jargon is and didn’t want to make a fool of myself or be completely useless. It turned out that my Dad and my brother Brian ended up tasting most of Jeff’s, my mom’s, and my wines and confirming or assisting us in our vocabulary and insights. There were times when they basically wrote the evaluations (slightly oaky with a lot of body), and there were times when I creatively thought of it myself (It is like licking a wooden box). By the end of the tasting, we were all very entertained and a bit goofy. I asked my dad to take a picture of the table (aka Brian, my mom, and I) and he literally took a picture of the table, legs and all. Thanks Dad. I also was able to get my mom to remake her puckered lips face after trying my wine so I could snap the photo and save that memory for a lifetime. If you’d like to see it, go to the Lisbon album on facebook, you can’t miss it.

As you all know, Japan had their gigantic earthquake a few weeks back. The earthquake was so large, it brought on a tidal wave and then a nuclear plant exploded or some such thing. Well, back in the 1700’s Lisbon experienced the same thing. They had a huge earthquake, brought on a tidal wave, and then the city went up in flames. This destroyed much of their architecture. Interestingly enough, the monastery from before then still stands today, however the entire ceiling has collapsed. This means that all of the archways in the cathedral are holding up nothing more than the sky. It is a beautifully delicate and different sight. You can check out my pictures on facebook if you’re interested. Oh and sorry for the abundance of photos. I do get a little photo crazy at times, but I figure they’re really for me!

Also while in Lisbon, we went through Castel de San Jorge. I walked through it last time, so nothing was too new for me, but I did enjoy showing it off to my family. It’s weird how even though I have absolutely no claim on this castle, I have staked a bit of my claim in it and was showing it off to the family. Well, if that is the case, then I did a great job because they loved it! They enjoyed seeing a castle that is completely accessible and still in great form. It was very interesting and probably the highlight of Lisbon for them. I know it was for me!

Finally, we took a day trip to Belem. There are 2 day trips you can take: Belem and Sintra. Since I went to Sintra the last time I was there and saw the castle and palace, we decided they could go on Sunday, after I left since they were staying a day longer than I was. Belem was a pretty city outside of town. It has a beautifully done monument dedicated to Portugal’s discovery of a quick route to India. Due to their discovery, they were the power house to spices for quite some time back in Europe. Also, there is a lovely monastery (which all starts to look pretty much alike at this point in the semester), and a tower and military museum. I would say if you only have time for one day trip, go to Sintra, but if you are spending 3-4 days in Lisbon, take the 2 day trips. The city itself is surprisingly quick and easy to navigate and it isn’t at all stressful or absurd to fit everything in.

On Sunday morning, I left at 7:00 am for my flight to London to start my spring break. My entire family was a gem and woke up to say goodbye to me. And when I say woke up, there is a wide variety: some ate breakfast with me, some walked me to the bus, and others sat up in bed and gave me a lovely hug and kiss on the cheek. Although they sound like a wide variety of commitment and effort, I have to tell you that each one meant the world to me. It seems silly to want such a meaningful goodbye when I will be back at home in Illinois in just 2.5 months, but I do! I know I will be missing my family for the rest of the semester, but don’t worry; I will still be having the time of my life and enjoying every minute! I’m a multi-tasker, I can do both.

Tune in next to hear all about England, Scotland, and Ireland! All filled with fun accents and English!

Córdoba, Spain

I know I told you all that I might be going to Burgos; that however did not happen. I won’t bore you with the details, except to say that Mel and Anna were meeting up with a friend and it just wasn’t going to work. So, instead, I went to Córdoba!

Córdoba is a city 5 hours south of Madrid by bus, and is in Andalucia. Andalucia is famous for its flamenco dancing and beautiful weather. I went for Friday and Saturday, and enjoyed 85 degree days. It was gorgeous. I didn’t wear a jacket the entire time I was there! Once I got off the bus, I walked to the hostel and dropped off my things. While I was there, I met another girl staying in my room, Tovah, and we ended up traveling around for both days. She is from Canada – Edmonton in fact – and is traveling by herself around Spain and Portugal for 3 months. We first went to Alcazar, the castle and beautiful gardens of Cordoba. The gardens were gorgeous, and had so many flowers! The castle gave you a scenic view of the city, and got us excited about all the places we were going to go afterwards.

After Alcazar, we went to the city wall, and walked across the Roman Bridge. From the far end of the bridge, you could enjoy a wonderful view of La Mezquita, the mosque-turned-cathedral of Cordoba. Before going to Cordoba, I looked up everything on wikitravel (very helpful website, I highly recommend it) and found that there are 14 old churches throughout Cordoba. Tovah and I decided to visit the 3 most recommended: Iglesia de San Miguel, Nicolas, y Trinidad. When we reached the first church, we went inside to get a nice look around. Turns out that church was still in use and there were a dozen older people (probably in their 70's) praying in the pews. So we got a quick look around and went on to the next church. Turns out the next church was exactly the same! By the time we reached the third church, we just got a nice look of the architecture on the outside and decided not to disturb the parishioners. All of the churches were of similar style: large, yellow stone bricks, rectangularly shaped, 1 bell tower about 4 stories tall. And even though each church looked similar, they each had their own bit of character and beauty. It was definitely a different feel than going to the touristy churches across Europe. 

We also tried to find the Street of Flowers (Calleja y Plaza de Flores). We failed miserably. All we found was a road filled with construction...

By the end of the day, Tovah and I were both quite hungry and we decided to go for some tapas. We found a restaurant called 101 Tapas and figured that was a good place. We were wrong, it was a GREAT place! They had the best sangria I have ever had. It was so smooth and quite strong, and had grapes and other interesting fruit inside. Plus, they had morcilla and croquettas for tapas. My favorite of the tapas was the apple pie though. It was really a flaky pastry filled with apple wine, but it was superb. Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts, and it isn't very big in Spain. I was so happy to get some. Plus, the waiter brought us out some apple wine to go along with it. I had never had any before, but it was very sweet, and delicious. I definitely couldn't have drunken another glass of it though. It was very sweet.

Later that night we met up with a native we had met. He said that he could take us to a flamenco show, which is really all I wanted to see, however turns out the place he normally goes to was closed. By the time we wanted to go somewhere else, it was too late. So unfortunately I didn't see any flamenco, but there's always next time!

The next day Tovah and I went to La Mezquita. Since it is free admission from 8:30 am to 10 am, you can guess where our entire hostel was at 9:45 am lol. La Mezquita is a gorgeous building. Back when the moors ruled Spain, they built this large mosque in Cordoba. However, when the Christians took over the expelled the Moors, and the Jews in 1492 [When Christopher sailed the ocean blue] they took over the mosque. Surprisingly, they didn't destroy the mosque. I'd like to believe it's because they recognized the beauty of the building, but who knows. Maybe there was some politics involved. Either way, the Christians kept the building, but decided to stake their claim on it by building a cathedral inside the mosque. If you look at my pictures on facebook, you can see what I mean. This mosque is huge though! It can house 20,000 people and comfortably. When you first walk in there is a large courtyard with trees and flowers and then you pass through there to enter the mosque. It was beautiful, a lot more beautiful than the cathedral in my opinion. The cathedral was, of course, gorgeous. It was traditional and had high, ornate ceilings. However, the mosque had a very ancient feel and built the same archway over and over and over. The archways were laid out in a grid system, and the geometry of the building was perfect. I loved being able to look down a row of arches and see the hallway that was formed.

Once we left La Mezquita, we went to the synagogue. It turns out there are only 3 synagogues left in all of Spain! Two are in Toledo and the third is in Cordoba. It's also because of the 1492 expulsion of the Jews. The Christians felt the need to tear everything down apparently. The synagogue is so quaint and old. It has white plaster walls that have been sculpted and is only 2 rooms. It is tiny! Probably smaller than my apartment... It was interesting to think about the difference in how ornate cathedrals are and how quaint the synagogues are. It was a completely different experience, and very simple but serine.

Finally we succeeded in finding the Calleja y Plaza de los Flores. It was beautiful! There were so many flowers and plants in there. I loved it. Also, while we were walking around town, we found some courtyards of people's homes that were filled with flowers! It was so nice to see plenty of greenery and enjoy warm weather even though it was only April 1st! I love the south of Spain.

Overall, it was a beautiful trip and exactly what I needed. To get away from Madrid and enjoy the warm weather of Spain was really refreshing. If anyone is ever in the South of Spain, I highly suggest you take a day trip to Cordoba and look at La Mezquita. It is a beautiful building that is one of a kind!

Hasta luego! My family comes on Friday and we are meeting in Barcelona! I can't wait to see them and take a million pictures!

My Week with Brian

U of I just had their spring break, and so Brian, my boyfriend – not my brother, came out to visit for the week. I couldn’t be happier. I was actually just starting to really miss people from home and greatly appreciated seeing a familiar face and getting to show off my new city.

Brian got into Madrid on Sunday morning at 5:45 am, and since the metro doesn’t open until 6:00 am and it takes just under an hour to make it all the way to the airport, I realized I couldn’t take the metro first thing in the morning and get there in time to pick him up. So, since a cab is some 30 euro (44 dollars!) one way, I decided to take the last metro at night and get there around 2:00 am and just sleep at the airport. I’ve done it twice before for when I myself and traveling, and this time was the best. I figured since I’m going to do this, I might as well do it right. I brought a blanket and used my coat as a pillow. I actually slept pretty well for 4 hours and then picked up my first visitor and took him home!!

While he was here in Madrid, my life was completely different. First of all, I myself don’t prioritize food, so I tend to eat pasta with marinara sauce or sandwiches every day. I’m quite lazy and don’t want to put in any more effort. BUT, Brian actually really likes cooking, especially for me, so we had some great meals while he was here. And don’t worry, he didn’t cook them all by himself, I helped and learned a lot! I am still so proud of what we made, so I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to tell you about it (cause I honestly never cook.)

1)     
1) I learned how to neatly make an omelet. I knew the concept, its scrambled eggs with veggies inside. But, I never knew how people make it so neatly! When I make scrambled eggs, they are a million pieces and that’s not because I cut them up after cooking. So I learned the trick of how to make it just fold in half (apparently I was flipping too early and just poking around the stove too much). I also learned the beauty of ketchup on omelets. I never got it before, but it’s actually quite good! 

2) We made egg sandwiches. Those are my favorite. Toasted bread (we don’t have a toaster so we made it on the stove with olive oil – I highly recommend), eggs, cheese, and grilled onions. So yummy.

3) Seafood pasta. The seafood here is so cheap; it’s great. We got shrimp and mussels and made it with marinara sauce and pasta. It was excellent and there was so much there was enough for my roommate and still we had leftovers. We want to try to learn how to cook it with a white cream sauce, but that’ll come later. Probably when we’re out in LA.

4) We made morcilla and rice, my favorite! All of the translations say that morcilla is black pudding, but since I don’t actually know what black pudding is, I’m not sure of its right. But it is amazing! One of my friends has described it as a burrito, without the veggies and wrap lol. It is a sausage stuffed with meat and rice! It is from Burgos, (a city I visited back in February), and soo good. I want to find it back in America, because I am going to miss it greatly.

5) Meatball subs and steak fries! This is my pride and joy. We made meatballs from scratch. Neither of us had any idea how to do it, but thanks to Rachael Ray, we rocked it. It was messy with the eggs and breadcrumbs. You got to mix it all up by hand, very fun when all you have is time and no need to rush through cooking and eating. The steak fries were also awesome! We just bought potatoes and cut them up with some salt and pepper. The hardest part was that my kitchen at school doesn’t have an oven, but we just cooked both things on the stove on low and covered them and it worked surprisingly well. And then when it was time to eat, we put the meatballs and sauce and cheese on a fresh sourdough bread baguette. Let me tell you, best meal (partially because I made it) that I’ve had in a while.

Also while Brian was here, I showed him around to all the sights. He theoretically knew everything from my blog and my pictures, but seeing it himself was completely different. And of course, I made him take a picture with me everywhere we went. He quickly jumped on board and sometimes was more excited about it than I was! The best part was also that he doesn’t mind asking strangers to take our pictures. I hate doing that, mostly because my dad and brothers despise pictures and I just figure that everyone must… But my Brian is happy to ask strangers so we got plenty of good and bad pictures. It’s always funniest when you ask someone to get a picture of you with the building behind you and they decide that the foundation of the building must be what you meant, not the tower of the beautiful cathedral behind you. Oh well, there are plenty more strangers to ask for a second photo!

We also went to Segovia. I hadn’t been before, so it was new for the both of us. Segovia is a town about an hour and a half Northwest of Madrid by bus. It is home to the Roman aqueduct, a 2,000 year old piece of architecture! It is so impressive and takes the water from 17 km away and filters it and transports it at a 1 percent grade to the city. Let me tell you, Madrid loves it. Whenever you talk to them about traveling they mention the cathedral of Toledo, and the aqueduct of Segovia. They are very proud of their neighboring cities, as they should be!

Segovia also has a castle (alcazar) that is the highest point in the city. When at the top, you can see everything, including a picturesque view of the cathedral. We stood up there for a while, just hanging out and enjoying the scenery. It was truly beautiful.

Segovia is very much like Toledo, in that it has many small winding roads that aren’t meant for cars. It has a city wall, just like Toledo, and is not a large city. We walked around it and saw the many small, old churches, as well as the main square. Everything was quaint and a bit less touristy than Toledo. After seeing Segovia, am in quite the quandary trying to decide if I should take my family to Toledo or Segovia when they visit. We were going to do one daytrip, and now I love them both!

Also, while Brian was here, my school organized a ‘bull fighting’ trip. It is called Capea, and was a day of open-bar, BBQ, and the opportunity for each of us to fight a steer. Let me first explain, before going, I had seen a friend of mine did this last year when he studied here. He had a photo of him with the minibull and it looked great! Almost posed it was so perfect! So I figured that this would be quite tame, and I could go in, get my picture, and get out.

I was wrong. The first guy went in, and the bull charged, and the bull charged hard. He had horns, also something I wasn’t expecting, and the strategy at first was to outrun the bull. This was a bad strategy. One of the first guys to go, who was quite cocky mind you, outran the bull the first 2 times, but the 3^rd wasn’t so lucky. He was knocked to the ground. I will try to find the video online, because I know my description doesn’t do it justice. Check back in a day or two for the link.

 Of all the things we did while Brian was here, my favorite was the wine nights. We would get a bottle of wine, a fresh baguette, and a wedge of cheese – usually brie – and eat and drink while watching a movie or hanging with my friends. It was so much fun and so relaxing, the perfect way to end a night. I loved introducing all of the different wines to Brian, and showing him that if you buy a crappy wine, you can make it taste better by mixing it with carbonated water.

Overall, it was an amazing week, my favorite here by far. I got to enjoy my city and have never felt more proud of it, while getting to spend an entire week with Brian. Taking him to the airport on Monday morning was not ideal, but knowing that we had such a great week definitely helped. Not to mention, my family is coming 2 weeks later, so now I just have something else to look forward to and plan!

I might be going to Burgos next weekend with Anna and Mel, so we’ll see what stories I have to share with you then!

Hasta luego!

Things I miss/don't miss about home

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!

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!

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.