Weekended

Hola chicos,

Entonces... this weekend was very interesting. Amy K came to visit, and got into Madrid on Friday morning. After some confusion as to where she was in the train station, we finally found her! The station itself was pretty fun, with an indoor rainforest of sorts.

Amy got to sneak in with our group tour and see the palacio with us, which was pretty sweet. The tour guide was a very nice lady, and she took the time to describe everything in Spanish as well as English for Amy (even though we explained that it wasn't necessary).

Over the rest of the weekend we took the time to go shopping, eat falafel (surprisingly good- one of the best foods I've had in Spain... which is weird for me), and then there was the issue of where Amy was going to sleep. We figured she could just stay in the room with Brynna and I, unfortunately though we were caught by our RA type guy. So for the next hour + we were calling hostals attempting to find rooms for the weekend. Let me tell you, attempting to find a hostal for the weekend of the most important religious holiday this town has is exceedingly difficult. Eventually we lucked out and found 2 different places for each day.

The rest of the weekend was fun, we found Amy some authentic sangria, danced, walked a ton, and Amy got a video going up the 6 escalators in the hill. She also had a bit of an ordeal when the showerhead in her hostel went crazy and broke a light. She made a quick escape out of that place, and we decided to avoid that hostal from then on.

On Sunday, Amy had to catch her train home. Long story short, the metro took too long and she ended up missing the train. She caught the last bus back to Toledo, got fought over by 4 taxis that were all offering her rides (in Spanish, which she does not speak), and we got her settled back into the first hostal (which didn't know about her record with damaging rooms) and found her a pretty good salad in the last open restaurant in the city. She then told me that she had to buy a new train ticket for the next day, and because they were sold out of the normal ones, she had to buy a more expensive one, meaning she was going to get basically an entire room, with a bed, to herself.

What with the running after trains, then booking an expensive room on another train, being fought over by taxis, checking in and out of hostals, breaking lights and showering in the dark, we decided that this was a weekend straight out of a movie. Maybe a dramedy?

Random note: Mazapan is delicious, and one of my new favorite foods here. It's a not-too-sweet almond candy.

Toledo specializes in Mazapan, which means it can be found in almost any store. Amazing.

Just one more picture of the irreparable bag. Ahh, memories.

Nos vemos!

Out and About

Hola everyone!

It's been a few days, time to catch up. First, just a couple pictures from Corpus Christi:

A bunch of the streets were decorated like this. Tons of flowers, incense, wreaths, etc.

They also had centuries-old banners hanging in La Plaza Zocodover, with the names of the other countries that celebrate Corpus Christi.

One of the many, many shots of the people walking. Nuns, priests, "adored children", members of the army, people from the community, and on and on. It was a good procession, and happened on one of the only bright and sunny days we've had in Toledo. This of course means I got sunburned! It was definitely worth it, just to not be drenched, per usual.

Friday was the group trip to Madrid, where we saw parts of the Prado Museum, as well as the royal palace. For those keeping track, yes, it did rain again. Sadly, in neither place were we able to take pictures!

The Prado Museum was interesting, and we got to see some famous paintings. My favorite was one by Tintoretto entitled "Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet", because depending on where you were standing the table in the painting appeared to move. I have no idea what technique allows one to paint like that, which probably made it just that much more impressive.

The Palacio was amazing. The royal family does not live there, but business meetings and other royal affairs are still carried out there. Every room was lavished with gold, ancient rugs, chandeliers, clocks, gifts given to the royal family members, there were also oriental rooms, and every ceiling had a gorgeous painting of cherubs, religious imagery or the sky.

By far the most gorgeous palace/cathedral we've visited so far. There was a dining room table that (I believe) sat over 140 people! According to etiquette, you're apparently only allowed to talk to the person directly to your left or your right. Something to keep in mind next time you're dining at the Palace.

It's pushing 1:45 am here, so I think this weekend will have to be saved for tomorrow's post.

Hasta luego!

Oh, Spain.

Hola,

Today was Corpus Christi (Part I), which is THE religious holiday in Spain. The whole town was completely decorated, with flowers, paintings, statues, wreaths, banners, and incense. Thyme was also thrown all over the streets, making the whole city smell sweet. We went down to the Plaza Zocodover to watch the parade go by.

There were lots of religious types, monks, nuns, ladies in fancy dress, kids all dressed up to march, priests, and a cardinal that spoke and prayed around the halfway point of the parade. It was interesting. Apparently today was more for the locals, and they are going to do something similar this Sunday that is aimed more at the tourists. I'm sure we'll go to that as well. I'll post the pictures from this one when I get around to downloading them.

Tomorrow is the day trip to Madrid, and Amy Klesert is coming in from Paris to visit for the weekend!!

That's all for the moment, except for one more of the trashed suitcase:


Hasta luego!

Blogging means I have to remember things that we've done

Hola,

So it's been a full week in Toledo! Time to record the important goings-on.

Thursday Brynna and I decided to wander, and get to know the city better. We walked all around the Old City, and discovered a great area with a bunch of little shops with fun local items. Toledo has a lot of cool things to buy, and we even managed to find a place that sells a plate especially made for cooking tortilla! I can't remember if I've mentioned my love of tortilla, but it is my new obsession. It is an egg/potato concoction, and for those that haven't had the opportunity to eat Spanish tortilla, here's a picture:

Not only is it wonderful by itself, but it can also be in Bocadillo form, aka on a baguette. It is almost always delicious, can usually be found for less than 4 Euros, and is really filling. Brynna and I have attempted to make this 3 or 4 times. The tricky part is that it has to be flipped. This is always comical, as it involves attempting to flip this heavy, semi-cooked mixture out of a frying pan, and onto a plate, with nothing to grip the plate by, thereby making it a job for two people and several oven mitts. The tortilla plate has a handle on the back which means we could make tortilla without the risk of severe burn! For 16 Euros, I think I'm going to have to invest, and then make tortilla for everyone when I come home.

Apparently finding the tortilla plate was the most exciting thing for me on Thursday! Oh, and there were spectacular views, etc etc etc, not as important. More on that later anyway.

Friday was the trip to Segovia, which was fun, though occasionally rainy, because that's just how it wherever we go! We went to Alcazar, which was impressive, and I think it really could have been interesting to learn about, if only our tour guide had known any English. So he lead us around, and was very informative for the people that could understand what he was saying. I felt bad for him, because every time we were about to leave the room, he begged us to ask questions, at one point asking us if we actually had the ability to talk at all.

We did find pamphlets after the tour though, so I can tell you that the Alcazar was built in the early 12th century, and was a favorite home of the monarchs of Castile, a fortress, and then a state prison for a couple centuries, and then used for various government activities until 1951 when it became a national historical monument.

Alcazar also has a tower that you can reach via a ~366 step staircase that is mostly circular, very narrow, contains almost no windows, and is complete with a rusty chain for a railing, that in addition to giving you tetanus, may also slow your fall. It's such a long climb that I was seriously considering making camp and attempting to reach the summit the following day.

I decided the view from the top was definitely worth it (though not everyone seemed to agree).

We also went to see the Catedral de Segovia, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so it wasn't as good for blogging purposes. I would talk about it a bit, but not only was the tour in Spanish, the pamphlet we got was as well. Maybe I'll let you know at the end of my Spanish class what this Catedral is all about!

We got to wander around after the Catedral, which was fun since it wasn't raining for once, so we went to see the Aqueducts.

While the Aqueducts were very cool, almost more interesting was the incredibly creepy French carousel that was right in front of them.

Note the ridiculously scary, red-eyed, angry looking bird, as well as the pissed off looking half of a horse, not to mention the tangle of metal and spikes involved. I don't even want to know what inspired the French to make this disturbing carousel. Punishment for the bad children?

After returning from Segovia, a few of us wandered over to this fair that apparently is only 2 days out of the year, and we happened upon it at the right time. It was very cute, and had lots of hand crafted items and products: cheeses, aloe vera products, soap, wooden kitchen utensils, some really good tasting pork (?) kabob, creepy people in costume, a bagpiper, toys, and lots and lots of jewelry.

Wandering around after the fair we found some good sites, and got some good pictures of the aforementioned views.

Yesderday we walked around, had dinner, went shopping, and then a bit past 12 (because the fiestas don't start till late here) we decided to go out. It was pretty fun, with drinks and some dancing in a couple clubs really close by to the university dorms. We drank something called Ruavieja, which is a local liquor from Spain, that is dubbed an "Herbal Liquor."

Now, if you ever encounter this Liquor, you may think "Oh, it's something native to the area, it'll be fun to try". Let me save all of you the trouble of thinking that and just say that you probably want to pass on this stuff. At I believe 9 Euros per bottle (which is the first clue to its quality), this local drink tastes like a mixture of tea, mint toothpaste, and rubbing alcohol. So yes, not something I'll be missing about Spain.

Despite the somewhat unpleasant first drink, the clubs were fun. They played a decent amound of music that was in English, and there was lots of dancing and general fun-having. The only major downside was that smoking is allowed in pretty much all the clubs (and restaurants), so everyone came home smelling of cigarettes.

Sunday consisted of homework, discovering the difficulties of Spanish restaurant-going at lunch, and attempting to wash my jeans in the sink, since the washers and dryers here are unpredictable and don't work too well. One of the washer doors got stuck so badly that it had to be pried open with a knife and a fork.

This week we only have 3 full days of classes, with Corpus Christi on Thursday, and a day trip to Madrid on Friday.

On a more random note, I've heard that the suitcase picture was appreciated! I'm so glad, because when I saw that mangled suitcase making its sad, sad way towards me on the luggage claim belt, right after thinking "oh shit, that's mine!" I thought of how hilarious the family would find it! I took more photos of the incident, so I figured I'd share them at the end of a couple posts, just because I still laugh at them.

Hasta luego!

Excursion

Tomorrow: Segovia!

Estoy en Toledo!

Hola!

It's been a couple days en Toledo, and nothing too exciting has been going on aqui. Yesterday we had an introduction to the city, and the teachers organized a scavenger hunt, in a lame attempt to get us to know the city better.

Toledo has two major parts, the old city and the new. We're in the old city, which you can get to by a huge escalator, that is built into a cliff. We've found that Toledo is basically a bunch of winding, narrow, hilly streets, with cars that pass scarily close to the people. Everything is very quaint, lots of little shops, cathedrals, the university, and a great looking outdoor marketplace in the new city.

The scavenger hunt was all over the city, with clues leading the groups (of cinco) to the next destination. It was extremely hot and sunny outside, which was strange considering that the weather is still almost always either cloudy or raining. Our group lost motivation, didn't want to run, and so of course we didn't win. Not only that, we came in second to last. Maybe if we hadn't known that Marzipan was the prize for the winning group, we would've tried harder... maybe.

The first day of classes was muy interesante. The main problem, aside from finding our classrooms, was with separating people into the correct level Spanish class. We all took a written exam before leaving, and apparently we pretty much all suck at writing. We took an oral exam yesterday, to help them decide where to place us: beginner, intermediate, or advanced-intermediate. I ended up in la clase intermedio, which is lucky since I think the other classes wouldn't work out. The beginner class was working on describing people, and the advanced class was working on diphthongs and triphthongs... so I'm definitely good with the intermediate. Several people have already switched classes, mostly down from advanced to intermediate. My health management class went on a field trip, but we had to pay for the cab fare there, so I wasn't too thrilled with that.

One random observation I feel compelled to share is that everywhere we go, everything is available in jamon flavor. These people are absolutely crazy for ham, and ham flavored products. Every sandwich has jamon, every bocadillo, anything that can have ham, does. Por ejemplo:

La cultura que tiene Pringles de Jamon, es la cultura que le encanta jamon.

Vale, time to go half-heartedly study. Hasta luego!

The graffiti of Granada

Granada, and my new favorite activity!

Granada, though still rainy most of the time, has been much more enjoyable than C��rdoba.

Even when Granada is a bit chilly, and overcast, it can be breathtaking. There are hills and mountains, lots of little shops, and plenty of culture. Brynna and I decided to wander upwards into the hills the second day we were here, and it turned out to be a great idea. For the duration we were up there, the rain stopped, and it warmed up. There were amazing views, and the area felt very quaint, and was really beautiful.

Later on that day, we took a bus up the mountains to the Alhambra. From wikipedia: The Alhambra (literally "the red fortress") is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada in southern Spain. It is massive, with lots of stairs, winding pathways, gardens, gates, intricately decorated walls and ceilings, and many fountains.

There is a lot of history in this building, most of which I unfortunately forgot after the tour ended. In any case, it was immense, a palace for sultans, and a place that is worth visiting.

Then the current (last) day in Granada. May be my favorite day in Spain so far!

Brynna and I woke up in time for breakfast, which we missed yesterday due to exhaustion and shutting off of alarms, and it was much better here than at previous hotels. Then, of course, we walked around the city. It turned into such a good idea, since so many interesting things then happened. Possibly my most favorite, is we decided to look at all the graffiti we could find. There is a LOT of graffiti in this town! A lot of it is politically charged, extreme right, and anti-governmental in general. Yet for the most part we didn't actually understand the full meaning of the graffiti, we just admired it for the incredibly impressive art that it is. I'm going to dedicate a full post to just pictures of the graffiti.

We saw a lot of the graffiti when we decided to get as far up as we could. We just chose a sidestreet, and with a general destination of what seemed to be a good vantage point, we climbed upwards for over half an hour. Extremely steep streets, but luckily the rain held off for the climb and most of our visit to the mountain (which was almost as high as the Alhambra).

The views from where we ended up were almost indescribable. It was the entire city, laid out before us. Pictures will help do it justice:

Of course, while Brynna and I were up there, we couldn't help but attempt to take pictures with us and the city as the backdrop. This could have been difficult for some, since there was no one around to take them for us, but with the help of a stone wall, some rocks, and an automatic timer, we had no problems! Of course, we also did the holding-the-camera-away-from-you shot, which came out decent (besides the crazy wind-hair):

Then, reluctantly, we climbed down the mountain and were back among the ground-dwellers. We had scouted out a little restaurant called Kanela before the climb, and went there for lunch, where we had a delicious bocadilla. We ordered a tuna with tomatoes, and it turned out to be tuna with a light tomato sauce mixed in! This was a genius move on the cook's part.

Lastly, possibly my absolute favorite experience thus far: the Arab Baths. Brynna and I made the reservation this morning, and went not really knowing how it would turn out. The Hammam is supposed to be a place to cleanse the spirit, body and mind, and were also originally used as a meeting place to discuss business. There were several elements to this visit. There were three pools, one with hot water (102 degrees F), one with cold water (68 degrees), and one with warm water that we guessed to be ~85 degrees. You change into the bathing suit, and then alternate between the hot, cold, and warm water as desired. We also chose to pay a few more euro to get a massage! So one by one the customers (in total there were about 20 of us) were called up for their massage. After the massage, back to the pools for more luxurious swimming in the arabic rooms, with columns in the water and star shaped lights in the ceiling. There was a sauna as well, which (like most of the place) smelled like Jasmine, with steam so thick you couldn't see the other end of the not-very-large sauna. This place was heaven on Earth. Of course, cameras aren't allowed, so here are some pictures from the website:

I can't reiterate this enough, this place was so amazing that Brynna and I both agreed we could live there. We also think it's about time Massachusetts got an Arab Bath. Who wouldn't want to escape the awful New England winter and relax in the most soothing, warm setting possible?

Tomorrow we leave for Toledo, where we'll take another placement test and start classes on Tuesday.