Malaga in Brief

About a week and a half after Mom and Dad left, my friends and I found out that we were getting a long weekend (every weekend is seriously a long weekend in May in Madrid, to the point where they use the word “puente” or ‘bridge’ to jokingly refer to the tendency of madrileños to stretch the weekend out). So, on Wednesday 3 friends and I decided to go to the Costa del Sol on Friday. It ended up being a great decision. We took the bus, which is pretty cheap (35euro roundtrip from Madrid). Malaga is the birthplace of Picasso and Antonio Banderas. It’s really pretty much a beach town. The water was freezing and the sea floor was so course that the soles of my feet were red and raw, but the sun was out and the clouds were nonexistent. The ambience was fantastic, between the andalusian sun, the ancient bullring in the middle of town, the ancient walls leading to an old fortress (alcazaba), green plazas, fountains and flowers. Also, it turns out that people are generally pretty friendly to a group of four foreign girls. We got to hike up the alcazaba and had a gorgeous view of the city there, and we saw a Picasso exhibit. I also turned African on that trip, or one might say pulled a “reverse Michael Jackson.” It was a great vacation, which I obviously needed to get away from the grind (note sarcasm: this trip was less than 2 weeks after mom and dad left).

But seriously, people – I do work here! It’s just not interesting enough to write a blog about, though I am a nerd and my favourite classes here are Morfología and the History of the Spanish language from the 15th Century to modern times… Do you REALLY want a blog on that?? No.

I’m sorry these blogs are so delayed. I’ve been in the library! Last week was our last week of classes, and I had an exam and presentation yesterday in Morf. I think they went really well and I had a good chat with my teacher after the presentation. She told me I have a really good accent, but I mumble. My response: my mom tells me I mumble all the time in English. So, I’m working on that whole enunciation thing! In other news, my laptop is STILL in the shop – they are taking their SWEET time figuring out what’s wrong with it, and EMILY AND PHIL are coming tomorrow!

Also, for those of you who haven’t heard the mugging saga:

my cell along with my purse (wallet, lipstick, comb) were robbed from me when my friend julia and i were walking to catch the train at atocha at 5:30am. i was being verbally harassed around the sol area by an African man when we proceeded to walk to our train station. 15 minutes or so after the said harassment the SAME guy ran out of nowhere and was leaning against a stop sign in front of us, catapulted himself onto me (julia tried to intersect him, kick him with her boots, hit him with her ring and i tried to hit him off) but he ripped my purse off its strap and threw me to the ground. i had body scratches and a sore shoulder for about a week. julia called the police 5 times and they weren't answering then just told us to go to the police station and hung up. I was definitely a bit rattled, but have gotten everything cancelled and replaced, and fortunately no one got too badly hurt. Also, I only had enough cash to get home with; so, he didn’t get anything too valuable. It was, of course a shame, and we had been coming back from this fantastic party that Julia and I got invited to buy these two guys who own this awesome clothes store in Malasaña; so, it kind of put a damper on the evening…

Other than that, I have been loving this city. I have a terrace I sit on near the Royal Palace that is the perfect mix of sun, people-watching and quiet bustle. It is the perfect place to study! Also, I have been to some free art exhibits, including a photo exhibit from the MoMA, and an exhibit called “Sleeping Beauty” at the Prado. I also saw this movie called Sin Límites (in English, I think they’re calling it Little Ashes), anyways it’s about Dalí and my favourite Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca and how they allegedly had an affair. It was interesting, but nothing to write home about, although it starred Robert Pattinson (Edward from TWILIGHT) as Dalí. I am really looking forward to the end of exams (the 19^th) because I’ll have a week in Madrid to do my favourite things: lounge in sunny Retiro park, loiter around the Royal Palace, go to La Latina/El Rastro, rummage through old bookstores in Malasaña, catch some art exhibits and walk through the rich streets near Metro Salamanca. I went to a great Great Lake Swimmers Show the other weekend. Also, booked a trip to Paris FOR 6 DAYS (June 27^th to July 2^nd). I’m meeting up with 3 friends there, who actually are going to be there with a couple of friends from home. It will be grand! Anyways, so I guess this wasn’t so brief. Okay, I gotta go log in those library hours before the MURPHS come. I have an exam tomorrow and then two more on the 18^th and 19^th.

Some quick shout outs to:

MAURA for helping me get money while the rents were in India

Joe, J’lyn and Steve for sending me a sweet care package with zesty orange flavoured swine flu meds in it

And Sara, for finding THIS http://www.amazon.com/Oodles-Lindoodla-Coochy-Coodles/dp/B000ERAOJG for those of you who remember my beloved longlost childhood figurine that went by the name of “Lil’ Whistler” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUDaQbRKCTM

Okay, keep it real peeps, and I’ll be seeing you soon!

Parent Trap - España!

Mom and Dad visit! Met them in the airport in Barcelona (in different terminals, almost didn´t find them because we were all following the classic “stay where you are and it´ll be easier to be found” trick…. Luckily, they ended up calling me). I found them (with Cadbury crème eggs in tow, my one request for something from home, and we took a bus to the city centre where mom slipped on a puddle with her suitcase wheeling along. After that minor trauma, we took the train into Sant Cugat, where Dad’s cousin (Octavio) lives. Everyone was excited and nervous to see Dad’s aunt, but when we arrived, she wasn’t there… We walked around Sant Cugat and casually interrupted a wedding at the cathedral, then headed back to Octavio’s place for lunch. It was fabulous and Octavio told some very enlightening and downright interesting stories about dad’s family and Moçambique. We went into the city after that and embarked on our paella-fest (mom and dad actually came so we could do a paella pilgrimage). We walked through the Ramblas to the Port of Barcelona and the Colón statue where we saw a dirty hobo who looked eerily like Steve’s friend JJ, so much so that we took a picture. When we got back to Octavio’s, they were gone to a party.

The next dayñ, we went to church at the Cathedral in Sant Cugat and sat through a mass that was being said in catalán so I didn’t even understand it, but I’m pretty sure we got the gist of what was going on. We went into Barcelona again and walked around Sagrada Familia, had more paella, and went to Gaudí’s Apartment building (Casa Milá), which was really cool. The roof was bizarre, but there were some cool little stations that explained a bit more about Gaudí’s work and about the Sagrada Familia (the Eiffel tower of Barcelona, according to Octavio). It was cool learning more about what Gaudí was all about (nationalist revival in Spain that attempted to reconceptualise gothic architecture).

We flew into Madrid and caught a cab to their hotel, where we got in touch with Jim and Sheila. Once we got to their room, Jim had already gotten out his Tupperware bottles full of martini fixings. The party had arrived. Jim didn’t believe me when I said restaurants don’t open til 8, but guess what? They didn’t… and don’t! But, we caught some decent tapas and got to walk around Plaza Mayor to the oldest restaurant in Spain, or in the world is how they advertise it here. We had some roast suckling pig and called it a night.

The next day I had class and the elders had bus trips. I met up with them at their hotel after class, and they were exhausted and flustered, definitely proud of the steps they logged on their pedometers (matching pedometers… can you say “adorable”?!). We then went for tapas for dinner and got some chocolate con churros for dessert at the famous San Ginés Chocolatería,ñ which we all gobbled up and “enjoyed,” only to reveal to each other later that they weren’t really that good. That was the night I crashed in their hostel bed with them, which I would prefer not to talk about, and yes, the Plans, Trains and Automobiles joke about a hand being between two pillows WAS thrown around.

Next day, I had class, then my two closest friends here and I met up with the rents at the hotel, we had some drinks and then went for Indian with Jim and Sheils! Mom asked my friend from New Zealand if they “have their own government and everything”… ahaha sorry Mom, but it was kind of funny.

We had a big day ahead of us the next day. I met the gang at El Escorial, which is about an hour trainride from where I live. They had rented a car. El Escorial is a fabulous building, former royal residence with so much art. Also, this is where we started ordering the menu turistico, which is 2 or 3 courses, dessert and drinks for a fixed price around 8-10euros. Pretty good. We drove to Ávila from El Escorial. It was awesome, and the weather just got nicer and nicer throughout the trip. We ate their traditional sugary treat, the yema (which is just an egg yolk that has absorbed so much sugar that it is a gooey ball). We toured St. Teresa of Ávila’s birth home, which has been converted to a Church, and we even saw a relic of St. Teresa’s ring finger, which is preserved in the shop nextdoor to the church. We then went to church in the St. Thomas Aquinas church where the Catholic Kings (Isabel and Ferdinand) had a palace.

The drive from there to Segovia was gorgeous, almost like Tuscany as the Milways pointed out. However, we did get a little lost, as we were navigating using signs and maps of landmarks from guidebooks. Once we got into Segovia, we went to the place where Rick Steve’s recommended to go and had some delicious “lomo,” and it was funny how excited we all were when we ordered a salad and it was a real salad. Usually salad here is served with a fried egg on top and tuna… gross. The next day, we went to see the acueduct, the Alcazar and the Cathedral before driving back to Mad Money to drop mom and dad off at the airport so they could bounce back to Barcelona. After some hectic navigation, we ended up taking the metro to the airport and rushed a farewell to the Mils. Luckily, the next day, I got to say a proper goodbye/hug when I ran into them at Atocha (the Grand Central Station of Madrid… again, you’d think it was a small city, it was the kind of thing again where I never walk through that part of the train station usually, but went on a whim because my friend needed to use the bathroom and… bam. The Mils).

'Twas a LOVELY visit!

Blog-lag... ITALY

So, this is a QUICK run-through of my 10-day Italy trip from 2 weeks ago... Next on the blog queue is a record of when mom and dad (and Sheils and Jim) visited Spain! I've been having so much fun lately, that it's been hard to take a minute to sit down and document it... Also, I do in fact attend school here...

ROME- Before I even landed, I realized how much better-looking/dressed Italians are compared to Spaniards based on the other passengers. The guys are sometimes too well-dressed though. Anyways, the flight attendant was the first of many on this trip who assumed I speak Italian. I don't, and although it's VERY similar to Spanish, it's different enough for me to be confused as heck. I picked it up pretty well by Venice.
-Arrived into Rome via bus shuttle from Ciampino airport, got in touch with Leigh easily. It was late at night at Rome Termini, there were no cabs to be found and I was afraid to ask the creeps and drunks questions... also, I don't know there language so I found my way to the hotel
-Complimentary breakfast at the hotel in Rome was amazing- eggs, bacon-ish stuff- MINI-NUTELLAS and laughing cow cheese with good rolls… better food than Spain already. I made hot chocolate espressos on the coffee machine. It was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory pretty much
- Got Rome Sightseeing Bus tour through the Piazza with the Bernini fountain (Piazza Bernioli), etc. bus dropped us off at Trevi where we posed with a creepy Roman soldier (then he held out his hand and asked for 10euros, I think we gave him 2… as if I’d pay to be forced to wear a sweaty helmet). I was surprised by Trevi fountain. I had seen it in so many movies (Lizzie McGuire!) and pictures and I imagined it to be in a more open plaza, but it was on the side of a building with two alleys on either side (weird). We had our first taste of pizza that day (in Rome, they fold it in half, it is was… too delicious) ALSO, gelato
-Played with tour volume on bus, but it wasn’t working!! Realized 20mins later that Mrs. Sanna and I were adjusting each other’s volume/language
- Saw Ides of March, Circo Massimo, and the Vatican on PALM SUNDAY… it was like a Catholic beehive, saw the Roman forum, Pantheon, Coliseum
-At the Coliseum, ran into Matt Cairns… we had known that each other was in Rome, but we didn’t think we would be able to all meet up… so, it’s a small world in the life of a tourist
-Circus Maximus was really cool. It used to be an animal market back in the day (WAY back in the day that is)… also, it’s where the she-wolf allegedly suckled Romulus and Remus
- Went to a Restaurant that first night that served the best pasta on the trip potentially (penne alla arrabiata)… I have the address of the place still!
-Next day we took a cab-ride of death to the Vatican, where we had a tour
-Vatican fun facts: Adam’s body in Sistine took 4 days to paint… Michelangelo didn’t even like to paint, priests as late as the Renaissance could marry/ there were popes who had multiple wives and kids, the word ‘nepotism’ comes from the Italian word for ‘nephew’ because popes chose their nephews for prime positions in the papal hierarchy, saw “the torso” and Rodin’s “thinker. The map room was cool, the maps were pretty much correct other than their orientation which placed Rome as the North! There were lots of pagan figures i.e. Mars (sun god) in the papal gardens… have only been open to the public since 1940’s. In order to get there, you walk through a room where Leonardo DaVinci lived! The Vatican City has a passport… and a birthrate of zero. They won't stamp your passport upon entrance :(

Took the train to FLORENCE, walked through the Mercato Centrale (filled with leather bags, jackets, shoes, scarves)… wandered to the Duomo (the beloved church there), but we didn’t know it was the Duomo… we were very impressed by it though. Went to a restaurant for dinner, where the guy showed us to take toasted bread, cut a garlic clove in half and rub it on the toast, salt it, add olive oil and pepper and it is… delicious. The next day, we went on a bus tour of Tuscany. It stopped at Siena where that horse race (il palio) is every year. It was a really cool place, well taken care of. The bank there is the oldest in Italy, and the city is divided into “contrada” or neighbourhoods, each with its own symbol i.e. a shell. We saw St. Catherine of Siena’s burial place… and a creepy construction worker took a picture of me (weird). "Siena" comes from phrase meaning “son of”… the She-wolf is the symbol of Siena, city rival is Florence (ask me about the Ponte Vecchio Butcher/ gold flood story). The church there is pretty amazing, we called it the "Zebra church" because the inside was thick stripes of white and black marble
-Then we stopped at San Gimignano, another medieval hilltop town. Tuscany was amazing. We ended the day off at Pisa, which is a crap town minus the massive fenced off green area that has a church and gorgeous row off buildings that lead up to the Leaning Tower (again, not what I expected)
-They had PASTA VENDING MACHINES in Florence… ridiculous.
- Ran into Leigh Sanna’s Canisius friends on the street in Florence and ended up having dinner with them before we visited my friend Jen who is studying in Florence!
-The next day we went out with Jen and met up with my friend Tommy from high school. It was karaoke night at the bar we went to; so, we sang some Backstreet Boys (it was his choice)

VENICE- took the train in from Florence then a water bus, got lost a million times getting to our hotel because things they consider streets there are what I consider alleys. I was navigating and Mrs. Sanna and Leigh’s aunt had HUGE rolley luggage, so it was pretty bad… Venice had the best ambience. St. Marc’s square at night has an unforgettable aura. With the church lit up and orchestras playing Vivaldi on the café terraces lining the wide open piazza… unbelievable. We met up with our friend Kelly from high school, who joined us for Venice and then was going to Oviedo, Spain to hang out with Leigh. The Ponte Rialto is the huge main bridge, and we got a gondola at Piazza Manin. The gondolier offered us a free nighttime gondola ride, but we didn’t go because Mrs. Sanna didn’t want us to. We saw a house where Mozart lived and Casanova’s house (across from a church, how’s that for irony)…. And we spent Easter morning having coffee in St. Marc’s square. Unforgettable views in Venice and Murano glass items everywhere. It was my favourite excursion, though the Roman food was pretty good.

We had AMAZING weather the whole time, and I was in Rome during that fatal earthquake that was fairly closeby, we were about 30km from the fault. I slept through the earthquake, but everyone else kind of half woke-up. Leigh's Aunt Wendy thought they were being robbed. Italy was fantastic. I am still tired, fat and broke from it. Loved every second though/ can't complain. When I got back to Madrid, my friend Brigid from high school was meant to be in Madrid, but I didn't have phone credit and she didn't have internet at her hostel; so, I was afraid I wouldn't see her. Wouldn't you know, I walked down a path I NEVER take to a destination I always walk to in the city center, and I see her little face in the window of a RANDOM restaurant! We got to hang out the next night, and it was great having a familiar face in Madrid!

Sorry this post took so long. I've had some school work and some visitors :) of which I will talk about in my next post! Contrary to popular believe, I do attend school HOWEVER we have the long weekend off for Dia 2 de Mayo (yes, in Madrid we celebrate 2 de Mayo, not 5 de Mayo)... ANYways, my friends and I are headed to MALAGA for the long weekend to lie on the beach at on the Costa del Sol (the south coast, on the Mediterranean/ overlooking the strait of Gibraltar). It's my first foray into Andalusia, and I cannot wait! I really deserve a vacation, it's a hard life... just kidding/ don't kill me everybody. I'm thinking of you guys! I'll try to be better about the blogging!
PS- SOME of my Italy pics are up on kodakgallery... My computer freaks out at uploading, so I will try to upload the other ones later :)
PPS- keep the Ellie pics/vids coming, I can't get enough. Wish I could have been at the B'tism

Spock Bangs

So, I needed a haircut, and there was this place in the mall where we go grocery shopping. My friend and I decided to go in and check it out as it was not too expensive. The lady was rude right off the bat, telling me she really thinks she should dye my hair because she can see my roots and mocking me behind my back when I said I didn't want her to dye it. Yeah, there was a mirror in front of me. Not only was she a bad hairdresser, she was just plain stupid.

Anyways, so I'm explaining to her that I want just a simple haircut, minimum cut, a trim. So, she asks "2 fingers" length is a good length to cut off the bottom, and I say, "yes, that's great"... So, she literally goes around my head with her two fingers measuring and snipping. So, let me first just establish that she essentially put a bowl on my head and cut around as the actual haircut itself. She didn't thin it out or anything, ask about layers... She literally just cut around. ANYWAYS, it gets to the part where she's trying to figure out how I part my hair. So, I showed her where my part is and which side I wear my hair to. I was explaining to her how my forehead is small and she was like, "yes, it is really small," and I was like, "yes, thanks... anyways, I wear my hair to the right"... So, she looks at my hair and measures it up, and she goes "cortito?" CHOP. Cortito means "Really short"... And she chopped the SHORTEST little bangs I've ever seen. And I go, "no, no, no, NOOOO.. stop, no shorter"... so, she doesn't cut shorter. She brings a THIN layer of hair infront of the short wisps and cuts longer Wisps. So, literally I have two layers of these thin, wispy, uneven bangs. You could see through the first layer to the shorter layer. So, it was literally like she was trying to play up the 3-dimensional quality of my hair. It wasn't even laying flat, and was sticking out in front of me, blowing in the wind. I don't even know what she was going for at that point. Anyways, I was mortified and actually just laughing at that point. It's like she wanted my hair to stick out and touch whomever I was talking to. Who would want such an interactive hairdo?!? So, she cut diagonal bangs to the right, as if to say "look, you can wear it to the right now." and I was LIVID. She dried my hair and I ran away, I told her it wasn't what I had wanted, so she gave me a few euros discount and I stormed off. She could do no more damage.

Anyways, I would NEVER have asked for bangs in a million years. The last time I had bangs, they looked like this:

Furthermore, at least those bangs were all one, semi-appropriate length, albeit the part in this photo starts at the back of my head and sweeps all of the hair on my head into the bangs. REGARDLESS, I now had a horrendous version of the Spanish bangs I make fun of on the train and in class on a daily basis. Perhaps it was kharma, perhaps it was some sick April Fool's joke. Either way, I was the butt of it.

So, I went back home, and my friend evened the bangs out, leaving them so short. My hair looks like a sick imitation of Spock, but perhaps more aptly, it truly looks like a Cleopatra wig. My hair looks like a Cleopatra wig, and I have never wanted bangs.

The only consolation is that hair grows. Oh, and also the fact that there were 3 girls in my first class of the day today that had that haircut WILLINGLY (I assume, unless the crazy, I'm assuming unlicensed hairdresser I went to also got a hold of them)

Anyways, so, I can wear my hair about 2 ways. One way makes me look like Audrey Hepburn's ethnic, institutionalized cousin...

The other way makes me look like I'm wearing a costume wig of Cleopatra. Also, it reminds me far too much of the way Penelope Cruz wore her hair to the BAFTA awards which I gawked at in a "what was she thinking? i'm never getting bangs" sort of way...... adding to this, I am not Penelope Cruz, so seriously people must be wondering what I'm thinking.

Okay, maybe it's not HORRIBLE, but it is traumatizing, and I do really regret it. However, I understand there are more serious issues in the world, and I will still enjoy my trip to Italy this upcoming week. All of my friends are heading off in their respective directions for Holy Week. Some are going to Sevilla, some to London, some to Galicia and Portugal, some to Barcelona, and I might even be meeting up with some high school friends (other than Leigh) in Italy!! So, it looks like it's shaping up to be a good holiday... despite my current resemblance to a certain Star Trek character.

Lisbon, why did our ancestors ever leave?

So the trip over to Lisbon was more or less like the movie Rat Race. One of my friends was unable to use her credit card to book a flight online; so, she ended up having to take a bus. And my other friend had accidentally booked the wrong flight to Lisbon… she booked a flight that was leaving Madrid at the same time as the flight we had discussed BUT the day before. So we were all arriving at different times, and the two others were arriving the night before me. Our mobiles didn’t work in Lisbon (or were too expensive to function), and the hostel we had planned on meeting at was overbooked. So, there was a huge miscommunication at the start of the trip and lots of panicked e-mails to people who didn’t have access to computers, etc. I had to spend the night in the Madrid airport to avoid spending money on a taxi, but I ended up running into 2 girls from class who were in a similar situation; so, it ended up being pretty pleasant. Once we all finally found each other in Lisbon, we were definitely excited.

Day 1 we got to our hostel and dropped our stuff off. The hostel owner perked up at the sight of my last name and kept calling me Maria and telling me all the directions to places (like I can speak Portuguese…and well, I was the only one of the three of us who had any sort of experience with the language… which doesn’t bode well, but I was actually pretty functional). We ended up finding our way around fine. We walked around the entire city, to a castle, just stopping and peeking into little shops or stumbling upon terraces and gaping at the view of the ocean. The weather was 23 degrees Celsius and sunnier than anything. It wasn’t muggy heat though, it was really nice (twisting the knife, I’m sorry). We had been walking around all day and decided to have a picnic in a botanical garden; so, we stopped into a little fruit shop and got cheese, rolls (Portugal has the BEST bread), salami, wine and a bunch of bananas, plums, and strawberries. We just sat around in the sun and enjoyed that. Then we went back to the hostel and took a nap before we went out that night. We went to a couple bars and I tried a caiparinha a.k.a. the mojito’s crazy cousin. If you waited for the ice to melt and stirred it a lot, it was okay, but… at points it tasted like cough syrup. Very strange. Anyways, we ended up at this club where there were two djs in a row of pretty weird electro/hip-hop stuff, but fortunately we ended up sticking around because this underground hip-hop “legend” from the UK showed up and did an impromptu show. We had never heard of him, but we decided to make the most of it and ran up to the front and were dancing crazy and throwing our hands in the air like we just [don’t] care. It was so fun, until we realized there were cameras there recording the gig, and at one point one of my friends went up on stage with a bunch of other people (I got shy). Anyways, we’re thinking there will be videos of this up on youtube at some point, and I haven’t decided if this is a good thing or not…

Day 2 we went to the beach in Cascais, a half-an-hour train ride east on the coast. It was gorgeous and we just lay around for the afternoon and then headed back to town to catch a traditional fado show, two guys playing guitar and a bunch of solo vocalists singing traditional Portuguese musics, odes to Lisboa and the like. We ate a traditional Portuguese meal, I had bacalhau à lagareiro, a salty cod fillet that was grilled and served with small roasted potatoes and grilled onion and pepper and it sat in a bunch of olive oil. So good… so rich.

Day 3 we walked around and then took a train 20 minutes east along the coast to the cultural center at Belem (Bethlehem). We went to this famous pasteis de nata pastry “factory” and grabbed some of those delights as well as some coffee. Then, we had collected enough energy to go to a contemporary art museum there and then lay around in a park in front of the Monastery of the Jeronimos. Then we grabbed some fresh fruit from a fruit store and headed off to the airport and caught our plane home. When we got home, it was almost midnight and we caught the last train home… which we had to run to catch and would have been a crying shame to have missed, as we would have had to wait an hour and a half for a bus, and we had class the next morning.

It’s allergy season in Spain and Portugal; so, I got some medicine from the Farmacia here, but… it’s still a pain in the butt. I can’t really complain though, other than the fact that the allergies were aggravated at the beach, which is very weird to me. I think that was the first beach I’ve been on in 6 years or something ridiculous like that; so, it felt pretty good, and the sun wasn’t too intense, but I’m pretty golden brown I suppose. I’ll be getting my disposable camera pictures back tomorrow. So, I’ll post those when they come! Okay, I should go get some Smithwicks (if they sell it) and celebrate St. Paddy’s day!

P.S. Lisbon might be better than Barcelona....

Toledo Santo

So... after a bit of deliberation, I have decided that Toledo beats out Segovia for the best Madrid daytrip I have been on. They are very similar vibes, straight out of medieval times... and they are both very accessible (2 hours North to Segovia, a little over an hour south to Toledo), affordable (12 euro train roundtrip to Segovia, 8 euro bus roundtrip to Toledo), and they are both teeming with history.

Toledo is a bit bigger than Segovia, and there was a path you could go down that Don Quixote traveled down in the book. There is a Jewish influence in Toledo that there isn't in Segovia. This influence is fairly restricted to one small neighbourhood with some old synogogues. Also, there is a really nice cathedral here, that is less aesthetically appealing from the outside than the one in Segovia, but, you can go through the backdoor and get a peek for free (or pay 7euro to enter the front door); whereas, you have to pay to get into the cathedral in Segovia. Toledo also has more artisan work (mainly gold, leather and swords... as I mentioned, this is where the Lord of the Rings swords were crafted). It is interesting because I got a cheap necklace with a cross, and the patterns on it are almost gaelic-looking. Any boys would go crazy for the weaponry and armour in the windows, pretty cool-looking stuff, and I kept saying "my brothers would love that"... somehow, my friends were under the impression that they are 12 years-old or so... and I said they pretty much are! Hah just kidding...

Toledo has a nice art gallery and the house of El Greco. Also, there is a really cool fairy tale bridge on the south side of the city that goes over a gorgeous river. The views really were great. The only downside is that Alcazar, the castle in Toledo, is under construction so we couldn't go there. And, as many know, I was quite taken with the Segovian alcazar. We didn't have a meal in Toledo; so, I'm not so sure what they have that would rival the Segovian pig hoof, but I did see some promising signs for paella. Toledo is full of little restaurants you just want to take pictures of and quaint alleyways. While I was there, one of my friends had a toledana, which is a traditional pastry, crusty and scone-shaped, with hard frosting flaked on the top and filled with pumpkin marmalade, if that makes sense. I tried some, and it was pretty good, very sweet. I tried marzipan (mazapan) that was shaped like little fish. They sell it everywhere, and it's a pretty big deal there. It was really delicious, too sweet perhaps, like bread with doughy, sugar clumps keeping it together. It was my first experience with marzipan, and I'd say it was overall a good one.

What really set my trip to Toledo apart from my trip to Segovia was the weather. It was about 72 and sunny on Saturday, and we walked everywhere. It seemed like EVERY hill was uphill, I don't think that's possible, but maybe in Toledo. The little shops around Toledo are so interesting, especially if you had a lot of money and were going to be renovating a house or something, there were antique lantern shops and decorative glassware, pretty cool stuff! Also, we sat around in a park for an hour or so that was really gorgeous in the sun.

I shouldn't judge Segovia on account of its weather... though snow is obviously such nonsense! I would say the Roman aqueduct and alcazar there are very cool, and the trainride a bit more picturesque than the mostly urban busride to Toledo... even though I said Toledo wins out, it is definitely a close call.

Sorry this post is kind of rambling and not well-written. I'm exhausted, and I have to brush up on my elementary-level portuguese so I can navigate my friends and myself around Lisbon this weekend!! Again, the pics for this post are on my disposable cam. So, be patient. Okay, I'm going to go now. Until later!

TGIViernes!

So, I'm just having a relaxed Friday night at home, updating the blog... add a pint of ice cream and a dozen cats and I would sound pretty pathetic. BUT on the contrary, I am up to some pretty cool stuff! Some of my friends were going out tonight, but my friend Julia and I are going to Toledo tomorrow around 9am... It was the former capital of Spain (and where they made the swords for Lord of the Rings... look how cool I am now ha). Anyways, we're just going for the day and coming back to hit the town tomorrow night! I'll take some pictures with my disposable cam! You'll all have to be a tad bit patient (how conditioned we are to the instant gratification of the digital camera)! The bus to Toledo is only 4euros. So, it's a pretty good deal, and I've heard it's really cool. The painter El Greco had a house (now museum) there!

Hmm, what else happened today? I went grocery shopping. Oh, I got up early for a morning class that ended up being cancelled. It was worth going though because a girl in the class told me I look a lot like Aishwarya Rai... I walked away without administering an eye exam because when all else fails, there's always delusion! I'll take what I can get!

Oh, I also booked a trip to Lisboa today (don't call it Lisbon or the locals will think you are saying "lesbian"). I'm going with two of my friends, the aforementioned Julia (the Aussie, far left with black hoodie in first pic below and then the one really close to the camera in the 2nd) and one of the Germans, Sibs or Sibkins (one pictured in the white hoodie...I call her these names because I quite frankly cannot pronounce/don't really know her name). I'm so excited because it's supposed to be 20 grados (20 degrees C... I think that converts to about 70 degrees F) and sunny!! It's been cold for the past two days in Madrid, but I won't say the temperature because I understand it's all relative! So.........I'm SO excited to go to a city/country where finding a novelty item with the name "Marie Figueiredo" printed on it isn't absurd! Call me crazy... I just want a nice license plate or pen with my name on it for once!

I'm excited, and hopefully I will be able to go to Cristiano Ronaldo's CR7 boutique that his sister runs. And if she tries to set me up on a date with her brother, then so be it... Sorry, what was I saying? I think I just drifted off into a daydream!

Okay, I'm going to take a shower and do some homework and get my act together! I'll post a few pictures from last weekend so you guys don't think my friends are "Gossi"s... I hope all the Rochesterians have fun celebrating CAT's bday.

so, 2 of the pics below were taken by Jess'(denim jacket) camera, and 2 by dad's old Palm Pilot. Guess which are which...

Update!

Hey everybody, sorry this post is so delayed!! I've been pretty bad about this and even keeping in touch with people because my residence internet sometimes goes down for 2 days at a time... pretty frustrating! Anyways, I'm sure many of you are aware that the digital camera I received for Christmas is gone forever... possibly into the hands of gypsy children at the open-air market near the Sol/the city center. Also, for the gypsy-fearing, here's a funny little sidenote- there is a Christmas carol here that talks about how Joseph told the gypsies in Bethlehem to watch their hands because he didn't want them to steal the baby Jesus. Pretty funny, and definitely reflective of the Spanish culture's xenophobia (in my opinion)... that's a generalization. Anyways, I was almost pick-pocketed again today, I'm pretty sure... but I was prepared this time.

I was in this store called Blanco with one of my friends just browsing, and I had my wristlet with a couple of euros in it (all my important stuff was hidden away)... ANYways, this guy and his girlfriend were next to me looking at shirts, and the guy was putting shirts in his hand one by one and ever so gently pulled my wallet between two shirts. Little did he know, my wallet is attached to my wrist, and I had the wallet in my hand... so I felt it leave my hand and shot him a look of pure and utter loathing... he had this unapologetic look on his face and knew EXACTLY what he was doing, and I pulled my wallet away and told him exactly what Joseph said to the gypsies ("cuidadido con las manos"... "careful with your hands")... in retrospect, I should have added an expletive. Luckily, he hadn't taken anything, but my adrenaline was definitely pumping after that!

Okay, let's see, other than that what's going on?! Oh, I'm taking 5 classes (3 spanish -- Morphology, the history of the Spanish language from the 15th century on, and Varieties in Peninsular Spanish)... I'm taking two electives because I can (one is in English on Contemporary English Poetry and the other is in Spanish and is about the History and Culture of the U.S. hahaha). It's actually really interesting learning about the U.S. from this vantage point. I have to read the spanish translation of this article on the American frontier that I read in AP U.S. History 4 years ago. I thought that was pretty funny.

It is unbelievable how much I learn from just going to class and listening to the professors speak Spanish. On Tuesday and Thursday, I have a full day of classes, and I sit there all day, mostly understanding (if I'm concentrating)... at the end of the day last Thursday, I seriously felt brain dead, and was speaking Spanish to one of my classmates but was really struggling. It was really discouraging, and I was so confused because I felt like I was really progressing. Anyways, that night, I had a dream that was partly in Spanish (I've had a few). Then, the next day, I woke up and my facility for the language was so good. Honestly, it astounds me what the brain absorbs when you're not even really aware.

So, I was talking to Emily on the phone yesterday, and she was saying she'd love to know what I do on a daily basis because... I just write about day-trips and such. It's so weird writing about mundane daily things if you're living them, but I understand that you guys might find them interesting (or at least Emily will)... mostly because even little things here are quite different.
So, my weekday starts with a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) with some of my friends at the Filosofia y Letras Cafe on campus. The friends I speak of are an Australian girl, a New Zealand girl and 2 German girls... give or take some random Italian and German acquaintances who we see around campus. The Spanish students are pretty cliquey but nice if you get to know them apart from their group. The Spanish guys are nicer to us girls than the Spanish girls are, which I guess is to be expected? Kind of weird though. Anyways, I am thinking the cliquey-ness might have to do with the fact that it's 2nd semester... I'm thinking I'll give that situation a little time. The rest of the day is spent in class, then I come home and make dinner or do homework, and a couple nights a week I'll go into the city center and either go to a cafe or pub or do salsa or just hang around with friends... it's a really cool city. There are random mariachi bands just playing music in the middle of the plazas, and everybody and their brother is milling around! It's a very fun atmosphere and a great way to meet people and speak Spanish and just hang out with friends.

I've been here for a little over a month now... how crazy is that? I looked at the pictures on Ofoto of EAW and Sara's 30th and I spied Elephant Wallace in the background of one picture!! I'm glad I have a proxy... and I'm really glad I sewed a camcorder into that stuffed animal so I can hear what you guys are talking about hahah (I wish I had the foresight). Mostly of course, I just looked at EAW. What a darling!! Those eyes and that little baby body, way too cute!! I feel like I might come home with a suitcase full of baby souvenirs, like Real Madrid onesies and diaper bloomers with Penelope Cruz's face on them (I bet they sell them... she's a national obsession). Anyways, I should probably go do some homework. I have to read a chapter about segmentation in Spanish morphology... should be a blast! I hope everyone is doing well, enjoyed their Mardi Gras and is having a productive Lent.

Speaking of Lent, one more thing... I have my Easter plans booked. I'm going to Italy for 1.5 weeks (Rome, Florence and Venice)... We're taking a train through the country! I'm so excited, let me know if anyone has been to Italy and has any suggestions!!!!

Miss you guys!!

Barcelona, where I was meant to be born (...not that Rochester isn't great)

Speaking of birth... happy birthday, SARA!

Okay, so, I went to Barcelona for a long weekend (Friday morning to Monday night). I flew into Barcelona's Girona airport via RyanAir... I was wondering why it was relatively cheap and I found out why! Girona is more than 100km away from the city's center! Luckily, there is a pretty cheap bus that travels frequently between the airport and the city! And I even made a friend on the busride... an American exchange student at Madrid's Compultensive University.

Anyways, Barcelona is an incredible city. There was not a cloud in the sky for the majority of my trip and the sun was mostly shining (except for in the pictures I'm posting apparently ha) . There are a lot of tourists, and a focal point of the tourist area is a walkway called the Ramblas, with people performing, souvenir stands, flower stands and all types of jewelry and such. The Ramblas lead directly to a statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus, who is allegedly from Barcelona -- although it is highly debated). Beyond Cris C is the port of Barcelona, a gorgeous mess of sailboat masts, mediterranean blue, and booeys that look like statues... Below is a picture of the port, the ramblas with a view of the Columbus statue...

Here is a picture of my dad's cousin Octavio's son, Enoch. He is feeding the palomas in Placa Catalunya. For the record, every sign in Barcelona is in catalan; so, you can navigate your way around with castellano (spanish as we americans know it), but you'll find yourself asking information booths for help.
ALSO for the record, Enoch and Jemima (his sister) thought I would enjoy this activity, but they didn't know about my fear of birds AND the fact that their palomas (direct translation:doves) are PIGEONS, something I would not call a dove. but rather a rat with wings.....


Here is a picture of a guy in blackface, yes, blackface and horrible fake dentures pretending to be FC Barca's Ronaldinho. He was in the Ramblas juggling and such. There were a lot of portrait artists in the Ramblas who do caricatures and a lot of them used Ronaldinho as their sample caricature... poor guy.














Other cultural landmarks in Barca obviously center around the grand design of Gaudi. This year is actually the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Gaudi was so devoted to his craft that he was standing in the street sizing up a building and was run over by an oldschool trolley. That's how he died. Crazy, huh? His work is so respected because of the way he makes stone look malleable. The Casa de Gaudi (below left) has some cool mosaic crystal statues on the roof that I didn't get a good shot of and the Church of La Sagrada Familia (below right) is still under construction. Furthermore, some city builders are pushing to get a metro station built underneath the Church. It is highly contested because nobody really knows if the church will cave in or not, and obviously a lot of time and energy (and MONEY) has gone into the church so... we'll see how that goes!

I actually spent most of my time in Barcelona in Sant Cugat, a suburb/village about 40 minutes outside of the city. This is where Octavio's family lives. Its relation to Barcelona is analogous to Oakville and Toronto. A lot of families live here and there are schools, and a lot of the parents work in Barcelona and commute by train or car. It is essentially much cooler than Oakville however hahaha.... well, it is. It has a 9th century cathedral that's freaking gorgeous, even if a groundskeeper was urinating right in front of it when I went to visit it.

I spent a lot of time in Sant Cugat walking around and I found it to be quite cozy. Octavio's family was really quite nice; although, the 17 yr-old daughter spoke so quickly and she mixed in catalan with her castellano... I could not understand her or her brother. And, for the record, I probably spoke 7 words of English the whole time I was there, struggling to understand Catalan, Portuguese, and French, while I used castellano as my STRONG language.... wow, is all I have to say.

It was easier to understand my dad's Tia Esther (who only speaks portuguese) than to understand the Catalan. Mike Stancs might even come in handy(!) if you guys make it over to Barcelona.

Though in retrospect, it is possible that Esther was easier to understand because she dwelled on the same topics. She is a lovely woman of course, loves her family in a teasing way. Fortunately the Tierney women have made me accustomed to the tough love of a matriarch hahah.

Anyways, as nice as she is, she's also very old-fashioned and wears her indignation on her face. She's very disappointed my dad never had me learn portuguese ("why castellano? why not portuguese?!" she implored). She wondered MANY times about why I do not have a nice Goan boyfriend (...all the Goan guys I know are family, Esther)... She was very funny though, and has such a spontaneous, girlish giggle. She's a lot of fun to be around, and she absolutely loved me because I look so much like her sister (my grandmother Zamira).

The first time she saw me, she broke down into tears. She and my grandma Figueiredo were best friends until my grandma died ("minha irma Zamira nao tenia maldad" she kept saying... "you couldn't say anything bad about my sister Zamira" etc.)

I've always heard that I look like my grandma, but this really confirmed it for me. I guess I look a lot like her when she was younger, and I have the same eyes and facial features.
It was an eye-opening weekend, and I figured out where my dad's fear of dogs comes from (the Fernandes side of the family)... and where his illogical generosity comes from. These people had me living like a queen for 4 days.
They do the traditional Spanish meals, in which they stuff you with multiple courses at lunch. The food is mostly some sliced baguette, a cut of fish or chicken with lentils or potatoes and a salad. Then they finished off the meal with a yogurt, flan or piece of fruit (the pears here are my favorite). Also, they do shots of espresso with steamed milk and sugar at the end of the meal.

Here is a recipe I found online that is similar to my favorite dish that they gave me. It was cod.
http://www.canyellespetites.com/food-main-ajoarriero.htm She didn't shred the cod, and she served it with baked queso de cabra (some sort of UNBELIEVABLE Spanish cheese)... it was beyond phenomenal.

For dinner, they would have something as simple as toast and yogurt or... one night they sliced up a baguette and put mashed tomato, olive oil and salt on top of it and called it a day, or they put a cheese platter out with sliced up baguette and olive oil.

Barcelona was incredible. It is a city that is so surrounded by art in its everyday landscape that I think the people who live their don't even notice sometimes!! I found myself taking snapshots of random houses and stuff because I just couldn't even believe my eyes. Anyways, I recommend the city, and I hope to return with people my own age when the weather is maybe a little bit warmer so I can hang out and walk around downtown.

And, YES, I am aware this post is rife with errors in grammar. Deal with it!

Pig Knuckles and Sauerkraut...

Segovia is about a 2-hour train ride North of Madrid. The landscape as you move into Castile and Leon looks kind of like what I imagine a small German village to look like, with more and more snow with every 40 minutes or so North and little chalet-style houses. We (2 of my friends from residence, the ones from the last post) arrived and took a bus up a mountain to the Plaza Mayor where there was a gorgeous Cathedral with Moorish-influenced architecture. Also, there was a huge gazebo in the middle of the plaza that reminded me of the "16 going on 17" scene from Sound of Music.

From the cathedral we walked to Alcazar. These are the kind of narrow, cobbled streets you can picture knights in medieval armor walkind down. Alcazar's design allegedly helped inspire Walt Disney's design of the Snow White Castle, but personally I think that claim is erroneous. The view of Castile and Leon in the winter was breathtaking, even though you can't help but imagine how springtime bloom would really make everything pop.

I was watching a behind-the-scenes interview with Pedro Almodovar on the "Volver" dvd, and he had this theory that the Castillian landscape is so blank --few trees and rolling hills--that people from Castilla naturally evolve into storytellers in order to add layers to this barren landscape. I think what he was trying to say that the imagination is spurred to create when presented with such a blank canvas. Of course, Castilla is also Don Quixote/Cervantes territory; so, I thought that Almodovar's theory was interesting, and I looked at the landscape with all that in the back of my head, but I thought it was beautiful because it was so simple. I can see how in such a place, you would get to know the rocks and trees as landmarks because they are so few and far between that they almost have personalities..

Anyways, we went to the top of Snow White's tower where the view was just incredible, even though I am afraid of heights and the stairs up the tower were playing tricks with my mind.

Afterwards, we decided to stop and try the traditional Segovian food, sopa castellana (garlic broth with hard-boiled egg and soaked bread) and cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig hoof)... both were... an experience, and I honestly would not order either again (very strange textures, cutting through the cochinillo was like cutting through a sneaker)... Anyways, the whole Segovian culture is fascinating in terms of this food. The hoof had a tag on it that said how many siblings the pig had, who it's mother was, where it lived and the day it was killed (3 days ante-plate in my case)... Furthermore, after we ate it, the waitress came back and said, "oh, we just logged when it was eaten too. The only thing we don't know about this pig is the name of the person who ate it." Fascinating. After that, we went to catch our bus because the last train was leaving soon, and the bus pick-up was right underneath the Roman Aqueducts, which we obviously wanted to see because they are AWESOME. The most impressive part about it is that rocks that comprise the aqueduct are not bound together by concrete, and it has endured to this day. It appears that the only thing keeping it together is some solid physics and moss... Very cool.

Anyways, here are some pictures of Segovia:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=99405596103.666232539603.1234486059871&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

Let me just brag a bit and say that I took a shower that morning and my hair DRIED like that!!! That is probably the best my hair has looked in LONG while... must be the Spanish air/water! Also, sidenote, the last picture of the album is Retiro park in Madrid on a Sunday afternoon. It is so fun; there are bongos and lots of people in mascot costumes. The people-watching is good, and I tried the most rich traditional Spanish fare: the hot chocolate (chocolate tradicional a la taza)... it is pretty much a cadbury bar melted into a tea cup. So good... must be awful for the insides. That's what they dip churros into for BREAKFAST, which makes even me a bit queasy. Anyways, it was good, and the people-watching from the terrace was very relaxed.

I had my first day of class today. It was good, VERY different from Toronto. I can talk about that later; for now, I don't want to think about it. I am going to Barcelona in like 6 hours and I haven't started packing. I am going to meet Dad's godbrother and his family. He has a daughter a couple years younger than me with whom I spoke on the phone, and they are the nicest. ever. They only speak to me in Spanish, and it's not a big deal to them; so, I just roll with the punches! This should be interesting, especially because I'm meeting Dad's godmother, who was really good friends with my Figueiredo grandmother. So, maybe I'll hear some cool stories and get the REAL scoop on whether or not I look like a lot like my Figueiredo grandma. More soon! I miss you all!

La Vida Loca

Hola todos, it's been a busy couple of days, and I don't know if I'm going to get around to writing about the Prado and Thyssen museums (especially the Thyssen, due to Steve's sensitivity regarding the O'Keeffe from the previous post ha). Anyways, next time I talk to you, ask me about it, although I can't guarantee I'll shut up once I start talking. ALSO, sidenote, I've only used an audioguide once at a museum and it was at the Prado, and it was the best decision I've ever made.
Okay, so last night, I went to Alcala to have my weekly visit with Matt and his Loyola friends. They had a nice tapas potluck and wine dealy that I partook in. Then we went out. For those of you who have been reading the blog from the beginning, they played a couple of SHAKIRA songs at the second bar we went to so I was very happy/ dancing up a storm!
Anyways, after returning to Madrid today, I had a chance to hang out with two kids in my residence who I've been in touch with since the International Students Orientation meeting on Wednesday. Jenny was actually in a bunch of my Spanish/Portuguese courses over the years at U of T, but we had never spoken before the meeting on Wednesday, and she is a very nice girl who actually went to language school in Madrid for 3 months a couple years ago. Andres lives 2 doors down from me, and he's from Mexico/San Diego. He really likes soccer and a lot of the same music as me; so, that's cool, and we're definitely planning to see Real Madrid play.
Anyways, we went into Madrid tonight and met up with Jenny's friend Alberto who's from Barcelona but is doing his Masters in Madrid and he basically took a metro map and circled everywhere we need to go, gave us the lowdown on the weather, the neighbourhoods, the culture, etc. It was really quite fun and informative. Also, Alberto doesn't speak any English, and I felt totally comfortable and could understand what he was saying and interject when necessary. It was good.
We went to this place near Gran Via called Monteditos, I think... anyways, everything there was 1 or 2 euros, and it was delicious! The cerveza clara was SO good. It is Cruz Campo brand beer (which like corona) mixed with lemon soda. It was almost cider-esque but not quite as sweet. I quite enjoyed it. Also, the bocadillos, pictured below, were VERY good. You could order them with pan normal (white bread) or pan integral (wheat), and they came with chips... which I OF COURSE stuffed in my bocadillos just like I used to during hot lunches at Seton hah gives it a nice crunch. Anyways, picture mini sub sandwiches with a variety of fillings... one of mine was filled with brie and chorizo, one with tuna and olive oil and a mayo-esque sauce (alioli?), and the BEST ONE was filled with jamon iberico and some sort of tomato-based oil sauce. Every Spanish person raves about jamon iberico (thinly sliced, cured ham), but honestly ham is not my favourite and I was super skeptical. I am currently going on the record to say that it was highly delicious!
Anyways, I should go to bed now because the three of us are going to Segovia tomorrow morning for the day. It's the capital of Castile y Leon, and it has a Roman aqueduct and a really nice cathedral that I will be taking pictures of and describing to you in my next post!! Take care everybody!

Madrid Card Day 2- Pretty much comatose...

I went to two art museums today, El Prado and the Thyssen Bornemisza... They were both amazing, and I spent the whole day between the two; so... I'm exhausted and will write about this experience more later, but for now I just wanted to say that there was a visiting exhibit at the Thyssen.... from the Albright Knox in Buffalo, NY. Also, I wanted to post a picture I snuck in of a Georgia O'Keeffe sunset that looks EERILY like that SBTW arts and crafts project Stevie didn't get a super on for lack of glitter... Sorry to drudge up unpleasant memories, it's just uncanny!

Madrid Card - Day 1... Happy and exhausted.

I went and picked up my Madrid Card at the Tourism Center at 9am this morning. The Center is located in the Plaza Mayor. And, from the get-go I realized a recurring theme... there are few Spaniards in the tourism field that speak any other language... more specifically, none of which I came across today. I found myself translating for Brits, Chinese and Germans (gestures)... man some of these Spanish ticket people are rude. Just because they work there every day and are probably bored out of their minds and expect people to know their language in their country... ok, so maybe it sucks to be them. Just sayin', some of these poor tourists.

So, the first thing I did was take the provided Madrid Vision bus on a trip around the center of the city, past all the museums around the Paseo del Prado that I'm going to see tomorrow, past el Retiro (famous park, constructed by King Felipe IV and considered to be his baby in terms of public works), through the ritzy shopping district on Calle Salamanca, past the National Library, down and around, etc.

The first stop I got off at was the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace)!! Phillip V built it. He was the first Spanish Monarch of the Bourbon Dynasty, and Spain wasn't the popular Monarchy back in the 18th Century so everything's super decked out to overcompensate for that and to exude an image of power and wealth. The throne room was unbelievable, and all of the material used for everything was rich, rich, rich. Also, there was some great artwork, including lux tapestries and some paintings by the likes of Velázquez, Caravaggio, and Goya. It was very interesting to see some of the queens' toys too, that were made out of like solid gold if I'm not mistaken. I like stuff like that simply to imagine what it would feel like to walk down those corridors as a noble back in the day who had to worry about colonies and heirs and the like, and apparently the current Royal family uses this place for state functions still so... that's cool.

This is the view of Segovia from a terrace to the left of the Palace as shown above.

I didn't go into the Campo del Moro (the park behind the palace) because it was raining and I did not see the entrance for the life of me; so, I went to the Plaza del Oriente in front of the palace and frolicked for a little bit before I headed off to Santiago Bernabeu. It looks sunny and I'm squinting/ winking(?), but I assure you it was downcast. Hence the hood. Here are more pictures of the Plaza del Oriente.

Next, I took the metro to Real Madrid's Stadium, Santiago Bernabeu. It was SOOOO fun, even though I felt like a huge loser because I kept trying to take pictures of myself until this group of African guys in front of me offered to take my picture. Also why I'm a loser... I kept taking random pictures of Sergio Ramos and giggling to myself.

Here's one to the right... haha. And then down below to the left is me sitting on Real Madrid's cushy, cushy bench!!! My feet didn't even touch the ground which is pretty disconcerting, as I'm sure there are players shorter than 5'10" who need to rest their dogs.

After playing around at Santiago Bernabeu, I went to the Reina Sofia national museum of art!!

It was fantastic, particularly because I studied a lot of its works freshman year of University. Also, I saw Picasso's "Guernica" which was truly horrifying, huge and daunting and makes you want to cry. There was a lot of photography and art in general regarding the Spanish Civil War. There was a temporary exhibit featuring some George Grosz, who depicted Germany's Weimar Republic as gluttonous and he then joined another artist John Heartfield as one of the first to publicly criticize Hitler. So, I found that interesting. Also, I love the Spanish surrealists Dali and Miro, and I got to see an abundance of their work. Here's a picture I snuck in of Dali's "Invisible Man," which is actually pretty perverted from far away, but the detail and the colours, even the characterization... unbelievable.

Okay, I'm exhausted and have a whole day left on my Madrid Card for tomorrow!! So, I guess, hasta pronto!

A few trivialities...

Currently, it is snowing in Madrid. Allegedly, this is rare, but it has happened at least twice already this year. Every other day it has been about 14 degrees C and sunny; so, I think I've found a place more temperamental than Rochester weather-wise.

Anyways, I tried to make it to mass this morning, but ended up grabbing the wrong bus due to being impatient and hopping on the next one traveling in the desired direction... So, that was kind of a wash.

While I sit here coordinating tomorrow's visits to the Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid's stadium) and some of the museums, I am just going to write some of the random, random things I have observed in my (almost a) week here:

1. Their tap water is delicious. Apparently, Spaniards are famously proud of it, and now I know why. So, if you go to a restaurant order "agua del grifo" because if you just say "agua," they will probably just give you a bottle of water.

2. Never buy a newspaper because it is highly likely that you will run into today's copy of "El Pais" or "Que" on the train. Honestly, I have read the newspaper every day this way. Unfortunately, "Que" is a bit inane, with only a few feature articles mostly about random municipal news, like the problem Madrid is having with "Caca de perros" (Dog poo) for example. Actually, come to think about it, there was some interesting stuff about electoral parties in the Basque region...

3. People are less attached to their ipods and cell phones on the metro. I might be mistaken, but it is more likely for them to be just reading something random. I have seen more than a few people practicing reading English in the metro. Ipods and cell phones are far more common on the train system. Also, most cell phone plans come with headphones (for blue tooth and the radio) so that's pretty common. Also, groups of teenagers play their music like a boombox on the train, mostly hoodlum boys with crazy spanish rap.

Okay, more later!

Day 3: Reflections

The trip over was an experience to say the least. I went from Rochester to Dulles to Frankfurt to Madrid, and I'd have to say the Frankfurt airport was the most poorly-planned structure of all of them. It was a labyrinth, it was like the set of American Gladiators. There are kiosks there that let you use the internet for 2.5 minutes for 1 Euro (the cheapest option when you've promised to let your parents know you've made your connection but it's 3AM their time)... Anyways, they made the keyboard so confusing that my 2.5 minutes was really like .5 and my e-mail to dad was essentially "on waww to Madrid thank". I swear to god there was a niner on that keyboard... and maybe some morse code. Anyways, my flights were good because I didn't have to sit next to anyone directly except for the flight over the Atlantic (of course), which was spent between a not-delicately built man, nay a chatty mouth-breather (with halitosis, I swear!) and an amphibous-looking German who was in the WINDOW seat and had to go to the bathroom every hour on the hour (I actually timed the flight by his bathroom trips)... Also, they played "Nights in Rodanthe" which I could only watch half of before resorting to listening to Lufthansa Radio (German techno) and ordering another v&t (open bar plane)!

So, I got into Madrid's Barajas Airport and went to luggage pick-up and who's there but... FC Barcelona's Basquetbol team (pro bball... played Real Madrid's Bball team on the 28th... all monstar-sized). That was the team NBA All-Star Pau Gasol played for when he played in Spain. I thought it was cool, but I was afraid to stop and take a picture with them because I didn't want to lose 6 months worth of luggage! Also, I was being harassed by a random who wanted me to follow him to his taxi, but he was leading me to the normal passenger parking in the opposite direction of the official taxi pickup. I told him I was waiting for friends. That said, Madrid is the most intimidating place I have ever been. I didn't feel very comfortable until I got a cell phone and the girl I live next to helped me set up my wireless... cell phones are cool here though because everywhere in Spain is a standard local rate. So, I can call my friend Leigh in Oviedo like it's no big deal!

Anyways, obviously there are jerks and nice people everywhere, but I had a very unpleasant experience with a salesman at El Corte Ingles who was rude to me because I didn't know the word for the plastic piece at the end of an internet cable!! Sorry, I've been here 3 hours and I don't know what that is in ENGLISH!!!! Anyways, I got to explore the metro (read: get lost a few times... you have to push a button on the door to enter and leave. Also, you have to keep your ticket out for the whole ride because you need it to get out of the system).

I got to visit my friend Matt and meet all his friends in Alcala de Henares, 40 minute train ride from where I am. That was my first night there, and I was exhausted, but I didn't want to be alone. So, we had a fun night. If you want stories, I got stories, but they are not for the faint of heart. They include but are not limited to: open flames, boots on fire, 80s music, fountains... like I said, you might not want to know.

The Spanish kids on campus are high-strung because it's first semester exams right now, and they travel in packs so I've been a little timid around them, other than the occasional "hola" in the hallway. Their style is very different from ours, they love unflattering denim (we're talking light wash, straight boy-cut jeans on girls that are saggy baggy in the butt). I'll do a fashion post later. I'm mostly astounded by how cavalier the natives are with their bags. Pickpockets MUST target "guiris"... white people haha because these people are asking to by pickpocketed while I sit there making sure my secret pockets are concealed.

I had a chance to go to the grocery today... So cool, so cheap, cheap, cheap. Cheeses you've never heard of, wine from the Rioja Region for cheap, and the seafood section is TRULY remarkable...

I haven't been taking many pictures because I have been mostly doing chores in places that would make me feel vulnerable if I gave off a tourist vibe so... I'll save that for Monday and Tuesday, when I use the Madrid Card I received for Christmas!! I can't wait! Expect another post after that! Hasta luego!

Last-Minute Advice

So, I am leaving tomorrow for Spain. Here's to this blog becoming relevant! I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to say goodbye to a lot of family and friends in the last couple of days (and even meet a new family member). I would like to share with you some of the last-minute gems of wisdom they shared with me, advice for the road, tips you won't find on lonelyplanet:

*1. If you see gypsies, run for your life.
2. In order to protect your belongings, look angry. Put on your angriest face, and you will be okay.
3. Wear all black.
4. Don't trust any one.

Well, I guess that's good news for all the gypsy-hatin' goths out there...? :P Wish me luck.

*You can try to guess which family members said what if you want...

A few of my favorite (Spanish) things...

I started planning my trip to Madrid six years ago. Well, seeing as I was only 14 years-old then, it was more of a pipe-dream than a plan. One of the assignments for my 9th grade Spanish Class was to write a sample itinerary for a 2-week trip to any Spanish-speaking destination. I chose Madrid. Again --given the opportunity to study abroad and my ever-growing Iberophilia (potentially a made-up word)-- I have chosen Madrid, and my trip has finally been extended beyond paper (and even blog) to a real-life adventure of more than five months. So, before I embark on this trip, I want to share a list of some of the things that have stoked my interest in all that is Hispanic over the years:

(1) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway-- The Spanish edition of this novel is titled Fiesta... and that it is. This jaunt of a book details the adventures of an American expat with war-induced arrested development living out the ultimate romantic dream. Jake Barnes is a writer in Europe engaged in an unpredictable and passionate romance that is doomed from the start. With self-reflection limited to the bottom of a pint glass, Barnes is a protagonist that any escapist can embrace. Based on the travels of the author, "Don Ernesto" Hemingway, the title Fiesta alludes to the annual bull-fights in Pamplona, where the novel culminates and Barnes comes across a young bullfighter whose courage and independence inspires him to re-evaluate his values and friendships in the "Lost Generation" of post-WWI Europe. This book includes many of Hemingway's old haunts in Madrid.

(2) Shakira -- At first, I was reluctant to embrace her tunes as her vibrato can be eerily strong... BUT at the end of the day, my head said "no" and my hips said "yes." Even listening to her ballads makes me shimmy! What can I say? Her music can most aptly be described as No Doubt goes Latino, in which she undoubtedly (no pun intended) fulfils the stylish and strong female Gwen Stefani-role. Some of her English-crossover radio hits include "Whenever, Wherever" and "Underneath Your Clothes," and I would be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't heard "Hips Don't Lie" (as I think I read somewhere that it broke the world record for the most radio play in history). My favorites include proud and uber-dancey "La Tortura," and the romantic ballad, "The Day and The Time," an adaptation of her "Día Especial." Her music is really catchy and the Spanish songs have really helped me get used to the rhythm of the Spanish language in an enjoyable way.

(3) The films of Pedro Almodóvar-- As far as I can tell, Almodóvar (inset, on the set of his 2006 "Volver") is Madrid's unofficial spokesman and its most high profile film-maker. His films show an unfaltering devotion to the Spanish landscape as the background of complex stories that combine serious domestic issues with mystical superstitions. He blends reality and dreams in a way no other story-teller has. His works are like Dalí paintings come to life. His glorification of woman as both mother and muse is fascinating as is his blend of colorful aesthetics with compelling music. One of his most popular (and controversial films) is "La Mala Educación" (2004) (a.k.a. "Bad Education"), which is as brilliantly mysterious as it is explicitly passionate; with a well-founded NC-17 rating, this film is far from the traditional love story as it centers around sex, gender play and Church scandal. I understand that is not everybody's cup of tea, so I would suggest giving the charming and mystical "Volver" a chance (2006- stars Penelope Cruz at her best, as the maternal protagonist having to confront past ghosts in order to re-evaluate the present) and then, if you like that, I would suggest the Freudian case study that is 2002's "Hable Con Ella" ("Talk to Her"). "Hable Con Ella" is my personal favorite. It is about the delusions of loneliness and the beauty of the ethereal (one character captures the film's theme beautifully, “de la muerte emerge la vida, de lo masculino emerge lo femenino, y de lo terreno emerge lo etéreo”...from death comes life, from the masculine comes the feminine and from the earth the ethereal emerges).
(4) La Eurocopa 2008 and the boys of Real Madrid-- I love soccer, and I have a soft spot for the under-dog. That is why this past summer's Euro Cup tournament was especially enjoyable. The young Spanish national team fought its way to win the cup (pictured) and changed the world's perception of Spain as futbol's chronic underachievers. I would be lying if I said hunky goalkeeper Iker Casillas had nothing to do with my enthusiastic support of both Spain's national team and La Liga's Real Madrid. Honestly, I'm impressed both teams manage to win any games, considering I'm about 98% sure Real Madrid recruits based on looks... okay, so every team has a Marla Hooch (Pepe?), but look at Casillas, Fabio Cannavaro, Raúl, and even the Val Kilmer-esque Sergio Ramos... Hola, my theory speaks for itself and if you are STILL unconvinced, keep in mind that Beckham used to be on Real Madrid, and they tried to recruit Cristiano Ronaldo pretty aggressively... hahah just saying.

(5) Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)-- I really enjoyed this flirtatious movie about two American best friends who vacation in Spain and encounter a charming, passionate painter with a psychotic ex-wife. The Woody Allen humor is there, with his command over character quirks that leaves the audience laughing and thinking "he/she WOULD say that. that is SO like him/her."... This film was fun and light. I'm pretty sure I read that its production was partly funded by Tourism Barcelona (hence the title), and it certainly shows off Barcelona's architecture and other picturesque tourist sights like an antique amusement park. Also, part of the film is set in lesser-known Asturias and highlights its humble, exotic beauty. The acting was great, starring Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem (sans the Anton Chigurh pilgrim hair-cut, thank God) and the almost animal-looking Penélope Cruz (who is always very striking and beautiful but, I swear, a million times better at acting when she is speaking her native Spanish, which she got to do in this... I read Allen let Cruz and Bardem do a lot of improv when the script called for them to speak Spanish in this film. It made for a pretty amusing dynamic between the two).