Barcelona!
Last weekend I went to Barcelona from Friday night through Monday night! It was one of the most fun trips in my life!
Friday our plane got into the Barcelona airport pretty late, and we took a bus called Aerobús from the airport to Plaza Catalunya, which was really close to our hostel. At first we were a little skeptical about paying five euro for a bus from the airport, but since we didn’t know where the hostel was, we really didn’t have a choice… But it was a good thing we did, since the hostel was about a half hour bus ride from the airport! The hostel that we stayed at was HipKarma, and it was so nice. Each bed was like a cocoon, with curtains surrounding it and the beds were so comfortable. Friday night all I wanted to do was sleep when I saw my bed!
Saturday we woke up at a decent time and two of the people with us had gotten up to buy and make breakfast! We had french toast with nutella, fruit, and juice! Yum! It was definitely nice to have a kitchen in our hostel. After breakfast, we walked back to Plaza Catalunya, and decided to buy a two-day pass for the tourist bus. It took us everywhere that we wanted to see, and…. It was a double decker bus! I had never ridden on a double decker bus before, so it was very exciting, and I even got a little color (not much!). It was in the high sixties when we were in Barcelona with the sun shining, which was amazing. Saturday we saw some really cool buildings that Gaudí designed when we were on the bus. We also saw the Olympic stadium from when the Olympics were in Barcelona. We were hoping to be able to take a cable car to see the entire city, but it was under maintenance for a month… so maybe it is a good thing that we weren’t on it! We went out for lunch at a smaller restaurant that had very good food! It was pretty impressive. Then, we saw the port at night, which was beautiful with lights and music all around it. We also got crepes! Yumm! After we saw the plaza, we rode our bus around a little more and then got back to our plaza.
Sunday was our sightseeing day. We saw Sagrada Familia and Parque Guell! Amazing work by Gaudí. Sagrada Familia is still not finished with the construction, but it is still absolutely beautiful. I am hoping to go back eventually once it is finished. Sunday night we got to watch the superbowl at an Irish bar in Barcelona and that was a very fun night! Who would’ve guessed it was possible to see American football in Spain?!
And then Monday, we walked Las Ramblas (a street full of a ton of street performers, vendors and touristy things..), saw a market with lots of interesting things… including goat heads!, saw the port again and lots of other stuff and then we eventually made it back to Valladolid!
Feb 14, 2011
BURGOS
I went to Burgos on Saturday January 29th! I know this blog post is very late, but things have just been crazy in Spain!
Overall, Burgos was a beautiful city, and quite an adventure! We took a train that took about an hour and a half to reach the city. Our train left at 7AM! So we had a full day in the city. As we got closer and closer, we realized that there was SNOW on the ground! (I know this doesn’t seem that weird for those of you in Wisconsin… but for Spain, it was shocking).
Once we got there, we started walking towards the main plazas and the things we wanted to see for the day… except we got a little lost, so we asked someone where we were and he said to get there, we needed to take a bus, which seemed weird since we were pretty close on the map. But we found a bus anyways, and then I decided to get off too early, so we walked about forty minutes to the main city (and figured that we must have walked the wrong way to have been that lost!)
Things that we saw in Burgos:
-Plaza de El Cid (A famous person that we learned about in literature class that died in Burgos…)
-Museo de Evolución Humana (Human Evolution Museum): We were going to get to go to caves that were nearby, but the weather was bad (or maybe we just couldn’t go because it was winter..?). But the museum was very cool overall. There was a lot of information about early excavation sites, the brain, ecosystems and other cool stuff.
-Castle: Any old city in Spain needs a castle. We hiked up lots and lots of stairs to get to the top of a huge mountain to see the castle… Only to realize that the castle was already closed a half hour earlier than it was supposed to! But the view from the top of the mountain was completely worth it, even not being able to walk inside the castle.
-Catedral: Like castles, any older city in Spain needs to have a cathedral. It is so hard to describe the beauty of the cathedral, because it is something that you just need to see for yourself! My pictures couldn’t even take in half of how amazing it was! It was huge though, and the tomb of El Cid was there too.
-Then we ate lunch, and I had the bocadilla (sandwich) that my host mom packed for me.
-Monastery de las Huelgas: We were going to take a tour in Spanish, but the lady selling the tickets said that if we were going to take the train, we had to leave right away to walk to the train station, which was kind of confusing since it was very close on the map to the train station. So, we decided to take a few pictures and then leave. We got to the train station on the map, which turned out to be the OLD train station! It turns out that the new train station (where we started and had to end up) wasn’t even on the map! It was about five miles away, and we did not have time (or want!) to walk there. So we ended up getting taxis, and that was my first taxi ride ever!
So there’s the Burgos adventure! A beautiful city that was definitely worth the trip!
Overall, Burgos was a beautiful city, and quite an adventure! We took a train that took about an hour and a half to reach the city. Our train left at 7AM! So we had a full day in the city. As we got closer and closer, we realized that there was SNOW on the ground! (I know this doesn’t seem that weird for those of you in Wisconsin… but for Spain, it was shocking).
Once we got there, we started walking towards the main plazas and the things we wanted to see for the day… except we got a little lost, so we asked someone where we were and he said to get there, we needed to take a bus, which seemed weird since we were pretty close on the map. But we found a bus anyways, and then I decided to get off too early, so we walked about forty minutes to the main city (and figured that we must have walked the wrong way to have been that lost!)
Things that we saw in Burgos:
-Plaza de El Cid (A famous person that we learned about in literature class that died in Burgos…)
-Museo de Evolución Humana (Human Evolution Museum): We were going to get to go to caves that were nearby, but the weather was bad (or maybe we just couldn’t go because it was winter..?). But the museum was very cool overall. There was a lot of information about early excavation sites, the brain, ecosystems and other cool stuff.
-Castle: Any old city in Spain needs a castle. We hiked up lots and lots of stairs to get to the top of a huge mountain to see the castle… Only to realize that the castle was already closed a half hour earlier than it was supposed to! But the view from the top of the mountain was completely worth it, even not being able to walk inside the castle.
-Catedral: Like castles, any older city in Spain needs to have a cathedral. It is so hard to describe the beauty of the cathedral, because it is something that you just need to see for yourself! My pictures couldn’t even take in half of how amazing it was! It was huge though, and the tomb of El Cid was there too.
-Then we ate lunch, and I had the bocadilla (sandwich) that my host mom packed for me.
-Monastery de las Huelgas: We were going to take a tour in Spanish, but the lady selling the tickets said that if we were going to take the train, we had to leave right away to walk to the train station, which was kind of confusing since it was very close on the map to the train station. So, we decided to take a few pictures and then leave. We got to the train station on the map, which turned out to be the OLD train station! It turns out that the new train station (where we started and had to end up) wasn’t even on the map! It was about five miles away, and we did not have time (or want!) to walk there. So we ended up getting taxis, and that was my first taxi ride ever!
So there’s the Burgos adventure! A beautiful city that was definitely worth the trip!
Jan 26, 2011
Quick Update!
I don't have a lot of time and my computer is kind of dying, so I am just going to write a quick update!
This past weekend, I went to Segovia on Saturday with school! We paid for five trips with our program and this was one of them! It was so fun! I went to Segovia when I went to Spain in high school, so it was nice having some knowledge of what we were seeing before hand. Three of our professors came with us to tour us around the city. We saw so many things... I'm going to post some pictures of the major buildings that we saw.
On Sunday, my church here had an international dinner with SO much food! Everyone brought a dish to pass from their culture. I didn't end up bringing anything, because I wasn't sure if Dioni (my host mom) would care if I used the kitchen, and it's kind of hard to think of American things to make with so many Spanish ingredients. Also, I am really liking my host family. When we have class later in the day or get home early, we get to spend time with their grandson Arón. He is THE happiest baby that I have ever seen! He is also a little chubby... probably since he can't say no to all of the food that Dioni gives him! She gives Emily and I so much food, that I'm not sure if we've both ever been able to finish the food that she gives us. The food here is pretty good, but we get a lot of seafood. In the states, I really didn't like sea food, but I'm trying it here and I actually like some of it, I think it's because it's more fresh!
Other random things about Spain...:
-The chocolate here is amazing. I want to bring back so much of it to eat!
-It is COLD here! BELOW 0... (Centigrade... and only 1 below... but it's still cold!)
-In the region we're in, they try to consever water, so showers have to be really quick. We don't have a shower curtain and the showerhead is not attatched to the wall, so it's kind of a challenge!
-We don't have wireless in our house, so it's kind of hard to skype/keep everything updated.
-I teach English four hours a week... One hour to a lady I met in a cell phone store (merecedes, who is a teacher here and is basically fluent in English), two hours to her son (Fran, 10) and two hours to her friend's sons (José Felix and Alejandro, who are 10, too)
-Right now are the rebajas (sales) in Spain, so it's really hard to resist shopping ... a lot! I've already bought a few purses from my new favorite store misako.
-My battery has one minute left!
This past weekend, I went to Segovia on Saturday with school! We paid for five trips with our program and this was one of them! It was so fun! I went to Segovia when I went to Spain in high school, so it was nice having some knowledge of what we were seeing before hand. Three of our professors came with us to tour us around the city. We saw so many things... I'm going to post some pictures of the major buildings that we saw.
On Sunday, my church here had an international dinner with SO much food! Everyone brought a dish to pass from their culture. I didn't end up bringing anything, because I wasn't sure if Dioni (my host mom) would care if I used the kitchen, and it's kind of hard to think of American things to make with so many Spanish ingredients. Also, I am really liking my host family. When we have class later in the day or get home early, we get to spend time with their grandson Arón. He is THE happiest baby that I have ever seen! He is also a little chubby... probably since he can't say no to all of the food that Dioni gives him! She gives Emily and I so much food, that I'm not sure if we've both ever been able to finish the food that she gives us. The food here is pretty good, but we get a lot of seafood. In the states, I really didn't like sea food, but I'm trying it here and I actually like some of it, I think it's because it's more fresh!
Other random things about Spain...:
-The chocolate here is amazing. I want to bring back so much of it to eat!
-It is COLD here! BELOW 0... (Centigrade... and only 1 below... but it's still cold!)
-In the region we're in, they try to consever water, so showers have to be really quick. We don't have a shower curtain and the showerhead is not attatched to the wall, so it's kind of a challenge!
-We don't have wireless in our house, so it's kind of hard to skype/keep everything updated.
-I teach English four hours a week... One hour to a lady I met in a cell phone store (merecedes, who is a teacher here and is basically fluent in English), two hours to her son (Fran, 10) and two hours to her friend's sons (José Felix and Alejandro, who are 10, too)
-Right now are the rebajas (sales) in Spain, so it's really hard to resist shopping ... a lot! I've already bought a few purses from my new favorite store misako.
-My battery has one minute left!
Jan 14, 2011
School!
First, I want to say THANK YOU! to everyone who has wished me luck with facebook posts, messages, e-mails, prayers and more! It makes it so much easier here, knowing that people all over the world care about me and are praying for me! And now a quick update...
So.... I´ve been in Spain for almost a week! It seems to have gone by really fast (because everything just seems like a blur!), but it also seems like we´ve been here longer (because it´s starting to feel more natural..). I still have problems reading our map... It´s not difficult to read, I´m just bad with maps!, but I always seem to manage to find whereI need to go.
It seems like so much has happened this week, that it is hard to fit it all in a blog post! Well, my family doesn´t have internet, so that makes it harder to update my blog and stay connected, but we live close to an internet shop thing, so it´s still possible to skype fairly easily, which is nice... So today, I´m just going to write about school, because we have dinner soonish and tonight we are going out! I went out last night, too and met some Spaniards! It is so fun to talk to people in Spanish here!!
SCHOOL:
I LOVE school! I placed into level 5 (advanced)... There are six levels, but we think that levels 3-5 are all the same, since they are all titled advanced. All of t heprofessors here are so nice, and patient. The classes are pretty fun, too. I have seven classes total: art (I like art so far! On the first day we listened to Empire State of Mind!), history of spain (I´m not a huge fan of history, but our professor is really cool and super into history, too!), geography of spain (at first I thougth that I wouldn´t like this, but the first few classes made it exciting, becaues a lot of the places we learn about are places that I might watn to visit in the future when I´m here!), grammar (I LOVE GRAMMAR! I love the rules and everything about grammar. Our professor for this class is probably my favorite, too!), conversation (I think this class will be fun, but we have to memorize vocabulary for exams, too... But it doesn´t seem too hard.), literature (I have the same professor for this class as conversation - She is more quiet than the other professors.), and culture(My professor for this class is literally INSANE! But it seems like it will be an interesting class! I already learned not to say thank you for a lot of smaller things, like getting food from our host mom and after getting drinks in a bar, because it´s their job... Interesting! But I still say gracias a lot anyways.. I feel rude otherwise!)
I have class monday through friday... Usually between 930-130, but next week I don´t have as much class! We stay with our level all day, except in conversation we mix with other people, which is fun too!
So that´s school! I probably have around two hours of homework this weekend... So not as much as Eau Claire! But it has for sure hit me that these are real classes!
So that´s school! Let me know what you guys want to hear about so I can write about that instead of just random topics!!
Thanks again for all of the love that is poured into my life!
So.... I´ve been in Spain for almost a week! It seems to have gone by really fast (because everything just seems like a blur!), but it also seems like we´ve been here longer (because it´s starting to feel more natural..). I still have problems reading our map... It´s not difficult to read, I´m just bad with maps!, but I always seem to manage to find whereI need to go.
It seems like so much has happened this week, that it is hard to fit it all in a blog post! Well, my family doesn´t have internet, so that makes it harder to update my blog and stay connected, but we live close to an internet shop thing, so it´s still possible to skype fairly easily, which is nice... So today, I´m just going to write about school, because we have dinner soonish and tonight we are going out! I went out last night, too and met some Spaniards! It is so fun to talk to people in Spanish here!!
SCHOOL:
I LOVE school! I placed into level 5 (advanced)... There are six levels, but we think that levels 3-5 are all the same, since they are all titled advanced. All of t heprofessors here are so nice, and patient. The classes are pretty fun, too. I have seven classes total: art (I like art so far! On the first day we listened to Empire State of Mind!), history of spain (I´m not a huge fan of history, but our professor is really cool and super into history, too!), geography of spain (at first I thougth that I wouldn´t like this, but the first few classes made it exciting, becaues a lot of the places we learn about are places that I might watn to visit in the future when I´m here!), grammar (I LOVE GRAMMAR! I love the rules and everything about grammar. Our professor for this class is probably my favorite, too!), conversation (I think this class will be fun, but we have to memorize vocabulary for exams, too... But it doesn´t seem too hard.), literature (I have the same professor for this class as conversation - She is more quiet than the other professors.), and culture(My professor for this class is literally INSANE! But it seems like it will be an interesting class! I already learned not to say thank you for a lot of smaller things, like getting food from our host mom and after getting drinks in a bar, because it´s their job... Interesting! But I still say gracias a lot anyways.. I feel rude otherwise!)
I have class monday through friday... Usually between 930-130, but next week I don´t have as much class! We stay with our level all day, except in conversation we mix with other people, which is fun too!
So that´s school! I probably have around two hours of homework this weekend... So not as much as Eau Claire! But it has for sure hit me that these are real classes!
So that´s school! Let me know what you guys want to hear about so I can write about that instead of just random topics!!
Thanks again for all of the love that is poured into my life!
Jan 9, 2011
here!
hola a todos! I made it to Valladolid... after a long flight and a few snow storms! I am exhausted and it is almost 9 pm here.. time for dinner soon!
So I only have a little bit of internet... but I will do a quick recap of my travel & the city!
My parents and I left Brookfield around 7 for an early flight out of O´ Hare... well early in my opinion! It was a bummer to say bye to them, but it is nice knowing how much they support me. That flight was delayed a little, but we made it to Philadelphia with plenty of time to get our connection... Some people got delayed, switched flights, and haven´t even arrived, so I am very blessed.
I met really cool people at the airport. The girl sitting next to me on the way to Philadelphia had been to ELEVEN cities in the past two and a half weeks! And I thought I was turning into a traveler! She had been interviewing for radiology medical residency posistins, and she studied abroad for a semester in Australia when she was in undergrad! Cool! Then waiting for my Madrid flight, I met a girl who studied abroad with knowing NO spanish, and came back almost fluenet she said.. She met her husband there, and now lives in Madrid with him!
But my flights were generally uneventful (which I consider a good thing!) I watched the social network... which put me to sleep! I probably slept about four hours on the plane, and then got to the Madrid airport with three hours before our bus to Valladolid! I tried to sleep in the airport and did nto succed much!
We took a bus to here now and my host mom, dioni and a close friend´s daughter, beatriz. They drove us back to the apartment, and Emily and I each have our owm rooms, which is pretty awesome, since most people have to share.
We ate lunch (fish and rice soup, meatballs with sauce .. not spaghetti sauce though and potatoes, and pineapple) surprisingly enough... I LIKED IT ALL!
Then our host mom took us on a tour of the city, and it is really cool. We got to see the school and a lot of restaurants and bars.
Tomorrow we have placement tests and a tour of the city and a welcome dinner....
I really miss everyone... but I am trying hard to stay positive!
ps sorry for spelling errors... it only spell checks spanish!
So I only have a little bit of internet... but I will do a quick recap of my travel & the city!
My parents and I left Brookfield around 7 for an early flight out of O´ Hare... well early in my opinion! It was a bummer to say bye to them, but it is nice knowing how much they support me. That flight was delayed a little, but we made it to Philadelphia with plenty of time to get our connection... Some people got delayed, switched flights, and haven´t even arrived, so I am very blessed.
I met really cool people at the airport. The girl sitting next to me on the way to Philadelphia had been to ELEVEN cities in the past two and a half weeks! And I thought I was turning into a traveler! She had been interviewing for radiology medical residency posistins, and she studied abroad for a semester in Australia when she was in undergrad! Cool! Then waiting for my Madrid flight, I met a girl who studied abroad with knowing NO spanish, and came back almost fluenet she said.. She met her husband there, and now lives in Madrid with him!
But my flights were generally uneventful (which I consider a good thing!) I watched the social network... which put me to sleep! I probably slept about four hours on the plane, and then got to the Madrid airport with three hours before our bus to Valladolid! I tried to sleep in the airport and did nto succed much!
We took a bus to here now and my host mom, dioni and a close friend´s daughter, beatriz. They drove us back to the apartment, and Emily and I each have our owm rooms, which is pretty awesome, since most people have to share.
We ate lunch (fish and rice soup, meatballs with sauce .. not spaghetti sauce though and potatoes, and pineapple) surprisingly enough... I LIKED IT ALL!
Then our host mom took us on a tour of the city, and it is really cool. We got to see the school and a lot of restaurants and bars.
Tomorrow we have placement tests and a tour of the city and a welcome dinner....
I really miss everyone... but I am trying hard to stay positive!
ps sorry for spelling errors... it only spell checks spanish!
Jan 1, 2011
ONE WEEK!
Happy New Year everyone! This is such an exciting new year for me, because the year to come is going to be a year of LOTS of change! If the title of this post didn't give it away... I leave exactly one week from today (January 8th). The time that I have had at home over break has literally flown by! I have been keeping busy, even though I have not been working, with packing, getting last minute things for Spain (euros, a credit card!, copies of my visa, space bags, and a travel book... just to name a few!) and catching up and saying goodbyes! It is so crazy to think that I will not be in the United States for five months...
I am probably going to start packing tomorrow... I can't believe everything I need for five months is going to fit in one suitcase! Especially since my first semester at Eau Claire, I had to bring a U-Haul to fit everything I needed for my dorm... I think it will be a good lesson in what I really do need (more like do not!)
I bought the travel book called: "Let's Go: Spain & Portugal with Morocco, On A Budget". It's so cool, because it has practically all of the cities in Spain, and cheap hotels, restaurants, transportation routes and attractions in the city! I love that it lists prices and lots of details about every place!
This is the genearl information it lists about Valladolid:
"When Fernando and Isabel married in Valladolid in 1469, this city stood at the helm of Spanish politics, finance, and culture. Explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan came here to discuss navigation plans; Miguel de Cervantes, the mind behind Don Quixote, lived here; and in 1506, Christopher Columbus died here. Today, the administrative capital of Castilla y León has a reputation of class, sophistication and architectural diversity. Wandering through cobblestone streets past outdoor cafes, fountains, statues and plazas, visitors to Spain's original capital find that the heart of Spain's majesty is just as evident in its current incarnation as a lively but laid-back town."
A lot of people ask about the weather! At first when I thought about studying in Spain, I thought it would be a tropical paradise... That's not quite Valla... Here is the weather channel forecast:
Valla Weather
It is similar to Wisconsin... But a little warmer :) When I get there it should be in the 40s/50s if the predictions are correct! I'll keep you guys updated on the weather throughout my stay!
So that's all for today! But I thank everyone who is supporting me not only through this new journey, but through all of my life! I feel so blessed through last year and into this New Year! Love you all!
I am probably going to start packing tomorrow... I can't believe everything I need for five months is going to fit in one suitcase! Especially since my first semester at Eau Claire, I had to bring a U-Haul to fit everything I needed for my dorm... I think it will be a good lesson in what I really do need (more like do not!)
I bought the travel book called: "Let's Go: Spain & Portugal with Morocco, On A Budget". It's so cool, because it has practically all of the cities in Spain, and cheap hotels, restaurants, transportation routes and attractions in the city! I love that it lists prices and lots of details about every place!
This is the genearl information it lists about Valladolid:
"When Fernando and Isabel married in Valladolid in 1469, this city stood at the helm of Spanish politics, finance, and culture. Explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan came here to discuss navigation plans; Miguel de Cervantes, the mind behind Don Quixote, lived here; and in 1506, Christopher Columbus died here. Today, the administrative capital of Castilla y León has a reputation of class, sophistication and architectural diversity. Wandering through cobblestone streets past outdoor cafes, fountains, statues and plazas, visitors to Spain's original capital find that the heart of Spain's majesty is just as evident in its current incarnation as a lively but laid-back town."
A lot of people ask about the weather! At first when I thought about studying in Spain, I thought it would be a tropical paradise... That's not quite Valla... Here is the weather channel forecast:
Valla Weather
It is similar to Wisconsin... But a little warmer :) When I get there it should be in the 40s/50s if the predictions are correct! I'll keep you guys updated on the weather throughout my stay!
So that's all for today! But I thank everyone who is supporting me not only through this new journey, but through all of my life! I feel so blessed through last year and into this New Year! Love you all!
Dec 1, 2010
Homestay!
I know that I just posted yesterday, but I have exciting news! I got my homestay family today :)
I attatched a link to the map of where my hosue is in Valladolid, if anyone is interested. We are very close (about 4 minutes...) to the hospital and the University, which is nice!
Here is some information about my family:
-I am living with an older couple... they are in their 60's (Dionisia and Bonifacio)
-They have on daughter, María, who is 33 and lives outside of Valladolid, but comes home on most weekends to see her family.
-Dioni is a great cook!
I also got my roommate! She goes to Eau Claire, but I haven't met her yet.. I hope to get together with her soon!
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