Were not in Cataluña anymore...

Has it really been a month since I wrote a blog entry? Is it really the middle of march already!? They say your time abroad goes quickly, but wow. My roommates and I were writing up our itinerary for spring break (which we leave for this Friday!) when I realized I never posted an entry for my last two trips! Some of you may have noticed by looking at my albums, but I visited País Vasco (Basque country) during the last weekend in February and Granada in Andalusia during the first weekend in March. I want to say the delay is due to the fact that these trips coincided with midterms - even though I won't pretend the majority of my free time is not spent on school work ;) Anyway, I suppose I will go chronologically and start with the Basque country...

País Vasco

This trip absolutely blew my mind! What little expectation/impressions I had formed of the region were based on what I knew about the Basque language of Euskara (that is untraceable, unlike any other in the world, and thought to be the oldest in Europe) and ETA (the Basque independence terrorist group). Therefore, when I found a sophisticated, culture-rich, French-inspired city surrounded by a breathtaking, Ireland-esque landscape, my jaw never seemed to leave the ground. (This may explain why my País Vasco album has more than double the amount of pictures in any other album)

The majority of our trip was spent in the capital of the region of Gipuzkoa, San Sebastian. Our hotel was in Donostia, or the ancient city (as it is ironically called because it is actually the most modern part of the city). We were a minute walk from the beach and about a 15min walk down the elegant beach side boardwalk to downtown San Sebastian (our tour guide told us as long as you keep the ornate, white railing on your right hip and you will have no problem getting home at night, which was true). Apparently the Spanish queen during the last 1880s, Maria Christine, was particularly fond of the city and built royal vacation facilities all around the city. (Marissa thought this was very exciting because she lives on a street in Barcelona named after Maria Christine Husband's, Alfonso XII). Consequently, the nobility from Madrid built their own luxury accommodations in the city. These extremely beautiful and expensive mini palaces surrounded our hotel and are still privately owned today. This is where San Sebastian gained it reputation as a high class resort town.

But the city doesn't give off a museum aurora of look but don't touch. The people are very down to earth and welcoming. The typical nightlife involves pinxto bar hopping, for people ages 14-64. A pinxto is basque for a tapa, and the basque tapas are famous for being the best in Spain. The locals usually don't stay at one pinxto bar for much more than a half hour, but continue to move around, so we decided to do the same. We tried some of the local wine, Txakoli (pronounced like choco-leet), and all sorts of delicious mystery pinxtos. The whole town goes by the "honor system." This means when you walk into a bar you ask for a plate and grab all the pinxtos you want. When you have had your fill you just tell them what you ate. After a few bars, we meet a 25yr old American girl and her former Señora who ended up taking us around for the rest of the night. They showed us some great bars (at one point the old Señora was literally feeding us patatas bravas with toothpicks!) and talked to us about the region and studying abroad. Very fun.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this trip, was just how much we jammed into one weekend. Besides the tours of San Sebastian, we also visited Hondarriba, Guernica, and Bilbao. Hondarriba is an old fishing village that is literally a 5min ferry ride away from France. We took the ferry over just to say we had lunch in France, but only ended up buying an ice cream and enjoying the beautifully sunny, 75 degree weather and the beach. While in France, I realized how hard it must have been for Kelsey during her first few days in Spain. Although I asked Kelsey over and over again how to say can I have an ice cream in French, Spanish was all that would come out, which didn't help in the slightest. On our last day we stopped by Guernica on the way to Bilbao. The town was the sight of the first mass bombing of unarmed civilians that occurred during the Spanish Civil War and the inspiration for Picasso masterpiece depicting the event. Essentially the town was used as target practice for the fascist forces of WWII. But the tour guide was adamant in portraying Guernica as a city that has been a symbol of peace for the Basques for centuries and now for the entire world. Once we reached Bilbao, we had a little over an hour to grab some final pinxtos and then headed to the Gugginhiem Museum. Although we were all pretty exhausted by this time, the museum was really impressive. Ironically, the main exhibit was American Art through the Ages. So essentially, we all traveled around 4,000 miles to see a portrait of George Washington. However, I hadn't seen the vast majority of the pieces, so it was still very interesting (especially the giant, walk-through, iron sculptures that play with your psyche).

Granada
Granada is the capital of Andalusia, which derives its name from Al Aldalus, the Arabic name given to the Iberian peninsula by the Islamic Empire. There is a prevalent Arabic influence in Spain due to the years of Moorish occupation. The city of Granada is where this influence is most prominent and well preserved. In fact, Granada is one of the most well preserved Arabic cities in the world. Unlike País Vasco, Granada was very much what I had pictured, and this wasn't in anyway a bad thing because my expectations were high.

As soon as we arrived in Granada we took a tour of the city. This included walking through the Zacatin shopping streets and seeing the Royal Chapel. Granada was the most important for the Reconquista, because it marked the final victory that expelled the Arabs from the peninsula. For this reason, Isabel & Ferdinand made Granada the capital of the newly consolidated Spain and built Christian monuments all over the city. Their tombs, along with their successors, are buried in the Royal Chapel, while all other Spanish Monarchs are buried in the Escorial in Madrid. I was particularly pleased to learn that all of the tributes to the Reyes Catolicos depict Isabel either in a higher place or with a heavier head than Ferdinand. This is due to the fact that it was well known and accepted that she was the brains of the operation, and was the true leader of Spain. So take that all those who say a woman can rule a country!

On the second day we saw the main attraction of the city, the Alhambra. The word translated from Arabic means the "red fortress," due to the surrounding red clay that coats the originally whitewashed walls. The fortress was also used as a palace by Arab kings until 1492, then by the Spanish Kings until 1700 when it was abandon. The fact that such an impressive building could just be abandon is astonishing. For about almost 200 years, locals and tourists ventured in and out freely until the Spanish government reclaimed it and made it the historical attraction it is today. (note: the walk up to the Alhambra is quite a steep hike, so bring walking shoes if you go) Our last tourist activity was a tour of the Albazin, the old Arabic quarter. The area is the most expensive place to live in the city, which is surprising because it would be such a pain to live there! The streets are the littlest, curviest, bumpiest that I have every seen. It was hard enough trying to walk around up there, but I can't imagine driving. Although the views of the Alhambra, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and downtown Granada were spectacular.

The biggest difference between this trip and the trip to País Vasco, was the amount of free time we had in Granada. At first we thought we would be disappointed by the minimal itinerary, but we got to see everything while still having a nice, relaxing weekend. The weather was spectacular the whole weekend, 75 and sunny. I even got a bunch of new freckles from walking around. Our free time during the day was spent having nice long lunches either in the sun by el Realejo, the old Jewish quarter, or in Plaza Nueva, the center of Downtown. We also walked through the shops, ate gelatos and realized just how much of a hippie town Granada is, very Ithaca-esque.

On the first night, Kelsey and I had a little date that consisted of tapas and a Flamenco show. We learned that in most of Spain tapas come free with a beer (apparently the Catalans make you pay since they resent having to give into to the typical Spanish cuisine for the sake of the tourists). So for less than 2 euros each we had a drink, mini chicken sandwich and potato chips. Delicious. The flamenco show was in a very small, intimate cave setting that our tour guide had recommended to us for an authentic experience. There were maybe 20 people in attendance. We really enjoyed the dramatic and exciting show, although Kelsey and I laughed a little at the dancer's constant olé s and vales while she was listening to the singer and guitarist. Kelsey and I also learned that the temperature in Granada drops A LOT at night. So for our walk home, we had to do a mini bar crawl for warmth. The second night was great because I got to know Kelsey's roommates, who happened to sign up for the same trip. We all went out for tapas in El Realejo, possibly the best I have had in Spain, and we discovered the best beer in Spain, Alhambra 1925 (or simply, milnovencientovienteycinco). After this we went to a Irish pub. Don't ask why we went to an Irish pub while in Granada, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. But it was here where we met a group of Granada University students who ended up showing us a couple of nicer bars and clubs.

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From living in Cataluña and visiting País Vasco and Granada, I feel like I now truly understand just how diverse of a country Spain is. Each of these regions have such a unique cultural heritage, despite their relative proximity. Although Granada was amazing, I felt like I saw most of what the city had to offer. However, I would love to go back to País Vasco to explore it more, and especially San Sebastian. I suppose if anything, these trips made me want to see even more parts of Spain. Maybe a trip to Madrid or Galicia will be in order for April? Who knows...

But first, I off to Berlin, Prague & Amsterdam for spring break!

Tidbits III:

> In the Spanish version of Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger says "sayonara, baby" instead of "hasta la vista, baby"

>Milk and eggs are not refrigerated in the supermarkets, only once you bring them home

>If you don't look someone in the eye when you cheers (when you say salud) you have bad luck for 7 years, according to legend. Also, another popular cheers is "arriba, abajo, a centro, a dentro." This means "up, down, middle and inside." It is said with a drink in hand, following the commands (a centro is when everyone's glasses meet and a dentro means DRINK!)

>When you want to say cool in Spanish you say guay (amy: my teacher also did mention mola, but said it was more from her generation, which is about your age)

>No one here will ever understand the concept of central New York, no matter how many different ways you explain it. Anything relating to New York will always and forever be the city. oh well. 

"You can sleep in four months"

This quote was a little piece of advice my mom gave me in the first week. After all, adjusting to the nights that literally last until sunrise was no small feat. But with the start of classes and weekend trips, this concept has become a rule to live by. This weekend, in particular, proved just how much one can do while suffering from sleep debt.

Pierce, my friend from Cazenovia, is studying in Florence this semester and decided to take a trip to Barcelona this past weekend. He didn't think to check with me first, because I had already booked a trip to Ireland. I was so mad at him because I would have loved showing him around Barcelona. But anyway,  his plane was supposed to arrive Thursday evening, and my flight didn't leave until Friday morning, so at least we had one night to hangout. Problem was, his flight was delayed six hours and we weren't able to meet up until around 1:30am. Nevertheless, it was still great to see him. I gave him a cheat sheet of places to go and things to do in the city. Then I walked him and his friends around Las Ramblas and gave them a overview of the sights. They were particularly surprised by the amount of prostitutes out and the men walking around selling cans of Estrella Damm. Ah, Barcelona.

After dropping Pierce off at his hostel, I headed home and got to bed around 4am. Two hours later, I was up and getting ready to leave. We caught the metro at 6:30am and then the bus to the airport at 7:30am. We flew Ryanair which is a discount airline (our flight there was listed as 1 euro before the plethora of taxes). The catch is, you have to fly out of smaller airports outside of the major city, in our case Girona which is a little more than an hour northeast of Barcelona. We arrived in Shannon airport around 12:30pm and boarded the Bus Eireann to Galway at 1pm. There was standing room only for the first half hour of the bus ride, but slowing people got off so we could take seats. Finally, we got to our hostel, which was conveniently located right next to the bus station (we didn't plan it), at around 3ish.

We stayed at the Galway City Hostel, which was located right on Eyre Square in the center of town. The staff were extremely nice and marked up a map for us with all the sights to see as soon as we checked in. As my first hostel experience, it wasn't to bad (although I could just imagine my mother's reaction, haha). There was free computers with internet, towels and breakfast were complimentary, and the showers had hot water and doors.

One thing we noticed right away was our Spanish mindset. We kept thinking "now how would I say this is Spanish?" and saying "gracias and lo siento," despite being in an English speaking country. Although at times I thought it might actually be easier to understand spanish than the Irish accents. Also surprisingly, there were a lot of Spainsh college students around. I had a conversation with a few of them and apparently Galway is a popular place for Spaniards to study abroad. Who knew?!

First order of business was to eat the best fish & chips in Galway at McDonogh's (or chips and beans for Kelsey and I, cause we don't really like fish). We learned that Emily's absolutely favorite food is fish and chips, and I am pretty sure she lived off the them while were were in Ireland. After that we had our first of many Guinness' at the Quay. These two stops took us down the main pedestrian street of Galway called Shop St/High St/Quay St, depending on which section you were on. (Although, street signs in Galway are even harder to locate than in Barcelona, and there are no crosswalks anywhere. It's like a free for all). It was pretty much an Irish version of las Rambles.

For dinner on the first night we were picked up by Marissa's dad's receptionist's niece, who lives in Galway. I know, random connection, but I guess the Irish are just that hospitable. She had never even met Marissa or Marissa's Dad, let alone us, and she drove us to her house and made us dinner. Her husband and her gave us tips on what to do and her mother-in-law, who literally lives right next store, brought us over a box of fingers (twix without the caramel, but still good) to take with us. They were so incredibly nice and it was very interesting talking to them (and trying to understand their accents!).

After dinner she dropped us off at our hostel and we went out to a bar. While we were sitting at this bar I glanced up and saw Duffy Hartnett, a fellow Cazenovian who I probably hadn't seen since I graduated! I called his name and waved at him until he recognized who I was. A couple of his friends were from Buffalo and knew Kelsey too, so we ended up hanging out with them both nights we were in Galway. Small, small, small world! They took us to the one club in Galway, and while it was laughable compared to the ones in Barcelona it was still a good time.

The following day, Saturday, we walked around the entire town in one afternoon. We took a nice long walk out to salt hill, saw the cathedral, walked through the farmers market, bought Claddagh rings, watched some six nation rugby and of course enjoyed a pub crawl at all the best pubs in Galway (thanks to the advice from Jen, the Irish couple and the hostel folk). We meet a group of welsh men away for a weekend bachelor party, dressed as pimps (jewelry, fur coats, chains & all), who were pretty funny. Also, there was another group who we laughed about Will Farrel youtube favorites with. We were amazed how long we lasted but I supposed Barcelona had prepared us well. 

On Sunday, we once again had to wake up after only a few hours asleep to catch the Bus Erinann to Dublin. We had definitely lucked out with the weather on our trip. Both days the temperature was only about five degrees colder than Barcelona and sunny! Which we assumed is a rarity in winter Ireland. So I was looking forward to watching the sunrise over the Irish country side and taking pictures of sheep, but I completely passed out for the whole four hours (yes, it only takes 4 hours to drive across Ireland). It was probably a good thing that I got the extra sleep because once we got off the bus we went straight to the Guinness Storehouse. The customer service women was very nice and let us put our bags in their office for no cost while we toured the 7-floor shrine to Guinness. At the very top we got our complementary pint of Guinness and sat in the gravity bar overlooking the entire Dublin skyline. We still had a couple hours to kill before out flight left, so we went to the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head Inn, which was within walking distance from the Guinness Storehouse and our bus stop. There was live Irish music playing and the food was delicious (Emily got fish and chips...again).

There was a slight delay on the flight home, but if you take into account just how much traveling we did over the weekend, it all went very smoothly. Despite all of us feeling exhausted and like we gained twenty pounds from all the rich, fried food and filling pints, the weekend was absolutely amazing. If anything, it just made me want to go back again. I still have not seen the Cliffs Jen had recommended, the Joyce landmarks, and the sheep on the hills that Jessie was so fascinated with. Plus, this is definitely a place I would want to come back with my family. So, so long for now Ireland, I will be back!

Carneval: Living up to the hype!

So Carneval is like Halloween...but crazier.

We went to Sitges, a little beach town about 40min south of Barcelona that has a relatively famous Carneval celebration (think of it as the Spanish equivalent to Provincetown). Once we were dressed and ready (see photo album), we headed to Sants Estació to catch the train. We knew we were in the right place when we started to blend in with the crowd. People were dressed up in all different types of costumes. We went for classic carneval attire- masks, wigs, etc. Others were dressed up as superheros, matadors, lady bugs, rubix cubes, gladiators, etc. The train ride was absolutely free which was nice, except it was so crowded we had to stand shoulder to shoulder for the whole 40mins! (It went by quick though). Also, on the train ride it started raining. Now I have been in Spain for almost a full month now, and this was the first time it rained...murphy's law. But it stopped by the time we got to Sitges and only drizzled a little on and off throughout the night.

We had been told that when you go to Sitges for Carneval, expect to lose your friends and belongings. Although we definitely did not come back with all the same people we left with, I think we did a pretty good job. Collectively, we lost two cameras, a wallet and three masks (I only lost my mask, thank god). But I am pretty sure the consensus is, the experience was well worth it. We went in a couple bars/clubs, but the real party was on the street. (One of the hardest things to get used to is how drinking in public is perfectly acceptable. I constantly feel like I am breaking the law and am gonna get in trouble, but I am not!) This celebration also wasn't just for young adults, there were people dressed up ages 10 to 60! The whole town had such a festive atmosphere. Random people would come up and take pictures with you, there was one street were a group of matadors were pretending everyone was a bull, and music was playing from every corner. It was definitely a place, an event, and a night to remember.

Alive and Well

I received some complaints about not updating my blog recently, which I actually appreciated very much. I usually assume no one really read it, so its good to hear! Anyway, the reason its been over a week since I added anything was because classes have started. So this new thing called tarea (homework) is cutting into my free time. Here are the classes I am taking:

Advanced Grammar & Usage:
My mandatory Spanish language course. The teacher reminds me of a Galician Señora Ryan and the class even feels like I am back in middle school (we play games and/or listen to canciones (songs) every day).

Barcelona: Cuidad & Historia (City & History):
Self-explanatory. This is one of my classes a UPF, a local university. The class is taught entirely in castellano (what most spanish speakers refer to as Spanish I guess?). I decided to take it pass/fail.

Images of Spain in Contemporary Cinema:
This class will probably be my favorite. It is my second course at UPF. We watch a movie during our Wednesday class and talk about it on Monday, thats it. The only catch is that it is in Spanish (although subtitles were in English, whew!)

Sport & Society in Spain:
This is a sports sociology class. The teacher is British and very funny. I have this class with Julia and it is my earliest (10:15am). So we can help each other get there on time. This is my one course taught in English.

Language, Culture & Communication: Hispanic Perspectives
This is the class I picked up after dropping my third, extremely difficult UPF course. We just discuss language, culture and communication... regarding Hispanic peoples. Can be fun but is mostly boring, thank god Marissa is in the class. 

Right now the classes in Spanish require a LOT of concentration, but I am excited because I know my comprehension will improve immensely due to them. Also, after convincing my department head to let Language, Culture & Communication count towards my Spanish minor, I will be able to complete my minor over here.

The classes are only M-Th which leaves plenty of room for weekend trip. So far I have planned trips to Galway, Granada, San Sebastian/Bilbao, and Berlin/Prague/Amsterdam (spring break). My roommate also has family in a small town in France, so we might go there for a weekend in March. All very exciting!

P.S. I put up two new photo albums, check them out! >>>

Tidbits II:

>School supplies are different here. There is no lined paper or folders. Notebooks have graph papers and are much longer than in the US (Although, they do have Bic four-color pens!)

>To say chubby in Spain you say hermoso, which also means beautiful!

>Taxi drivers in Valencia are A LOT friendlier and talkative than in Barcelona.

>Kids get out of school at 5pm (the bus stop is right outside my apartment window) and they take normal city buses, not school buses.

>If you talk to a European for more than a minute the chances of them asking you "who is going to win, Obama or Hilary" is VERY high

>Spaniards are very defensive about their siesta break. They adamantly insist they do no actually nap during the day. (Nevertheless, I still find the mid-day siesta break very inefficient. I see stores bring in all their stuff off the sidewalk and close their shops around 1:30, then have to put everything back out around 3:30 only to put it all away at 6:30.)

Valencia & Tarragona

Part of IES orientation includes a weekend trip. Ours was to Valencia. The third largest city in Spain is known for its oranges and paella (neither of which we ended up eating) and is located three hours south of Barcelona. When we heard we were going to Valencia, we were all a little bummed. Past semesters had gone to places like San Sebastian, Granada, Sevilla. All much more well known destinations in Spain. Our Spanish friends and even a Spanish guide book made it seem like Valencia was the city to skip.

Nevertheless, as we discovered Valencia is very much a city on the rise. The Ayuntamiento de Valencia (city hall), has developed various project to revive the city including a beautifully designed, Gaudi-inspired arts and sciences compound (see pictures!), a Formula 1 race track, and a renovated port area that is home to the America's Cup (big sailing competition). Also, after a devastating flood, the city redirected the river the city was built around to an outlying area. This created a large river bed, now turned into a leisure park, that cuts through the entire city (I didn't get a picture of it, but it was very cool). All of this on top a rich and extensive cultural history (which is hard not to have in Europe). My bet is that in a few years Valencia will have a much better reputation.

The guide books of Spain mentioned Valencia had a vibrant nightlife, which we were looking forward to. Our tour guide told us Calle Caballeros was the place to go. It was one of those quintessential, curvy, European streets complete with one-person sidewalks and room for a car no bigger than a mini cooper. While in a cab navigating through the seas of pedestrians the driver explained the key was patience. There were a few fun bars we found, including one where we Kelsey ran into an acquaintance from Ithaca who is studying in Valencia (small world), and one jam packed with people salsa dancing. But perhaps we are spoiled by Barcelona.

On the way home to Barcelona, we stopped by Tarragona. Tarragona was the richest roman settlement on the Iberian peninsula and is located only an hour south of Barcelona. It was the summer residence of Augustus and contains ruins of an amphitheater, aqueducts, and ancient city walls and streets. The city felt more like an Italian than Spanish, for obvious reasons. But just like in Valencia, the weather is absolutely GORGEOUS! Around 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. No wonder they call it Costa del Sol (I even came home with some new freckles). Our guides said that Barcelona will be having the same weather in about a month (not that its much worse, just about 10 degress colder).

Overall, we had a very good time. Waking up around 7:30 every morning took its toll (I was able to sleep on the bus like never before) but it also allowed us to make the most out of the weekend. This might sound bad, but perhaps my favorite thing about Valencia was the hotel room. IES put us in a 4star hotel with big, soft beds, clean, nice bathrooms and the best breakfast buffet I have ever had. Not that my apartment in Barcelona is horrible, it is just no 4 star hotel. Nevertheless, seeing another Spanish city made us all very glad Barcelona is our home, and it never felt more like home than when we were away.