Well as many of you know, I have spent a lot of my time in Spain being sick and being forced to lay in my bed. My first illness was a throat infection--very random and something I probably wouldn't have gotten in Spain. It healed as soon as I went to the doctor and go antibiotics. However, now I have what I think is "Oral Thrush". I haven't been able to eat/drink properly, go outside much because my mouth looks awful, or see my friends a lot. If that is what I have, it's a disease that usually only occurs in babies and old people. So yeah. That makes perfect sense that I would have it..Right? Anyways, the point of this blog is to warn you guys (if you have the same immune system as I do) to take lots of vitamins, drink OJ, exercise, and eat healthy because I obviously haven't been taking good enough care of myself. Especially do this when you're in Spain because the medicine/ health care is slightly different here than in the US and maybe learn some medical terminology (thats the first thing I'll be reviewing when I get back). But luckily, I'm starting to feel better and hopefully I can get back out to the beach and make you all jealous back home about my lazy life here before the real work starts back home with Katie's wedding (!!!!!) and hopefully a temp job this summer?
Coming up...
I am booking a flight to Venice, Italy very soon for June 4-7th!! I'm very excited about this because I talked to my Dad who I had know idea had ever been to Venice and he told me about a few great places to go and to avoid pigeons pooping on me in St. Mark's Square (but to go with caution). He said it was one of Nana and Papa Gilliam's favorite places to go in Europe so I'm very excited to see that for myself. But for now, I will be soaking up the sun in Spain with all my European/American buddies..Man life is hard. :)
Love you all!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Ireland
April 28th-Dublin
Getting to Dublin was the most stressful experience yet. Once we got to the buss stop to catch the bus in London, mind you it was 2 am, we had this strange old man staring at us on the other side of the benches. It may not have been as creepy if it had been the middle of the day but this wasn't a good time to have someone staring at you. After 15 minutes of awkward eye contact, he came up to me and Caitlin and started talking to us but in a very thick, (Romanian- because he told us) accent. Great start to the day. Once we finally got to the airport, we tried checking our bag but it was 5 kilos too heavy (we didn't mean to check it for 15 kilos because we knew it was about 20) so had to repack and wear more layers on board. It was funny because we had to do this like 3 times before it was finally 15. I was about to cry and Caitlin was about to wear sweatpants over her jeans which would later be hilarious to me but I wasn't in the best mood at the time. Once we finally had our bag light enough, we went thru security and to make matters worse, I had to have my bookbag search because I forgot I had a bottle of lotion, toothpaste, and my foundation in there. This was the first time I've ever expressed anger towards someone so blatantly. We had about 10 minutes to get to our terminal which was in a completely different building and the lady was SLOWLY going through my bag and opening everything. Now I know its protocol, but come on!!! She had on plastic gloves and was touching everything and then told me I had to pay 1euro to buy a packet of plastic baggies and put my liquids in there to go thru security again. She took the rest of the baggies that I had paid for which was pretty stupid too because then I couldnt use them again on my way back even though I had paid for them. But we were late for the plane and at this point, I didn't really care. FINALLY, we got through and started running for the terminal. I was convinced we were going to miss the flight and with RyanAir that would probably cost us like 1000 euros or something ridiculous....(I hate this airline). But of course, there was a 10 minute line before we got thru the gate so we were fine. All that stress for nothing. When we got to Dublin, we took a bus to our hostel, Globetrotters (ranked 4th in Ireland). We were greeted by the sweetest Irish lady at the desk. Our rooms were really cute too. We were at the very top and had a private kitchen, down comforters, and our own bathroom! As soon as we dropped our luggage off, we hopped on a tram (called the Dart in Dublin) to Dun Laoghaire out of impulse (only because it was mentioned in one of my all-time favorite movies, P.S. I Love you). However, to our surprise, there was nothing there but a small harbor and a church. After we walked around for a little, we went back to the city and ate a quick lunch before going to the Guinness Storehouse. It was a pretty cool place I must admit. There were lots of different floors that explained the process for making Guinness and a little bit of the history. My favorite part about the tour was the Gravity Bar. You go up this elevator to the very top where there is a 360 degree view of the city and a complementary pint of Guinness. It was probably one of the coolest bars I've ever been to (this includes the Cave Bar in Madrid, of course). A little tipsy from our ONE beer, we went to see the St. Patrick's Cathedral and the famous Temple Bar. And get this, they have a Leprechaun Museum (who could have a guessed) but unfortunately it was closed when we went by it. Oh well. Later, we went back and rested at the hostel for a bit before going to find somewhere to eat. We went to bed fairly early because we booked a tour for the next day (MacCooles) and had to get up at 6:45 am to catch the bus to Galway (on the West Coast of Ireland).
April 29th
At 7:15 am, we boarded the bus headed to Galway for our tour. The ride was a little over 2 hours (Believe it or not, but Ireland is about the size of Maine) from coast to coast. From there, we caught another bus that took us to the Connolly farm located in the Burren Mountains. Our tour guide was really friendly and seemed to know a lot about the land. I got to feed a baby calf and there were baby lambs as well. Very cute. We hiked up the mountain behind their farm and saw quite a bit of scenery. You could see the water and the Aran Islands right off into the Galway Bay. (I, especially, liked the Aran Islands because they are pronounced like my name!!) Our tour guide had us lay down on the mountainside and listen quietly for this sound of this bird that lived nearby (not sure what this meant but it was still relaxing). We also observed the famine walls and their remains from a distance. When we climbed back down, we had some amazing homemade apple pie. It was fun to walk around the farm because the old man who lived their, MK, was a sweet Irishman who seemed very excited to have visitors because he was following us around while we were taking pictures and giving us props! He also let us pet his dogs and told us some interesting stuff about the farm. When we left the farm, we made our way through Poulnabrone Dolmen, an ancient burial tomb (2500 BC) and Lisdoonvarna, where the biggest singles matchmaking festival takes place each year. It was interesting. Our bus driver told us how in the old days, when people went to this festival, the matchmaker would pair them with someone and they would go away together and sometimes get married when they barely knew each other just because the matchmaker told them to. (or something like that). Then after eating a quick lunch, we finally got to go to the Cliffs of Moher (my favorite part of the tour). They were a bit scary (almost 700 feet tall) but one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. The only thing I didn't enjoy were the millions of flies (kamikaze flies) that were in our eyes, hair, and clothes. It. was. disgusting. But that didn't bother us much considering where we were. We did jumping pictures (me and Caitlin's tradition wherever we go) but I wasn't too thrilled about this because we had to jump kinda close to the edge to get a cool picture and I was scared but later on, I was glad we did it. From there we boarded the bus and headed back to Galway City. On the way back, we passed several beautiful, old places. We saw the castle of Dunghaire which dates back to 1525. We also drove along the Burren Coastline and had a better view of the Aran Islands, the Connemara Coastline, and Galway City itself. When we got dropped off, we had an hour until our next bus picked us up so we explored a little an date dinner. I noticed that Galway has a much younger crowd that Dublin because of the colleges. When we got back to our hostel, around 10 pm, we had a nice little surprise. Our room had a leak so we were moved into a private suite which was pretty much like a hotel room with 2 twin beds, a tv and our own bathroom. It was nice because television in Spain sucks so I actually got to watch a little bit of normal tv in the comfort of my own bed! yESsss.
April 30th
Today we woke up and had the usual Full Irish Breakfast--this consisted of beans, eggs, toast, tomatoes, sausage, fresh fruit, oj, coffee, cereal, juice, hash browns, and ham. Nomnom. Anyways, we decided today that we would try to explore the Wicklow mountains which aren't too far from Dublin but the lady working at the desk said its hard to get out there without a car so she suggested we go to a small town about 30 minutes away called Howth instead. It turned out to be a cute little town and we met some nice people at a few of the small outdoor shops right next to the tram station. We got some coffee to warm up a little and looked at some of the jewelry shops. Although the weather wasn't as great as it had been, it never really rained too much to stop us from hiking along the coast for a little while. We walked around and took a few pictures by the cliffs. I was so jealous because along the path, there were these beautiful houses that overlooked the water..they were awesome. When we got tired, we took the easy way back through some neighborhoods and came back towards the tram station. We ate a quick lunch at this cute cafe by the water and went over to the harbor to watch the seals swim around. They were so funny. They literally look like water dogs and they just stare at you (probably waiting for some food to fall in the water) but it was cool because I've never seen wild seals before. Then we walked back over to the market area with all the outdoor shops and it was so funny. This cute lady that we had talked to earlier came over to us and was all excited that we had hiked for as long as we did and even hugged us. (That's another thing about Ireland, they treat everyone like family and as if they've known you for a long time) So we did a little shopping and headed back to Dublin and rested for a bit. Later, we went back over to the Temple Bar area and got burgers at a local restaurant. Tonight was our night to explore the nightlife and we went over to this bar called, Whelans (also in the film P.S. I love you) and hung out for a bit. We had a couple beers and watched people dance and all. The funny thing about the Irish that I noticed is that they love to drink. It was only 9 or 10 and some people we were wasted already. We had one guy who would just stare at us and if we looked back at him, he would walk over and start dancing but he had that look in his eye where you just knew he was drunk. It was hilarious because no one seemed to care what they looked like while they were dancing either. As Caitlin mentioned in her blog, they were dancing the way you dance in front of the mirror by yourself. Just ridiculous but they knew how to have a good time. We waited a while for the band to start up which, a few guys that we met told us was supposed to start playing around 11:30 but we waited until 12 and nothing seemed to be happening. So, we walked over to Temple Bar and did a walk through but being a tourist attraction, it was packed and not an enjoyable atmosphere since you could barely move. So we just decided to head home since we were tired.
May 1st
We woke up around 9 and had our last full irish breakfast and packed up our things and headed for the airport. Overall, I'd say the trip was a success and Ireland was my favorite part. If you ever go to Ireland, try to make a trip into the countryside--that is the part worth seeing because I've never seen anything like it. It was good getting back to Alicante because it feels more like home but I'm glad we left for a little while. :)
Similarities/Differences
--Ireland is much more home-y and welcoming to travelers
--The landscape is absolutely beautiful
--The partying takes place a lot earlier than in Spain
--The tourists are a little less diverse
--People seem to be very proud to be Irish and know a lot about Ireland's history
--Gaelic is everywhere on the signs (its their official language and children are required to learn it)
--They take breakfast very seriously
--Guinness is probably the most popular (we saw a restaurant that had 3 taps of Guinness and only one of everything else)
--People just seem happier here
--Beer drinking is intense
Getting to Dublin was the most stressful experience yet. Once we got to the buss stop to catch the bus in London, mind you it was 2 am, we had this strange old man staring at us on the other side of the benches. It may not have been as creepy if it had been the middle of the day but this wasn't a good time to have someone staring at you. After 15 minutes of awkward eye contact, he came up to me and Caitlin and started talking to us but in a very thick, (Romanian- because he told us) accent. Great start to the day. Once we finally got to the airport, we tried checking our bag but it was 5 kilos too heavy (we didn't mean to check it for 15 kilos because we knew it was about 20) so had to repack and wear more layers on board. It was funny because we had to do this like 3 times before it was finally 15. I was about to cry and Caitlin was about to wear sweatpants over her jeans which would later be hilarious to me but I wasn't in the best mood at the time. Once we finally had our bag light enough, we went thru security and to make matters worse, I had to have my bookbag search because I forgot I had a bottle of lotion, toothpaste, and my foundation in there. This was the first time I've ever expressed anger towards someone so blatantly. We had about 10 minutes to get to our terminal which was in a completely different building and the lady was SLOWLY going through my bag and opening everything. Now I know its protocol, but come on!!! She had on plastic gloves and was touching everything and then told me I had to pay 1euro to buy a packet of plastic baggies and put my liquids in there to go thru security again. She took the rest of the baggies that I had paid for which was pretty stupid too because then I couldnt use them again on my way back even though I had paid for them. But we were late for the plane and at this point, I didn't really care. FINALLY, we got through and started running for the terminal. I was convinced we were going to miss the flight and with RyanAir that would probably cost us like 1000 euros or something ridiculous....(I hate this airline). But of course, there was a 10 minute line before we got thru the gate so we were fine. All that stress for nothing. When we got to Dublin, we took a bus to our hostel, Globetrotters (ranked 4th in Ireland). We were greeted by the sweetest Irish lady at the desk. Our rooms were really cute too. We were at the very top and had a private kitchen, down comforters, and our own bathroom! As soon as we dropped our luggage off, we hopped on a tram (called the Dart in Dublin) to Dun Laoghaire out of impulse (only because it was mentioned in one of my all-time favorite movies, P.S. I Love you). However, to our surprise, there was nothing there but a small harbor and a church. After we walked around for a little, we went back to the city and ate a quick lunch before going to the Guinness Storehouse. It was a pretty cool place I must admit. There were lots of different floors that explained the process for making Guinness and a little bit of the history. My favorite part about the tour was the Gravity Bar. You go up this elevator to the very top where there is a 360 degree view of the city and a complementary pint of Guinness. It was probably one of the coolest bars I've ever been to (this includes the Cave Bar in Madrid, of course). A little tipsy from our ONE beer, we went to see the St. Patrick's Cathedral and the famous Temple Bar. And get this, they have a Leprechaun Museum (who could have a guessed) but unfortunately it was closed when we went by it. Oh well. Later, we went back and rested at the hostel for a bit before going to find somewhere to eat. We went to bed fairly early because we booked a tour for the next day (MacCooles) and had to get up at 6:45 am to catch the bus to Galway (on the West Coast of Ireland).
April 29th
At 7:15 am, we boarded the bus headed to Galway for our tour. The ride was a little over 2 hours (Believe it or not, but Ireland is about the size of Maine) from coast to coast. From there, we caught another bus that took us to the Connolly farm located in the Burren Mountains. Our tour guide was really friendly and seemed to know a lot about the land. I got to feed a baby calf and there were baby lambs as well. Very cute. We hiked up the mountain behind their farm and saw quite a bit of scenery. You could see the water and the Aran Islands right off into the Galway Bay. (I, especially, liked the Aran Islands because they are pronounced like my name!!) Our tour guide had us lay down on the mountainside and listen quietly for this sound of this bird that lived nearby (not sure what this meant but it was still relaxing). We also observed the famine walls and their remains from a distance. When we climbed back down, we had some amazing homemade apple pie. It was fun to walk around the farm because the old man who lived their, MK, was a sweet Irishman who seemed very excited to have visitors because he was following us around while we were taking pictures and giving us props! He also let us pet his dogs and told us some interesting stuff about the farm. When we left the farm, we made our way through Poulnabrone Dolmen, an ancient burial tomb (2500 BC) and Lisdoonvarna, where the biggest singles matchmaking festival takes place each year. It was interesting. Our bus driver told us how in the old days, when people went to this festival, the matchmaker would pair them with someone and they would go away together and sometimes get married when they barely knew each other just because the matchmaker told them to. (or something like that). Then after eating a quick lunch, we finally got to go to the Cliffs of Moher (my favorite part of the tour). They were a bit scary (almost 700 feet tall) but one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. The only thing I didn't enjoy were the millions of flies (kamikaze flies) that were in our eyes, hair, and clothes. It. was. disgusting. But that didn't bother us much considering where we were. We did jumping pictures (me and Caitlin's tradition wherever we go) but I wasn't too thrilled about this because we had to jump kinda close to the edge to get a cool picture and I was scared but later on, I was glad we did it. From there we boarded the bus and headed back to Galway City. On the way back, we passed several beautiful, old places. We saw the castle of Dunghaire which dates back to 1525. We also drove along the Burren Coastline and had a better view of the Aran Islands, the Connemara Coastline, and Galway City itself. When we got dropped off, we had an hour until our next bus picked us up so we explored a little an date dinner. I noticed that Galway has a much younger crowd that Dublin because of the colleges. When we got back to our hostel, around 10 pm, we had a nice little surprise. Our room had a leak so we were moved into a private suite which was pretty much like a hotel room with 2 twin beds, a tv and our own bathroom. It was nice because television in Spain sucks so I actually got to watch a little bit of normal tv in the comfort of my own bed! yESsss.
April 30th
Today we woke up and had the usual Full Irish Breakfast--this consisted of beans, eggs, toast, tomatoes, sausage, fresh fruit, oj, coffee, cereal, juice, hash browns, and ham. Nomnom. Anyways, we decided today that we would try to explore the Wicklow mountains which aren't too far from Dublin but the lady working at the desk said its hard to get out there without a car so she suggested we go to a small town about 30 minutes away called Howth instead. It turned out to be a cute little town and we met some nice people at a few of the small outdoor shops right next to the tram station. We got some coffee to warm up a little and looked at some of the jewelry shops. Although the weather wasn't as great as it had been, it never really rained too much to stop us from hiking along the coast for a little while. We walked around and took a few pictures by the cliffs. I was so jealous because along the path, there were these beautiful houses that overlooked the water..they were awesome. When we got tired, we took the easy way back through some neighborhoods and came back towards the tram station. We ate a quick lunch at this cute cafe by the water and went over to the harbor to watch the seals swim around. They were so funny. They literally look like water dogs and they just stare at you (probably waiting for some food to fall in the water) but it was cool because I've never seen wild seals before. Then we walked back over to the market area with all the outdoor shops and it was so funny. This cute lady that we had talked to earlier came over to us and was all excited that we had hiked for as long as we did and even hugged us. (That's another thing about Ireland, they treat everyone like family and as if they've known you for a long time) So we did a little shopping and headed back to Dublin and rested for a bit. Later, we went back over to the Temple Bar area and got burgers at a local restaurant. Tonight was our night to explore the nightlife and we went over to this bar called, Whelans (also in the film P.S. I love you) and hung out for a bit. We had a couple beers and watched people dance and all. The funny thing about the Irish that I noticed is that they love to drink. It was only 9 or 10 and some people we were wasted already. We had one guy who would just stare at us and if we looked back at him, he would walk over and start dancing but he had that look in his eye where you just knew he was drunk. It was hilarious because no one seemed to care what they looked like while they were dancing either. As Caitlin mentioned in her blog, they were dancing the way you dance in front of the mirror by yourself. Just ridiculous but they knew how to have a good time. We waited a while for the band to start up which, a few guys that we met told us was supposed to start playing around 11:30 but we waited until 12 and nothing seemed to be happening. So, we walked over to Temple Bar and did a walk through but being a tourist attraction, it was packed and not an enjoyable atmosphere since you could barely move. So we just decided to head home since we were tired.
May 1st
We woke up around 9 and had our last full irish breakfast and packed up our things and headed for the airport. Overall, I'd say the trip was a success and Ireland was my favorite part. If you ever go to Ireland, try to make a trip into the countryside--that is the part worth seeing because I've never seen anything like it. It was good getting back to Alicante because it feels more like home but I'm glad we left for a little while. :)
Similarities/Differences
--Ireland is much more home-y and welcoming to travelers
--The landscape is absolutely beautiful
--The partying takes place a lot earlier than in Spain
--The tourists are a little less diverse
--People seem to be very proud to be Irish and know a lot about Ireland's history
--Gaelic is everywhere on the signs (its their official language and children are required to learn it)
--They take breakfast very seriously
--Guinness is probably the most popular (we saw a restaurant that had 3 taps of Guinness and only one of everything else)
--People just seem happier here
--Beer drinking is intense
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Madrid
About a week ago, my friends Caitlin and Selin and I decided to take a trip to Madrid for a few days. We left around 3:45 am in the morning to take our taxi to the airport and catch our 6 am flight. We arrived in Madrid fairly early (April 22) and it was kinda rough because none of us really got very good sleep the night before. I had gone to bed at 1 am but I never fell asleep (probably anxious about the trip or nervous I would forget something as usual) so I was dead. When we checked into our hostel, we went exploring and walked by Puerta del Sol (the main plaza), the theater, and the palace along the east side of town. We decided to find a place to eat lunch later on and had bocadillos (sandwiches) at a cheap little restaurant right by our hostel. Later, we decided it was extremely necessary to take naps before going back out. We all had different rooms in the hostel so we just met up in the main lobby when we were ready to leave. We walked over to the metro (which was conveniently right by our hostel) and took it to the Real Madrid stadium. It was HUGE! We were gonna take a look inside since they offer 16euro tours but unfortunately the line was wayy too long and we would just come back the next day or so to visit and get there earlier. After that, we made our way over to the Reina Sofia (a famous art museum). Of course when we needed to stand in line for a long time (a bunch of people were outside waiting to get free admission which had certain hours), it started to rain. Ughh.. So Caitlin told us to wait under the roof of some restaurant while she "roughed" it and stood in the rain under an umbrella. Once we finally got in, we saw a lot of famous paintings that I had only seen in books before and when we had to study them in Spanish class in high school so it was pretty cool to see them in person. We saw paintings like Guernica (which was much larger than I thought) and had lots of people guarding it. Crazy. I didn't realize this until recently, but museums are really exhausting. I mean you're walking around for hours and even though a lot of it is pretty interesting, its a lot of standing up. So when we couldn't walk anymore, we left and started searching for a place to eat dinner. We ended up eating Kebap (Turkish) and it was delicious as always. (They have a ton of Kebap restaurants in Alicante so we're used to it). It was nice because we were sitting outside and were able to people watch but then the bill came. And it turns out he had charged us each 2euro extra because he to "bring our beers outside". Never told us this beforehand and when we protested, he was playing dumb and saying that he didn't speak much English and we tried explaining in Spanish that he had never told us it was more expensive (otherwise we would have sat inside). But luckily Selin put him in his place and he ended up giving it to us for the normal price because we were causing a scene. Embarassing because everyone was looking at us but it was still ridiculous. Anyways, we finally left and made our way back to the hostel because we were all still really tired. However, my room turned out the be the party room around 1 am in the morning. I was just going to lay in my bed and skype Koen but of course, everyone was being rowdy and drinking. I felt like such an old lady because everyone was in their going-out clothes and I was sitting in my sweats. But there was no way anyone could pressure me into going out when I didnt sleep the night before. So finally everyone left and then when it is 3 am in the morning, its apparently okay for a bunch of girls to come back and turn the over head lights on (which are extremely bright if you never been in a hostel) and start talking to each other really loudly in some other language. Needless to say, I still didn't get much sleep. Blahhh...
Day 2 (April 23)
Because the line was so long the day before to go to the palace, we decided to get up early today and go. When we got in, we got to tour all of the rooms pretty much and they were beautiful. Each room had its own theme and decor. It was definitely a good day to go because the weather was bad again and it was too cold to walk around outside. The tour took about 1.5 hours because we also viewed the armory and the back yard (aka this huge landscape of the city--very pretty). When we were finished, we weren't sure what to do next because of the weather, so we went into a Starbuck's to kinda wake ourselves up and get warm. (We went to Starbuck's about 3 or 4 times while we were here because they don't have it in Alicante). We sat there for a while, while I tried to get in touch with my cousin, Emily, who was in Madrid on a school trip at about the same time. Unfortunately, I couldn't get up with her for a while so Selin and I decided to go ahead and go back the stadium to see if we could get in for the tour. (Caitlin walked around this huge park over by the Prado museum instead). We thought the tour only consisted of going to the nosebleed section and taking pictures of the field but the lady redirected us when we tried leaving and we got to go to the actual field, the locker room, a museum, and the press room. It was very cool. Especially the locker room..The thought of all the players showering and sitting in the jacuzzi amused me and Selin! hahaha Overall, it was well worth the 16 euros to see! Later, we met up with Caitlin and went to the Prado. Our friend was on his way back to the States but was staying in Madrid for the night so he came out to the museum with us as well. We didn't have much time to tour since we got there about an hour before it was closing so me and Selin just walked thru the rooms very quickly to see the most famous paintings (The Holy Trinity and Las Meninas). Once we left the museum, we met back up with Caitlin and Devin and made our way to the Chocolateria San Gines to get some churros con chocolate BEFORE dinner. :) They were delicious but filling. Then we figured we'd get something to eat with Devin still there and went to an Italian restaurant which was also delicious. (I will probably be 30 lbs heavier when I get back to the States ughh). But then we said our goodbyes to Devin and took off for the metro to find the cave bar that may sister has recommended several times. It was called El Chapandaz (she said its not the one she went to) and it was awesome. The inside literally looked like a cave so I'm glad I took my sister's advice on that one. They had this one thing by the bar that would shoot out steamed milk from one of the stalagmites or stalagtites (which one?) and it was cool because it would light up. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long because Caitlin and I had to get our stuff packed and head to the airport once again to catch yes, another early flight to London. Selin stayed back because she was just going back to Alicante in the morning.
Differences from Alicante:
--A lot more people, not as small town as Ali
--Starbucks duh
--More historic sites and sightseeing opportunities
--the metro is convenient
--Played more Spanish music rather than US pop hits like the bars in Ali
--much more European feel to it
--cleaner
--a lot easier to get lost!
Similarities:
--Has the same guys walking around selling flowers/random useless stuff
--Kebaps everywhere
--Spanish people! haha
Day 2 (April 23)
Because the line was so long the day before to go to the palace, we decided to get up early today and go. When we got in, we got to tour all of the rooms pretty much and they were beautiful. Each room had its own theme and decor. It was definitely a good day to go because the weather was bad again and it was too cold to walk around outside. The tour took about 1.5 hours because we also viewed the armory and the back yard (aka this huge landscape of the city--very pretty). When we were finished, we weren't sure what to do next because of the weather, so we went into a Starbuck's to kinda wake ourselves up and get warm. (We went to Starbuck's about 3 or 4 times while we were here because they don't have it in Alicante). We sat there for a while, while I tried to get in touch with my cousin, Emily, who was in Madrid on a school trip at about the same time. Unfortunately, I couldn't get up with her for a while so Selin and I decided to go ahead and go back the stadium to see if we could get in for the tour. (Caitlin walked around this huge park over by the Prado museum instead). We thought the tour only consisted of going to the nosebleed section and taking pictures of the field but the lady redirected us when we tried leaving and we got to go to the actual field, the locker room, a museum, and the press room. It was very cool. Especially the locker room..The thought of all the players showering and sitting in the jacuzzi amused me and Selin! hahaha Overall, it was well worth the 16 euros to see! Later, we met up with Caitlin and went to the Prado. Our friend was on his way back to the States but was staying in Madrid for the night so he came out to the museum with us as well. We didn't have much time to tour since we got there about an hour before it was closing so me and Selin just walked thru the rooms very quickly to see the most famous paintings (The Holy Trinity and Las Meninas). Once we left the museum, we met back up with Caitlin and Devin and made our way to the Chocolateria San Gines to get some churros con chocolate BEFORE dinner. :) They were delicious but filling. Then we figured we'd get something to eat with Devin still there and went to an Italian restaurant which was also delicious. (I will probably be 30 lbs heavier when I get back to the States ughh). But then we said our goodbyes to Devin and took off for the metro to find the cave bar that may sister has recommended several times. It was called El Chapandaz (she said its not the one she went to) and it was awesome. The inside literally looked like a cave so I'm glad I took my sister's advice on that one. They had this one thing by the bar that would shoot out steamed milk from one of the stalagmites or stalagtites (which one?) and it was cool because it would light up. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long because Caitlin and I had to get our stuff packed and head to the airport once again to catch yes, another early flight to London. Selin stayed back because she was just going back to Alicante in the morning.
Differences from Alicante:
--A lot more people, not as small town as Ali
--Starbucks duh
--More historic sites and sightseeing opportunities
--the metro is convenient
--Played more Spanish music rather than US pop hits like the bars in Ali
--much more European feel to it
--cleaner
--a lot easier to get lost!
Similarities:
--Has the same guys walking around selling flowers/random useless stuff
--Kebaps everywhere
--Spanish people! haha
Monday, April 4, 2011
Lately..In Alicante.
Hey everyone! Lots to update you on this time but not so many cultural things, just about me :)
So since Fallas, I've been pretty busy with school. Spain is all about some presentations. It's awful..But I'm almost done and it's really gone by fast! I have one week left (2 presentations, 2 papers, and then of course exams). I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do while I'm here without school to keep me occupied but I imagine it won't be so bad since I live by the beach, there's a castle with a beautiful view, and a culture I am still learning about. But we have booked a few flights to places in the past week including, Madrid, London and Dublin! I'm very excited for all of these but when we found out it wasn't TOO expensive to go to Ireland, I almost cried from pure joy. I never thought I'd get the chance to visit Ireland. (I even watched P.S. I Love You recently to get myself in the mood and admire the beautiful green grass) I've been told there's a Guinness Factory and a plethora of bars filled with Irish men with strong accents. Aka heaven on Earth. I hope everyone is very jealous of me because I may never get this opportunity again!
And I know he'll probably read this because he scans the page for his name every time I update my blog, but my new boyfriend, Koen took me on quite possibly the cheesiest yet nicest date I've ever been on. Once you go European, you'll never go back. First he "picked me up" from my apartment which consists of walking to my door and calling me to come down haha. But then we walked over to the castle around sunset and went about halfway up where it was quiet yet there was still a beautiful view of the city. This is the most hilarious part personally. He packed a bottle of red wine and bought two wine glasses but forgot to bring a bottle opener! HAHA so naturally, going back to my roots and being the drinker I am, I suggested to open it with keys (sitting at the castle without wine is just not the same). Then he surprised me with a pack of strawberries (the alternative was Brie--my favorite cheese--so either would have been fine!) and the dutch version of conversation hearts which is also a hoot. After we finished our wine, we walked down to the beach with some beer and chips (nomnomnom). Overall, as he predicted, it was a blast. :)
There's not much else going on besides the fact that I'm enjoying the warmer weather and being able to go to the beach when I'm done with class. Minus the fact that ladies (typically older women) go topless and make me feel really uncomfortable (especially when they get massages by the vietnamese ladies walking around selling them). Culture....
PS--One more thing I just remembered, during the trip to the castle, Koen and I encountered a CAT ON A LEASH!!! HAHAHA, Never have I ever seen a cat on a leash. And I'm talkin a huge cat. The lady came over because her cat was walking our way and all she said was...Yes, he's a siberian. AHhh yes, okay I was actually curious what kind of cat that was (on a leash) hahaha. Almost as hilarious as the leash we had for our pet guinea pig, Rocky years ago.
So since Fallas, I've been pretty busy with school. Spain is all about some presentations. It's awful..But I'm almost done and it's really gone by fast! I have one week left (2 presentations, 2 papers, and then of course exams). I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do while I'm here without school to keep me occupied but I imagine it won't be so bad since I live by the beach, there's a castle with a beautiful view, and a culture I am still learning about. But we have booked a few flights to places in the past week including, Madrid, London and Dublin! I'm very excited for all of these but when we found out it wasn't TOO expensive to go to Ireland, I almost cried from pure joy. I never thought I'd get the chance to visit Ireland. (I even watched P.S. I Love You recently to get myself in the mood and admire the beautiful green grass) I've been told there's a Guinness Factory and a plethora of bars filled with Irish men with strong accents. Aka heaven on Earth. I hope everyone is very jealous of me because I may never get this opportunity again!
And I know he'll probably read this because he scans the page for his name every time I update my blog, but my new boyfriend, Koen took me on quite possibly the cheesiest yet nicest date I've ever been on. Once you go European, you'll never go back. First he "picked me up" from my apartment which consists of walking to my door and calling me to come down haha. But then we walked over to the castle around sunset and went about halfway up where it was quiet yet there was still a beautiful view of the city. This is the most hilarious part personally. He packed a bottle of red wine and bought two wine glasses but forgot to bring a bottle opener! HAHA so naturally, going back to my roots and being the drinker I am, I suggested to open it with keys (sitting at the castle without wine is just not the same). Then he surprised me with a pack of strawberries (the alternative was Brie--my favorite cheese--so either would have been fine!) and the dutch version of conversation hearts which is also a hoot. After we finished our wine, we walked down to the beach with some beer and chips (nomnomnom). Overall, as he predicted, it was a blast. :)
There's not much else going on besides the fact that I'm enjoying the warmer weather and being able to go to the beach when I'm done with class. Minus the fact that ladies (typically older women) go topless and make me feel really uncomfortable (especially when they get massages by the vietnamese ladies walking around selling them). Culture....
PS--One more thing I just remembered, during the trip to the castle, Koen and I encountered a CAT ON A LEASH!!! HAHAHA, Never have I ever seen a cat on a leash. And I'm talkin a huge cat. The lady came over because her cat was walking our way and all she said was...Yes, he's a siberian. AHhh yes, okay I was actually curious what kind of cat that was (on a leash) hahaha. Almost as hilarious as the leash we had for our pet guinea pig, Rocky years ago.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Las Fallas
So this past weekend, we all went to Valencia with Erasmus for the Fallas festival. If you don't know what it is, look in my last blog post..there's a website that explains what the festival is for. But anyways, it was a very long trip. We left Alicante around 12 (noon) and it took about 2 hours to get there. Once we arrived, we went to this little bar where we were supposed to get free paella. It wasn't great but it held me over until later when I got my favorite: Tortilla patata :) mmmm....Anyways, we had a couple beers at the bar and then walked over to the city center to see what was going on. By this time, we had missed most of the cool fireworks but oh well...
We walked around and looked at all the statues that they were going to burn later that night. These things were huge!! I posted pictures on facebook but that still doesn't do them any justice. They were enormous. You could walk in the big plaza we were at and see it from all over. Anyways, we just kinda toured the city and looked at all the statues until around 7 when a parade started in Plaza de Toros. We couldn't see much because there were soooo many people but I saw a few things. There were people dressed up in strange costumes, torches with sparkling fire, and lots of unique floats. It was kinda stressful being around that many people because there was lots of pushing and shoving but I'm still glad I went over there. Then, we met back up with the group and went to this bar to drink for a little while we waited for the time when they would burn all the statues. It was a pretty fun bar. Lots of people we knew met up with us there and the music was good.
Finally, it was time to burn the statues. We walked over to where one of the smaller statues was (I don't know why we didnt go to the big one--it might have been burning later) and watched as they lit something that sparked. Then the whole thing caught on fire and slowly stuff fell to the ground or melted. The whole time, for safety reasons I'm assuming, they were hosing it down with water which in turn, made us a little damp. haha The heat from the fire was tremendous as well. We were somewhat close but still not close enough that I would have thought it would be so hot. I guess I've never been around that big of a fire! But it was a sight to see....There were also fireworks everywhere you went or those things that make really loud noises: Firecrackers maybe? Those were kinda scary because you'd be walking down the street and all of a sudden it would sound like a gunshot right next to you! Made me jump everytime.
Later, we went to the SuperClub95, where we had "free entrance" (aka what we paid for before we left). It was a lot of fun for a while and then my friend Selin and I got tired so we tried to catch the "early bus" at 4 am. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us on for security reasons because we technically went with Erasmus and not the University. Therefore, we were stuck with no where to go. We tried getting back into the club but the bouncer wouldn't let us without paying so we decided it would be a good idea to go to the train station where it was heated. Interesting place at 4 in the morning...Everyone was laying on the floor waiting for their train...Most were drunk. We waited until around 6 am when the bus finally came to pick us up. That was also an interesting experience. Half the bus was wide awake for an hour and half were asleep. Selin and I were some of the people trying to sleep as we had been wanting to leave 3 hours ago. By the way, charter buses are not a good place to sleep. I remember at some point, I was leaning forward with my head on the seat in front of me...Real attractive. We finally arrived back in Alicante around 9:30 in the morning and I went straight to bed. Slept until 7 pm and realized I had to skype my mom and celebrate Kira's birthday. Only reasons I woke up. Otherwise I would have slept until tomorrow morning. Hahah WHAT an adventure..At least I will only have to celebrate that festival once in my life.. :)
We walked around and looked at all the statues that they were going to burn later that night. These things were huge!! I posted pictures on facebook but that still doesn't do them any justice. They were enormous. You could walk in the big plaza we were at and see it from all over. Anyways, we just kinda toured the city and looked at all the statues until around 7 when a parade started in Plaza de Toros. We couldn't see much because there were soooo many people but I saw a few things. There were people dressed up in strange costumes, torches with sparkling fire, and lots of unique floats. It was kinda stressful being around that many people because there was lots of pushing and shoving but I'm still glad I went over there. Then, we met back up with the group and went to this bar to drink for a little while we waited for the time when they would burn all the statues. It was a pretty fun bar. Lots of people we knew met up with us there and the music was good.
Finally, it was time to burn the statues. We walked over to where one of the smaller statues was (I don't know why we didnt go to the big one--it might have been burning later) and watched as they lit something that sparked. Then the whole thing caught on fire and slowly stuff fell to the ground or melted. The whole time, for safety reasons I'm assuming, they were hosing it down with water which in turn, made us a little damp. haha The heat from the fire was tremendous as well. We were somewhat close but still not close enough that I would have thought it would be so hot. I guess I've never been around that big of a fire! But it was a sight to see....There were also fireworks everywhere you went or those things that make really loud noises: Firecrackers maybe? Those were kinda scary because you'd be walking down the street and all of a sudden it would sound like a gunshot right next to you! Made me jump everytime.
Later, we went to the SuperClub95, where we had "free entrance" (aka what we paid for before we left). It was a lot of fun for a while and then my friend Selin and I got tired so we tried to catch the "early bus" at 4 am. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us on for security reasons because we technically went with Erasmus and not the University. Therefore, we were stuck with no where to go. We tried getting back into the club but the bouncer wouldn't let us without paying so we decided it would be a good idea to go to the train station where it was heated. Interesting place at 4 in the morning...Everyone was laying on the floor waiting for their train...Most were drunk. We waited until around 6 am when the bus finally came to pick us up. That was also an interesting experience. Half the bus was wide awake for an hour and half were asleep. Selin and I were some of the people trying to sleep as we had been wanting to leave 3 hours ago. By the way, charter buses are not a good place to sleep. I remember at some point, I was leaning forward with my head on the seat in front of me...Real attractive. We finally arrived back in Alicante around 9:30 in the morning and I went straight to bed. Slept until 7 pm and realized I had to skype my mom and celebrate Kira's birthday. Only reasons I woke up. Otherwise I would have slept until tomorrow morning. Hahah WHAT an adventure..At least I will only have to celebrate that festival once in my life.. :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
St. Patrick's Day and other random updates
Hey guys, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Just been really busy with school and being sick!! (AGAIN).
So last week was kinda rough. Since a lot of classes are split up into two parts and two teachers, we basically had like a midterm week here. I had all projects/quizzes/powerpoints/homework all due at once! Very stressful. But I made it through! All I have left this week is a presentation in my Entrepreneurship class tomorrow (St. Patrick's Day!) Speaking of which, I'm not really sure if they even celebrate St. Patty's Day here. I know we have lots of celebrations in the States but I think that's just our excuse to drink and the Spanish seem to be drinking all the time (plus I doubt a lot of them have Irish heritages).
However, Caitlin, Kira and whoever else wants to go may go over to Mulligan's and have a green beer or two just to be festive! I wish I had brought the St. Patty's Day stickers I stole from Katie two years ago so I could prove I'm truly Irish haha. Oh well.. I guess people will know from my name! It's all about the drinking anyways. I would've loved to actually go to Ireland for the holiday but for some reason flights to Dublin are always around 200€ and it's too much. Maybe when I'm married and on my honeymoon that will happen. Anyways, this weekend a bunch of us are going to Valencia for a day/night trip! There's a huge celebration going on Saturday called Las Fallas. It's a huge celebration/carnival down in Valencia that takes place every year and basically, they take scraps which after reading about this, I found out are usually made of styrofoam and not paper machet, and they burn it all. There are also fireworks and music and from what I've heard, they close down all the streets so if you don't get into Valencia before the festival begins, you're screwed :) I'm really excited. This is what I most love about Spain is all the festivals and crazy traditions they have here. You can read more about Las Fallas if you want: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallas_de_Valencia
Anyway, things have been going great here besides my diseases that keep coming back. I swear I must have mono or something because I haven't been 100% healthy since I got here. I don't know if its what I'm eating, the fact that my room is a closet and is probably covered in mold, we are packed onto the bus to campus everyday like sardines, or that I've been going out too much (but I refuse to believe the last one). I may go see the doctor today but I'm really nervous about asking them because I don't wanna tell them the wrong thing and end up with x-rays and a colonoscopy..So we'll see. Usually these things just go away on their own.
Good news for you guys is: I'm 94 days away from coming back home. I'm not as excited yet because I want to see more things/places while I'm here and get better at my Spanish. I have also made a lot of really good friends here that I know for a fact I'm going to be sad to leave behind. But who wants to think about that right now when I have so much ahead of me!! I'll update you guys after this weekend and let know how the festival goes! Besos!
So last week was kinda rough. Since a lot of classes are split up into two parts and two teachers, we basically had like a midterm week here. I had all projects/quizzes/powerpoints/homework all due at once! Very stressful. But I made it through! All I have left this week is a presentation in my Entrepreneurship class tomorrow (St. Patrick's Day!) Speaking of which, I'm not really sure if they even celebrate St. Patty's Day here. I know we have lots of celebrations in the States but I think that's just our excuse to drink and the Spanish seem to be drinking all the time (plus I doubt a lot of them have Irish heritages).
However, Caitlin, Kira and whoever else wants to go may go over to Mulligan's and have a green beer or two just to be festive! I wish I had brought the St. Patty's Day stickers I stole from Katie two years ago so I could prove I'm truly Irish haha. Oh well.. I guess people will know from my name! It's all about the drinking anyways. I would've loved to actually go to Ireland for the holiday but for some reason flights to Dublin are always around 200€ and it's too much. Maybe when I'm married and on my honeymoon that will happen. Anyways, this weekend a bunch of us are going to Valencia for a day/night trip! There's a huge celebration going on Saturday called Las Fallas. It's a huge celebration/carnival down in Valencia that takes place every year and basically, they take scraps which after reading about this, I found out are usually made of styrofoam and not paper machet, and they burn it all. There are also fireworks and music and from what I've heard, they close down all the streets so if you don't get into Valencia before the festival begins, you're screwed :) I'm really excited. This is what I most love about Spain is all the festivals and crazy traditions they have here. You can read more about Las Fallas if you want: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallas_de_Valencia
Anyway, things have been going great here besides my diseases that keep coming back. I swear I must have mono or something because I haven't been 100% healthy since I got here. I don't know if its what I'm eating, the fact that my room is a closet and is probably covered in mold, we are packed onto the bus to campus everyday like sardines, or that I've been going out too much (but I refuse to believe the last one). I may go see the doctor today but I'm really nervous about asking them because I don't wanna tell them the wrong thing and end up with x-rays and a colonoscopy..So we'll see. Usually these things just go away on their own.
Good news for you guys is: I'm 94 days away from coming back home. I'm not as excited yet because I want to see more things/places while I'm here and get better at my Spanish. I have also made a lot of really good friends here that I know for a fact I'm going to be sad to leave behind. But who wants to think about that right now when I have so much ahead of me!! I'll update you guys after this weekend and let know how the festival goes! Besos!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Elche and other random stuff...
This past weekend, on Saturday, a few of us went to Elche for the day. Elche is known for it's mass amounts of palm trees and cheap shoes! It was only 4 euros round trip by train and about 15 minutes away so it was definitely an inexpensive trip and excuse to get away from Alicante for a little bit. We traveled with a bunch of other Erasmus students so it was definitely a process to get there with such a big group. However, when we got there, we all kinda split up and did our own thing. We walked through several parks (which are everywhere) and took lots of pictures. We never got the chance to go to the outlets but since it's so close, I'm sure we'll have time to go back again and check them out! I need some cute new shoes for the warmer weather :)
Today, I have just been lounging around the flat. I think I'm sick again so that's always fun. I've been drinking orange juice and eating healthier so I don't know what it is but it's getting annoying. But it was probably a good thing because being stuck in my room forced me to clean it and do some laundry. I always put off doing laundry because it's such a pain here compared to in the States. The washing part is easy but it's the drying part that gets on my nerves. The clothes lines are always full because I have so many roommates so I usually just hang my clothes up in my room. It's such a mess now. I have pants hanging from my bed and shirts over the window! Ughhh.. But other than that, things have been great here. Definitely going to take more advantage of the gym this week though. I had a beer drinking competition with one of my German guy friends the other day and I still haven't recovered. I feel like a piece of lard. NEVER have a beer drinking competition with a German...Result: Loss. I have failed you, 'Merica.
Today, I have just been lounging around the flat. I think I'm sick again so that's always fun. I've been drinking orange juice and eating healthier so I don't know what it is but it's getting annoying. But it was probably a good thing because being stuck in my room forced me to clean it and do some laundry. I always put off doing laundry because it's such a pain here compared to in the States. The washing part is easy but it's the drying part that gets on my nerves. The clothes lines are always full because I have so many roommates so I usually just hang my clothes up in my room. It's such a mess now. I have pants hanging from my bed and shirts over the window! Ughhh.. But other than that, things have been great here. Definitely going to take more advantage of the gym this week though. I had a beer drinking competition with one of my German guy friends the other day and I still haven't recovered. I feel like a piece of lard. NEVER have a beer drinking competition with a German...Result: Loss. I have failed you, 'Merica.
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