A weekend in Barcelona!

Hola,

This past weekend, I traveled to Barcelona with the UConn in Granada group.  It was my second time there as I went for a day and half two years ago with my exchange family in Burgos.  When I went with them, we did not have any time to visit the any of the Gaudi attractions, so I was very excited to see them this time around.  It was a rainy weekend, and we were outside for most of it, but we made the best of it.  An interesting thing to note about Barcelona is that the people there speak Catalan ( a mix of Spanish and French) and most do not consider themselves Spanish, but instead prode and identify themselves as Catalian.  They even wave a different flag... I only saw one Spanish and one European Union flag in the city.  Many people in the city want Barcelona to be its own county, seperate from Spain.

We arrived via plane Thursday night, and I stayed in to be ready for the day ahead.  Friday we a break in the weather, and had sun for the part of the trip I was most excited for: Park Guell which was designed by Gaudi.  To get to the top of the park you have to take outdoor escalators (and obvious first for me) and then make your way through and to the bottom of the park.  The top of the top has a cross and from the cross you can see some amazing views of the city.  As I walked through and down to the bottom plaza of the park, I felt like I was walking through a Dr. Seuss book.  Take a look below for your self :)

Next, we went inside the Sagrada Familia, which is one of the largest cathedrals in the world and the most visited tourist attraction in Spain.  Barcelona as a whole is the most visited city in all of Spain.  Once again, Gaudi's style of architecture is unlike anything I've seen.  I think the best part about visiting the cathedral was that we've been learning about it in my art history class, so I was able to recognize some of the details and differences between the different facades of the church.

After the Sagrada, we went to lunch as a group and then had free time until the next morning.  I went with one group of kids to the fountain show in front of the Palacio Nacional.  Its set to music and once it gets dark there's lights that make the water change colors.  That night I went to a club called Opium, which was really fun but I liked Kapital in Madrid better.  Opium got too crowded at times and only had one floor.  But my friend and I made some lovely friends from London, and who could be mad about that.

Saturday was a very rainy day. We went to the Casa Mila - La Pedrera.  It´s a house designed by Gaudi.  We were able to tour the attic and the dormitories but were not able to walk on the roof as it was closed due to rain.  This was dissapointing as the roof is the coolest part.  The roof has huge statues and looks over the city.  You´ll see in my window shots that I attempted to get pictures of the statues.  The attic, was more so a museum the explained Gaudi´s motives and goals for all of his works including the park and the cathedral that we had visited the day before.  After La Pedrera, we talked down a market and shop street called Las Ramblas, saw the outside of a cathedral that was there, and then walked to lunch.  At lunch we had the best guacomole and hummus I have ever had in my life.  Although this could be skewed because I love both but haven´t had either since leaving the states.  After lunch, I went with a group to the National Art Museum of Catalan.  It was full of artists soley from Barcelona. Many of our art history projects are on some of these artists so it was very cool to see some of the works from class up close in real life.  The building itself was gorgeous and I loved the bright colors in the ceiling of the main dome of the building.  Saturday night I went to the Barcelona Casino with one of my friends who taught me how to play Rouet.  My friend was much better and riskier than me and he made 15 euros.  I´m not much of a risk taker and lost 4 euros total...but I was fine with it because we were there for 3 and half hours and I had a blast playing :)

Sunday, we had a free day to ourselves.  A few of my friends and I attemped to go to a famous open market called La Boqueria, but it was closed because it was Sunday so that was a bug bummer.  But across the street there was a Museo Erotico that was open so we did that for a bit.  From there I left the group and went to the Castillo de Montjuic.  I´m so glad I went because the views were amazing.  The best part was that I splurged and took the air gondala up to the top of the castle so I could see views of Barcelona from above the tree tops of the park that the castle is in.  I had  been warned that the castle itself wasn´t impressive but the views were amazing.  Totally worth it as the views were phenominal (I got some great pictures) and the entrance into the castle was free.  It was also nice to have  some time to myself.  I love our group, but by the end of our weekend trips we´re usually a little sick of each other.  

Overall, Barcelona was a fun and beautiful city.

Winery!!

Hola,

The day after the bullfight in Seville, our whole UConn in Granada went to a winery tour and tasting in Granada.  Our tour guide showed us each step of the wine making process: where the grapes were grown, crushed, fermented, packaged, and stored.  We then got to taste three types of wine: a white, young red, and an aged red.  My favorite was the aged red.  Along with the tasting also came tapas! :) For each wine, they described the characteristics of its type, and how to properly swish, smell, and ship the wine.  It was GREAT time had by all!

Beach, Bullfights, and More!!!

Hola,

The great weather lasted last week after my mom and aunt left Granada, but this week has been a little on the colder side (60s) with rain in the forecast.  No bueno.  But while we had nice weather I made sure to enjoy it all last week with friends.  We went on a hike Wednesday, lounged and tanned in the park Thursday, went souvenir shopping and churro eating on Friday.  The weather was great up until Saturday, which is ironically when a group of us went to the beach.

The beach we went to was in Motril, which is a pueblo of Granada.  It was a quick bus ride away which was nice, but when we got to the beach it was cool out with wind and overcast. We still spent the majority of the day on the beach though.  We had our music, sandwiches, snacks, books, waves, and good company so we were all set.  We just hung out on our towels in our sweats in the made the best of it.  Later, we walked around the city.  All in all it was a really fun day.

The next day, Sunday, I went with Gustavo and some of the kids from UConn to Seville for the day.  It was the last day of the Feria, which we went to, and then that night we went to a bullfight.  The feria caught me by surprise because when you first enter its very similar to the Woodstock fair.  I was ignorant to the fact that country fairs if you will happen outside of the states.  Lots of rides, lots of games and prizes, fried food, ice cream, and animals.  But, the majority of the people at the fair were dressed in tradicional flamenco dresses and suits.  The kids especially were decked out and were so adorable.  In the back of the fair, there were lines of tented booths for multiple blocks.  These weren´t filled with things to buy like in the states, but instead each one was owned by a different family and had seating, food, and a bar.  The only catch is that in order to partake in the festivities in the tents you had to be a member or friend of the family that owned the tent.  So we didn´t get to partake in the Feria that way, but we still enjoyed walking around and enjoying the fair.

That night we went to a bullfight, which I was kind of nervous about.  I was afraid it was going to really gory, but surprisingly it was not.  Also to my surprise, I found it beautiful.  Everyone in the stands were dressed up just like how people dress up for horse races in the states, and the matadors were dressed in bright colors and sparkles and used bright pink and red capes during the fight.  Also, everyone in the stands watched in silence until the toro was stabbed each stage.  There´s three stages of killing in each bull, and six bulls are killed each night.  The reason this bullfight wasn´t too gory is because Seville has the second best matadors, after Madrid, and there for it only takes them one stab each round to stab where they are suppose too.  At other bullfights, it takes the matedors multiple stabs to find the kills spots and kill the bull and that´s how it gets gory.  Only one of the matedor received a prize at the end of the night for how well he did.  He received both of the bulls ears.  The best prize is both ears and the tail, second is both ears, and third is one ear.  Overall I enjoyed the bullfight but I don't think I would go again.  It was good to see something very tradicional of Spain, but when its all said and done I´d rather spend the money on another Real Madrid game.

Thanks for reading!

Mom and Aunt Barb come to Spain!

It finally happened, MI MADRE MADE IT TO EUROPE!!  My sister and I have both been fortunate enough to go to Europe through school programs and friends, but my Mom has never been, so it was extremely special to finally share that experience with her, and my Aunt Barb who had also never been Europe.  I’m very close to both my mom and aunt so it was great to have a few days of just the three of us.  They arrived in Granada on the morning of Wednesday, April 10^th on the morning of Tuesday, April 16^th for Madrid.  They then had a full day in Madrid where they did a bus tour of the city and then they flew back to the states the next day.  Disclaimer: neither of them speak an ounce of Spanish so I got a lot of translator practice which was an extra bonus.  And they were pretty good about remembering to say things like “Gracias” and “Pardon” instead of just speaking to people in English.  Mad props!

With my mom and aunt finally came some summer weather in Granada.  Pretty much all of March was rain, but ever since they came its been nothing but sunshine with temperatures in the 80's.  I'm happy to report that the beautiful has stayed since they left, and I've made it a priority to take advantage of it.  On their first day here, they napped for a bit and then I met them around lunchtime at their hotel after I got out of class.  After I teary eyed reunion we went to lunch in front of the Catedral where we could eat outside, and they began trying some typical Spanish food and drinks.  I tried to encourage them to try the typical Spanish food throughout the week, which they normally did, and I hooked them on sangria pretty quick too ;)  After lunch we went to my flat where they met Carmen, mi madre espanola.  Carmen meeting them was precious.  Carmen her sarcastic, hott ticket, 60 year old self, and was genuinely so excited to meet them, as were they to meet her.  We had some tea and cookies while trying to coordinate the coming weekend with Carmen's help.  We had to get to a pueblo of Malaga on a weekday in order for my to go to the US Consulate and the National Police Station to get my fingerprints done, but in order to do so we had to spend Sunday in Malaga and then take a train on Monday to the pueblo of Fuengirola.  After coordinating the transportation and hotels for all of that we spent the afternoon walking through the Albacin up to the Plaza San Miguel which has an incredible view of the Alhambra.  That night I brought them to Cafe Futbol for dinner, sangria, and churros con chocolate.  All were a hit.  I spent that night at Carmen's and then met them after my morning class the next day.

After my class, we shopped on the main shopping street in Granada, Recogidas, which is conveniently on the way to my flat where we were going to lunch.  This lunch was one of the highlights of the week.  It consisted of my mom, my aunt, Carmen, Pepe, Itzar, Jose, and I all at one table.  Pepe is a 4 year old heartbreaker that Carmen babysits for and Pepe and Itzar are his parents.  The three are over all the time and stayed with me while Carmen was away for her brother's funeral, so I consider them a part of my Spanish family :) We gave them all gifts from America and had some of Carmen's amazing chicken paella.  My mom brought Pepe a bear wearing a UConn football jersey and holding a big UConn fleece blanket.  He is now in love with "Coco" and carries him everywhere.  That afternoon we shopped on and off and went inside the Catedral de Granada.  I had gone to the Catedral for the first time early in the week and liked it, but this was the first time either of them had  been in a cathedral so they were blown away by the art, architecture, the dome, and the stain-glass.  That night we got real Spanish and tapa hopped for dinner.  One of the bars was fittingly called "Garvey".

On Friday, we woke up early to get tickets and walk through the Alhambra.  We were able to go to all parts of the Alhambra including the General-life, all the gardens, the Palace, and the Alcazaba tower.  This took up our whole morning, and then after we shopped at some of the side shops in between the Alhambra and Plaza Nueva.  There my mom bought a mosaic pottery sign that says "Garvey" for our front door, and my aunt bought a leather laptop case for my uncle.  We then went Las Titas for lunch.  Las Titas is right on the river, which they hadn't been to yet, is surrounded by palm trees and has a great view of the Sierra Nevadas.  We ate outside to enjoy the weather, and they both tried their first Alhambra Especial, which is one of the beers brewed in Granada.  On Friday night, the three of us went to a Flamenco show in the Sacromonte caves of the Albaicin.  The tour bus picked us up from the hotel with the rest of the people watching that night show, and then brought us up to the Albaicin for a night tour.  The tour including bringing us to Plaza San Miguel where we had an amazing view of the Alhambra and took pictures of it at night.  This was my mom and aunt's first Flamenco and they thought the dancers were intense, which they definitely are, and loved it.

Saturday was what I was most excited for because I finally made it to the Sierra Nevadas.  The bus ride alone was breathtaking, weaving through the mountains, and giving views looking down on Granada and the beautiful Lake Quentar.  We were dropped in the ski village, which is so picturesque with mountains and slopes surrounding you.  It took us a while to figure out how to get to the top, but we eventually did and the views from there were even better.  The crazy part was that even though the slopes were still covered in snow, it was still in the 70's from even the top.  People were able to ski and snowboard in sweaters.  After going to the top we got some papas bravas (fries with spicy ketchup) and drinks while sitting in lounge chairs outside looking out at the views.  Saturday night we went to dinner and tapas at what became our favorite restaurant/bar and I need to go back pronto; La Bodega de Gran Via.  Their sangria was sooo good.... we went through 3 jugs of it, and when we went back Monday night the waiter gave us their sangria recipe!

On Sunday we left for Malaga.  We arrived at the hotel where they held our bags until check in, and we headed to the city center.  There we ate at "Cheers" (cough tourist trap cough) across from the Catedral de Malaga and visited the Picasso Museum.  We then went back to the hotel, checked into our room and walked along the beach.  It was so nice to finally be beaching.  My mom and aunt were super excited to dip their toes into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time.  That night we went to the cutest restaurant with the sweetest old man waiter.  Still trying to find my card with the name on it but it was Taberna something.  There we had some very fresh cod, which malaga is know for, some tapas, white wine, and some sweet malaga wine.  The waiter gave us some free malaga wine and took pictures with us.  We were awkwardly the only ones there, but o well we loved it.  The place was decorated with signed pictures and jerseys of famous people who had ate there along with a nautical and wine theme.

The next day, Monday, was my last day with my mom and aunt and sadly we had to spend it running around Fuengirola (a pueblo in Malaga) in order for me to get fingerprinted for a fee collector job that I have received on Cape Cod national seashore.  my aunt stayed in Malaga for the day to beach it and my mom and I took the train back and forth to the pueblo.  It was a very stressful, Spanish filled day, but eventually my fingerprints were finally taken, and we were able to mail them along with all my other paperwork.  When we got back to Granada we spent out last night together at La Bodega de Gran Via and they we had to say good-bye.  It really hated to say goodbye as I got so use to having my mom and aunt with me.  But, i'll be seeing them soon and I will be coming to celebration as my cousin (my aunt's son) is graduating from college! So we'll all be reunited soon after I get home.  I feel so fortunate that I got to see Steve and them while I was here along with my friends Mike and Katie.  Soon I'll be going to Ireland and i'll get to see another one of my friends from college! So excited, and so fortunate to get all these little tastes of home throughout the semester.

My weekend in Toledo, Avila, and some casual clubbing and half marathon-ing in Madrid

First off, sorry I’ve been bad with keeping up the blog, but these last few weeks have been crazy busy!  I’m absolutely loving every minute of it and can’t believe I only have one month left :(

From Thursday April 4^th to Sunday April 7^th I was in Toledo, Avila, and Madrid (again ha) with the UConn in Granada group, and the lovely addition of Gustavo’s wife (Senora Toth!!) and their new addition, the adorable Juan Bosco!  We left On Thursday afternoon and were in Toledo that night as it is about 5 ½ hours away.  All three of these cities are in central Spain and we’re down south.  On the way to Toledo we stopped for dinner at the pueblo of done other than… Don Quixote!  For those of you who don’t know, Don Quixote is the not so smart “knight” in one of the Spain’s most famous novels.  If you’ve taken any Spanish class you’ve most likely heard the name of read a passage or two as the book is super long.  The most known part of the novel is when Don Quixote mistakes the windmills in his pueblo for monsters, and runs himself and his horse right into the windmill.   The pueblo had many windmills but they were in the mountains.  I still can’t believe the bus made it up there in one piece, but I’m so glad it did because the view was amazing.  However, it was raining so it was quick pics and back to the bus for to go back down the mountain for dinner.

We spent the next day until lunch in Toledo.  Toledo itself has a medieval feel, and is known for its swords and knives.  Today, they’re especially known for the swords that appear in the movies, like Lord of the Rings and Kill Bill as examples.  Sorry family but I didn’t buy any kitchen knives, because this was also the day I found out I was officially buying a car back in the states and money was being taken out that day.  So yes I now have a car waiting for me in the driveway when I get home!!!!! :D  We also went to the Synagogue El Transito.  It’s the first synagogue I’ve ever been to.  Toledo is also known for meats different from what we’ve tried here so far, such as, bull, venison, and partridge (like the bird in the 12 days of Christmas) so at lunch I had venison in sauce in addition to paella and it was super good. 

After lunch, we made the trip to Avila, which was only a few hours away from Toledo.  We did a short walk with Gustavo and our teacher/favorite tour guide MariCarmen, to see the outside of The Wall of Avila that surrounds the city and then we had free time for dinner and what not.  One of my friends and I were pretty drained from the week before and the few days of traveling, so we decided to chill out and relax in her room sleepover style.  I’m talking sweats, jar of peanut butter, and watching the Voice on projectfreetv.  We had a blast, especially since my friends and I never get to hang out like that here because we all live with different families and having friends over isn’t encouraged.  It gave me a nice taste of hanging out in my suite back at UConn which I miss… shout out to the roomies!!! <3

 That morning we got to go to the top of The Wall of Avila and walk along the top of it.  From there we could see all of Avila and more.  Avila is the highest city in all of Spain; so being on top of the wall that surrounds it brought us to the tipity top.  We also went to the birthplace and church of Mother Teresa while in Avila.  Throughout the day, we kept running into a wedding party that was dressed up in masks and costumes of different medieval characters.  There was one guys dressed in a cloak and masquerade crow mask.  He was hilarious.  He kept squawking at our group and made jokes as one girl tried to squawk back.  Him and his friend even took a picture with MariCarmen as she tried to impersonate a nun with the hood of her coat. 

We had lunch slightly outside of Avila on the way at a restaurant on the way to Madrid.  There we had piglet, sheep, and lamb.  They were all very good and a specialty of Avila, but the piglet was hard for a lot of people to eat.  They brought out the whole piglet…still intact…face and all…. If you’ve taken bio1107 it was like that :/ However, it was super good if you just ignored the face, but some people had to switch to the vegetarian table.

But after lunch… we finally made it to Madrid! J Why finally?  I mean it was my third time there in four weeks after all.  BUT this time in Madrid I ran the Medio Maraton de Madrid! The Madrid Half Marathon, all 21.7 km/13.1 miles of it….even though we thought 13.1 only equaled 20 km…woops.  I ran it with to friends from UConn in Granada and two of my best friends (Mike Tedone and Katie Lainas woot! woot!) from UConn.  Katie, Mike, and I are all  in UConn Endurance (a running club on campus) so our club is now officially international!  It was Mike and mine’s 6^th half marathon with all but one each running together, and Katie’s 5^th.  Katie and I have run all 5 of those together.  So needless to say, us casually meeting up in Madrid to run a half together was pretty special.  Mike is studying in London for the semester and Katie is studying in Paris (See my Paris blog post to read all the great stuff the two of us did together there!).  The three of us had a great first night of sangria, tapas, and catching up.

Somehow in the midst of catching up we decided we joining the rest of the UConn crew for a night out in Madrid at El Kapital, which is one of the best clubs in Spain and Europe.  VAlE LA PENA! (Worth it!) We had a blast on all 7 levels of the club including a failed karaoke attempt of Hit Me Baby One More Time on floor two.  We sadly missed our turn for it… don’t worry Mike there’s still late night! ;)  So after leaving the club at 4 am the 5 of us (My two friends from UConn in Granada and us three) woke up at 7:30 and met up at 8:30 to walk to the 9:30 start.  We all did great hovering the 2-hour mark.  This was my 6^th half and 3^rd best time of 2:04…guess it’s time to challenge myself with a marathon.  After the half, we went to the Prado and the Palacio Real.  

Semana Santa

I got back to Granada after Italy in time for the most importnat days of Semana Santa in Granada.  Semana Santa is celebrated all over Spain but it is taken most seriously in Andalucia; the region of southern Spain in which I live.  Semana Santa is the Holy Week that takes up the last week of lent, ending on Easter Sunday.  All days of this week are equally important and are filled with processions through the city that depict the phases Jesus went through during this week.  Therefore, Easter is celebrated j ust like the other days and is not a big holiday filled with the Easter Bunny and a family dinner like in the states.  However, there are traditional foods and pastries that are made throughout the week.  Carmen cooked a lot of fish during this week and also a dessert called Torrijas.  Torrijas are are slices of bread dipped in egg then soaked in wine or milk, fried and sweetened with sugar and sprinkled with cinnamon.  Carmen made mine with soy milk so I could try them.  They are very similar to french toast but thicker and with more crunch.

The processions through the city are the most important part of Semana Santa.  The processions are made up of participants of all ages, floats that capture different scenes of Jesus and of Mary, marching bands, women in dark flamenco attire, and nazarenos.  Nazarenos are dressed in in a tunic and a hood with conical tip which is used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak.  The color of the attire depends on what procession is taken place.  They look very similiar to the KKK so it took some getting used to during the first few processions I went to.  It takes each procession a long time to complete there route because the floats are carried instead of being on wheels.  They are made of solid wood and people are underneath them carrying the floats.  So, every few minutes the procession stops so that the people underneath can rest.

All of the processions were moving and beautiful, even to someone like me who isnt very religious or even Catholic, and they all drew hundreds of people from all over Spain and abroad.  The best one I went to was the night I got back from Italy.  I went with one of my friends to the river near Albaicin and Plaza Nueva to watch the Good Friday midnight procession.  When the church bells struck 12, all of the lights in Granada turned of and the whole city went silent.  it was extremly moving.  The procession was lit only by candelight and all the particpants were dressed in black.

On Easter Sunday, I went with two of my friends to the Catedral de Granada for its service.  It was Catholic, in Spanish, and echoy as the the cathedral is so big.  It was a nice service but just so different from the Easter services I go to at home as there were no flowers, bright colors, or music.  Still nice though and glad I went.  There were no celebratory processions that day as planned because it down poured all day so they were cancelled, which was disappointing.