So I really know that my time in Spain is almost over because today we had our last group trip to Toledo, which is a town in the community of Castilla La Mancha. Again we stopped for coffee before starting the tour because we are all exhausted and Maria Jose now knows she needs to caffeinate us in order to get us moving. The first stop on the tour was the Cathedral San Juan de los Reyes, which was built to be a tomb for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel but then they were buried in Granda because Spain finally regained control of the region. The church had many symbols of eagles, which represent power and also the letter Y and F were found throughout the cathedral as representations of Ferdinand and Isabel (which is sometimes spelt with a Y in Spanish). The cathedral is mudejar style, which means it was built by Muslims in a Christian kingdom so there were may Arab influences. After this Maria Jose bought us Marzipan, which was first made in Toledo by nuns in the 9th century and is a typical dessert in the area. We even saw this amazing Marzipan replica of the cathedral that was insane.
View of the City
Following this I went to go see the famous painting by El Greco that is located in Toledo that is known as the El Entierro del Senor de Orgaz or the burial of Count Orgaz. This painting representing the typical style of El Greco because is uses dark colors and represents both heaven and earth with clear separation between the two worlds. Then I got lunch at a sandwich place with some people. I am looking forward to coming home because I am getting bored of Spanish food because they are obsessed with ham but not ham that like in the States and it is just okay and I am getting tired of it. After lunch I went to the Cathedral of Toledo, which is massive. I got an audioguide to help me understand what I was looking at. The cathedral was not just a religious place but there are some rooms inside that serve as a museum and are home to many painting by El Greco. There are several smaller chapels in the cathedral that are dedicated to various saints. The main alter piece was beautiful and covered in gold and depicted various scenes from the Bible. After touring the Cathedral I got on the bus for the last time to head back to Alcala after a trip, which was a bittersweet. Also, on a side note even though I talked to her already I just wanted to wish my Mom a Happy Mother’s Day. I can’t wait to see you in a couple of days.
On Saturday I finally was able to go to town of Segovia, which is located 1 ½ north of Spain. This was the trip I was supposed to go on when my Mom was here but it was canceled because of the snow. First we stopped at a place of coffee before the trip and Loyola paid for our coffee because our time in Spain in winding down so we have to use up all the money we pay for tuition and such. Then I went to the palace of La Granja, which used to be a palace for the king during the hot Madrid summers but now is a museum. We walked around the garden and saw all these amazing fountains that only run in the summer months because they are supplied water from the snow that melts in the mountains and is then collected in a lake and funneled into the fountains. Also, the gardens go for a while and as you walk closed to the mountains there are less fountains tot symbolize getting closer to nature.
Example of Fountain in the Gardens
Next we took the bus into the town of Segovia to see the Aqueduct. This particular structure carried water from the mountains into the town and was built in the 1st century and is still standing today. The Aqueduct is made out of granite and because of the arches the granite pieces have nothing holding them together and are just held in place because of gravity.
Aqueduct
After marveling at this structure I headed to the Alcazar, or fortress, of Segovia. A fun fact about this Alcazar is that the castle in Cinderella is modeled after this because Walt Disney was actually born in Spain but adopted by an American family so upon visiting Spain as an adult he saw the Alcazar and decided to incorporate it into Cinderella.
Alcazar
Then Maria Jose, our program director, gave us 10 euro for lunch so me and a bunch of people went to a local restaurant and got the Menu del Dia, which is basically a pre-fixed menu where you choose a drink, 1st course, 2nd course, and dessert. For dessert I had a cream filled cake that was typical of the region of Segovia and it was delicious. Then the whole group meet again to go inside the Cathedral in Segovia, which is gothic style, before getting on the bus and heading back to Alcala while enjoying Sherk 2 to entertain us.
This is my last entry about a longer trip because I am leaving Spain in 11 days to head back to the States. For my last plane trip a group of us went to Mallocra, Spain, which is party of the Balearic Islands. One of the girl’s has a timeshare at home and her parents were able to move the timeshare to Cala Pi, Mallocra for the week, which was great because it made the trip really cheap. I arrived in Mallorca on Monday and was a little upset because the weather was not suppose to be great. When I got there it was raining but I was like at least I am near the beach. Also, we all had papers to do so it was okay that it was raining for the day because it forced us all to finish our work because there was nothing better to do. Also, that first day we went to the supermarket and got groceries because the timeshare was more like an apartment so there was a kitchen and pots to cook with. The following day it was still rainy in the morning but in the afternoon it cleared up so we ended up hanging around by the pool and exploring the small town we were in. My friend Courtney and I ended up walking down to the beach and hiking around the mountains over there because the beach was kind of in a canyon. That night the hotel was supposed to have a magic show so we thought about checking it out for the night. However, for some reason the show was canceled so instead there was some type of game show where men competed against women and 2 of my friends were in the competition. Obviously the women won and it was a lot of fun.
Beach at the Hotel
The next morning we had decided to rent cars from the hotel so that we could drive into Palma for the day to go shopping since it was sunny out but not exactly warm enough for the beach. Driving into Palma was so much fun because it was the first time I was in a car other then a cab since being in Spain and it was like a mini road trip. When we got to Palma we just walked around for a bit, got lunch, and did some shopping for pearls and such. Also, we saw the cathedral that was massive.
Cathedral
It was a great day. I went back to the hotel for dinner and we just all hung out for the night. The next day it was finally perfect weather for sitting outside so I woke up early to sit by the pool all day. I bought a book at one of the department store, which was great for sitting by the pool. That night we drove into Palma again for dinner. We went to this great restaurant for dinner that had all these pasta and salad dishes that were delicious. We had a long dinner and then just headed back to the hotel and went to bed. On the last day we just sat outside all day and just enjoyed the last day in the sun. I did not have a flight till 11:30pm so I had a complete day hanging around the pool and time to just relax. I had a great last long trip because it was nice and relaxing and a great time to regroup. I have two more day trips to Toledo and Segovia, which is the last trips before heading home.
This weekend we went on our also long weekend trip as a group to an area in northern Spain known as Asturias. This trip was great because there is nothing really to see in Asturias it is mostly a beach area but is cool because mountains also surround it so you are able to get both beach and mountains. We arrived on Friday to the small town of Ribadesella were we had free time to walk around and get a late lunch. Then we go on the bus and headed to the town of Olvedo, which is where are hotel was located. That night myself and a couple of the girls decided to go in the hot tub and sauna to relax for a bit. That night we went to a Italian restaurant for dinner that was right by the hotel. I am turning into a real Spaniard because I did not even consider going out to dinner until 10pm, which is a typical dinnertime in Spanish culture.
Chapel in Cavadonga
The next morning I woke up and had a buffet breakfast before taking the bus to an area known as Cavadonga, who cave of the Virgin Mary. We took mini buses up the mountain to see these two beautiful lakes and breath taking views. Also, on the way up we passed tons of cows that had bells on them, which I found to be hysterical. After going up the mountains we went down to the town and visit and cathedral and a chapel in a cave. The chapel is suppose to be the site where the Virgin Mary talked to one of the men in the town stating that this town would be a holy place and today the town is part of a pilgrimage that people can take throughout Spain. Then we took the bus to a hotel that was right on the beach for our group lunch. For lunch we had this bean and sausage stew that was typical of the area and was actually really good. It was my friend Callie’s birthday so we sang happy birthday to her at lunch. After lunch we just hung out on the beach and some of the guys even went swimming and threw some of the girls in the water…thank god no one threw me in the water. Next we just headed back to the hotel ordered room service for dinner and went out for Callie’s birthday that night.
Chapel in the Cave where the Virgin Mary Appeared
This morning I made sure to eat a large breakfast because we were going kayaking that day, which was an adventure to say the least. We showed up at the place and all go wet suits and life vests to wear. We were in a two-person kayak and given some sandwiches to eat for lunch. The guy showed us how to paddle and told we bridges to use as land marks for where they were going to pick us up and then we were off. In order to get into the water our kayak was put on this chute and pushed into the water, almost like a long flume. Kayaking was really nice and it was so peaceful and beautiful. There were some rapids, which were fun because it meant we did not have to paddle. Unfortunately it started raining part way through the trip so when we stopped for lunch we told a van that was from the place we used for kayaking so they sent more vans to pick us up. Following this we all just headed back to warm up and shower. Some of the boys decided to continue the rest of the journey on the river in the rain so we had to wait a while for them to get back. When they finally got back I got on the bus and headed back to Alcala. Tonight we are going to have a cake for Callie’s birthday and I am going to need to pack because tomorrow I am heading to Mallorca, which is an island on the coast of Spain.
Ok so this bog entry is going to be a little different because I actually brought my laptop on my trip to Assilah, Morocco, which is in AFRICA…so my travels throughout Europe have reached another continent. Right now I am writing this blog while sitting on the rooftop terrace of our house overlooking the setting sun and beautiful ocean…I know you’re probably all jealous. So basically I had no plans on coming to Morocco until my friend who studied abroad last year told me about her trip to Assilah, which is on the coast and after seeing picture I knew I had to go. Since there are no hostels or anything like that me and the other 13 people whom came rented houses for the week that are overlooking the water. My house is great. All the rooms are so colorful and every room has tons of cool Moroccan influences. My favorite room this is one room where we just sit on the floor on this really comfortable rug with just tons of pillows. Also, I have a woman who comes and cooks us breakfast and dinner everyday. Basically breakfast consists of bread, jams, Moroccan pancakes, strawberries, and fresh squeezed orange juice, which is amazing. So far for dinner we have had cous cous with chicken and veggies and another night we had some type of fish that was delicious.
Cous Cous
This trip is great because there is no planned itinerary because it is basically a beach trip, which I defiantly need after the whole volcano fiasco that happened in London. So far I have just basically been sitting outside on the terrace and reading some good books or heading down for a store on the beach. The town itself it really cute and there are tons of markets, which is great for shopping. So far I have bought these great flats and four bowls for my apartment at school next year, which should be interesting to get home. It is really great just being able to hang out with everyone and not being stressed about waking up and going somewhere all the time because we actually have a chance to just talk and hang out, which is great. All the Moroccan people are really nice and most people speak either English or Spanish so we are able to communicate. Today while walking around I even got a hena tattoo on my foot and had a conversation with the women in Spanish while she was giving me my tattoo, which is so cool.
Sunset from the Terrace
Today we woke up this morning with plans to go to the this beach known as paradise beach so a couple of us got up early to get food to make lunch with. While trying to find this type of Moroccan cheese we made friends with this guy Abdula who helped us find the cheese and said he would arrange for transportation to the beach. Now when I saw transportation I mean we took these flat carts pulled by donkeys 5 km to the beach. Well all I can say was by the end of the ride my butt was starting to hurt from all the bumps but it was an hysterical experience even though I almost fell off a couple of times. Finally we arrived at the beach and the ride was well worth it. Essentially since it was not high tourist season yet we had the entire beach to ourselves to just hang out so it was basically our own private beach. The day was amazing because we just sat on the beach and hung out with the amazing views of the ocean until it was time to take our bumpy ride back into town. After getting back I shopped around for some souvenirs, which was fun because the exchange rate it great. The last morning in Morocco I just woke up and enjoyed the last couple hours there before having to head back to the airport and make it back to Spain. Overall it was an relaxing and amazing trip.
Ok so basically after getting back to Spain the next day I left for London. I left Wednesday night and got there at like 2am so I just checked into the hostel, which was located in South Kensington, which ended up being a great location.
Telephone Booth
I woke up the next morning and had breakfast in the hostel before heading on a free walking tour of London. The walking tour was New London, which was the same walking tour company I used in Prague. The tour was great. The tour started at the Wellington Arch, which included a monument in memory of the Battle of Waterloo, which was a big battle the British won against the French. Following this I walked to see Buckingham Palace and then St. James Palace, which is where the Prince William and Harry live. Then I headed to Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column and then went to 10 Downing Street that is where many government officials live. Then I headed over to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, which is where the walking tour ended. After the walking tour I grabbed some lunch before getting on another walking tour that would take us to the Old Part of the City. During this tour we first saw the Temple Church, which was the church in the Da Vinci Code. Next I saw a law school and learned that it is much more difficult to become a lawyer in London then in the United States. Following this I saw a clock that was in the movie Harry Potter along with the Courts of Justice, which is where high influential people get divorced. Also, I saw the statue of a dragon that is the symbol of the City of London. Following this I walked to the river to see the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and Millennium Bridge that connect the different areas of London across the Thames River. From this point I was able to see the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern Museum. Next I headed to the financial distract of London and saw the Bank of London and the Stock Exchange. Finally the tour ended at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. That night for dinner I went to an Indian restaurant because London is actually known for having a lot ethnic restaurant because it is a place that a lot of people migrate too. The following morning I woke up, had breakfast, and then headed to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, which was really cool since it is a tradition that has been going on for decades.
Changing of the Guards
After this I went to ride the London Eye, which is the biggest ferris wheel in the world and took 30 minutes to make the complete circle. The London Eye was a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to take some great pictures of the London skyline. For lunch I went to this chain restaurant in London called Wagamama’s that had some great Chinese food that I was defiantly missing in Spain. That afternoon I went inside the Tower of London to see the crown jewels. I took a tour with a Beef Eater, who are men who served the British army for 22 years and are now retired and live in the Tower of London. After the tour I saw the crown jewels, which were beautiful, saw the torture tower, and a tour that houses the armor of past kings. Then I headed to Portabella Road of go to the Portabella Market, which was a lot of fun to walk around. I saw George Orwell’s house and got an amazing cupcake at the Hummingbird Bakery. That night for dinner I just went to a local pub and got a traditional chicken pot pie.
London at Night
So the next morning I woke up to find out that my flight was canceled due to volcanic ash from the volcano in Iceland that had erupted on Thursday. This is where the start of our adventure would be. I tried to find out other ways to get out of London but everything looked really booked so instead I just decided to try again later and headed to the British Museum. In the museum there were a lot of cool exhibits but I enjoyed seeing the Rosetta Stone and the mummy of Cleopatra. Then we went to Westminster Abby to go to Evensong mass because it was a way to get inside without having to pay the ridiculous entrance fee. The choir was amazing and the church was really cool. After this I went to another market that was in the section of London known as Camden. Then since we were all stressed we decided it would be fun to go see a movie since it was in English. Before the movie I got Thai food for lunch and then went to go see Shutter Island, which ended up being really great and had an amazing twist at the end. After the movie I just headed back to the hostel and tried to figure out some stuff. In the morning we woke up early to go to the Eurostar train station to see if we could buy train tickets from London to Paris in order to just get us on continental Europe. The first available tickets were for Tuesday and currently it was Monday so we just decided to buy them. After this I headed to a different area of London known as Parsons Green to go stay the night with my friend’s aunt because our hostel was full and originally we did not know when we were going to be able to get train tickets so we planned to stay with her aunt. My friend’s aunt, Debbie, was really hospitable and opened our home up to us for the night and made us an amazing dinner. It was nice to be able to relax and just hand out for a while. Tuesday morning we got up had some breakfast and just hung around the house waiting to leave for our train, which was not until 5pm. Finally I went to the trains station and boarded the 2 hour Eurostar fast train to Paris. I got to Paris around 7:30pm and meet with a friend who was studying abroad in Paris and was going to let us stay the night in her apartment. I grabbed some dinner and then we went to see the Eiffel Tower at night and saw the light show that occurring every hour.
Eiffel Tower at Night
I was exhausted from the journey so that night I just got back to the room and fell straight asleep. The next morning I got up grabbed a creep and then headed to the bus station because I would be taking a 15 hour bus ride back to Madrid. The bus ride was not as bad as it could have been because the driver stopped frequently and the French countryside was really pretty. I finally arrived back in Madrid on Wednesday at 7am and by the time I took the train to Alcala I arrived at my apartment to shower, unpack, and then head to class. Even through it was really stressful to get back I did make it back to Alcala in one piece and it gave me a great story to write about.
This past couple of days my friend Caitlin and I went to Prague, Czech Republic for a trip. We got to fly a real airline to Prague because none of the cheap airlines flew there so even though it was a little expensive it was so worth it because we had plenty of room and got a meal and everything. I arrived in Prague late Friday afternoon and checked into the hostel. Next I walked to Old Town Square, which is where everything happens and is a site in itself. The square was full of all these vendors because it was the last week of the Easter festival, which was really good because we were able to browse different Czech arts and crafts and get some traditional food.
After walking around the square I climbed the Astronomical Clock, which has become a symbol of Prague. The clock was built in 1338. Every hour the clock rings and 12 apostles circle the clock while a skeleton is ringing a bell to symbolize how short life is. Also, there is another part of the clock that is a calendar board of astronomical signs. Finally there is a wheel with 365 names and to this day when a child is born they must be named after the name on the wheel. That night we went to this restaurant in the square for dinner.
Astronomical Clock
The next morning I woke up and went to Bohemian Bagels for breakfast, which basically became my sanction for my time in Prague. Then I headed to the square because I was going on a free walking tour through the New Europe tour groups. I would recommend taking this tour to anyone who is in a city where the company offers tour because it was the best tour I ever took, paid or free. The tour took us to St. Nicolas Church, Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which is the main church in the square, the statue of Jan Hus, who can be considered the founder of Protestantism, Wenceslas Square, and so many more places.
Our Lady Before Tyn Church
We also saw this statue of Kafka, who is a famous author born in Prague. After the tour we went to some of the churches and such because we did not have time to go inside them during the tour. One of the churches had this dead arm hanging on a chain. The story behind the arm is that a robber tried to steal this piece of jewelry off a statue of the Virgin Mary and she grabbed his arm to stop him and the only way to free him was to saw off his arm.After this I just walked around for a bit and did some souvenir shopping and even bought myself a ring. That night I went to another Czech restaurant and had beef goulash, which was delicious. The night I meet up with kids who are studying abroad in Rome who were also visiting Prague.
The next morning I again went to get a bagel and just hung out around Prague before going on another New Europe Tour but this one was of the Prague Castle and we had to pay a small fee for it but it was totally worth it. The tour took me to the Hradčany and Mala Strana neighborhood of Prague. I saw another St. Nicholas Church, which was built by the father of the person who built the other church on the opposite side of the Charles River. Also, I went to the Domecek, which was home to the Nazi secret police and there are still conspiracy theories about the police still being there. I also saw the Wallenstein Palace, which a duke spent 7 years building and was only able to live there for 1 year because he died and there were also really pretty gardens. Next I saw the Loreto, which is named after the town in Italy that is suppose to have the house of Jesus, which was moved there from Israel. The building is named this because the Czechs constructed a replica of the house in Prague in hopes of converting people to Catholicism. Also, I passed “Mozart’s house”, which was not actually his house but the house that was used in the film Amadeus. Finally, we made it to the Prague Castle, which is the oldest medieval castle in the world. The castle is still where the president of the Czech Republic lives when he is in the country. The castle is also home to St. Vitus Cathedral, which is the part of the castle that took the longest to complete and was not finished until 1929, meanwhile the castle began construction in 870 AD. After the castle tour I went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner and then headed to bed.
St. Vitus Cathedral
The next morning I went to the Jewish section of Prague. The Czech Republic has a high Jewish population so this section of Prague has many historic buildings. I bought a ticket that would gain me admittance to all the various sites in the Jewish Quarter or Josefov. First I went to the Spanish Synagogue, which was done in a Moorish style. Next I went to the Pinkas Synagogue, which now houses a collection of art done by Jewish children while they were in the concentration camps. The next synagogue was the Old-New Synagogue, which got its name because of the misinterpretation of past languages. This synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the world and services still occur there today. Lastly, I went to an old Jewish cemetery were over 10,000 bodies were buried but because there was only limited land the cemetery was built up so some of the graves have up to ten people under the gravestone.
After touring the Jewish section of town I walked across the Charles Bridge, which has become another symbol of Prague because King Charles built this bridge in the same place that several bridges before had fallen but because King Charles figured out mathematical the perfect day to start construction on the bridge this bridge has managed to survive hundreds of year. I walked across the bridge to go to lunch in the Mala Strana area and then went to got check out the love locks and Lennon Wall. The love locks are padlocks put on a bridge to symbolize a couple love for each other. The Lennon wall may look like a bunch of graffiti but someone painted the face of John Lennon on the wall and it is suppose to represent the peace that will be brought upon the Czech population when the country is free from communism. Following this I went back to the hostel because it was raining and for diner tonight we went to this really good restaurant that was right next to our hostel.
Lennon Wall
On my final morning in Prague I got one last bagel and then just spent the morning walking around Prague. Actually completely without planning I ran into Loyola kids who were studying abroad in Ireland who were also visiting Prague. After chatting with them I was finally able to go into the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which every time I had visited before it had been closed. After seeing the church I headed back to the hostel to get my bags and headed to the airport. Prague was an amazing trip especially because I had enough time to see everything while still being able to enjoy the city.
