Friday January 27th we went to Las Riojas which is the wine country in Spain, Marques de Riscal is a world famous winery and hotel designed by Frank Gehry, it was so amazing to witness his work. He is the same designer that created the Guggenheim Museum in Bibao and the winery further exemplified and complimented his style. The bus ride there was only 12 euros which I appreciated because I need to start ballin’ on a budget! It was about 1hr and 30min away, Emily and I just jammed on the ipod and I tried to show her some Texas Country….her idea of country was the Dixie Chicks and SheDaisy ….which made me want to kill myself. I hate you michelle-emily …..That was Em – she’s not happy with my account of the ride in…. First we got to Logrono, and had lunch there and explored the little wine city a bit, we went to a really nice restaurant and had an awesome lunch! Then we took a cab ride to El Cieglo – home to Marques de Riscal. We had reservations for a tour at the winery, and our group of 15 had the entire vineyard to ourselves! AMAZING! The Las Riojas wine region has the strickest requirements for aging/fermentation in the world, and their wine is supposedly the best as no chemicals are added to speed up the fermentation process. Some of the wine was over 200 years old from, the 1800’s – the guys were plotting to steal a bottle ….they didn’t- thank God. Good ol’ Carlos (our tour guide) explained the in’s and out’s of the wine process, everything was in Spanish so I’m not sure how much I actually learned…just kidding – I surprisingly understood a lot. At the end of the tour we got to sample 2 wines, a red and a white. The white was the best wine I’ve had in my life (which might be why it was voted amongst the Top 10 in the world) Carlos asked the group what fruits we thought were in the white wine….I got that one right…Grapes! :) However….he was looking for pineapple, apricot, and nectarines = HEAVEN! I bought 4 bottles and promised my mom to not down ‘em all in 1 sitting. The tour was about 2 hours long so afterwards we had a little time to walk the grounds and take some more photos, then it was time to catch the bus ride back to Bilbao. Once we got back in town, we were all so tired from waking up so early that we decided to have movie night at our apartment – so we pulled out our mattresses into the living room and camped out for the night. Our new Spanish friends weren’t so keen on the typical American movies and their vulgar humor. Lol….we were. Saturday our friend Tony hosted all of us for dinner and drinks which was so nice to have the whole group of us together and just hang out for the night, after dinner we headed into the city to a few clubs and danced till our feet were falling off. We heard Suavemente – a Texas favorite – and my dance moves would’ve made TX proud. Sunday its been raining all day, so I didn’t do much of anything since I still don’t feel 100%, we all had a TON of homework so we had a homework party…and then I thought writing this and catching up on here would be a brilliant distraction….it was – thanks blogger
I am having the time of my life here, I am so grateful for the friendships I have and the places I am getting to see, it’s a nice feeling to be grateful for something everyday – most of the time in the states things just get lost in translation. Don’t worry mom – I’m grateful for every moment here, and am loving it all too Miss you all from Espana xoxBelle
Jan 31, 2010
Bronchitis in Bilbao :(
This week I’ve been pretty sick so I haven’t done much of anything, I went to the Dr’s and she said I have Bronchitis and another infection – so I got some crazy strong meds and hopefully we’ll be able to knock this thing out within the next few days! Sleeping for 8 hours in the middle of the day and watching chick flicks is going to be the death of me! I wanna be out and about for all the fun!
One fun thing was I met my inter-cambio (which is like a speaking partner and is a “local”) Patrycja – she’s AWESOME! We spoke in Spanish for almost the entire time! Omg I was so proud of myself! She has a bunch of trips planned like to France and Portugal…I can’t wait!
One fun thing was I met my inter-cambio (which is like a speaking partner and is a “local”) Patrycja – she’s AWESOME! We spoke in Spanish for almost the entire time! Omg I was so proud of myself! She has a bunch of trips planned like to France and Portugal…I can’t wait!
Just as free as we’ll ever be
Hello all! Sorry I haven’t updated this in a little bit…. I’ve been getting settled into my little home away from home Bilbao is AMAZING. Our first week here kicked off with several days of orientations and tours at school. All of our teachers are wonderful, they are all so helpful so it’s made this transition a smoother. We all spent the first week exploring our little town and unpacking, I live in Getxo – which is a suburb of Bilbao. Last Friday we went to Art After Dark at the Guggenheim Museum, it was PACKED – it was a sold out after hours art show and dance party, apparently entertainment was one of Spain’s top stars – however I have no clue who it was lol. We had such an awesome time, the Guggenheim is right along the river that goes through Bilbao. When we had our housing meetings with school – the director Ibon told us that the right side of the river is all of the upper class housing and stores, and the left side of the river was the industry side where the workers live, Ibon said the only good thing about the left side of the river was the views…… I quickly clarified what side would we be living on? …Lucky us – we’re on the right After the museum we went to a Bilbao hotspot – Fever! It’s a 2 story dance club right along the water – it was a lot of fun…interesting crowd though. The first week was also full of a lot of late-nights so I’m looking forward to slowing down a bit and putting the pedal to the metal with school.
This Friday we went on a 7 mile or so hike with school along the coast, omg the coastline is amazing….what’s even more amazing is to think it’s my backyard! I am so grateful for my time here so far and couldn’t be happier. We have a really good group of people and we all immediately became great friends. Friday night we went to a few local bars and there was a little concert at one of the places. This guy Sam is friends with one of the girls in the program and he is so awesome! He can sing ANY song you can name! So it was nice to hear some of the American favorites – especially the Spice Girls. The girls and I had fun acting out that rendition at the top of our lungs! Saturday we went shopping downtown and hit up Christian Dior for some bright red lipstick which I rocked with a black dress and a leopard scarf – ballinnnn lol ….Typically I don’t wear lipstick like that but when in Spain right? All of the USAC students had a potluck at Allison’s house – her apartment is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better than ours so we all just sat there jealous that ours wasn’t as modern …but we have the biggest so I guess we should count our blessings – Spain isn’t too big on housing since most of the entertaining is done in the streets and restaurants….so like I said we should be lucky to have such a huge place. Today is homework day – my Spanish course is really difficult so I’m enlisting a friends help today. The courses have a LOT of homework – typically 3 to 4 assignments a day!
The week continued with school and exploring our little world
This Friday we went on a 7 mile or so hike with school along the coast, omg the coastline is amazing….what’s even more amazing is to think it’s my backyard! I am so grateful for my time here so far and couldn’t be happier. We have a really good group of people and we all immediately became great friends. Friday night we went to a few local bars and there was a little concert at one of the places. This guy Sam is friends with one of the girls in the program and he is so awesome! He can sing ANY song you can name! So it was nice to hear some of the American favorites – especially the Spice Girls. The girls and I had fun acting out that rendition at the top of our lungs! Saturday we went shopping downtown and hit up Christian Dior for some bright red lipstick which I rocked with a black dress and a leopard scarf – ballinnnn lol ….Typically I don’t wear lipstick like that but when in Spain right? All of the USAC students had a potluck at Allison’s house – her apartment is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better than ours so we all just sat there jealous that ours wasn’t as modern …but we have the biggest so I guess we should count our blessings – Spain isn’t too big on housing since most of the entertaining is done in the streets and restaurants….so like I said we should be lucky to have such a huge place. Today is homework day – my Spanish course is really difficult so I’m enlisting a friends help today. The courses have a LOT of homework – typically 3 to 4 assignments a day!
The week continued with school and exploring our little world
Jan 9, 2010
HOLY TELEDO!
Madrid keeps on getting better and better! Last night a big group of us all went out to dinnner and then to a few bars, THEN we went to El Kapital - a famous SEVEN STORY dance club downtown. OMG, this place was ridiculously awesome! We all danced it up till 4 am....it was awesome beacuse the club has these huge fans that come on for a few seconds and mist you with like 200 mph winds from the 4th floor, at first we all thought the building was falling down and we were in for a scary situation - but actually it was just a courtesy move to keep you moving ;) Spain does not play around with some late night activities guys....and for those of you that know we at home - I'm normally an early bird lol - so I've been quite pleased with myself and ability to hang till 4 and 6 oclock in the morning. My mom would is probably not as pleased with this lol (DONT worry mom - we've all been extremely safe) Madrid is such a wonderful city to walk around in, I'd say we covered the entire city last night. Which I will admit we're all equally champs at the 7am wake up requirement as well :)
Today bright and early me and the girls got our caffiene kick at Startbucks and we were off to Toledo, which is about an hour from Madrid. Toledo and a beautiful little village ontop a mountain. I was not such a fan of the round and round bus ride up and was ready to ralph all over everyone! Today we had a different tour guide - Rafa - equally as great as Rosa if not better. We spent the main portion of our day at the Toledo Cathedral, the views were breath-taking both in and out. Rafa gave us a lot of information about the creation of the cathedral and I just stood in awe at the timeless work. Some of the artists spent 10 and 15 years on various areas, their dedication to the Lord astounded me. It was so surreal standing there, as Rafa was explaining the different vantange points and how the light was cast across the alter and choir area, he explained that when you entered the doors of the cathedral - the possibility of a God was no question, the answer was clear as the light cast through the stained glass windows and across the pillars and pews - there was no question. Faith in Toledo is not an absent concept. A lot of us were pretty quite as we stood in awe and took the time to reflect and appreciate what was before us. - It was breathtaking. The dedication and perserverance of these phenomenal artists is timeless. I don't even really know what to write here, just because I am so amazed by the beauty of it all. It's almost as though why would anyone go to an art museum when you have this art right before you?
We all had lunch together afterwards and then headed back to Madrid, now we're going to do a bit more exploring as tomorrow is the big move up to Bilbao. It's going to be hard for us to all serparate and go to our separate cities but I am anxious to get to my new home and settle in as a Spaniyard :)
Much Love- Bellarista
P.S Pictures werent allowed inside the cathedral - however here is a website where you can see some of the amazing work. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/spain/toledo-cathedral.htm
Today bright and early me and the girls got our caffiene kick at Startbucks and we were off to Toledo, which is about an hour from Madrid. Toledo and a beautiful little village ontop a mountain. I was not such a fan of the round and round bus ride up and was ready to ralph all over everyone! Today we had a different tour guide - Rafa - equally as great as Rosa if not better. We spent the main portion of our day at the Toledo Cathedral, the views were breath-taking both in and out. Rafa gave us a lot of information about the creation of the cathedral and I just stood in awe at the timeless work. Some of the artists spent 10 and 15 years on various areas, their dedication to the Lord astounded me. It was so surreal standing there, as Rafa was explaining the different vantange points and how the light was cast across the alter and choir area, he explained that when you entered the doors of the cathedral - the possibility of a God was no question, the answer was clear as the light cast through the stained glass windows and across the pillars and pews - there was no question. Faith in Toledo is not an absent concept. A lot of us were pretty quite as we stood in awe and took the time to reflect and appreciate what was before us. - It was breathtaking. The dedication and perserverance of these phenomenal artists is timeless. I don't even really know what to write here, just because I am so amazed by the beauty of it all. It's almost as though why would anyone go to an art museum when you have this art right before you?
We all had lunch together afterwards and then headed back to Madrid, now we're going to do a bit more exploring as tomorrow is the big move up to Bilbao. It's going to be hard for us to all serparate and go to our separate cities but I am anxious to get to my new home and settle in as a Spaniyard :)
Much Love- Bellarista
P.S Pictures werent allowed inside the cathedral - however here is a website where you can see some of the amazing work. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/spain/toledo-cathedral.htm
Jan 8, 2010
More in Madrid
Hello all! The last few days have been amazing! On Wednesday all of the other students that are in my program got here, originally I thought it was just going to be the students going to Bilbao that had signed up for the Madrid tour going - but actually it's everyone in the Spain programs that signed up for the additional tour. In which case that means we're quite a houseful and the 100 of us have completely dominated our hotel. The first day, I went to exploring with a few of my new friends, we went to Plaza Mayora which is downtown as well, but is this huge beautiful sqaure with apartments above little shops on the groud level. Since I've been in Spain I have been looking for an open-air market, and we found one! It was called El Mercado de San Miguel - they have EVERYTHING! I swear it was like the strawberries were as big as my hand. The market had everything from squid to cheeses, to wine and fresh flowers. We bought a bottle of champagne and walked about for about an hour, the gentleman that sold it to us was so nice and appreciated our Spanish. I was with Matt and Michael, and while we were walking a policeman came up to me - put his fist in my back and slashed his arm across my shoulder - I turned around and he said thats what is going to happen to me if I carry my purse the way I was on my shoulder. This little drama scene freaked me out. I tried to be funny and say that I had my boys here to protect me, Matt flexed his muscles to prove his proctection - the cop blatently told him he couldn't do anything. lol - and Matt was really offended....We talked to him for a while and he bid us off on a SAFE journey. We walked all over the area surrounding our hotel, Spain has a meat market called - Museo de Jamon - Museum of Ham.....this disgusted and equally terrified me as the window was full of hooves and such. GROSS - I've considered becoming a vegetarian while I'm here....I've pretty much been one - other than of course the one bite from Pan & Co which I spit out lol. Seriously though, I've been doing a lot of reading about the harmful products that are put into meat like AMMONIA! WHATTTTT? On a light note...we were in search of a bar that would show the National Championship game for college football for us and after about 7 stops in various bars in the area and 5 awkward conversations later we found one! - Dubliners pub, we decided to hang out there for the rest of the night and made a bunch of new Spanish/Irish friends. On Thursday the group of students took a walking tour of Madrid in the rain and snow....my Fuggs (fake Uggs of course) didnt hold up - my toes were soaking wet and I was miserable! We went to the Prado Museum and saw the works of Goya, one word - AMAZING! We studied several different artists that day and had the absolute BEST tour guide- Rosa. She was so passionate about her work and enthusiastic that it really made our day! We also went to the Modern Art Museum - which is currently home to Picasso's Guernica. It was amazing to see this piece firsthand, I did a small study on it in my high school art class but learned more in the 30 minutes speaking to Rosa about it than I could've ever thought about learning in high school. The Dali exhibit was amazing as well and was our last stop after a long rainy, snowy morning. Our program director found transportation for us to walk home so that we didnt have to weather the snow which was the best news we'd heard all day. The rest of the day was free time/ nap time - so a few of us went to eat lunch together and had the best conversation about how grateful we were that Rosa was so wonderful, I was a little emotional just becuase if we would've had a bad guide or one less enthusiastic that would've completely changed the route of our day, I feel really grateful and honored to be in this program and appreciate all that they are providing. After our welcome dinner and program meeting a huge group of us ventured off to the cantinas - bars, and found this really nice tequila bar - I stayed away from the tequila and assured everyone they'd thank me later lol - anyways, the owner was wonderful and thanked each of us personally for coming and offered drinks on the house. The second best news of the day :) It was then 1am and time to venture to Dubliners to watch the game, everyone was surprised that I wasn't routing for Texas since I'm from there - I explained that I was an Aggie fan and also noted my hatred for Colt McCoy. lol - Dubliners was a BLAST there was about 30 of us from the program in there. We completely took that place over as well and everyone loved us, we turned the place into a dance/football party until they closed. After Dubliners we went to another bar and had an even better time if that was even possible. Everyone that I have met has been so wonderful and there are a few people that I know will be in my life forever! The guys have been great as well, it kind of surprising the conversations I've had, as a lot of them have just been pretty emotional and just pure honesty. Its been nice to dive into this new world together, all of us have such great attitudes about the whole experience and are beyond excited about the people we will become once our journey here is complete. I feel like Europe will provide a lot of the lessons I've been needing to learn. As far as the rest of the evening went we just danced the night away. Literally. We strolled into our hotel at 6am and were all trying to figure out how the hell we were going to get up in 45 minutes for breakfast and the trip to Segovia...
Jan 5, 2010
Missing you from Madrid
Hello all! Today is day 2 in Madrid - however, let me start off from the beginning....
After a buen viaje lunch with my family in Houston and a tearful adios I was off. I had a layover in London - so of course I had my papparazi face ready and was on the lookout for David Beckham...according to people.com he was there. Unfortunately, I never saw him. :( The people in England were SO friendly! Going through security in America was similar to a cattle call full of yelling and mandates - however, in England it was far more pleasant. At their security check the woman was like (enter your best English accent) "Good morning my dear, let me help you with your baggage. If you will just take your solutions out I will ensure they are the right milliters and we will get you on your way" (exit accent) I was like "Why of course you can help me! (with the 7 bags that I deemed each a neccesity and "must have" while packing) Lets just say I would had happily cut 6 of those bags after 50 yards of lugging them around! lol
The weather in Texas didn't prepare me for Europe as it was -5 degrees in London...I thought I was being punk'd when the captain told me we'd have to take the stairs off the plane and wait outside for a bus to take me to the terminal because each gate was full. I arrived in Madrid about 2:30 in the afternoon and hailed a taxi to get me to my hotel. I bet the taxi driver thought he was being punk'd after he saw all of my luggage compared to his hot wheels excuse of a car. So far everyone in Madrid has the same car, I not sure who it's made by but it they all have the same block-style S. There are the more adventurous ones that get it in a hatchback, and the lucky 10 people who drive a Benz or BMW.
I'm staying at the Hotel Regina and recommend it to anyone that plans on traveling to the Madrid area, I also recommend getting a Schweppes Naranja in the hotel cafe :) My spanish has sustained me thus far in my journey which surprises most Spaniyards once I speak as all they see is my look of bewilderment! lol....
My hotel is located in the middle of a beautiful plaza downtown, I did some window shopping after I settled in my room. Things were pretty quiet on the plaza as my stroll was right in the middle of their nap-time. Spain's siesta is something I could easily get used to. I went back to my room and made the mandatory round of calls to inform everyone in America my arrival and safety and then took a short siesta myself.
Once I awoke, I went out to find some lunch/dinner. I hadn't really eaten anything since my going away lunch (which was 36 hours beforehand). In England their idea of a breakfast sandwich was (enter accent) "egg and cheese on a muffin" or "bacon egg and cheese" I opted for the bacon version and I'd like to note that they may as well offer it as spam on a muffin! The hash style mix up was not my favorite. When I was in the airport I looked for chips and a soda, much to my dismay there was no Dr Pepper, I got a coke - another note to all - England's version of Coca-Cola is like sucking sap right out of a tree and chasing it with a mini-shot of carbonated water. Forget getting Doritos....the closest option was Sweet Mexican Chile chips (reiterate the CLOSEST option) Plain chips are called Readily Salted. This confused me. As I walked down the alley in Madrid most people had little to-go bags from Pan & Co. (Bread & Company for you non-spanish speakers) I stopped in and got the Nordmandy sandwich with ham, proscuitto and brie on a toasted baguette. Delicious right? NOT! The ham was like a 5 year old fruit roll up and tasted like candied yams. I threw it away and looked for dinner option #2. I found it! - Ben and Jerry's - I knew I could rely on some good ol fashioned ice cream. I realize it may sound ridiculous to get ice cream for dinner - but at that point I wasn't willing to risk having sweet paper mache for dinner again, nor was I willing to waste another 10 euros. Ben and Jerry's in Spain offers God's gift to the world. A gift that I can NEVER get again! For if I do I will have to begin buying spandex by the yard and making my own clothes as it surely spends your weekly calorie allowance in 10 bites! lol... The delictible little treat was a Belgian waffle with carmelized sugar on top, then a baby scoop of hazelnut ice cream, whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce and nuts sprinkled on top. All of this delieciousness explained why the line was 50 people long and made up for Pan & Co. I was far past content and walked back to the hotel to catch up on some z's.
I would also like to note - the lottery in Spain is no joke. On every corner in the plaza there is a little booth or stand selling tickets, each with a line about 100 yards long. For those that dont have time to wait in line they can stop at one of the hecklers tables in the middle of the plaza that sell pre-bought tickets with all of the vendors yelling that they have the "VVVVVVVinnnnninggggggg ticketttttttt" and each yelling of their good luck. No thanks.
The city of Madrid is still decorated for Christmas. Each little alley way was strewn with lights and lit up, which I appreciated on my walk home to ensure I wouldn't be shanked. lol. My mother was quite fearful of the mugging in Europe and bought me a ridiculous fanny pack of sorts to wear flat under my clothes. I did.... but was embarassed the entire time walking, I thought surely people would be able to see it under my clothes. And felt that I may as well have stamped TOURIST on my forehead. But I wasn't mugged on my first day so I guess I owe my mom a thank you :)
I was exhausted from the trip. I didnt sleep on the plane ride either, so when I got back to my hotel and took 2 Tylenol PM's. They worked. I woke up 16 hours later, halfway into day 2 of Madrid. Today I rushed through getting ready so that I could do some shopping before siesta. Instead of a look of bewilderment - I had a look of half-open eyes, mixed with what's wrong with your eyes? and "whoaaaa - why dont you go back to your room and give yourself a minute to wake up a bit?" The corner Starbucks helped relieve this.
I got quite a few little gifts for my family back home - little treats from Madrid that they are sure to love. After shopping I stopped in my hotel cafe for lunch. I met two students also studying abroad from Temple University in Pennslyvannia, it was a relief to be able to speak in English for a few minutes. I also met a precious little family from Greece who approached me after the 2 students left. The father had heard I was from America and asked if I was having trouble communicating so far. He explained that in Greece they are still required to learn English to accomodate others and was surprised that no one he has come across spoke English or even a little bit. He spoke Greek and English and was having more trouble then I was communicating. I ordered their lunch for them - the waiter thought this was funny and introduced me to 2 other waiters who thought it was equally funny that I had to order for someone else and asked how they expected to survive without me. It was a nice compliment for the family to ask for my help but I felt bad for them and offered my assistance if they needed anything else. Who knew I'd be the one helping someone else in Spain!? Don't worry - I'm not getting a big head here - I'll probably need help at dinner! lol.
There is a Longchamp store next door to my hotel. I think it is a sign that I am supposed to buy the handbag that I have been dying for! I have wanted this certain bag for the last 4 months but haven't bought it as I've been saving every penny for Spain. So, like I said this must certainly be a sign that I'm supposed to buy it! God wouldn't torment me like that would he? My mother doesn't agree that it's a sign from God and talks me out of it....for today at least.
After a buen viaje lunch with my family in Houston and a tearful adios I was off. I had a layover in London - so of course I had my papparazi face ready and was on the lookout for David Beckham...according to people.com he was there. Unfortunately, I never saw him. :( The people in England were SO friendly! Going through security in America was similar to a cattle call full of yelling and mandates - however, in England it was far more pleasant. At their security check the woman was like (enter your best English accent) "Good morning my dear, let me help you with your baggage. If you will just take your solutions out I will ensure they are the right milliters and we will get you on your way" (exit accent) I was like "Why of course you can help me! (with the 7 bags that I deemed each a neccesity and "must have" while packing) Lets just say I would had happily cut 6 of those bags after 50 yards of lugging them around! lol
The weather in Texas didn't prepare me for Europe as it was -5 degrees in London...I thought I was being punk'd when the captain told me we'd have to take the stairs off the plane and wait outside for a bus to take me to the terminal because each gate was full. I arrived in Madrid about 2:30 in the afternoon and hailed a taxi to get me to my hotel. I bet the taxi driver thought he was being punk'd after he saw all of my luggage compared to his hot wheels excuse of a car. So far everyone in Madrid has the same car, I not sure who it's made by but it they all have the same block-style S. There are the more adventurous ones that get it in a hatchback, and the lucky 10 people who drive a Benz or BMW.
I'm staying at the Hotel Regina and recommend it to anyone that plans on traveling to the Madrid area, I also recommend getting a Schweppes Naranja in the hotel cafe :) My spanish has sustained me thus far in my journey which surprises most Spaniyards once I speak as all they see is my look of bewilderment! lol....
My hotel is located in the middle of a beautiful plaza downtown, I did some window shopping after I settled in my room. Things were pretty quiet on the plaza as my stroll was right in the middle of their nap-time. Spain's siesta is something I could easily get used to. I went back to my room and made the mandatory round of calls to inform everyone in America my arrival and safety and then took a short siesta myself.
Once I awoke, I went out to find some lunch/dinner. I hadn't really eaten anything since my going away lunch (which was 36 hours beforehand). In England their idea of a breakfast sandwich was (enter accent) "egg and cheese on a muffin" or "bacon egg and cheese" I opted for the bacon version and I'd like to note that they may as well offer it as spam on a muffin! The hash style mix up was not my favorite. When I was in the airport I looked for chips and a soda, much to my dismay there was no Dr Pepper, I got a coke - another note to all - England's version of Coca-Cola is like sucking sap right out of a tree and chasing it with a mini-shot of carbonated water. Forget getting Doritos....the closest option was Sweet Mexican Chile chips (reiterate the CLOSEST option) Plain chips are called Readily Salted. This confused me. As I walked down the alley in Madrid most people had little to-go bags from Pan & Co. (Bread & Company for you non-spanish speakers) I stopped in and got the Nordmandy sandwich with ham, proscuitto and brie on a toasted baguette. Delicious right? NOT! The ham was like a 5 year old fruit roll up and tasted like candied yams. I threw it away and looked for dinner option #2. I found it! - Ben and Jerry's - I knew I could rely on some good ol fashioned ice cream. I realize it may sound ridiculous to get ice cream for dinner - but at that point I wasn't willing to risk having sweet paper mache for dinner again, nor was I willing to waste another 10 euros. Ben and Jerry's in Spain offers God's gift to the world. A gift that I can NEVER get again! For if I do I will have to begin buying spandex by the yard and making my own clothes as it surely spends your weekly calorie allowance in 10 bites! lol... The delictible little treat was a Belgian waffle with carmelized sugar on top, then a baby scoop of hazelnut ice cream, whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce and nuts sprinkled on top. All of this delieciousness explained why the line was 50 people long and made up for Pan & Co. I was far past content and walked back to the hotel to catch up on some z's.
I would also like to note - the lottery in Spain is no joke. On every corner in the plaza there is a little booth or stand selling tickets, each with a line about 100 yards long. For those that dont have time to wait in line they can stop at one of the hecklers tables in the middle of the plaza that sell pre-bought tickets with all of the vendors yelling that they have the "VVVVVVVinnnnninggggggg ticketttttttt" and each yelling of their good luck. No thanks.
The city of Madrid is still decorated for Christmas. Each little alley way was strewn with lights and lit up, which I appreciated on my walk home to ensure I wouldn't be shanked. lol. My mother was quite fearful of the mugging in Europe and bought me a ridiculous fanny pack of sorts to wear flat under my clothes. I did.... but was embarassed the entire time walking, I thought surely people would be able to see it under my clothes. And felt that I may as well have stamped TOURIST on my forehead. But I wasn't mugged on my first day so I guess I owe my mom a thank you :)
I was exhausted from the trip. I didnt sleep on the plane ride either, so when I got back to my hotel and took 2 Tylenol PM's. They worked. I woke up 16 hours later, halfway into day 2 of Madrid. Today I rushed through getting ready so that I could do some shopping before siesta. Instead of a look of bewilderment - I had a look of half-open eyes, mixed with what's wrong with your eyes? and "whoaaaa - why dont you go back to your room and give yourself a minute to wake up a bit?" The corner Starbucks helped relieve this.
I got quite a few little gifts for my family back home - little treats from Madrid that they are sure to love. After shopping I stopped in my hotel cafe for lunch. I met two students also studying abroad from Temple University in Pennslyvannia, it was a relief to be able to speak in English for a few minutes. I also met a precious little family from Greece who approached me after the 2 students left. The father had heard I was from America and asked if I was having trouble communicating so far. He explained that in Greece they are still required to learn English to accomodate others and was surprised that no one he has come across spoke English or even a little bit. He spoke Greek and English and was having more trouble then I was communicating. I ordered their lunch for them - the waiter thought this was funny and introduced me to 2 other waiters who thought it was equally funny that I had to order for someone else and asked how they expected to survive without me. It was a nice compliment for the family to ask for my help but I felt bad for them and offered my assistance if they needed anything else. Who knew I'd be the one helping someone else in Spain!? Don't worry - I'm not getting a big head here - I'll probably need help at dinner! lol.
There is a Longchamp store next door to my hotel. I think it is a sign that I am supposed to buy the handbag that I have been dying for! I have wanted this certain bag for the last 4 months but haven't bought it as I've been saving every penny for Spain. So, like I said this must certainly be a sign that I'm supposed to buy it! God wouldn't torment me like that would he? My mother doesn't agree that it's a sign from God and talks me out of it....for today at least.
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