|
  | |  |
Espana!
Entry 9 of 11 | show all | print this entry |
|
After my family left Rome to return to the states on Monday, I had a stressful week ahead of me. It was time for midterms and since I had spent the prior week with my family and in Sicily, I didn't have much time to study. That combined with the fact that I loved spending time with my parents and brother again, put me in a bit of a bad mood for the week. Apparently it is common around midterms for study abroad students to get homesick. Knowing that a long spring break filled with traveling and seeing friends from home and school was coming got me through the rough patch. On Thursday I had 2 exams, so needless to say I got little sleep the night before. Immediately after my Italian midterm I left for the airport.
I arrived in Madrid around 8 pm and Laura met me at the airport. I was so happy to see a good friend from home. After meeting up we took a bunch of buses to get to her apartment while we chatted the about our experiences. Laura does not actually live in Madrid, but a small city called Alcala. It is a fun place especially because there are a lot of young people. After getting settled in a changed at her apartment (which she shares with many international students including a Romanian, Greek, and Spaniards), we went to a restaurant for tapas. These are just small snacks, which was good since it was already so late at night. After eating, we met a bunch of her friends, both American and international, at local bars. We drank sangria and danced at several different bars around Alcala. It was a nice to change to hear Spanish music and not only popular American songs that I can hear at home. We had tons of fun, but didn't stay out too late because we wanted to wake up early the next morning to tour Madrid.
When I first booked the trip I expected to spend the whole four days in Madrid, but at the last minute Laura's school offered a weekend trip to Salamanca and she really wanted to go. At first I was really disappointed about not being able to see as much of Madrid, but it turned out really well (maybe even better that way) and I loved Salamanca. Since we had such little time in Madrid, we took advantage of every extra minute. We woke up early and took train. She lives about an hour away so she rarely goes into the city. Because of this, she actually doesn't know a whole lot about what to see and where to go. We ended up doing a lot of wandering and walking around, which is always fun in European cities because you find things that may not be huge tourist attractions, but are still really unique and beautiful. First we walked by the Prado. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go inside. Then we made our way to Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor, the 2 main squares, which are always filled with people. We had paella, a typical Spanish dish of rice and usually different shellfish, for lunch and saw a bunch of different monuments while we walked. Then we found our way to Parque del Retiro. It was very beautiful and the amazing weather made it even more enjoyable. The nicest part was the huge lake where people were paddleboating. At this point we had to get back to Alcala to get our stuff and get on the bus to Salamanca. The ride took about 4 hours so we didn't get there until late. After settling into the hostel we decided to go out with a group of people from the program. We walked through the Plaza Mayor which was absolutely breathtaking at night because of the lights on all the buildings. Unfortunately, they turn off all the lights at midnight. Then we went to a few bars, got kebabs around 1 am (this is apparently very common in Spain as there are kebab places everywhere that stay open really late), and found a club called Camelot. It was a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone.
On Saturday morning the school set up a tour for the program of the Plaza Mayor, the cathedral, and the university. It was a really nice way to see the whole city, but for me, it wasn't the best tour becuase the whole four hour was in SPANISH! Obviously, I didn't understand anything, so for a while Laura translated the interesting points for me, but after some time we stopped paying attention and just took pictures. Everything was quite pretty and very different than art and architecture in Italy. We walked all through the old and new cathedrals, even on the roofs. My favorite part was the university because it was so beautiful and ornate for just a school. Also, the facade of the university has very intricate figures sculpted in and according to tradition, if you find a very small frog in the mix, you will have good luck in school for the next year. I was able to find this tiny frog within about 30 seconds of looking at the gigantic wall. Everyone was very impressed! I wish I had more to say about all these places we visited, but since I didn't understand the information given during the tour, I am a bit clueless. We went for lunch after the tour. I got paella again and Laura ordered a "typical Salamana dish." We shared our meals and all the food was delicious, even though we didn't know what most of it actually was. Next we went to the convent of St. Esteban. At this point we were really exhausted from such a long day, but the cloister and chapel were really gorgeous so we spent some time touring the convent. The Spanish have a very different attitude about partying and going out. They generally do not actually begin their nights out until around 2 am and don't go home until like 8 am. Because we wanted to be more like the Spaniards, we went back to the hostel and took a nap before going out. Again, we found several fun and very crowded bars, a kebab place, and then a club. It was a little stressful just because we were traveling with so many people and its hard to organize a big group and satisfy everyone, but we had a lot of fun despite that.
The next day we had free to do what we wanted. We spent the morning walking around and souvenir shopping. I found some nice Spanish items and even a ring to continue my collection. We had lunch and I was able to finally taste churros and chocolate. It is very different than the way churros are served at home and to be honest, I think I like it better when they are covered in sugar and cinnamon like in the states (shh...don't tell!). We had a long bus ride back to Alcala and most people slept for a while. Laura and I took it easy on Sunday night and just made dinner and watched a movie because we wanted to spend my last day in Madrid.
Monday I didn't have much time before my flight to Paris, so we left early for Madrid. Again, we spent most of our time just wandering. We saw a palace and cathedral, but didn't go inside. Instead we had a long lunch and then headed for the airport. And that was the end of my time in Espana! I had a whole lot of fun, especially because I was with Laura the whole time. Spain was very different than any of the other countries I've visited. The people, sights, and attitudes are very different. I feel like it is in general a rougher and more relaxed country than France, for example, but that makes it a lot of fun and crazy at times. Speaking of France, that was my next stop...I can't get over how lucky I am...
More thumbnails ...
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Spain or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
4 votes 
