San Jorge, Salamanca, and the Last Weekend

Hello all! I'm sitting in bed at 11:30am writing this. I usually have class right now but my one class on Mondays was cancelled, and I am finished with my internship. So today is a day for packing and enjoying my last few days here.

To explain my title, this past week was the Festival de San Jorge, thursday we took a group trip to Salamanca, and it was also our last weekend here. So it has been an eventful past week. For a little background on San Jorge, he was a fantastic soldier during the roman empire in the third century. However, while he served the emperor personally, the emperor declared the persecution of the Christians in the Roman empire. Jorge was assigned to carry out the mission, however, he decided to instead divulge that he was Christian and go against the emperor. He was immediately executed after he was tortured. The Christians declared him a martyr and later he was granted sainthood. There is also a legend that involves a dragon. A city daily had to go to the dragon, who controlled the well, to get water. When they got water, they had to offer a human sacrifice. One day they chose the princess. The king tried to beg for her life but did not succeed. Right when she was about to be devoured, Jorge slayed dragon. A huge number of people in the paganist city immediately converted to christianity in this moment. San Jorge is the Patron saint of Caceres. His day of festival is April 23 but the whole week has events.

On tuesday, I attended my second to last day of internship. i then met some of the group to attend the procession for La Virgen de La Montana, Santa Guadalupe. The sculpture is of unknown origen but in the 16th century a farmer in Caceres found her. He then took her to the mountain and prayed for rain, as there had been a drought. His prayer was answered, and he devoted the rest of his life to building a chapel on the mountain. Every year in the spring they carry her down the mountain and place here in Santa Maria's cathedral where every day she wears a different colored robe. If you guess the color she is wearing before you go see her, you will have good luck. I watched the procession arrive into the Plaza Mayor. She was wearing gold. It was a very beautiful procession. The little kids in their traditional spanish costumes were adorable. I also don't know how some of those 70 year old ladies walked the entire way in those heels.

Wednesday was the last day of my internship. I have finished writing my final project so I have completed all the requirements. Wednesday was also the parade for San Jorge. We met at Monica's apartment because it goes right past it. We watched it go by and then headed to the plaza mayor where the show would take place. The plaza was filled with people. It was amazing. The show consisted of the princess doing a speech and then using ribbons, danced and lowered herself down the main tower in the plaza. There also was a sword fight i believe to represent the muslims being driven from the city. At the end the legend of the dragon was enacted, ending with the dragon burning. There then were fireworks. We then headed to our favorite bar Oxigeno, as there was no class for the festival of San Jorge. We stayed there for a couple hours and then headed home.

Thursday, we went to Salamanca. It was our last included trip as a group. We had a tour guide that showed us the Cathedral and the university, the oldest in Spain. There are only 3 universities in Europe older than the University of Salamanca. After the tour, Andrew, Michelle and I went to the Roman bridge over the Tormes river and ate lunch. We then walked across and saw an old cathedral. We then did some looking through shops. To finish, we went back to the cathedral and paid to go to the top of the tower and see the roman part of the cathedral. The views were incredible. When we got back to Caceres, we met some of the group at our favorite bar/restaurant and had burgers. Afterwards, Maren and I went to our friend, Juanca's, apartment. We played cards and watched their futbol tournament on xbox. Next thing we knew, it was 5:30am so we went home.

Friday I got to sleep in. At 2:30 I met people to get tapas for the festival. The first place we went the waiter wasn't nice and their tapas weren't the best. The next place we went was great. Maren and I then went home and took a nap. We ate a great supper and met the group at Oxigeno. I practiced my spanish with a group of spaniards and then we moved on to Ivahoe, the disco. We danced there til about 6am when it closed and we moved to Latinos which is open even later. I got home around 7:45 not intending to be out that late but it was fun.

Saturday I rested and then met people for our last night out in Caceres. It was a planned all nighter. We started at Big House our favorite restaurant. We then moved the hooka bar for an hour or so. We then went to Blueberry Bar and met up with the people who did eat with us. After Blueberry, we went to Ivanhoe which closed at 4am. After that we moved to Down and danced til 6. We lost people every now and then who couldn't make it. At 6, we went to Latinos to finish the night. At 7:45 we wanted to go out for breakfast, which was our plan, however we forgot that nothing is open in Spain on Sundays. The restaurants and cafes don't open til late. So we headed home. In the end, Erica, Casey, Edna, Andrew, Maren, Ginny, and I made it the whole night. When Maren and I got home, she immediately went to bed but I made some breakfast before I did.

We got up around 2 and watched a movie as we ate lunch. I then met some of the group to watch the bullfight. We got there an hour early to get the seats we wanted. After I got over the shock of the first bull, I enjoyed it very much. Some of the group couldn't quite stomach it, but i did fine. I headed home and had a nice supper with Maren and our mom. I think our mom is going to miss us because she was very chatty. We watched the Spanish version of American Idol. She explained to us all the rules and how it works. It was a bonding night.

It's very sad to begin packing but it must be done. I have added a slide show of my final good times in Caceres.

Festival de San Jorge + Salamanca Trip

Pais Vasco etc.

This weekend was my last weekend trip with friends. It was kind of sad but it was a great one to end on. Thursday I went to class all packed for our weekend. After class, I headed straight to the bus station where I met the other 4: Andrew, Erin, Michelle and Nicole. We got on our bus to Salamanca which was the most windy and weavy bus drive i've ever been on. Mom, you would have been sick multiple times. To get to Salamanca from Caceres you have to cross a large mountain range with some of the peaks still having snow on them. We arrived in Salamanca where it was raining. Not lightly, but cats and dogs. And we had quite a walk to our hostel. So we made our way through the rain which let up some on our way...and then turned to sleet. SLEET!! IN SPAIN!! I was getting pelted with ice IN SPAIN!! We finally made it to our hostel soaking and cold. So we took some time to warm up and eat some snacks. but we needed some food for the morning and our train ride to San Sebastian. So we headed to the closest supermarket...which closes at 9. We got there at 9:10. So we headed to the next one that supposedly closed at 10 but was closed at 9:50. So we asked directions to the 24 hour store (i didn't even know that those existed in Spain but in Salamanca there is one). They pointed us 10 minutes in a direction. We still couldn't find it. So we asked someone else, who pointed us down another 10 minutes. We still couldn't find it. So we asked someone else who pointed us in the opposite direction. By this time we had been walking for an hour and a half. We were cold, hungry and tired. We encountered a movie theater and decided to warm up, get some food, and enjoy a movie. We went to Slumdog Millionaire which was fantastic. The best part was that 3/4 of the way through the movie, I realized that it was in Spanish. It in no way felt like a foreign language. That was a cool thing. So then outside the movie theater, an older couple kindly directed us in the correct direction where we found the 24 hour store which was more or less a hole in the wall with some shelves of food, but we didn't care. So we bought some nourishment went back to the hostel, and climbed into our warm dry beds.

The next morning we got up and went to breakfast at 9 (that's when it started). Our train left at 10:30. The others wanted to go to a supermarket on the way to the train station. I didn't think we had time but we went. Erin and I waited outside because we didn't want to buy anything. It gets to be a little after 10 and they finally are done buying things. So then we head to the bus stop, which the bus had just passed meaning we had to wait too long and wouldn't make the train. There was no way we could make it walking there. So we almost panicked but we said TAXI. So we sent Erin into the store for the taxi number, but then i realized that it might be on the map we had...which it was. So we got 2 taxis thanks to an older lady who helped with describing our location. We made it with about 4 minutes to spare. But we made it nonetheless. So we began our 6 hour journey to San Sebastian.

When we arrived in San Sebastian, it was beautiful. No rain, no wind, just sun and ocean. We got to our hostel which was right in the middle of the old city. It was very clean and felt like a home. After we settled in, we walked the beach and back, and stopped a supermarket BEFORE we would have to worry about closing times. We then headed back to the hostel to prepare for a meal at a local restaurant recommended by our hostel manager. We went into this very small bar/restaurant with 2 tables. We got one of the tables somehow. One of our few lucky moments. It was a very crowded place. We orded exactly what the hostel manager said. The first round was bread and a tomato salad made with tomatoes, sea salt, oil and vinegar. It was fantastic. The next round was fried peppers in sea salt and oil. Then we had these 2 massive steaks. All of this was split between the five of us. It turned out to be pretty pricey but it was worth it. We hadn't really eaten a real meal all day. More or less just pastries so i didn't feel too guilty. We then took a night stroll around the mountain along the ocean. The air was fantastic. We passed some fishermen, and it made me want to fish. I resisted the urge. When we got home, we talked for a while. We then slept like babies.

Andrew had mentioned Friday maybe just crossing the border to france because Andrew hadn't been there before. So saturday morning we took 2 trains to a city called Biarritz on the southwestern french coast. It, like san sebastian, was incredibly beautiful. We had some time between trains in the town of Hendaya, just across the border. There we sat and relaxed in a park. Then we found a beach with tons of shells. We couldn't believe how many there were. So we climbed over the rails and down the stone wall to the beach. I found some very cool shells. As I climbed up the rocks on the other side of the beach and made it to the top, I saw a sign that said "reserve" which is the same word in French as in English. No wonder there were so many shells. So i have illegal shells, but we didnt' know at the time. When we arrived in Biarritz we headed down to the beach where the waves were fantastic. I laid out on the beach and fell asleep. then I was awoken by Andrew all excited because the surf shop we had passed rented out surf boards and body boards for very cheap. I was all for it. So Michelle, Andrew, and I rented wet suits, 2 body boards and a surfboard. I definitely am glad we got the wet suits because that water was cold. They are very effective. So for about an hour and a half we rode waves on our boards. Andrew even got up on the surfboard once. I was exhausted after that 1.5 hours. Swimming against waves requires a lot of energy. So we changed and returned the equipment. We had about 45 minutes to get to the train station, which was plenty of time. So we went to the bus stop and realized that the buses had been rerouted due to construction and the bus we needed didn't go there anymore. So we had to find the next bus stop. Well we went the wrong way first because spain is anti street signs apparently. We eventually found it but had just missed the bus. There was no way we were going to make it. Luckily I remembered that there was another train 30 minutes later. We could just use our same tickets because we validate them before we get on the train. So after a bit of panic we realized it would be fine.

We made it back to Hendaya with about a half hour before the train to Bilbao. So i went a got a coffee at a bar where the old bartender stared creepily at me the whole time i drank it. So i got out as soon as I finished it. it was good coffee though. We had already gotten our tickets so Erin, Nicole and I got on the train. Michelle and Andrew were waiting for their pizzas to get heated up at a cafe. The train started the warning beeping and they were no where to be found. With a minute to spare they came running up. We made it through another scare. We then could relax on our 3 hour train ride to bilbao. When we got to Bilbao, it was dark and cold. The hostal didn't give us very good directions. To be honest they weren't really directions. So we got off on the metro stop recommended to us by the metro worker. And then read a map in the metro to figure out where to go. Well again Spain hates roads signs and after walking back and forth on the road on the river 4 times we realized that the road we needed was further down on the other side of the Cirque du Solei tents that prevented us from see it. So we made it to the Hostal at 11:35 and the check in closed at midnight. So close. I literally fell into bed after we got our keys. Breakfast didn't open until 9:30 so we had an excuse to sleep a lot.

In the morning, we filled up on breakfast and made sandwiches and put them in our bags for lunch. Guess what? it was raining. Luckily a very nice Spanish girl helped us figure out the best ways transportation wise to get to the 2 museums we wanted to see. We went the the Guggenheim museum. The first floor was interesting and the second was amazing. It was featuring a japonese artist that did gunpowder drawings. It was incredible. The third floor...was well...hmmm...anime. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's japonese cartoons that some people are obsessed with. Pokemon was somewhat of a precursor. Some of it is made for young adults and therefore somewhat inappropriate. We skipped half of that floor. We then walked to the Pais Vasco museum which was just a museum about the Basque people. It was very interesting to see the ancient technology for fishing, sailing and such. We then gave ourselves ample time to get to the train station. We got on our train without any problems. I had a nice little nap, and I got some homework done.

When we arrived in Salamanca, there was a cultural market going on so we walked through that. Andrew got a pair of sunglasses. Then we decided to head on to the bus station so as to ensure we wouldn't miss it. Starved, I got a hamburger with 2 fried eggs and french fries at the cafe in the bus station. I devoured it. We then cut it a bit close getting to our platform but it wasn't there yet. Which surprised us. So we waited and it was really getting close to when it should have been leaving. Andrew, doing his usual wandering, wandered down a couple platforms and realized that the bus was parked in the wrong platform. It almost left without us. That was not our fault though because the platform said caceres and the screen inside said that that was the platform. But we made it. I tried to get some sleep on the bus which worked for a while but then I couldn't. The bus got in around 12:30am and I was home by 1am.

Today after 3.5 hours of sleep, I am extremely tired but don't regret any of it. while it may sound as though we ran around missing busses and trains most of the time. The actual things we did were amazing and totally worth it.

Pais Vasco

Pictures from Spring Break

Here are my pictures from spring break. I forgot to take my camera around in Valencia but there are pictures from all the other places.

London!

Prague!

Rome!

From the land of incomprehension to the land of my ancestors

Hello again! I have made it safely back to Caceres and have taken a much needed shower. The rest of our trip went much more smoothly than the first part as far as travel goes. So i'll get to explaining the meaning of my title.

Last I wrote, I was lying in bed in Prague, Czech Republic. The next morning we went to the Prague Castle. It's very large so we spent the whole morning and early afternoon there. We watched the changing of the guard which was very cool. We went through the museums and dungeons. It was very cool and very different to learn about the history of a country I wasn't familiar with before. Speaking of unfamiliar, I'm going to divert for a moment to the language in Prague which is Czech. So every other country we've been to (France, Portugal, England obviously) we can at least get the jist of what people say if we pay attention. Reading isn't a problem because all the romantic languages are pretty similar. However, while Czech has some latin influence, it has no recognizable sounds and very few recognizable words when reading. Now everything is pretty much in english at the airport and the tourist attractions, but on the public transportation there is not. So trying to figure out what stop you are at in relation to the one you need is very interesting. But we made it through without any major problems, which is funny because the most problems we had were in London...and we speak that language.

Back to Prague. After the castle we walked around the little shops near the castle then went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. The next day we went to the main square, went to the Mucha musuem, walked around the Jewish town, and spent a lot of time at the easter market. We also went to the Charles bridge which was built in the the 1300s.

The next day we headed to Rome. We got on the flight with no problems and no fees!!! We arrived mid-afternoon and had a nice dinner at a restaurant. The next morning we went to get our breakfast. Now I'm going to go off on another tangent. When we arrived the receptionist told us the breakfast was a real italian breakfast at a nearby cafe. He said "croissants and juice and things". When we got to breakfast, we got one croissant and a cup of juice. While it was good, we just thought it was funny. It wasn't exactly a filling breakfast but we left and went to the vatican. We got to see where the pope would speak on Easter. We saw the museums and the St Peter's basilica. We then walked to the Spanish Steps which Maren didn't want to climb but we ended up convencing her otherwise. We then headed towards the Trevi fountain. I lead our group to the plaza I thought it was and saw a fountain that looked old but not very big and started to take pictures. I thought it was kinda small for the all the hype. Well it wasn't the Trevi fountain, it was the tritone fountain. Maren and Erin were laughing at me because they knew it wasn't it but I took pictures. I hadn't seen the Lizzie McGuire Movie which was where they had seen it. Needless to say the actual Trevi fountain was much more impressive.

The next day we went to the colosseum. That was amazing. Maren and I got separated from Taylor and Erin. So Maren and I headed out to the exit to watch for them to come out. We waited for quite a while and then they came out. It turns out we must have walked right past them because they were waiting just inside the exit. They had been waiting for at least a half hour. But we were finely reunited and headed to the roman forum and palatine. It was very cool to walk around all the ruins and try to figure out what they looked like originally. Then we wanted to have a nice sit down meal for lunch. But the cheapest place was full and so we got stuck with an expensive place. When we got our food, our portions were significantly smaller than other peoples. We weren't very happy, and still hungry. We left in a bad mood which was bettered by a canoli at a bakery. We didn't have a bus map so I couldn't figure out how to get to the places we wanted on the Appian Way. I would have done more research a head of time but it turned out our internet at our hostel consisted of going to a laundromat and getting 15 free minutes on a computer with slow internet. That barely allowed me to get the things done I needed to. So then we decided to just go see the pantheon and walk around. Well I pulled another Trevi Fountain. I followed the map to where the closest stop on our bus looked like it might be. When we got off the bus I failed to look at the map to see exactly where the pantheon was. So I thought these ruins were it. We got closer and I realized that it was the Sacred Area of Argentina where a bunch of Roman ruins were. Julius Caeser was actually asassinated there so that was a fun fact. After getting made fun of again, although they didn't know what it looked like either, we headed to the actual pantheon which was nearby. It was very impressive. We then walk through Ladrona Plaza where we got our last cup of gelato before heading back to the hostel to get our luggage.

We then got to the airport and staked out our spot for the night. We sure have gotten good at this homeless thing. I used my sweatshirts and scarf to cover the floor and as a pillow. I used my jacket as a blanket. It was the best night's sleep i had gotten in an airport yet. I have now spent four nights in Airports in 3 different countries. I would say I am a seasoned traveler now.

We got on our plane without a hitch. Best ryanair flight i've ever had. Not that that's saying much. I will never have to fly ryanair again! Once in Madrid we hung out at the bus station and got some real food. I slept like a rock most of the bus ride. When we got home, I took a much needed shower, and just had a great meal. Between those 2 things I wrote a 3 page paper on a Cervantes novel that's due tomorrow. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute. :D I know you're proud mom! It feels great to have a place to call home. But sadly I only have 3 more weeks of living here. I'm excited to see everyone but I will miss being here.

I will put up pictures tomorrow.

First part of Spring Break

Hello from Prague, Czech Republic! I have a some fun times and adventures over the past few days in 3 different countries. I have another week left of break but it's going to go fast.

On thursday, we left at 6pm to head to Madrid to meet Maren's brother, Taylor at the airport. We got there with little problem, and proceeded to find a place to stay for the night. We went to the cafe that is open for 24 hours planning on sleeping on the booths for the night. We ate our supper we had brought with. We unfortunately were sitting next to a table where a man was talking to a two women who seemed annoyed. After the women left, we realized that the man was drunk, and his brain seemed pretty much fried from drugs. He began to have angry conversations with the wall, and then a worker came over and made us leave because we were eating outside food. This was a blessing in disguise because it gave us an excuse to leave. We moved to the cafe that was closed and moved wooden chairs together to sleep on. That was much better than sleeping on the cold floor though not exactly comfortable. I got a few hours of sleep, and then Taylor arrived the next morning only a little delayed. We then put our bags in storage at the airport and took taylor to see the royal palace in madrid. We ate some lunch in the plaza de espana. Erin, Maren, and Taylor then just wanted to sit for the next hour and a half until it was time to go to the airport. That's a long time for me to sit... So I decided to take a walk. I walked around the plaza and then headed down Gran Via which is one of the main streets in Madrid. When I got back to the plaza, they all three were asleep. They had some interesting tan or should I say burn lines.

We got our bags at the airport and headed to get checked in. We had no problems with check in and proceeded to the gate to wait to board. We got in line to board, and when I get to the ticket taker she tells me to put my bag in the thing to make sure it wasn't to big. Flustered, and lifted it up to put it in. Without letting me flip it around to put it in, the lady said "it doesn't fit, you'll have to check it" in spanish. Now I'm furious because I know that it fits, and the man taking tickets tells her "she's american. she doesn't understand" in spanish. Obviously infuriated, I said in Spanish, "I can understand you". He seemed apologetic and I felt bad for snapping but I was not happy I was going to have to pay 30 euro to check the bag that would fit. So I pay the fee because they won't let me on the plane if I don't, and ask her where to set the bag to put it underneath. She said "on the plane". Confused I walked down the ramp. Halfway down I realized that I had just payed 30 euros to carry the bag on. Now I was mad almost to tears. So when I got on the plane and Maren saw I had by bag she gave me a thumbs up and then saw my face and was confused. The whole flight i wanted to cry from anger because I don't have the excess of money to be spending 30 euros every flight. I calmed down some by the time we landed in valencia. We then had the fun time of getting to our hostel. The streets in Valencia are just as confusing as in Caceres but we eventually made it. There weren't any stores open because it was late when we got there except for a produce market. So we bought some potatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, apples, oranges, and strawberries. In the kitchen in our hostel, we fried the potatoes, peppers, onions and garlic for supper. We had the strawberries for dessert. It was a very satisfying meal and fun to cook. I then took a much needed shower and went to bed.

The next day we went to the beach. The beach was fantastic. The sand was so fine it felt wonderful on our feet. We then headed to a store to buy food to cook for lunch. We went to the hostel and using the spanish version of the ingredients, made a quick version of the Cali spaghetti gravy. Everyone loved it. It didn't taste quite the same as when i make it at home but pretty close. Considering I made it in 45 minutes instead of 3 hours, I was proud. I stuffed my self to the brim. We cleaned up and everyone else fell asleep while I made plans for the rest of the trip. they slept for about 4 hours and by then it was dark. So we went to a bar called "New Orleans" and had traditional valencian Paella. It was great. We then headed back to the hostel and played cards until we were tired. I called Amanda from ISU on my computer because it was her birthday in Spain which it 7 hours ahead of CST. That was fun, and then I slept like a baby.

Sunday we got up and Maren and I made 11 sandwiches for food for the rest of the day. We then headed to the market where we bought gifts. We then went to the Oceanario which is the biggest aquarium in Europe. It was very fun and I felt like a little kid. The best part was the dolphin show. I was so happy afterwards I could stop smiling and skipping. Maren and I decided we were going to have a dolphin in our apartment next year. One interesting thing about the aquarium is that it's a part of a big complex of buildings called the city of arts and sciences. However, there is a lot of construction going on because they still haven't finished building it all yet. We could see the aquarium but there were no signs so trying to get to it was interesting. I decided that the Spanish just decided to forget the signs because they enjoy watching us from their balconies walking back and forth trying to figure out how to get places. They streets are just as poorly marked. After the aquarium, we ate a picnic lunch and then went to the hostel to pick up our things. We then headed to the airport for our flight to London. I was praying I wouldn't have to pay extra on this flight.

When we got to the airport we got in line to check in. Maren and I both passed the size text so that was a relief...until she made us weigh them. I knew mine was too heavy but I had never had it weighed before on Ryan Air flights. Maren's was even heavier than mine. So she said we had to check them. I refused to pay more and said I'd take stuff out. So Maren and I left the line. I took out my laptop and sandals and gave them to erin to hold for me. Maren gave her brother some stuff. We got back in line and passed the weight and got our boarding passes. She then told us "they will weigh them at the gate too." Secretly both having heart attacks, we just both smiled and said ok. When we got back to Taylor and Erin we informed them of our predicament. So we figured out that we had around 40 kg of stuff between the 4 of us and that we could split it evenly and just barely all make it through. We also stuffed as much stuff as possible into our coats. We get into the line through customs to board the plane. I was extremely nervous and by the time I had made it through customs and it was time to have my ticket taken, I was on the verge of having a panic attack. And guess what? The same women that told us they would weigh them again was there but they didn't weigh them. She wouldn't even look at Maren and I. She lied and almost sent me into a panic attack. I was not pleased but I calmed down on the plane and it was a very enjoyable flight. We landed in London and got on the express train to the actual city of London. When we got to the train station in London we went to get on the metro...it was closed because it was after midnight. Frustrated and tired we finally figured out what bus to take. We had a half hour to wait and we were starving and cold. So we went to McDonald's, the only place open and I had a big mac meal with a cup of coffee. We got on the bus and now i'm hyper off of coffee. So i kept saying all the shop names and street names in a british accent. Maren didn't know whether to laugh or kill me. We got to Hammersmith, the part where our hostel was located, but there were multiple stops. I got off on the first one and erin asked if i was sure and i said that i had no idea. She didnt' like that answer so they decided to ask the bus driver who told us the wrong thing so we went on and got off at the next stop. We then wandered and wandered until we located the hostel and found that we should have gotten off where I thought. Always stick to your instincts.

Now really exhausted, we got checked in and found Maren's friend, Miriam, already asleep in the room. Miriam is studying in Sweden and met us in London to travel with us. We also found in our room that there weren't enough beds. There were 3 beds open for 4 people. So really annoyed Maren and I went down to talk to the management. They were extremely helpful and came up to resolve the issue. Well it turned out that there were enough beds but the man who's stuff was in the top bunk was so drunk, he could get into his bunk and had passed out in the bottom bunk which was one of our beds. When we got up there he had gotten up to go to the bathroom and came back in very angry. The manager helped us get it all worked out and he changed the sheets where the man had passed out. That's where I slept. Utterly fatigued, we fell into bed and slept for a few hours.

We woke up and got breakfast and headed to the sights of London. We went to the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and walked along the Thames. We then hung out in the bar at our hostel until dark and went to Picadilly Circus which is similar to Times Square in New york. Then we grabbed our stuff from the hostel. That was interesting because it was karoake night at the bar in the hostel so when we got our stuff we were serenated by some girls who had obviously had some drinks earlier. Lets just say we were happy to get out of there. We headed to the airport, and prepared to spend the night. We could check in during the night but guess what? Maren's AND my bags were too big. But we couldn't pay the fee until 4 am. So we hung out on the cold floor until 4 when we could finish checking in. We then made it through security without a hitch. At least the fee wasn't nearly as steep for EasyJet, the airline we took, as with Ryanair. We all slept the entire flight to Prague. We got off the plane in Prague and proceeded to find our hostel. We used all forms of public transportation in Prague including the bus, metro and tram. When we got to the hostel, our room wasn't ready so we went down and had a huge breakfast at the breakfast buffet. I had a pancake for the first time in 3 months. No syrup but with sweet and condensed milk and Nutella, it's just as good. I also had 2 bowls of cereal and a baguette of bread. By then our room was ready and we all passed out. Maren and Miriam apparently woke up earlier than I and bought food for supper. I didnt' wake up until 8:45pm. Then we ate supper and I took a shower. I currently am lying in my bed at the hostel about to sleep again. We have two more days here so I'm excited to be in one place for a while. I will add pictures when I get the chance.

I would say good-bye in czech if i knew even one word in czech but i don't. So until later!

When it rains it pours...

It's been a while since I've written but a lot has gone on since I last wrote. Last week I attended class, and went to my internship. At my internship, I worked on translations and research. I then prepared to go to Brussels and amsterdam for the weekend. I packed wednesday night grabbing clothes, my passport holder, toiletries, etc. Thursday Erin and I headed to Madrid to spend the night in the airport as our flight was at 6:20 in the morning. We walked around Madrid a bit when we got there, and then headed to the airport. We staked out a good spot to spend the next several hours. We passed the time with card games, and some made up games using some trash from food we had. Around 2:00 we decided to try to get a bit of sleep. We woke up around 4 because our check in began at 4:20. I woke up with bruised hips and butt from sitting/sleeping on the hard floor all night. From here is where our lives got very interesting...

We got ready to get in the check in line, and I grabbed my passport holder as we need our passport to get our boarding passes. As I pulled it out of my bag I panicked...it felt very light. I opened it and realized that my passport was NOT in it. I looked through my bag but I knew exactly where it was. In my purse back in Caceres. When I was in Lisboa I took my passport out of the holder to use the holder as a wallet. I didnt' want to carry the passport around. When I got home that sunday, i put both my passport holder and passport in my purse, but didn't put the passport in the holder first. I talked to a lady and she said it wasn't possible to fly with RyanAir without a passport. So I decided to try going up with erin remembering that Casey, another member of our group, had flown through ryanair without hers when we went to palma mallorca. Still they said they could not give me my boarding pass. So I talked to the manager who more or less called me a liar when i told her about Casey. So very infuriated i went to another desk. The man told me there was nothing he could do but that i could report my passport lost to the police and they could write a report and the manager would mostly like let me board. So I talked to the police and they told me to talk with the manager to see if they would let me on with a police report. Well i knew how that would go, and of course, she answered very rudely that it wasn't possible. So now on the verge of tears knowing that I had exhausted all options, I told erin i would pay her for the ticket, and then we used the 5 minutes of battery i had left and spent five euros for the internet to find a hostel in Madrid for the weekend.

We found one and went to the metro which wasn't even open yet. We found the hostel but it was full. So we wandered until we found a decent looking hostal. We went in and they had openings for a good price. We then slept for about 5 hours, and got some food to eat for lunch. We then visited the cervantes monument, the gardens around the royal palace, and the royal palace, pharmacy, and armory. After that we headed to the Christopher columbus monument, and visited the national library. Then we walked down back by the palace and went to a restaurant we had seen earlier in the day called Fosters. I had been told my Carolina, one of our spanish guides, that they had awesome hamburgers and american food. It's the european american restaurant basically. Erin and I were really craving some actual meat so I had a 3/4 lb chili burger and she had a steak. We were very satisfied afterwards and headed back to the hostal for a good night's rest. WHen I arrived to our room, I checked my email only to find a message to my mom saying "sorry honey, when it rains it pours, your credit card is blocked in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and...Spain" Apparently there were some cases of fraud in the those countries so they blocked everyone's card that goes through that company. So guess what? Erin's from Wilton so her card got blocked too. Could it get any worse?

Saturday we tried to go to the museum of the america's but it was about to close. Then we tried to go up the tower de faro which was also closed for a long time. So then we went to the museum of national archeology which was under renovation and so we got in free. Unfortunately a very small part of the collection was still on display. It was still very interesting to see ancient artifacts from the Iberian Peninsula some of which were from Caceres. Then we went to the museum of natural science which ALSO was under renovation so though we got in free we didn't get to see much of the collection. We did see some of the animals native to Spain. I wonder if any of them still really exist on the peninsula because they've more or less ruined any habitat for animals over the past centuries. Since we really didn't get to spend much time in the other museums we had time to see the Prado that day. But first we had to go back to the hostal and get our heavy coats because it was freezing, windy, and rainy. So yes it could get worse. We went to the Prado which was very cool. It's like a mini version of the Louvre. By mini I mean 3 floors with 86 rooms. We then decided to warm up and wait out the rain in an extremaduran bar on the way home. We had the most fantastic potatoes that were literally served in a bowl of olive oil and garlic. We went back around midnight and slept very well.

Sunday we went to the Rastro, a huge gypsy market where you can get almost everything you can think of from hunting knifes to scarfs to underwear to gas masks from the american army for very cheap. We then walked to the Reina Sofia museum of modern art. There is housed Picasso's "Guernica" as well as many other famous paintings from Piccasso, Dali, and other comtemporary artists. That was probably one of my favorite things. We then went to the train station to the see the monument to the victims of the bombings. Then it was time to head to the airport to meet Erin's dad who was flying in from Egypt. He had been working in Kuwait for the past 4 months and had a week of vacation before he had to return to work in muscatine. So he visited egypt and then came here. We got there and his flight was delayed 20 minutes which isn't too bad. We waited for 50 minutes after his plane had landed. He never cam out so with a very upset Erin we had to head to the train station so we wouldn't miss our train. Well we still missed it. While we were in the middle of trying to find another train home, her dad called from his computer that he had made it to the train station. We met up with him and his flight didn't land until 40 minutes after the computer at the airport had said he'd landed. So there was no way he would have made the train either. So after going to 3 different customer service desks we finally found the one to get a later train. We asked for the next train to caceres at 7 pm. It was full. I asked when the next one was...at 10:30pm from another station in Madrid that would arrive in Caceres at 2 am. With no other option we bought those tickets and headed to a cafe for a bit. We then relocated to the other train station, and ate supper at a restaurant there. From there on it was pretty uneventful. We got home at 2 and I still had things to take care of. So i got to bed at 4 and 2 hours later got up to head to my internship.

At my internship, I kept dozing off while translating a patent. After my 12 hour day I took a short nap, and maren and I met erin and her dad for dinner at Big House. I had pad thai and fried rice. It was erin's dad's treat.

Yesterday was our group trip to Merida, the capital of the autonomous community Extremadura. It's an old roman city. We saw the ruins of a roman theater, amphitheatre, neighborhood, forum, aqueducts, and chariot race track. We also saw the museum of roman art. It was very cool. Who knew I would get to see these types of monuments 70km south of Caceres.

Today I attended classes and will be heading to my internship shortly. I ended up enjoying myself in Madrid, but I lost a lot of money through the whole deal. I do know I won't be making that mistake ever again.

Below are slideshows from Madrid and Merida.

Madrid

Merida!

Week of Ups and Downs

When I last wrote on Monday, I was tired after a frustrating day at work. Today I write to you tired after a good day at work with much to tell you about my roller coaster of a week. Tuesday I attended classes and went home. It was nice to have an afternoon off. I did my homework, took a short nap, and took care of some things for this summer. Maren, Maddie and I then got ready for a St. Patty's day celebration. It was fun to explain it to our host mom because they don't really celebrate it here. We headed to eat at a cafe. After we ate we went to Oxigeno. I hadn't been feeling good the whole evening and after about 20 minutes at the bar, I decided to go home. The next morning i didn't feel any better and missed my internship. I slept all day in an effort to be somewhat healthy for my trip to portugal. Thursday morning i still felt pretty crappy but I went to class with my packed bags because i had already spent money on the trip and wasn't going to miss it. Because i hadn't really eaten anything, I was very weak moving around, but by the time we got on the bus to Badajoz I was starting to feel better. I sipped on a 7up (which by the way is much better here cuz they use real sugar) on the bus to Badajoz. In badajoz, I ate part of my sandwich which gave me some energy. The bus to Lisbon was actually very roomy and comfortable. I slept a bit and watched the scenary.

We arrived in Lisboa at the Oriente station which apparently is famous for the architecture. It was pretty cool. We got in a half hour early which was a nice surprise. We made our way to our hostel in the cleanest metro I've ever seen. The hostel was a little hidden but we found it with little trouble. The receptionist spoke portugese, a little english, and a little spanish. Between the three languages we were able to communicate. It was a very clean hostel. After we got all settled in, we took a walk around the area of our hostel. We stopped at a bakery and got Pastel de Nata which is like a cream pastry that's very famous in Portugal. We were all pretty tired so we hit the hay pretty early.

In the morning, we hit the beach for some fun in the sun. It was fantastic weather, water, and sand. Lisa, Matt, and I were the only ones brave enough to get in the water. Again i was like a little kid on the beach jumping into the waves. The water was chilly but i got used to it. I then laid out for a little bit and took a walk out onto the dock. I climbed on the rocks to get hit by the waves which was fun. I now have a nice bruise on the top of my foot from misjudging the distance i needed to move it on the rocks. We then were starving and hit up a seafood restaurant on the beach. I had grilled cod which is the most famous dish here. It was a little salty but still very good. After our 2 hour lunch we took the train back to the hostel. After a little rest, we headed to do some sightseeing. We went to the oldest building in Lisboa, the cathedral first. It was build in the 12th century. It resembled a mini notre dame cathedral. Then we headed to the castle probably my favorite besides the beach. We could scale the ramparts and towers. It at the highest point in Lisboa so you can see the whole city. We also got to see the sunset which was incredible. I was surprised by the lack of safety features though. It would be very easy to fall off the walls. Not a good place for small children. I had a blast though. We got separated because matt, lisa, andrew and i had to climb every little wall and tower. On the way back we heard this obnoxious screeching coming from a tree. It turned out to be a peacock in a tree. There were some girls that i would guess were from canada that were just fascinated by this bird and couldn't figure out how it got up there. Andrew told them that they had opposable thumbs and climbed up. One of them actually believed him. Then they decided they wanted to see it fly. So they were looking for something to throw at it. All they had was one of the girls flip flops. She tried 4 times to throw it and couldn't get it high enough. Then I yelled "put your body into it!" and she did...but let go to late and it went behind her and landed on the umbrella of a cafe table. Almost unable to stand from laughing we left. I don't know if she ever got it back but she had a flight that night i believe so that would have not been fun if she couldn't get it back. But it wasn't the brightest idea in the first place. Then we were starving and craving pasta. We found this italian restaurant. It was very good considering everyone that worked there was indian. They were very nice and very interested in why we were in europe. Again we were very tired and went to bed pretty early.

Saturday we got up early and headed to the part called Belem. There we went to the top of the monument of two discoveries. There you get a nice few of the river tajo headed to the atlantic. We accidently got caught up into a tour group in one of the exhibitions and noticed that there we refreshments. The exhibition wasn't very interesting so we took some treats and went back up and it was chained off. Apparently we weren't supposed to go to that exhibition. Oh well. No one noticed. Then we went to the Tower of Belem which was built in the 1500s to guard the port of Lisboa. It was the last sight the conquestors would see before they sailed away. Again Lisa, Matt and I had to climb everything we could. The interesting thing was there was the skinniest spiral staircase ever to get up the tower. And with people going up and down it was a little scary. We managed to only get stuck a few times. There was the coolest little corridor on one of the levels that you could barely walk through that led to a little room. I want a house like that. I'd never get bored. So then we went to the Berardo museum of contemporary art. There were some...how should i put it...interesting paintings and videos. There were some that i liked, some that i didn't and some that looked like a 2 year old rubbed their fingers in paint and then on paper and others...i don't want to know what goes on in their mind. We then ate some foods. I had swordfish. It had just arrived that day. I loved it. It was much better than the cod i had had the day before. Then Matt, Lisa, and I headed to the Monastery. It was built to commemorate Vasco de Gama's journey around the African coast to India. It is on the sight that he and his crew prayed before sailing away. It was built right after he returned with great success. The cathedral inside had very detailed architecure and had the caskets of Vasco de Gama and famous poets. The actual monastery had a very nice garden and some magnificent art. After the monastery we went to the coach museum that had a collection of royal. In addition there was an exhibit about the king that was murdered with his first born son. It was very interesting. Then with some convencing from Matt we went back to the museum because he wanted to watch some of the videos again and see some of the other exhibits. Two of the other exhibits were just as wierd. The one about photography was interesting but there were so many pictures that it got old fast. And it was like a maze and i was very confused because all the rooms looked the same. With the help of Lisa I made it out alive. We then headed back to the hostel and met the others. We went to a traditional portuguese restaurant with Fado music. One of the singers was an 8 year old boy with an amazing voice. He was so adorable. We gave him 2 euros for a tip. I had a whole golden fish. It was also ridiculously good. After our meal and show we headed to check out the night life in Lisbon. We headed back not too late because we had to leave pretty early in the morning.

The next morning I got up and got ready. I headed to breakfast and had a conversation with an australian surfer. then a german man came in and was eating with us as well. Half way through eating he said "is that the washing machine?" and i realized he was talking about the table shaking. and i responded "no that's my leg". He laughed and said "your leg can shake the whole building? I thought there was an earthquake or something" Andrew got a big kick out of that one. I then got a cup of coffee that was luke warm so i put it in the microwave. When i opened the door after i had heated it i learned the glass tray was not on properly when the whole thing slid out. And as smart as i am i decided to try to catch a scalding cup of coffee. guess what? you can't catch a liquid. So then i burned my hand on the coffee and everything still fell on the floor. Good news is that nothing broke but i did embarass myself in front of everyone there. Andrew also enjoyed that one. We headed the the bus station and got on our bus to badajoz. We had a couple hours in badajoz to eat and we had a nice lunch at a restaurant. The rest of the trip was good. When i got home, i skyped my parents, ate, and went to bed.

Today 6 am came way to soon but i got to my internship and continued my translations. It sounds like they are trying to get the things i need to finish my titrator project. So hopefully all will turn out well if they get them. It was a pretty relaxing day but i'm still pretty tired because it was long. I think that so far lisbon is definitely my favorite place i've visited. I would love to go back some day. The ocean air is great, and it's a very relaxed atmosphere with amazing food. Below is a slide show of my weekend. Enjoy!

Lisbon!