Our travel day from Amsterdam to Berlin started off a little shaky. We took the train to the airport and somehow, only Olivia and I managed to get off before the train doors closed. Luckily, Emily and Jessie made it on the plane despite their minor detour into rural Amsterdam. We went through the obnoxious Easy Jet mob boarding style, took my seat, and woke up in Berlin.
Berlin is simply a cool place to be. Often referred to as "alt" (alternative) and the punk capital of the world, it is a grungy but beautiful modern city that has clearly been influenced by its rough history. But before I continue, let me take a moment to talk about this so-called hostel we were staying in. I call Plus Berlin a "so-called" hostel because the "s" has no place in that word. It was a hotel at a hostel price. Huge lobby, huge room, super helpful receptionists, a restaurant with a delicious breakfast (that had more than toast!) our own bathroom, a game room, a yard... Unreal. Toto, I don't think we're in hostel Kansas anymore. This was the Oz hostel. So stay there when you go to Berlin.
Ok enough of that. After putting down our bags and forcing ourselves to leave our beautiful room, we ate lunch at a burger stand. Now, I'm not a huge red meat fan, but this burger (bunless for me, with bun for the normal people) was absolutely delicious. Then we walked along the East Side Gallery which is a part of the wall that is covered in art work. Just when I thought I found my favorite one, there was another mural to wow me even more. It was a great expression of post Cold War peace and love. Then, we headed to the much more modern and much more commercial KaDiWee (sp?), a huge Harrods-esque department store in town. Not quite as impressive as Harrods, but a good place to feel fancy and wander. After dinner in our neighborhood, we decided to spend the night in with Harry Potter 6. You can't ever go wrong with HP.
The next day was full of touristy Berlin. Tour of the Reichstag (parliament building), a very tasteful and powerful Holocaust memorial and museum, Brandenburg Gate, consumption of currywurst, and the New Synagogue. I particularly enjoyed learning about the Jewish community (did I surprise you?). Berlin had several synagogues, a Jewish school, a Jewish old age home, and a very strong Reform Jewish community. Learning about the rich past was inspiring and I believe that a strong Jewish community could return to what is now a very accepting and open city. It was a long day, but we felt very accomplished at the end.
As if our day wasn't full enough, we followed it up with an alternative pub crawl, which took us to 5 different pubs of different varieties-punk, pool table, absinth... We met a lot of fun people from all over the world and were guided by a German young woman who seemed to fit right in to every place we went. It was definitely a fun night, and definitely something I glad I was being guided to.
The next day, we continued our super alt Berlin lifestyle and took a free alternative tour, which I highly recommentd. Our tour guide took a trip to Berlin a couple of years ago and just decided to stay. Can you imagine being that spontaneous and carefree? She has dabbled in the art scene and is now in two band-one which she described as pop and one as punk and screaming. The tour, which was the four of us plus one other couple, felt like we were just following her around a normal day. We saw a ton of graffittie and learned to recognize some of the prominent artists. We stopped at an African beach bar and ate delicious African food (don't ask me what it is). We learned about a yearly food fight that takes place between two rival neighborhoods. Something particularly interesting to me was the strong Anti-Fascist movement in Germany. I didn't realize that spirit was still alive today. Apparently, on May 1, aka May Day, there are huge parties/riots. The neo-Nazis who come out to protest have to be protected by the police from the tons of Anti-Fa people who would allegedly attack them and overwhelmingly outnumber them. We ended the tour at a department store turned artist squatter site where artists have studios and rehearsal spaces and sell some of their work. Unfortunately, the bank that now owns it is trying to kick them out, but some artists have remained. (cue the Rent song lyrics) I felt like I got to see a totally modern and real part of the city and so appreciated it. I could see myself living there in a lot of ways. Probably wouldn't be part of the artist squatter community, but still, it just seems like a great place to live with culture on every corner. After our grungy tour, we went back into history mode at Checkpoint Charlie and the Topography of Terror museum. The museum provided a pretty thorough history of the build up and events of World War II in Germany. Lots of words, but lots of good information. It's free to the public and another example of Germany's clear attempt to recognize their country's past actions and do something about it. It was a very well put together exhibit and worth the reading. Finally, we headed back to our hostel and ate some sushi. Olivia and Emily headed out while Jessie and I encored our glorious movie night (because we're really cool).
Our last morning in Berlin was coincidentally fantastic. After a couple more travel mishaps, Jessie and I planned to go to a brunch restaurant we found online. While walking through our neighborhood, which we both agreed reminded us of Brooklyn, we happened upon a farmers/flea market. Joy doesn't even begin to describe it. We sampled passion fruit marshmallows, admired crafty jewelery, gazed at endless strawberries, and somehow managed to eat a delicious meal. It was the perfect ending to our trip and another reason why I could see myself spending more time in Berlin. Apparently on Sundays there's a flea market that includes karaoke. Huge bummer I missed that. I guess I'll have to go back...
Now I know this post is long, but I just have to reflect on one more thing. As much as I could see myself loving Berlin long term, the overwhelming WWII presence would also make it hard. My grandfather was German and I really wish I could talk to him today and share my experience with him, as well as hear the story of his life in Germany and then escape from Germany in person. Modern Germany seemed nothing like the past, but the knowledge of it still lingers. And as the Holocaust survivors are passing away, so is the German WWII generation. So when is a city so-called "redeemed?" Can Jews truly thrive in Germany and Eastern Europe again? Ready, discuss.
Between the history, the fun, the alternative fun, and the reflection time, my trip to Berlin has made it to my favorites list.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Steep staircases, coffee shops, and a sea of orange
Finally! My finals were complete, I said "hasta pronto" to Carlos III, packed up my life in Spain, hugged my senora goodbye, and embarked on what we have been calling Maycation.
First stop-Amsterdam.
After yet another way too early plane flight, Emily, Olivia, Jessie, and I landed in Amsterdam and found the apartment that we had rented right in the middle of the city. This place was so cool. The apartment belongs to a 20 something guy from Atlanta who lives in the building and rents the other place out. After a slightly treacherous stair case, we found ourselves in a fully stocked place with a couch, beds, a tv, a playstation (ok, I don't know how to play but the idea was cool), left over snacks from the last visitors, and everything else that we could possibly need for our Amsterdam vaction. A few blocks away, there was a carnival set up in honor of Queen's Day. A few blocks the other way was the Red Light District. Every store was selling orange, the color of Queen's Day. We seemed to have arrived just in time to enjoy the festivities. We wandered into the Palace, which was pretty different from the Spanish and French ones, but not overwhelmingly awesome. Right outside of the palace doors was the carnival with some very tempting looking cotton candy. But, before we started celebrating the former queen's birthay (not sure why, just go with it), we made a more solemn stop at Anne Frank's house where she and her family hid during the Holocaust. If you've ever been to a Holocaust museum with me or tried to assign me a Holocaust book to read or kept me home from school on Yom Ha'Shoah, you know that I'm not the best at handling the horror of Europe's past. The Anne Frank house, however, was very well done with a balance of history, her own quotes, and videos of her childhood classmates. I found out that she always planned on writing a book about her time in hiding after the war, and I think it is incredible that her dream came to fruition, although tragic that she didn't get to see it. Her father, the family's only survivor, found her diary and published it soon after. It might be time for me to start reading.
After the museum, we meandered back to our apartment to prepare for erev Queen's Day. Another group of friends from Berkeley/Madrid joined us and the 8 of us took to the streets. We went on a very high up, very frightening, and VERY fun carnival ride, danced in a bar/club situation, and roamed the crowded city center. It was merely a preview of the day ahead. On Monday, the festivities were in full swing. People dancing in the streets, vendors everywhere, and an overwhelming amount of orange. Elle Woods would've been horrified, considering orange is not the new pink. The day was intercepted by a nap, followed by dinner and some more wandering and fun. Overall, Queen's Day was quite a success.
Then, we entered a more normal day in Amsterdam. After much needed sleeping in, we made our way over to the famous Van Gogh museum. Surprisingly, the streets were fairly clean considering the trashed nature of the previous day. Something to be said for socialism...? (Get me back to American democracy Europe is brainwashing me) Anyway, the museum. It's amazing how much art one man produced. It's also super unfortunate that Van Gogh had such a depressing life. Hopefully he knows how celebrated he is these days. The museum was a very manageable size and was definitely worth a visit. After fully taking in the post-impressionist glory, Jessie and I trecked across the street to a cocktail museum about this really old liquor company based in Amsterdam. Pretty random but super fun. And yes, you get to sample some very colorful and very pretty drinks. Finally, we participated in the obligatory "take pictures with the huge Amsterdam sign." Touristy and necessary. That night we ate some delicious thai food, hung out a graffitti covered cafe, and chilled. Another early trip awaited us the next morning. I was sad to leave the fun and adorable city that is Amsterdam, but excited to continue on my 5 country adventure. Sometimes I can't believe this is real life.
First stop-Amsterdam.
After yet another way too early plane flight, Emily, Olivia, Jessie, and I landed in Amsterdam and found the apartment that we had rented right in the middle of the city. This place was so cool. The apartment belongs to a 20 something guy from Atlanta who lives in the building and rents the other place out. After a slightly treacherous stair case, we found ourselves in a fully stocked place with a couch, beds, a tv, a playstation (ok, I don't know how to play but the idea was cool), left over snacks from the last visitors, and everything else that we could possibly need for our Amsterdam vaction. A few blocks away, there was a carnival set up in honor of Queen's Day. A few blocks the other way was the Red Light District. Every store was selling orange, the color of Queen's Day. We seemed to have arrived just in time to enjoy the festivities. We wandered into the Palace, which was pretty different from the Spanish and French ones, but not overwhelmingly awesome. Right outside of the palace doors was the carnival with some very tempting looking cotton candy. But, before we started celebrating the former queen's birthay (not sure why, just go with it), we made a more solemn stop at Anne Frank's house where she and her family hid during the Holocaust. If you've ever been to a Holocaust museum with me or tried to assign me a Holocaust book to read or kept me home from school on Yom Ha'Shoah, you know that I'm not the best at handling the horror of Europe's past. The Anne Frank house, however, was very well done with a balance of history, her own quotes, and videos of her childhood classmates. I found out that she always planned on writing a book about her time in hiding after the war, and I think it is incredible that her dream came to fruition, although tragic that she didn't get to see it. Her father, the family's only survivor, found her diary and published it soon after. It might be time for me to start reading.
After the museum, we meandered back to our apartment to prepare for erev Queen's Day. Another group of friends from Berkeley/Madrid joined us and the 8 of us took to the streets. We went on a very high up, very frightening, and VERY fun carnival ride, danced in a bar/club situation, and roamed the crowded city center. It was merely a preview of the day ahead. On Monday, the festivities were in full swing. People dancing in the streets, vendors everywhere, and an overwhelming amount of orange. Elle Woods would've been horrified, considering orange is not the new pink. The day was intercepted by a nap, followed by dinner and some more wandering and fun. Overall, Queen's Day was quite a success.Then, we entered a more normal day in Amsterdam. After much needed sleeping in, we made our way over to the famous Van Gogh museum. Surprisingly, the streets were fairly clean considering the trashed nature of the previous day. Something to be said for socialism...? (Get me back to American democracy Europe is brainwashing me) Anyway, the museum. It's amazing how much art one man produced. It's also super unfortunate that Van Gogh had such a depressing life. Hopefully he knows how celebrated he is these days. The museum was a very manageable size and was definitely worth a visit. After fully taking in the post-impressionist glory, Jessie and I trecked across the street to a cocktail museum about this really old liquor company based in Amsterdam. Pretty random but super fun. And yes, you get to sample some very colorful and very pretty drinks. Finally, we participated in the obligatory "take pictures with the huge Amsterdam sign." Touristy and necessary. That night we ate some delicious thai food, hung out a graffitti covered cafe, and chilled. Another early trip awaited us the next morning. I was sad to leave the fun and adorable city that is Amsterdam, but excited to continue on my 5 country adventure. Sometimes I can't believe this is real life.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The visitors
First of all---I'm done with finals! I'm done with Carlos III! It's that great feeling of relief after you've been studying so hard (with a mixture of facebooking) and for so long (the night before the exams). And now it's finally over. The only problem? It's raining. I thought the rule of pathetic fallacy was that my mood is reflected in the weather. My mood is bright and sunny. It's grey and gloomy. Come on Madrid, you really decided to end your drought the last few weeks I'm in Madrid?
Anyway, the past two weekends has been a return to touristy Madrid, but this time I got to be the tour guide. First up, Aki! She posted on my facebook that she wanted to come visit and I was like, cool, but that's really all of a sudden. But she actually came! And it was fantastic! We walked around the city based out of her apartment, which was literally in Sol, the city center. We spent a fairly ridiculous time at El Mercado de San Miguel, an indoor market with different stations with different food, from pimientos de padrón to sushi to French macaroons. Aki's dreamland, to say the least. We were there eating dinner on the night that Passover ended, but interestingly enough, it wasn't really special. Yes, Aki too is gluten free so we continued to scrape cheese off of pieces of bread and avoid anything fried in batter. So much for a chametz feast. We also participated in a jóvenes judíos en Madrid event-a night out at a bar to celebrate the end of Pesach. We observed the crowd of 18-young 30s, chatted, and enjoyed the ridiculously fancy cocktails. After we were worn out by exploring the city, we relaxed and watched Being Elmo. Sweetest movie ever. Overall, a super unexpected and incredibly fun visit! And I kinda managed to show her around...except when I got lost. Don't accuse me of not getting to know Madrid. I can't get myself around LA either.
Then, Tuesday rolled around and the much anticipated visit of my parents finally arrived! Unfortunately I had this annoying thing known as "class" getting in the way. It was okay though. We met up for dinner on Tuesday night and ate a touristy-we have an English menu restaurant in Plaza Mayor. When I asked the waiter if they have anything with meat or shellfish, he legitimately started laughing. We managed to find something. The next day, my parents ventured off to Toledo while I sat in class. That night I actually had a goodbye dinner organized by my program, eap, at a restaurant overlooking the Real Madrid stadium. It was really nice, and I discovered that I was heavily featured in the eap promotional video. What? Rebecca volunteered to be in a video? She likes to talk on camera? You're shocked, I know.
On Thursday, mis padres y yo took a tour of El Palacio Real and walked around the Botanical Gardens next to the Prado. That night, we went to Botín, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world despite the fact that it is not located in Sub-Saharan Africa, with my friend Jessie and her parents. It was so nice to finally meet everyone! It was an East Coast-West Coast Jewish dinner party.
The next day, my parents came to my temporary home and took the grand tour (that takes about 30 seconds) and met my host mom. The conversation was slightly comical. My parents made a valiant effort to communicate in the Spanish that every Southern Californian native inherently knows. My host mom just doesn't know any English. Both glanced over at me with a "huh?" look every couple of exchanges. All in all, I think the notion of "thank you for taking care of our daughter" and "it's been so nice having your daughter here" got across. Next up, a walk through el Parque Retiro. That place is so big. Getting into it is easy, but getting out... Hey, if you wander long enough, you'll find your way. My tried-and-trusted strategy. We had lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant with a menu full of options for everyone! That night, I took my parents to Shabbat services and dinner at the Comunidad Judía aka Jabad aka Chabad. Guess what? No interrogation! I was recognized by the guy who asks the security questions! Success! At dinner, we sat across from a French family with 3 boys. We were constantly cracking up at the fact that the 11 year old could simply be a tzofim camper at Alonim. Seriously nothing different about him. Some things are just the same in every country.
On Saturday, my parents went to the Prado while I wrote an essay (2 pages). Then, we lunched at everyone's new favorite restaurant. I actually stumbled upon it with Aki the weekend before, and decided to take my parents back. Major success. We did some souvenir shopping (aka presents for grandchildren) and then went to a Chagall exhibit that's temporarily in Madrid. Finally, the answer to celebrated art that doesn't involve crucifixions. It did involve a fiddler on the roof. Score. That night, we went to a "dinner and flamenco show" event. Do you remember how much I loved flamenco the first time I saw it? It's possible I loved it even more this time. We were seated next to another table of Californians with totally different lives. They're dairy farmers and live near Fresno. We all enjoyed the food and show immensely.
Finally, on Sunday, we left Madrid and visited El Escorial, a monastery (still in use) and palace (once upon a time). Still don't understand how they built these monstrosities. This one was made of granite and aimed to show the reformation folk that the Catholic church was still all-powerful. Every once in a while, we could hear the soprano voices of the nuns singing mass. There was a beautiful library with the liberal arts represented in a fresco on the ceiling. Clearly my favorite part. Back in Madrid, we found a tapas restaurant in Plaza de Santa Ana, the place to be for tapas, and enjoyed the atmosphere filled with some tourists and lots of Madrileños. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect weekend with my parents. Did I mention that I also got to be a "fancy" tourist and take cabs home from their hotel? Things you all the sudden let yourself do when your parents are around. You also try to stop making decisions. It's fantastic.
And now, I've arrived at my last weekend of Madrid. More traveling coming up and then home. But I can't reflect on that now--it seems to weird.
Catch up on Jewish life in Madrid! http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/
Anyway, the past two weekends has been a return to touristy Madrid, but this time I got to be the tour guide. First up, Aki! She posted on my facebook that she wanted to come visit and I was like, cool, but that's really all of a sudden. But she actually came! And it was fantastic! We walked around the city based out of her apartment, which was literally in Sol, the city center. We spent a fairly ridiculous time at El Mercado de San Miguel, an indoor market with different stations with different food, from pimientos de padrón to sushi to French macaroons. Aki's dreamland, to say the least. We were there eating dinner on the night that Passover ended, but interestingly enough, it wasn't really special. Yes, Aki too is gluten free so we continued to scrape cheese off of pieces of bread and avoid anything fried in batter. So much for a chametz feast. We also participated in a jóvenes judíos en Madrid event-a night out at a bar to celebrate the end of Pesach. We observed the crowd of 18-young 30s, chatted, and enjoyed the ridiculously fancy cocktails. After we were worn out by exploring the city, we relaxed and watched Being Elmo. Sweetest movie ever. Overall, a super unexpected and incredibly fun visit! And I kinda managed to show her around...except when I got lost. Don't accuse me of not getting to know Madrid. I can't get myself around LA either. Then, Tuesday rolled around and the much anticipated visit of my parents finally arrived! Unfortunately I had this annoying thing known as "class" getting in the way. It was okay though. We met up for dinner on Tuesday night and ate a touristy-we have an English menu restaurant in Plaza Mayor. When I asked the waiter if they have anything with meat or shellfish, he legitimately started laughing. We managed to find something. The next day, my parents ventured off to Toledo while I sat in class. That night I actually had a goodbye dinner organized by my program, eap, at a restaurant overlooking the Real Madrid stadium. It was really nice, and I discovered that I was heavily featured in the eap promotional video. What? Rebecca volunteered to be in a video? She likes to talk on camera? You're shocked, I know.
On Thursday, mis padres y yo took a tour of El Palacio Real and walked around the Botanical Gardens next to the Prado. That night, we went to Botín, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world despite the fact that it is not located in Sub-Saharan Africa, with my friend Jessie and her parents. It was so nice to finally meet everyone! It was an East Coast-West Coast Jewish dinner party.
The next day, my parents came to my temporary home and took the grand tour (that takes about 30 seconds) and met my host mom. The conversation was slightly comical. My parents made a valiant effort to communicate in the Spanish that every Southern Californian native inherently knows. My host mom just doesn't know any English. Both glanced over at me with a "huh?" look every couple of exchanges. All in all, I think the notion of "thank you for taking care of our daughter" and "it's been so nice having your daughter here" got across. Next up, a walk through el Parque Retiro. That place is so big. Getting into it is easy, but getting out... Hey, if you wander long enough, you'll find your way. My tried-and-trusted strategy. We had lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant with a menu full of options for everyone! That night, I took my parents to Shabbat services and dinner at the Comunidad Judía aka Jabad aka Chabad. Guess what? No interrogation! I was recognized by the guy who asks the security questions! Success! At dinner, we sat across from a French family with 3 boys. We were constantly cracking up at the fact that the 11 year old could simply be a tzofim camper at Alonim. Seriously nothing different about him. Some things are just the same in every country.
On Saturday, my parents went to the Prado while I wrote an essay (2 pages). Then, we lunched at everyone's new favorite restaurant. I actually stumbled upon it with Aki the weekend before, and decided to take my parents back. Major success. We did some souvenir shopping (aka presents for grandchildren) and then went to a Chagall exhibit that's temporarily in Madrid. Finally, the answer to celebrated art that doesn't involve crucifixions. It did involve a fiddler on the roof. Score. That night, we went to a "dinner and flamenco show" event. Do you remember how much I loved flamenco the first time I saw it? It's possible I loved it even more this time. We were seated next to another table of Californians with totally different lives. They're dairy farmers and live near Fresno. We all enjoyed the food and show immensely.
Finally, on Sunday, we left Madrid and visited El Escorial, a monastery (still in use) and palace (once upon a time). Still don't understand how they built these monstrosities. This one was made of granite and aimed to show the reformation folk that the Catholic church was still all-powerful. Every once in a while, we could hear the soprano voices of the nuns singing mass. There was a beautiful library with the liberal arts represented in a fresco on the ceiling. Clearly my favorite part. Back in Madrid, we found a tapas restaurant in Plaza de Santa Ana, the place to be for tapas, and enjoyed the atmosphere filled with some tourists and lots of Madrileños. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect weekend with my parents. Did I mention that I also got to be a "fancy" tourist and take cabs home from their hotel? Things you all the sudden let yourself do when your parents are around. You also try to stop making decisions. It's fantastic.
And now, I've arrived at my last weekend of Madrid. More traveling coming up and then home. But I can't reflect on that now--it seems to weird.
Catch up on Jewish life in Madrid! http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/
Saturday, April 14, 2012
El Reino Unido
I find that I often don't think about the literal meaning of an expression or title in English until I hear it translated into another language. Take the "United Kingdom" for example. The United Kingdom is the name of England and Scotland that we often shorten to the UK. In Spanish, it is appropriately called El Reino Unido, which literally means the kingdom united...the United Kingdom. Of course, in English the name indicates that it is a kingdom united but sometimes you just don't think about all that until you hear it in another language since it's just what something is called. Now, you either think this is very interesting and are going to come up with other examples or you think I'm dumb because this is so obvious. Sooo now on to what actually happened while I was in this place with kings who once came together to be united.
On our last day in London, I didn't have much time since I had to catch my flight back to Madrid. Since we had seen most of the big sites and didn't have time for any more like the London Tower, we went back to Harrods to buy some chocolaty souvenirs, indulge our Harry Potter nerdiness one more time by checking out the toy section, filled with every character's wand (for only 27 pounds...) and a Marauder's Map. Then it was back to the hostel, into a cab (it was still driving on the wrong side. Really don't know how it managed that), and to the airport. I was sad to leave my Barcelona to Dublin to Edinburgh to London spring break behind, but excited to be back in the comforts of "home" without having to come up with a plan every day.
We took a tiny, 19 row plane with propellers on the wings that any uneasy flyer would be especially uncomfortable with from Dublin to Edinburgh. In the airport, we briefly lamented that we now have to get pounds. Going from 1.3 euro to the dollar to 1.5 pound to the dollar. Proud to be an American... We also were very confused by the sight of the streets. The cars...they were...they were driving on the wrong side of the road...I don't get it...I...which way do you look to cross the street??? Luckily, we made it. We got to or hostel before check-in and were invited to hang out in the lounge where they serve breakfast until noon. Clearly they know how to please their crowd. An instant sense of comfort and familiarity came over me in that hostel. Why? Because it looked exactly like a Berkeley coop. Paintings on the walls by various artists, vegetarian dread-locked hostess, people sipping tea and lounging on the collection of furniture in the common area. Despite my exhausted, slightly irritated from early travel self, the coop environment that reminded me of so many (best) friends back at Cal put me at ease. Once we got into our room, we settled in and then spent the rest of the day wandering around the quaint little city. We had heard that the Edinburgh Castle is the thing to see, and, considering that almost every building in the city looks like a castle, we were pretty sure we had located it about five times. With a little map investigation, we managed to correctly locate the one that actually housed kings and such. We climbed up the road to the royal residence to take the tour. Crown Jewels, jail cells for prisoners of war, a Great Hall, royal bed chambers, and of course great views of the city were some highlights. A cool place to see, but not my favorite castle. It's ridiculous that I have a favorite castle. Who am I? This is unreal. Later on, I made the terrible glutenous mistake of eating Chinese food, which pretty much kept me in bed the rest of the night. Live and learn and don't mix something you're allergic to with MSG.
The next day, we attempted to go to the National Library, but found it closed for the Easter holiday. Rude. Caitlin, the brave one among us, went on a tour of underground Edinburgh full of ghost stories and legends while the three of us walked around another part of the city. Quaint castle style buildings really is the best way to describe Edinburgh. There were some cute shops and cafes, and we even found gluten free pizza for lunch! Take that, chinese food. We then rushed back to our hostel to grab our stuff and head to the train station. Arrived about 2 minutes late. Oops. Luckily there's always another train.
We pulled into King's Cross Station and, despite it being dark and us being sleepy, we were immediately amused by the fact that yes, you can visit platform 9 3/4 and pretend just for a second that you're headed to Hogwarts. HP nerd sigh. After the obligatory picture, we tackled the tube and found our next hostel. Caitlin and I introduced Michelle and Nick to Indian food. Helping people from cultural food deprivation all day every day. Then we slept to prepare for the London adventures ahead.
Well, if the first thing you do in London relates to Harry Potter, the second should probably have something to do with the Beatles. Caitlin and I went on a Beatles themed walking tour where we got to see the band members' residences, some restaurants that they frequented, and of course, the famous Abbey Road. Just a tip, don't drive on Abby Road if you're in a hurry. Tourists will be there taking pictures. Londoners must know that, but they still were quite displeased with the delays. But we got our picture soooo it's all good. We met up with Nick and Michelle at Harrods. Harrods is not just a department store. Harrods is magical. It's overwhelmingly huge and sparkly. It has everything you could ever want (but not for Costco price). The people who work there are all charming and good looking. The best part? CHOCOLATE. They have these chocolate counters that supply the best chocolate in the world. Now, I understand I haven't tried all chocolate, but I will hold onto my belief that this is the best until I am proved wrong. If you're cute and complimentary, you get some free samples. You also just spend the money to buy more in the end. It's that good. Oh right, then we got real lunch-fish and chips for the others, grilled tuna salad for me. We made a quick stop in Piccadilly Circus to buy some theatre tickets!! West End!! We chose Billy Elliot, even though the first snooty ticket seller insisted that all the tickets would be sold out. We found some. I also found self-serve frozen yogurt. Apparently, it's the only place in London (maybe in Europe) that has self-serve because I was the only customer who knew what was going on. The girl working there seemed to appreciate that I didn't ask 100 questions, and I shared the joys of living among endless yogurt shops at home. Next up, Buckingham Palace proceeded by a walk in a beautiful park filled with flowers, trees, the craziest variety of birds, and a memorial pathway for Princess Diana. The Palace was very cool but closed, so we couldn't go in or even annoy the guards. Shame. But nothing could really bring me down because we were going to a musical, and really, life can't get better than that. I really enjoyed the show. The dancing was great the the 13 year old Billy was just incredible. It was cool to see a show that was actually set in England, although the cockney accents were a bit hard to follow. The music didn't blow me away, but the production was overall very good. They don't give playbills in London theaters so I had to buy the fancy program for my collection... After the show, we walked around trying to find a night spot and realized that London's bars close before midnight which only leaves clubs, which are open until around 3. Pass. The differences in night life in various cities really is very interesting. I think Madrid is the capital.
We started off the next day at Brick Lane Market, a huge outdoor market with ethnic food and vintage clothes and chockeys you'll never use. It was touristy and local at the same time. We indulged in the delicious street food, got some deals on dresses, and took in the culture around us. London is certainly more diverse than other European cities I've seen so far. After the market, we hit some more big sites. From Big Ben to Westminster Abbey to the London Eye. We spend a lot of time walking around this famous part of the city, snapping photos and posing in front of red telephone booths. We bought tickets to the London Eye but decided to wait til dark so we could see a view of the lit up city. We ate some sushi and then walked to Shakespeare's Globe. So many theatre dreams coming true in one place. The Globe is located on a the river and the walk back was simply charming. Once we got back to the Eye, it was the perfect time of night. We spent the 30 minute once around ferris wheel ride enjoying views, especially of the lit up Big Ben. I definitely think there's something special about cities at night. After that, we headed to a swanky bar to meet some swanky British people. It was fun, but of course all of the people weren't British. Gotta love those huge cities.
Now I'm in Madrid with one more week of classes and one week of finals to go. I don't know where the time has gone. If anyone has seen it, please contact me asap.
Until next time.
Hasta luego.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Ireland: it really is that green
You know those places that are sorta on your secondary list of places to go? Like, you think, that would be cool but not my priority right now. Well, that was how I felt about Dublin/Ireland. Sounded cool but it could probably wait. But, when my friend Caitlin (from New Jew days) told me that she and her friends from her program in Italy to Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, I decided to join, partly because I knew I had to get to London somehow, and a lot because a week with Caitlin would be hard to pass up. So, I did some research and was getting pretty excited about the land of the Leprechauns, but was still focusing my attention on the London portion.
We arrived in Dublin in the afternoon without much of a set plan. After dropping off our stuff at our hostel, the nice girl from the Midwest with an "I have lived hear one year" Irish accent directed us toward a Mexican restaurant. Our hostels fabulous location let us walk to the center of the city. After a while looking for the restaurant in the rain, we almost gave up. Luckily, we used our English, which we've all been studying for a while now, to ask some nice Irish people who kindly directed us to the right location. Luckily the corn tortilla tacos were delicious. By the time we were done, around American dinner time, we decided to head back, make some plans for the next two days, and venture reallyyy far to the pub next door. Sometimes working hard for something brings the best rewards, but sometimes just checking out something right in front of you makes for the best nights. We sat down at the bar and quickly befriended the bartenders, whose accents were almost too thick to have a comfortable conversation and who turned out to actually be brothers, although we doubted them for a while. A rowdy group of cast and crew members from Dublin's Avenue Q sat behind us (thanks theatre spirits) and the pub started filling up with Trinity College students; not surprising since the college was right across the street. We met a really great group of engineering students. My new friend Dave (yes, everyone's name actually was Dave, John, or Mark O'something) was very impressed that I go to Berkeley. Just because I don't actually participate in our top notch engineering program doesn't mean I can't brag about it, right? Dave plans to move to New York after he graduates, so basically we're going to magically meet up again and become best friends one day. You just wait, doubters. Anyway, the bartenders started kicking people out to close up right around when a Madrid bar would start filling up, but kept assuring us that we could stick around. So basically, being friendly and American gets you the change to hang out with the bartenders (also students at Trinity, btw) after everyone else is gone. We felt really cool. Probably because we are...
The next day, we joined an organized for hostels free walking tour around the city. It was cool to see some sites like the Four Courts and the Dublin Castle and the Cathedral and hear some history, but the tour guide wasn't thrilling (get what you pay for I suppose), so we decided to leave the tour early and grab lunch. Of course, the "traditional" (read: touristy) restaurant we went into happened to be the place where our tour stopped a few minutes later for a bathroom break. Awkward, "oh we're hungry and cold so we're going to stick around here." After lunch, we walked around the Temple Bar area and then hopped on a bus to the Guinness Factory/museum. Yes, the Irish love their beer so much that they devote a museum to it. It was actually pretty cool. It teaches in a quite flashy manner how Guinness is brewed, what ingredients are used, etc. There are also some fabulously cheesy videos about the history and the factory. At the end, you get a free pint served at the top of the pint-glass shaped tower where I happily sipped on my sprite looking at the views of the city. Then, you get lured into the gift shop. Pretty typically brilliant if you ask me. That night, we chowed down on pad thai and then headed to what we thought was another cool pub that everyone had told us to go to the night before. Turns out that the huge language barrier led to a misunderstanding. It was a club, not a pub. Our low-key underdressed group didn't last long. The whole scene was pretty comical actually. I don't know if it's the stereotype of Irish people singing and drinking beer in jolly little pubs, but nobody at that club looked like they belonged there. To make the night even more entertaining, it hailed on the way home. Yes, hail. On our Spring break. Just for the 10 minutes it took to get back. All we could do was laugh.
The next morning called for an early wake up call so we could take a three hour bus ride to the West Coast of Ireland. Now, for when you go to Ireland (because we've already established that you're going), don't be deterred by the 7:10 AM bus departure time because you must go on this tour. We chose the brochure that advertised a tour of a family farm as well as the famous Cliffs of Moher. Once we arrived in the city of Galway, the small group from our tour was transferred to another bus where we were greeted by our tour guide/bus driver and his adorable 8ish year old son. Once at their family farm, we were handed off to the 30ish year old nephew for our tour. We walked through the greenest grass I have ever seen encountering some cows and sheep along the way. We walked up a hill that sported some fertile rock at the top. As we climbed, the view kept getting better and better. We chatted with some women from San Diego, one who is getting her doctorate in psych after already getting her MSW. Clearly, we bonded. At the top of the mini hike, our guide explained the legend of the fairy tree. Tying something to the tree symbolizes leaving your troubles their for the fairies to take care of. I think the green hills turned me into an Irish folktale believer. On the way back down, Caitlin was given the responsibility of closing the farm gate once everyone was through. I doubted her farm skills, but she closed that gate valiantly. As if the whole thing wasn't picturesque enough, the next part of the tour took place at Granny's Cottage where you drink the most delicious coffee and have a choice of homemade pastries. They also bring out a puppy for you to play with while our bus guide and his son play a traditional Irish game outside on the lawn. You doubt that this is real life, and they assure you it is. Then you go into the porta-potty style bathrooms and they're, gasp, nice. With real soap and wood floors. You question everything you know about life.
Our next stop was the "most popular tourist attraction in Ireland," the Cliffs of Moher. Now, I know we all like to think of ourselves as a little hipster and avoid the really touristy stuff but, to put it lightly, get over yourself and go to the Cliffs of Moher. I know I talk about how gorgeous views of cities from the tops of towers are all the time, but this is really something else. There are two cliffs to climb--one very safe with protective walls and one with warning signs about danger that hundreds of people seem to ignore--and both have incredible view of water crashing onto the rocks, endless shades of blues and greens of the water, and the rock formation that are the cliffs themselves. There's a visitor center, but despite the strong freezing wind, we chose to spend the whole time outside enjoying the phenomenon that is nature. Fun fact about the cliffs: they are featured in the 6th Harry Potter movie. Here's a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0mVNFCcMXQ
So, if I hadn't convinced you yet, cue Harry Potter fans flocking to the cliffs.
After more scenic driving, we warmed ourselves up with some coffee back in Galway and then boarded the bus back to Dublin, still amazed by everything we had seen that day. Our tired crew ate dinner and collapsed into bed for and even earlier wake up to catch our flight to Edinburgh. Honestly, we were sad to leave Ireland but excited for the rest of our trip still ahead.
With a similar sentiment, perhaps you're sad this post is over, but anticipating the rest.
P.S. I love you
You know what? I was wrong about Ireland. It did not belong on my secondary list. It belonged in the top 5 of my primary list.
Close your eyes. Picture those travel lists you have in your head. Move Ireland up in the list of priorities. Open your eyes. Keep reading.
We arrived in Dublin in the afternoon without much of a set plan. After dropping off our stuff at our hostel, the nice girl from the Midwest with an "I have lived hear one year" Irish accent directed us toward a Mexican restaurant. Our hostels fabulous location let us walk to the center of the city. After a while looking for the restaurant in the rain, we almost gave up. Luckily, we used our English, which we've all been studying for a while now, to ask some nice Irish people who kindly directed us to the right location. Luckily the corn tortilla tacos were delicious. By the time we were done, around American dinner time, we decided to head back, make some plans for the next two days, and venture reallyyy far to the pub next door. Sometimes working hard for something brings the best rewards, but sometimes just checking out something right in front of you makes for the best nights. We sat down at the bar and quickly befriended the bartenders, whose accents were almost too thick to have a comfortable conversation and who turned out to actually be brothers, although we doubted them for a while. A rowdy group of cast and crew members from Dublin's Avenue Q sat behind us (thanks theatre spirits) and the pub started filling up with Trinity College students; not surprising since the college was right across the street. We met a really great group of engineering students. My new friend Dave (yes, everyone's name actually was Dave, John, or Mark O'something) was very impressed that I go to Berkeley. Just because I don't actually participate in our top notch engineering program doesn't mean I can't brag about it, right? Dave plans to move to New York after he graduates, so basically we're going to magically meet up again and become best friends one day. You just wait, doubters. Anyway, the bartenders started kicking people out to close up right around when a Madrid bar would start filling up, but kept assuring us that we could stick around. So basically, being friendly and American gets you the change to hang out with the bartenders (also students at Trinity, btw) after everyone else is gone. We felt really cool. Probably because we are...
The next day, we joined an organized for hostels free walking tour around the city. It was cool to see some sites like the Four Courts and the Dublin Castle and the Cathedral and hear some history, but the tour guide wasn't thrilling (get what you pay for I suppose), so we decided to leave the tour early and grab lunch. Of course, the "traditional" (read: touristy) restaurant we went into happened to be the place where our tour stopped a few minutes later for a bathroom break. Awkward, "oh we're hungry and cold so we're going to stick around here." After lunch, we walked around the Temple Bar area and then hopped on a bus to the Guinness Factory/museum. Yes, the Irish love their beer so much that they devote a museum to it. It was actually pretty cool. It teaches in a quite flashy manner how Guinness is brewed, what ingredients are used, etc. There are also some fabulously cheesy videos about the history and the factory. At the end, you get a free pint served at the top of the pint-glass shaped tower where I happily sipped on my sprite looking at the views of the city. Then, you get lured into the gift shop. Pretty typically brilliant if you ask me. That night, we chowed down on pad thai and then headed to what we thought was another cool pub that everyone had told us to go to the night before. Turns out that the huge language barrier led to a misunderstanding. It was a club, not a pub. Our low-key underdressed group didn't last long. The whole scene was pretty comical actually. I don't know if it's the stereotype of Irish people singing and drinking beer in jolly little pubs, but nobody at that club looked like they belonged there. To make the night even more entertaining, it hailed on the way home. Yes, hail. On our Spring break. Just for the 10 minutes it took to get back. All we could do was laugh.The next morning called for an early wake up call so we could take a three hour bus ride to the West Coast of Ireland. Now, for when you go to Ireland (because we've already established that you're going), don't be deterred by the 7:10 AM bus departure time because you must go on this tour. We chose the brochure that advertised a tour of a family farm as well as the famous Cliffs of Moher. Once we arrived in the city of Galway, the small group from our tour was transferred to another bus where we were greeted by our tour guide/bus driver and his adorable 8ish year old son. Once at their family farm, we were handed off to the 30ish year old nephew for our tour. We walked through the greenest grass I have ever seen encountering some cows and sheep along the way. We walked up a hill that sported some fertile rock at the top. As we climbed, the view kept getting better and better. We chatted with some women from San Diego, one who is getting her doctorate in psych after already getting her MSW. Clearly, we bonded. At the top of the mini hike, our guide explained the legend of the fairy tree. Tying something to the tree symbolizes leaving your troubles their for the fairies to take care of. I think the green hills turned me into an Irish folktale believer. On the way back down, Caitlin was given the responsibility of closing the farm gate once everyone was through. I doubted her farm skills, but she closed that gate valiantly. As if the whole thing wasn't picturesque enough, the next part of the tour took place at Granny's Cottage where you drink the most delicious coffee and have a choice of homemade pastries. They also bring out a puppy for you to play with while our bus guide and his son play a traditional Irish game outside on the lawn. You doubt that this is real life, and they assure you it is. Then you go into the porta-potty style bathrooms and they're, gasp, nice. With real soap and wood floors. You question everything you know about life.
Our next stop was the "most popular tourist attraction in Ireland," the Cliffs of Moher. Now, I know we all like to think of ourselves as a little hipster and avoid the really touristy stuff but, to put it lightly, get over yourself and go to the Cliffs of Moher. I know I talk about how gorgeous views of cities from the tops of towers are all the time, but this is really something else. There are two cliffs to climb--one very safe with protective walls and one with warning signs about danger that hundreds of people seem to ignore--and both have incredible view of water crashing onto the rocks, endless shades of blues and greens of the water, and the rock formation that are the cliffs themselves. There's a visitor center, but despite the strong freezing wind, we chose to spend the whole time outside enjoying the phenomenon that is nature. Fun fact about the cliffs: they are featured in the 6th Harry Potter movie. Here's a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0mVNFCcMXQSo, if I hadn't convinced you yet, cue Harry Potter fans flocking to the cliffs.
After more scenic driving, we warmed ourselves up with some coffee back in Galway and then boarded the bus back to Dublin, still amazed by everything we had seen that day. Our tired crew ate dinner and collapsed into bed for and even earlier wake up to catch our flight to Edinburgh. Honestly, we were sad to leave Ireland but excited for the rest of our trip still ahead.
With a similar sentiment, perhaps you're sad this post is over, but anticipating the rest.
P.S. I love you
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Barca Barca!
Just when you start to get a little full of your American self thinking that these European countries are pretty small and can´t even compete with the amound of diverse culture we have among the states...you go from Madrid to Barcelona and you discover you´re wrong. And a little stuck up. (And should probably stop expecting the whole world to speak English, but that´s another story).
Barcelona and Madrid are the two most well-known cities in Spain, but Barcelona is definitely the tourist trap winner, and it´s obvious why.
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach...
No no no. You´re both right. Barca is 2, 2, 2, destinations in 1! (cheers from the symphony audience).
A city on a beach. Can the world get more perfect? Yes. Because on my trip, there was perfect sundress and flip flop wearing weather. Nice work, world, nice work. I went with two friends from my program and three from another (all Cal kids except one). It was a lovely group of 6 lovely girls in a lovely place.
Barcelona also has the most interesting and beautiful architecture by Gaudi. The first Gaudi extravaganza we witnessed was the Sagrada Familia. This is a Cathedral and although it does have the aforementioned Jesus style like the other cathedrals, it is also a totally different experience. The walls almost look like foam, a bit reminiscent of the Dr. Seuss hoo-ville set you see on the Universal Studios tram. The stained glass windows are full of interesing shapes and vibrant colors. You could probably stare at them forever. There are random figures of fruit and reptiles all over the ceilings outside. Everything is alternative and captivating. There was a wedding party downstairs and, I have to admit, if it wasn´t still clearly a cathedral, I wouldn´t object to getting married in the Segrada Familia. At this point, we also renamed our travel crew the segrada familia (which means sacred family) because we´re really adorable.
Another Gaudi work we got to see was Parque Guell. It´s a breathtaking site that is not to be missed in Barca. The combination of the nature and the architecture and the tiles was simply perfect. We walked around the park and had a picnic snack on the tile benches. We also each bought earrings inspired by the tile patterns for a special deal of 2 euro each! One of the most famous parts of the park is the tiled lizzard which I must say was pretty cool but certainly not the only thing to see. Add a gorgeous view of the city and you´ve got one great place to be.
And then there was the beach, of course. We were very lucky to have such beautiful beach weather. The water was definitely too cold for a swim, but the sunshine was perfect for laying in the sand. We spent a fair amount of time at the beach relaxing and rejecting the various salespeople trying to sell massages (ok not everyone rejected that), drinks, sunglasses, and scarves. A lot of the nightlife also takes place on the beach, and we actually went to a club right on the sand. Kinda crazy but kinda cool.
Oh, did I mention that our hostel was fantastic? Everyone was super friendly and they organized fun events each night. There was also a kitchen and we (and by we I mostly mean Emily) cooked a delicious taco salad. It was delicious and a nice change to actually know exactly what we were eating. The language in Barcelona is also very interesting. It´s very clear that Catalan is a mixture of Spanish and French. Por ejemplo, the word for exit in Catalan is ¨sortida.¨ Spanish salida+French sortie=Catalan sortida. Everyone spoke Spanish though. As a matter of fact, pretty much everyone spoke English. Another sign that Barcelona is the tourist place to be.
Clearly, I fell in love with Barcelona. But don´t worry, Madrid is still deep in my heart. As much as I love the beach, the real city is where I belong. Honestly though, if you have 3 days in Spain and have to choose one place to go, I may have to betray Madrid for a sec and recommend Barca. Just make sure not to mention Christiano Rinaldo...
Spanish besos+French baisers=Catalan petons (ok that didn´t work so well...)
English kisses! :)
Barcelona and Madrid are the two most well-known cities in Spain, but Barcelona is definitely the tourist trap winner, and it´s obvious why.
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach...
No no no. You´re both right. Barca is 2, 2, 2, destinations in 1! (cheers from the symphony audience).
A city on a beach. Can the world get more perfect? Yes. Because on my trip, there was perfect sundress and flip flop wearing weather. Nice work, world, nice work. I went with two friends from my program and three from another (all Cal kids except one). It was a lovely group of 6 lovely girls in a lovely place.
Barcelona also has the most interesting and beautiful architecture by Gaudi. The first Gaudi extravaganza we witnessed was the Sagrada Familia. This is a Cathedral and although it does have the aforementioned Jesus style like the other cathedrals, it is also a totally different experience. The walls almost look like foam, a bit reminiscent of the Dr. Seuss hoo-ville set you see on the Universal Studios tram. The stained glass windows are full of interesing shapes and vibrant colors. You could probably stare at them forever. There are random figures of fruit and reptiles all over the ceilings outside. Everything is alternative and captivating. There was a wedding party downstairs and, I have to admit, if it wasn´t still clearly a cathedral, I wouldn´t object to getting married in the Segrada Familia. At this point, we also renamed our travel crew the segrada familia (which means sacred family) because we´re really adorable. 
Oh, did I mention that our hostel was fantastic? Everyone was super friendly and they organized fun events each night. There was also a kitchen and we (and by we I mostly mean Emily) cooked a delicious taco salad. It was delicious and a nice change to actually know exactly what we were eating. The language in Barcelona is also very interesting. It´s very clear that Catalan is a mixture of Spanish and French. Por ejemplo, the word for exit in Catalan is ¨sortida.¨ Spanish salida+French sortie=Catalan sortida. Everyone spoke Spanish though. As a matter of fact, pretty much everyone spoke English. Another sign that Barcelona is the tourist place to be.
Clearly, I fell in love with Barcelona. But don´t worry, Madrid is still deep in my heart. As much as I love the beach, the real city is where I belong. Honestly though, if you have 3 days in Spain and have to choose one place to go, I may have to betray Madrid for a sec and recommend Barca. Just make sure not to mention Christiano Rinaldo...
Spanish besos+French baisers=Catalan petons (ok that didn´t work so well...)
English kisses! :)
Friday, March 30, 2012
"Si...I mean oui...I mean...whatever"
Paris.
It's one of those places that you dream about going since you see a picture of the Eiffel Tower, hear that it's the most romantic city in the world, or, for some of us really special ones, watch Mary-Kate and Ashley's Passport to Paris for the first time.
When you get there, it can be magical. But also...it's a real place.
Now I hate to buy into stereotypes, but the whole thing about Parisian people not being the nicest, especially to American tourists, is kinda true. Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start. The first mishaps was nobody's fault but my own-I arrived at the airport only to realize I forgot my passport. Two hasty cab rides and one new cab driver friend/hero later, I made my flight. First hurdle conquered. Then we got there. I was traveling with my friends Emily and Olivia who you are likely well acquainted with by now if you've been stalking my pictures. Emily had a skype interview set up that night which we thought she would be able to do at the hotel. Apparently, transport from the airport took a little longer than we thought so we hopped off the metro and ran to the first place we could find with WiFi. Low and behold, a McDonalds. We're so French. After fighting with WiFi and some diet cokes, we got back on the metro. Sounds simple right? HUGE mistake. We used the tickets which we had bought at the airport which let all three of us through the machine. A French security guard then proceeded to stop us to check our tickets and surprise surprise, they were the wrong ones. It's strange that they let us through, but the whole her barely speaking English and us not speaking any French and her yelling at us at French and seemingly growing angrier when we tried Spanish and us desperately trying to explain that no, we did not break into the metro with all of our luggage while a metro employee was sitting there watching and her calling the police.....eventually led to us paying a 40 euro fine. For doing nothing wrong. Welcome to Paris.
But seriously, after that night, the whole trip turned around. We headed out in perfect weather to our first big tourist destination--the Louvre. It was huge and grand and surprisingly not overcrowded. We of course saw the Mona Lisa and a variety of other paintings that I recognized from my intro to art history class from freshman year (listen to your mom when she tells you to take those things. I did). We also had Olivia as our very own art history master to inform us on some backstory. Besides the classic Renaissance art, we also checked out the Ancient Egyptian art and got to see the first written law in history. Super cool. After the Louvre, we walked across the romantic lock bridge and down the river to Notre Dame. No hunchback, but beautiful stained glass windows. There was a choir singing and people taking communion (I think) which made picture taking a little awkward. I can't imagine someone photographing me praying in my synagogue. But then again, my synagogue looks nothing like Notre Dame. We then proceeded to head back to the hotel to "get cute" and scurried off to the Eiffel Tower. Now, I know we all like to think we're not cliche, but the Eiffel Tower lit up at night was truly like a dream. We climbed to the top and overlooked the gorgeous city. We then bought some grapes and wine and cheese and picnicked in perfect view of the tower. All the frustration of the night before melted away as Paris won our hearts. 3 more suckers pulled into the magic.
The next day, our first stop was, wait for it, a gluten free bakery. Basically I have awesome friends who are willing to take time out of their trip so I can eat gluten free French eclairs and cream puffs. It was such a delicious, friendly, happy place. Totally didn't miss out on any French cuisine! Then, we headed to Musee D'Orsay, an impressionism museum which I absolutely loved. I've actually been an impressionism fan since Kindergarten thanks to a fabulous art teacher at STS. We saw Monet and Degas and Manet and Van Gogh a Gauguin. I know the Louvre is a thing, but I preferred this. Next up, some walking through the city in the fashion district, along Champ Eleseey to the Arc de Triumphe. The heart of Parisian shopping before our eyes. The Arc de Triumphe and pretty much anything relating to any sort of French Revolution that I saw promptly began a chorus of "Do You Hear the People Sing" in my head.
That night, we dined outside at a French cafe. I almost don't want to admit this, but I feel the world must know that I tried escargot...and it was kinda good. But then I think about it and I'm slightly appalled at myself. The restaurant was fun and was followed up by a swanky bar where we met some cool French guys who were actually really great to talk to. And spoke English. So basically major winners. Yay for international friends!
On Sunday, we took a small day trip to Versailles. This place is something to see. Gold everywhere, breathtaking rooms, the infamous hall of mirrors, and a garden full of daffodils that may be one of my favorite places in the world. The long lines and train ride out there were totally worth it. The town was really cute too. Kinda felt like a mini Paris right outside the city. When we got back to Paris, we made a quick stop at San Chapel, a church with wall to wall stained glass windows, before Olivia flew back to Madrid. That night, Emily and I went to a fabulous 300-person restaurant called Chartier with no English menu and a super friendly waiter who explained everything to us. It was reasonably priced and beyond delicious. I loved that there were a lot of actual French people in there as opposed to just tourists. I highly recommend it for when you go to Paris. It was a perfect ending to what turned out to be a fantastic trip.
And now, I'm sitting in a hostel in Barcelona at the beginning of my Spring Break aka Semana Santa. Not feeling 100%, so I've decided to take it easy tonight. I have a long and exciting week ahead of me. Then it's just 2 more weeks of class, my parents visit, 1 week of finals, and May travels. I can't believe how fast it has gone and yet, I know I'm going to be ready to come home to my friends and family. Amargo-dulce~bittersweet.
I suppose for now, we'll always have Paris.
It's one of those places that you dream about going since you see a picture of the Eiffel Tower, hear that it's the most romantic city in the world, or, for some of us really special ones, watch Mary-Kate and Ashley's Passport to Paris for the first time.
When you get there, it can be magical. But also...it's a real place.
Now I hate to buy into stereotypes, but the whole thing about Parisian people not being the nicest, especially to American tourists, is kinda true. Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start. The first mishaps was nobody's fault but my own-I arrived at the airport only to realize I forgot my passport. Two hasty cab rides and one new cab driver friend/hero later, I made my flight. First hurdle conquered. Then we got there. I was traveling with my friends Emily and Olivia who you are likely well acquainted with by now if you've been stalking my pictures. Emily had a skype interview set up that night which we thought she would be able to do at the hotel. Apparently, transport from the airport took a little longer than we thought so we hopped off the metro and ran to the first place we could find with WiFi. Low and behold, a McDonalds. We're so French. After fighting with WiFi and some diet cokes, we got back on the metro. Sounds simple right? HUGE mistake. We used the tickets which we had bought at the airport which let all three of us through the machine. A French security guard then proceeded to stop us to check our tickets and surprise surprise, they were the wrong ones. It's strange that they let us through, but the whole her barely speaking English and us not speaking any French and her yelling at us at French and seemingly growing angrier when we tried Spanish and us desperately trying to explain that no, we did not break into the metro with all of our luggage while a metro employee was sitting there watching and her calling the police.....eventually led to us paying a 40 euro fine. For doing nothing wrong. Welcome to Paris.
But seriously, after that night, the whole trip turned around. We headed out in perfect weather to our first big tourist destination--the Louvre. It was huge and grand and surprisingly not overcrowded. We of course saw the Mona Lisa and a variety of other paintings that I recognized from my intro to art history class from freshman year (listen to your mom when she tells you to take those things. I did). We also had Olivia as our very own art history master to inform us on some backstory. Besides the classic Renaissance art, we also checked out the Ancient Egyptian art and got to see the first written law in history. Super cool. After the Louvre, we walked across the romantic lock bridge and down the river to Notre Dame. No hunchback, but beautiful stained glass windows. There was a choir singing and people taking communion (I think) which made picture taking a little awkward. I can't imagine someone photographing me praying in my synagogue. But then again, my synagogue looks nothing like Notre Dame. We then proceeded to head back to the hotel to "get cute" and scurried off to the Eiffel Tower. Now, I know we all like to think we're not cliche, but the Eiffel Tower lit up at night was truly like a dream. We climbed to the top and overlooked the gorgeous city. We then bought some grapes and wine and cheese and picnicked in perfect view of the tower. All the frustration of the night before melted away as Paris won our hearts. 3 more suckers pulled into the magic.
That night, we dined outside at a French cafe. I almost don't want to admit this, but I feel the world must know that I tried escargot...and it was kinda good. But then I think about it and I'm slightly appalled at myself. The restaurant was fun and was followed up by a swanky bar where we met some cool French guys who were actually really great to talk to. And spoke English. So basically major winners. Yay for international friends!
On Sunday, we took a small day trip to Versailles. This place is something to see. Gold everywhere, breathtaking rooms, the infamous hall of mirrors, and a garden full of daffodils that may be one of my favorite places in the world. The long lines and train ride out there were totally worth it. The town was really cute too. Kinda felt like a mini Paris right outside the city. When we got back to Paris, we made a quick stop at San Chapel, a church with wall to wall stained glass windows, before Olivia flew back to Madrid. That night, Emily and I went to a fabulous 300-person restaurant called Chartier with no English menu and a super friendly waiter who explained everything to us. It was reasonably priced and beyond delicious. I loved that there were a lot of actual French people in there as opposed to just tourists. I highly recommend it for when you go to Paris. It was a perfect ending to what turned out to be a fantastic trip.And now, I'm sitting in a hostel in Barcelona at the beginning of my Spring Break aka Semana Santa. Not feeling 100%, so I've decided to take it easy tonight. I have a long and exciting week ahead of me. Then it's just 2 more weeks of class, my parents visit, 1 week of finals, and May travels. I can't believe how fast it has gone and yet, I know I'm going to be ready to come home to my friends and family. Amargo-dulce~bittersweet.
I suppose for now, we'll always have Paris.
Monday, March 26, 2012
The (other) Festival of Lights
I went to this festival. It's called Las Fallas. It was awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word).
Imagine spending the entire year working on a huge piece of art full of color and well thought out themes and social commentary, building it to be the height of a small building, putting it out on display, winning a prize for it, and then...lighting it on fire.
That's right. During Las Fallas, people build these incredible structures that cost tons of money only to light them on fire throughout the city, alongside incredible light shows, professional fireworks, and some not-so-professional fireworks. The booming pops created the sense that we were in a war zone, but filled with joy. Can you picture it? It's a hard one, I know.
Las Fallas takes place in a Southern city on the coast of Spain called Valencia. The festival lasts for a while and includes street food, vendors, minor explosives, and of course, the works of art which are called Las Fallas. On the last day of the festival, the fallas are burned--and the whole country takes the day off. It also happens to take place on the Spanish Father's Day, which is "St. Joseph's Day" according to the Catholic Church. I do not know if the two events are related.
Honestly, I'm still not really sure what the point of Las Fallas is. It was, however, one of the most fun and crazy things I've done here. My friends and I wandered around the city finding fallas along the way, eventually ending up at the city center where the biggest, grandest, most awarded fallas stood. The one to the left was called Paris. Each falla had various scenes going on all around its three-dimensional self. It was truly a sight to see. It felt almost sad to burn them, but also undeniably exhilarating--and I didn't even have a part in building them. I didn't even know what they were going to look like. Let's just say that I was probably one of the least directly connected, in-the-know people there and yet the whole spectacle wrapped me in its embrace, enchanting me with parades and music and colors and lights and streets where 5 year old children played with fire. A little dangerous, a lot never gonna happen in the U.S. It belongs in Spain.
Watching the huge fire, which was preempted by our favorite songs (Ay se tu pego and Waka Waka) and accompanied by Spanish Opera, was insane. The firefighters presence was certainly comforting and certainly necessary. After all the burning was complete, the city looked like a wasteland. The leftover flames fighting for their last breaths, the smiling people covered in ash, and the tired tourists boarding the busses back to Madrid at 3 AM.
Las Fallas was an adventure. It was an event in every sense of the word. It was exactly what I needed to get me out of the mid-semester slump I had been in that weekend.
The memory will be burned in my mind forever.
Imagine spending the entire year working on a huge piece of art full of color and well thought out themes and social commentary, building it to be the height of a small building, putting it out on display, winning a prize for it, and then...lighting it on fire.
That's right. During Las Fallas, people build these incredible structures that cost tons of money only to light them on fire throughout the city, alongside incredible light shows, professional fireworks, and some not-so-professional fireworks. The booming pops created the sense that we were in a war zone, but filled with joy. Can you picture it? It's a hard one, I know.
Las Fallas takes place in a Southern city on the coast of Spain called Valencia. The festival lasts for a while and includes street food, vendors, minor explosives, and of course, the works of art which are called Las Fallas. On the last day of the festival, the fallas are burned--and the whole country takes the day off. It also happens to take place on the Spanish Father's Day, which is "St. Joseph's Day" according to the Catholic Church. I do not know if the two events are related.
Honestly, I'm still not really sure what the point of Las Fallas is. It was, however, one of the most fun and crazy things I've done here. My friends and I wandered around the city finding fallas along the way, eventually ending up at the city center where the biggest, grandest, most awarded fallas stood. The one to the left was called Paris. Each falla had various scenes going on all around its three-dimensional self. It was truly a sight to see. It felt almost sad to burn them, but also undeniably exhilarating--and I didn't even have a part in building them. I didn't even know what they were going to look like. Let's just say that I was probably one of the least directly connected, in-the-know people there and yet the whole spectacle wrapped me in its embrace, enchanting me with parades and music and colors and lights and streets where 5 year old children played with fire. A little dangerous, a lot never gonna happen in the U.S. It belongs in Spain.Watching the huge fire, which was preempted by our favorite songs (Ay se tu pego and Waka Waka) and accompanied by Spanish Opera, was insane. The firefighters presence was certainly comforting and certainly necessary. After all the burning was complete, the city looked like a wasteland. The leftover flames fighting for their last breaths, the smiling people covered in ash, and the tired tourists boarding the busses back to Madrid at 3 AM.
Las Fallas was an adventure. It was an event in every sense of the word. It was exactly what I needed to get me out of the mid-semester slump I had been in that weekend.
The memory will be burned in my mind forever.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Hey cool, I'm spontaneous
Trip planning is stressful.
I know, I know, I get to travel through Europe for 5 months. My life is so hard.
Really though, booking flights, finding hostels with the most conflicting reviews ever, and making sight seeing plans can get overwhelming.
You wanna know what's less overwhelming?
Packing a bag, including both a sweater and a swimsuit, showing up at the train station, and picking a place on the departure list.
And that is exactly what I did.
Some tips about spontaneous traveling:
-Be prepared for any type of weather
-Pack light
-Go straight to the tourist office when you arrive at your destination
-Do not arrive after the tourist office is closed
Here's why:
We decided on Sevilla based on the raving reviews of the city from some people I know who studied abroad there and the advice of some people at the train station. After about 2 1/2 hours on the train, we stepped off the train into the Sevilla sunshine and found the tourist office. Best decision ever. She booked us a hostel, circled top locations on the map, and told us which bus to take. We ended up in the hostel next door somehow, but it worked out well. It was the afternoon by then, so we just walked around and explored. There's no metro in Sevilla, but the city is completely accessible on foot. We passed several big tourist spots that were closed, and made a note to go back the next day. The main thing that struck me about the city though was certainly its beauty--the more I saw, the more beautiful it became. My pictures do not do it justice by any means.
That night, we had a delicious tapas dinner (I know you're shocked) and found a rooftop bar at a hotel looking over the lit up Cathedral in the center of the city. Hello dreamworld. Then we met up with my friend from Cal (and New Jew and Kadima), Simone, who is studying abroad in Sevilla for the semester. She took us around to some fun student spots and gave us a middle of the night, impressively thorough tour of the Jewish quarter; I would expect nothing less. It continues to amaze me how few Jews there can be in a country with so much Jewish history. After a long day, we headed back to the hostel to rest up for another.
Sevilla day 2 was some of the most efficient and best sight seeing I've ever experienced. We crossed the river (is it dumb that I didn't know Sevilla had a river?) and watched some crew teams for a bit. Then we headed over to Plaza España---literally one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous places I've ever seen. The tile, the park, the fountain, the river. I couldn't get enough. We had to tear ourselves away from the beauty to go to the next stop. We quickly grabbed a starbucks drink (yes, they're global) and encountered a huge rally/strike/manifestación. There have been Spain-wide demonstrations going on to protest the economic situation. I've been learning a bit about their political system and it's interesting because by American standards, the "right wing" party, which is considered center-right here, is pretty center left and the "left wing party" is socialist but really just left with a welfare state. I feel like there shouldn't be that much to fight about. Nevertheless, the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is high. Moral of the story, occupy everywhere.
Ok back to sight seeing. we made our way through the crowd to the Alcazar, an Islamic and Gothic style palace that dates back to the Middle Ages. To go with the Sevilla theme, it was beautiful. It was so amazing that you can still see the teals and reds on the walls. The place felt endless, filled with rooms and gardens, and a beautiful location to sit an eat lunch in. We decided the people who work there probably never tire of the beauty.
Last big stop of the day was the Cathedral, the third largest in the World. I really hate to admit this, but as spectacular as this place is, all Cathedrals are starting to mesh together in my head. There was a style (namely, Jesus) and people stuck to it. Of course, it was great though. The best and most unique part of this one was the tower. After climbing up 36 (odd?) floors, we arrived at the top and were greeted by an absolutely fantastic (running out of synonyms for beautiful) view of the city. A lit bit of souvenir shopping, and an "hasta luego" took us back to the train station.
To Madrid? Hmm...we could go to Madrid. Or we could go to the beach in Malaga. Hmm...
Yup, Malaga won. It was worth it for several reasons:
1. I am declaring here and now Malaga has some of the nicest people in the world. We arrived after the tourist office closed (again, I advise against it) with no clue where to go. Oops. Luckily, a woman in a shop was soooo helpful. She literally took 20+ minutes to tell us where to go and what to see. As if that wasn't enough, she told us to call the store if we need anything. I swear, if we had called crying she would've invited us to her home. Once in the center of the city, we had some trouble finding a hostel. Malaga's police force to the rescue. We asked two officers for help, which quickly turned into 4 on their phones looking up places and giving us directions. There must be no crime in Malaga. After 2 hours, we ended up in a hotel with the best receptionist ever. The next day, the bus driver gave us a thumbs up when it was our stop to go to the beach.
2. We got to lay on the beach in beautiful weather. Need I say more?
3. Some some Picasso artwork in the birthplace of Picasso.
(4. I could understand the Spanish movie on the train, which really is just a personal accomplishment thing)
Overall, the spontaneous weekend trip was a raving success. Do this at least once in your life. I just might do it again.
Also: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/
I know, I know, I get to travel through Europe for 5 months. My life is so hard.
Really though, booking flights, finding hostels with the most conflicting reviews ever, and making sight seeing plans can get overwhelming.
You wanna know what's less overwhelming?
Packing a bag, including both a sweater and a swimsuit, showing up at the train station, and picking a place on the departure list.
And that is exactly what I did.
Some tips about spontaneous traveling:
-Be prepared for any type of weather
-Pack light
-Go straight to the tourist office when you arrive at your destination
-Do not arrive after the tourist office is closed
Here's why:
We decided on Sevilla based on the raving reviews of the city from some people I know who studied abroad there and the advice of some people at the train station. After about 2 1/2 hours on the train, we stepped off the train into the Sevilla sunshine and found the tourist office. Best decision ever. She booked us a hostel, circled top locations on the map, and told us which bus to take. We ended up in the hostel next door somehow, but it worked out well. It was the afternoon by then, so we just walked around and explored. There's no metro in Sevilla, but the city is completely accessible on foot. We passed several big tourist spots that were closed, and made a note to go back the next day. The main thing that struck me about the city though was certainly its beauty--the more I saw, the more beautiful it became. My pictures do not do it justice by any means.
That night, we had a delicious tapas dinner (I know you're shocked) and found a rooftop bar at a hotel looking over the lit up Cathedral in the center of the city. Hello dreamworld. Then we met up with my friend from Cal (and New Jew and Kadima), Simone, who is studying abroad in Sevilla for the semester. She took us around to some fun student spots and gave us a middle of the night, impressively thorough tour of the Jewish quarter; I would expect nothing less. It continues to amaze me how few Jews there can be in a country with so much Jewish history. After a long day, we headed back to the hostel to rest up for another.
Sevilla day 2 was some of the most efficient and best sight seeing I've ever experienced. We crossed the river (is it dumb that I didn't know Sevilla had a river?) and watched some crew teams for a bit. Then we headed over to Plaza España---literally one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous places I've ever seen. The tile, the park, the fountain, the river. I couldn't get enough. We had to tear ourselves away from the beauty to go to the next stop. We quickly grabbed a starbucks drink (yes, they're global) and encountered a huge rally/strike/manifestación. There have been Spain-wide demonstrations going on to protest the economic situation. I've been learning a bit about their political system and it's interesting because by American standards, the "right wing" party, which is considered center-right here, is pretty center left and the "left wing party" is socialist but really just left with a welfare state. I feel like there shouldn't be that much to fight about. Nevertheless, the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is high. Moral of the story, occupy everywhere.Ok back to sight seeing. we made our way through the crowd to the Alcazar, an Islamic and Gothic style palace that dates back to the Middle Ages. To go with the Sevilla theme, it was beautiful. It was so amazing that you can still see the teals and reds on the walls. The place felt endless, filled with rooms and gardens, and a beautiful location to sit an eat lunch in. We decided the people who work there probably never tire of the beauty.
Last big stop of the day was the Cathedral, the third largest in the World. I really hate to admit this, but as spectacular as this place is, all Cathedrals are starting to mesh together in my head. There was a style (namely, Jesus) and people stuck to it. Of course, it was great though. The best and most unique part of this one was the tower. After climbing up 36 (odd?) floors, we arrived at the top and were greeted by an absolutely fantastic (running out of synonyms for beautiful) view of the city. A lit bit of souvenir shopping, and an "hasta luego" took us back to the train station.
To Madrid? Hmm...we could go to Madrid. Or we could go to the beach in Malaga. Hmm...
Yup, Malaga won. It was worth it for several reasons:
2. We got to lay on the beach in beautiful weather. Need I say more?
3. Some some Picasso artwork in the birthplace of Picasso.
(4. I could understand the Spanish movie on the train, which really is just a personal accomplishment thing)
Overall, the spontaneous weekend trip was a raving success. Do this at least once in your life. I just might do it again.
Also: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
That one time I forgot to blog
I would like to publicly apologize to the blog world for falling so behind on my blog. This apology is really only applicable if anyone actually cares. I think some people do, but is admitting that narcissistic? So many big questions to ponder.
Ok, well, back to my life in Spain. Two weekends ago I went to a Carnaval celebration in Cádiz, which is in southern Spain. I went with an organization called European Vibe which organizes trips and parties for (mostly American) students studying abroad. It had its plusses and minuses, but it was definitely nice to not have to plan much on my own. After a slightly excruciating 8 hour bus ride, my friends Emily and Olivia and I, along with about 250 other college kids, arrived at our hotel. There was a party at a local bar organized by the trip that night which was fun but not all that exciting.
The next day we literally soaked in the beautiful weather that Madrid had been depriving us of and laid out in bathing suits in the sun. After a day of lounging, we dedicated some time to getting our costumes ready. Everybody in Cádiz dresses up for Carnaval and it seems like the crazier the better, as you can see from some photos. We reboarded the bus (ugh) to head to the center of Cádiz, where we found a city square that resembled the biggest Purim carnival or Halloween party ever. It was super fun to hang out and meet people in the city square, but honestly, we were kinda confused about the lack of music or the lack of an event. We walked around the area a bit, saw the beach, and met some new Cádiz friends, both Spanish and American. Apparently there was a parade in the middle of the night but the busses had already taken us back to the hotel. Should've done a little more research, but overall, I had a super fun night. Unfortunately, it took another 8 hours to get back to Madrid. Really think that we should learn how to aparate to places.
I spent all of last week and this past weekend in Madrid for the first time all month! It was really nice to stay in one, relatively familiar place. In the middle of the week a bunch of us went out to Ethiopian food to celebrate a friend's birthday. Ethiopian food is one of my new favorite types of food after truly discovering it in all its glory through my ethnic dinner club back in Berkeley. Madrid's version was good, but couldn't really compete with Berkeley. But then again, not much food can.
We went out on Thursday night to some really cute and fun places to keep the celebrations going. Getting to sleep in on Friday was pretty glorious, since I hadn't gotten to do that for the past 3 weeks. Friday night I went back to Chabad with my friend Jessie. I saw some of the same people from last time and met some really great new people. I definitely think I'll keep going whenever I'm in Madrid on a Friday night. It's a really nice community and a great sense of familiarity. From there I went to the airport not to travel but to pick up my friend Caitlin who came to visit me from Milan! It was pretty late so we headed back to my place to rest up for a long day of walking ahead.
On Saturday, we walked through El Parque Retiro (a big Central Park type place), around Sol and Gran Via (big shopping centers) and to El Palacio Real (the royal palace). We stopped to watch a lot of the street performers including a Mariachi band and a man on a unicycle. There was one particular guy who we saw dancing in front of two different music groups. He was certainly in his own world. It was exceedingly amusing. Overall, a super fun day of exploring and picture taking. That night, we went to a tapas place and then to a big night club called Kapital. It was a fun experience, but definitely a bit too crowded and overwhelming for my taste. 7 stories, tons of people, and long lines. But fun dance floors and a karaoke room, so I was happy. Stayed out until 6 AM which isn't so weird here. I still think it's weird.
On Sunday, we pretty much spent the day recovering. We went with my friend Jessie to a famous tapas bar at night called El Tigre which has ridiculously huge portions for not so many euros. It's in an area called Chueca which is super cute and is the gay neighborhood of Madrid. Definitely a fun night spot. Then, on Monday, I went to school and sent Caitlin off on her own to explore. Overall, it was a really fun weekend with a best friend. :)
And now, I have to do school stuff. I know my friends at home are going through midterm hell right now but I must say that the lack of intellectually stimulating coursework here certainly makes me appreciate Berkeley.
Ok, well, back to my life in Spain. Two weekends ago I went to a Carnaval celebration in Cádiz, which is in southern Spain. I went with an organization called European Vibe which organizes trips and parties for (mostly American) students studying abroad. It had its plusses and minuses, but it was definitely nice to not have to plan much on my own. After a slightly excruciating 8 hour bus ride, my friends Emily and Olivia and I, along with about 250 other college kids, arrived at our hotel. There was a party at a local bar organized by the trip that night which was fun but not all that exciting.
The next day we literally soaked in the beautiful weather that Madrid had been depriving us of and laid out in bathing suits in the sun. After a day of lounging, we dedicated some time to getting our costumes ready. Everybody in Cádiz dresses up for Carnaval and it seems like the crazier the better, as you can see from some photos. We reboarded the bus (ugh) to head to the center of Cádiz, where we found a city square that resembled the biggest Purim carnival or Halloween party ever. It was super fun to hang out and meet people in the city square, but honestly, we were kinda confused about the lack of music or the lack of an event. We walked around the area a bit, saw the beach, and met some new Cádiz friends, both Spanish and American. Apparently there was a parade in the middle of the night but the busses had already taken us back to the hotel. Should've done a little more research, but overall, I had a super fun night. Unfortunately, it took another 8 hours to get back to Madrid. Really think that we should learn how to aparate to places.
I spent all of last week and this past weekend in Madrid for the first time all month! It was really nice to stay in one, relatively familiar place. In the middle of the week a bunch of us went out to Ethiopian food to celebrate a friend's birthday. Ethiopian food is one of my new favorite types of food after truly discovering it in all its glory through my ethnic dinner club back in Berkeley. Madrid's version was good, but couldn't really compete with Berkeley. But then again, not much food can.We went out on Thursday night to some really cute and fun places to keep the celebrations going. Getting to sleep in on Friday was pretty glorious, since I hadn't gotten to do that for the past 3 weeks. Friday night I went back to Chabad with my friend Jessie. I saw some of the same people from last time and met some really great new people. I definitely think I'll keep going whenever I'm in Madrid on a Friday night. It's a really nice community and a great sense of familiarity. From there I went to the airport not to travel but to pick up my friend Caitlin who came to visit me from Milan! It was pretty late so we headed back to my place to rest up for a long day of walking ahead.
On Saturday, we walked through El Parque Retiro (a big Central Park type place), around Sol and Gran Via (big shopping centers) and to El Palacio Real (the royal palace). We stopped to watch a lot of the street performers including a Mariachi band and a man on a unicycle. There was one particular guy who we saw dancing in front of two different music groups. He was certainly in his own world. It was exceedingly amusing. Overall, a super fun day of exploring and picture taking. That night, we went to a tapas place and then to a big night club called Kapital. It was a fun experience, but definitely a bit too crowded and overwhelming for my taste. 7 stories, tons of people, and long lines. But fun dance floors and a karaoke room, so I was happy. Stayed out until 6 AM which isn't so weird here. I still think it's weird.
On Sunday, we pretty much spent the day recovering. We went with my friend Jessie to a famous tapas bar at night called El Tigre which has ridiculously huge portions for not so many euros. It's in an area called Chueca which is super cute and is the gay neighborhood of Madrid. Definitely a fun night spot. Then, on Monday, I went to school and sent Caitlin off on her own to explore. Overall, it was a really fun weekend with a best friend. :)
And now, I have to do school stuff. I know my friends at home are going through midterm hell right now but I must say that the lack of intellectually stimulating coursework here certainly makes me appreciate Berkeley.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
That used to be Muslim or Jewish...and now it's Catholic
When I was in 5th grade, my parents, brother, and I drove across the country to take Jonny to college as a result of post 9/11 flight cancellations. It was appropriate timing for me to be driving through multiple states as a 5th grader learning US history for the first time and memorizing her state capitals (Duh, Moines). I remember how drastically different the states were, from the scenery (Iowa and Nebraska in fact only contain corn fields) to the people (who knew that we could look so dark?).
Last weekend, my UC program took us on a 6 hour bus ride to Cordoba and then Granada in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía. That means I got to see 2 more autonomous communities in the time it would take me to drive from LA to Berkeley. If you had magically taken me to Spain without my knowledge and told me I was driving through the middle of California, I would have believed you. Spain is not a tiny county and I know that if I lived in the East Coast, I could drive through multiple states in one sitting, but it just fascinates me how diverse and huge the US is compared to other places around the world.
But I'll continue since the bus ride probably wasn't the most exciting part of this trip.
We arrived in Cordoba, gasped at the beautiful views of the old, small city, put our stuff down at Hotel Maimonidies, and went out to eat some delicious traditional tapas. [Quick Jewish side-note: the group I was with was having trouble remembering the name of the hotel. Don't worry. I couldn't forget.] After lunch, the touring began. We went to La Mezquita Catedral, which literally means the mosque cathedral. This was the main mosque that used to be used when Cordoba was a Muslim city. It has since been converted into a Catholic cathedral--that is Spain's way after all-- but still maintains the original architecture of the mosque with some add ons. Thus, it was a nice change of pace from the other gaudy churches I've seen so far (did you get the pun? did I ruin it by saying that?). After that, we walked around the city with our tour guide, visiting the charming calleja de las flores (street of flowers) and the Jewish quarter. Lo and behold, the namesake of our hotel, ladies and gentlemen. A statue of Maimonidies and a little history about him from our tour guide. Found some Judaism in Spain. Win.
That night, I once again ate some delicious tapas and then went to a flamenco show, which was possibly one of my favorite things I've done in Spain so far. As an Israeli dancer, I was really excited to get to see another type of cultural dance. It was absolutely incredibly. I want the dresses and the castanets and the ability to move my feet that quickly. Who knew that some parts of flamenco dance involved something that sort of resembles tap? Oh and the live guitar and singer? Get better.
I'm signing up for a class. I need one of those dresses. Here is a video, which I'm pretty sure is at the same venue as my show, so you can share in the fabulousness that is flamenco music and dancing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iepNs3AOfco&feature=related
The next day, we got back on the bus, our new home on wheels for the weekend, and drove to Granada. Granada is also a beautiful city-didn't feel as "small towny" as Cordoba but still couldn't compete with the cosmopolitan glory that is Madrid. First sight seeing stop was the Alhambra. This place is absolutely incredible. You must go. It was an Arab palace for the Khalifs dating back to the 9th century and is built above the city. It had a similar architectural feel to the Mezquita in Cordoba, but was much more grand. The palace seemed endless and it just kept getting more beautiful. Then you see the views of the city and you just can't believe someone actually lived here once. After the fantastic but tiring tour, we walked back down to the city and I went to an Arab-style tea house on a street that reminded me of the Arab shuk in Jerusalem. After a much needed nap, we had dinner at the hotel and then ventured out for a night at the town. My friends and I went to a night club that had a view of the Alhambra. Lit up. It was close to magical.
On the last day of our weekend whirlwind, we hiked up to see yet another gorgeous view of the entire city. They seemed to be endless. Our last stop was a church where King Ferdanand and Queen Isabella are buried. It was pretty cool and pretty eerie.
Finally, back to the bus for another 6 hours of sleep. I returned to Madrid with a lot of homework and a midterm to get ready for. Once this week winds up, I'll be off to Cadiz and then the weekend after that, I'll finally be staying in Madrid. Traveling is great but I sort of miss my new city!
Love you all.
Un abrazo! (hug)
Also, per usual, check out my other blog (cus the cool kids have 2): http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/21/tapas-no-sangria-no-chicken-noodle-soup-yes-please/
Last weekend, my UC program took us on a 6 hour bus ride to Cordoba and then Granada in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía. That means I got to see 2 more autonomous communities in the time it would take me to drive from LA to Berkeley. If you had magically taken me to Spain without my knowledge and told me I was driving through the middle of California, I would have believed you. Spain is not a tiny county and I know that if I lived in the East Coast, I could drive through multiple states in one sitting, but it just fascinates me how diverse and huge the US is compared to other places around the world.
But I'll continue since the bus ride probably wasn't the most exciting part of this trip.
We arrived in Cordoba, gasped at the beautiful views of the old, small city, put our stuff down at Hotel Maimonidies, and went out to eat some delicious traditional tapas. [Quick Jewish side-note: the group I was with was having trouble remembering the name of the hotel. Don't worry. I couldn't forget.] After lunch, the touring began. We went to La Mezquita Catedral, which literally means the mosque cathedral. This was the main mosque that used to be used when Cordoba was a Muslim city. It has since been converted into a Catholic cathedral--that is Spain's way after all-- but still maintains the original architecture of the mosque with some add ons. Thus, it was a nice change of pace from the other gaudy churches I've seen so far (did you get the pun? did I ruin it by saying that?). After that, we walked around the city with our tour guide, visiting the charming calleja de las flores (street of flowers) and the Jewish quarter. Lo and behold, the namesake of our hotel, ladies and gentlemen. A statue of Maimonidies and a little history about him from our tour guide. Found some Judaism in Spain. Win.
That night, I once again ate some delicious tapas and then went to a flamenco show, which was possibly one of my favorite things I've done in Spain so far. As an Israeli dancer, I was really excited to get to see another type of cultural dance. It was absolutely incredibly. I want the dresses and the castanets and the ability to move my feet that quickly. Who knew that some parts of flamenco dance involved something that sort of resembles tap? Oh and the live guitar and singer? Get better.
I'm signing up for a class. I need one of those dresses. Here is a video, which I'm pretty sure is at the same venue as my show, so you can share in the fabulousness that is flamenco music and dancing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iepNs3AOfco&feature=related
The next day, we got back on the bus, our new home on wheels for the weekend, and drove to Granada. Granada is also a beautiful city-didn't feel as "small towny" as Cordoba but still couldn't compete with the cosmopolitan glory that is Madrid. First sight seeing stop was the Alhambra. This place is absolutely incredible. You must go. It was an Arab palace for the Khalifs dating back to the 9th century and is built above the city. It had a similar architectural feel to the Mezquita in Cordoba, but was much more grand. The palace seemed endless and it just kept getting more beautiful. Then you see the views of the city and you just can't believe someone actually lived here once. After the fantastic but tiring tour, we walked back down to the city and I went to an Arab-style tea house on a street that reminded me of the Arab shuk in Jerusalem. After a much needed nap, we had dinner at the hotel and then ventured out for a night at the town. My friends and I went to a night club that had a view of the Alhambra. Lit up. It was close to magical. On the last day of our weekend whirlwind, we hiked up to see yet another gorgeous view of the entire city. They seemed to be endless. Our last stop was a church where King Ferdanand and Queen Isabella are buried. It was pretty cool and pretty eerie.
Finally, back to the bus for another 6 hours of sleep. I returned to Madrid with a lot of homework and a midterm to get ready for. Once this week winds up, I'll be off to Cadiz and then the weekend after that, I'll finally be staying in Madrid. Traveling is great but I sort of miss my new city!
Love you all.
Un abrazo! (hug)
Also, per usual, check out my other blog (cus the cool kids have 2): http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/21/tapas-no-sangria-no-chicken-noodle-soup-yes-please/
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
That awesome moment when you take your first weekend trip
I have officially been to 2 European countries!
Last weekend, I packed a backpack, hopped on a plane, and traveled to Milan and Venice, Italy. No big deal.
First, a word about traveling in Europe. Let's just say, Europeans don's seem to be too concerned about efficiency. You never know how much you miss Southwest's overly organized system of boarding group and number until you are standing in one line with everyone on your flight. Once I finally reached the front, I found myself walking out of the airport, not onto a plane. Ok, flight boarding a la Burbank. Well, not exactly. I had to get on a bus which then took me to the plane. Besides the fact that this was simply annoying at 7:00 AM, it also should be forbidden anywhere but Burbank, where dropping below 70 degrees is considered the depths of winter. After all of this, I managed to overcome my usual inability to sleep on planes and passed out.
After about 2 hours, I arrived in Milan and was reunited with one of my high school best friends, Caitlin. Before we left, we casually (read: freaked out and super excitedly) chatted about meeting up in Europe. Now, the day had come and those seemingly impossible ideas became reality (wow, I'm dramatic today). I went to her beautiful homestay with her and then went off to see some sites. We went to Il Duomo, a huge beautiful church in the center of the city (I'm realizing there are a lot of those on this side of the world...).
We ate a delicious Italian lunch (rissoto for me) followed by incredible Italian gelato (despite the freezing weather), and then headed to the high fashion district. I think my cousin Jamie would appreciate the 1,000 euro shoes I tried on the most. It was ridiculous and super fun.
Later that night, after a delicious dinner from Caitlin's host mom, we went out with some of her friends from the program. The freezing cold seemed to be keeping people away because nothing was very crowded, a slight change of pace from Madrid, but it was still a fun night with fun people.
The next morning, we woke up and rushed off to the train station to head to Venice. What a beautiful city. We talk a "water bus," a boat that went around the city making stops like a bus, to where our hostel was. I don't know how we managed to find it in those impossible, tiny, dead end, roads, but we did. The hostel was sort of like a hostel-level bed and breakfast with only a couple rooms and a very friendly host. We had a private room and shared a bathroom with 2 German girls. Our host gave us a map but told us that Venice is better without one.
We made it to the center of the city, San Marco Square, and were greeted with the Carnavale celebrations. People in crazy masks and crazy costumes everywhere in site. There was music and celebrations and people selling souvenirs in carts. We were awed by the site of the Palace and weirded out by the wine fountain that looked like it was pouring out blood. I particularly enjoyed seeing the campinele since it reminded me of Berkeley. We wandered a little bit out of the super touristy area to find lunch with some of Caitlin's other friends. After that, we decided that the only way to really enjoy the festivities were to get masks of our own.
After a little debate due to the extremely cold weather, we decided that we couldn't leave Venice without going on a gondola. So, as bundled up as possible and with masks to keep our eyes from the wind, we boarded the famous boats and got a little tour of the city via water. Yay for being super big tourists. I really wanted to wander the city for hours and get out of the hustle and bustle of San Marco Square but it was really just to cold to be outside for that long, so we went back to the hostel to relax a bit. Later that night, following a dinner at a restaurant only serving us, we went in search of some nightlife-none to be found. I guess the daytime events of Carnavale are enough festivities for one 24 hour period. Nevertheless, us group of Americans studying abroad (some in Milan, some in Florence, and me) had a fun night walking around and chatting.
After waking up at a ridiculously early time and taking the train back to Milan, Caitlin and I were too exhausted to do much more exploring, so we just hung out at her homestay before I had to go back to Madrid. Overall, it was a good trip, but I feel like the cold weather kept me from getting a full experience.
I guess it's just an excuse to go back one day...sigh.
To check out all of my pictures from the trip, click here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2517588314031.96618.1682940053&type=3
To check out my latest Global Jewish Voice blog post and read about my experience on a Friday night at Chabad, click here: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/12/judaism-something-to-hide/
Last weekend, I packed a backpack, hopped on a plane, and traveled to Milan and Venice, Italy. No big deal.
First, a word about traveling in Europe. Let's just say, Europeans don's seem to be too concerned about efficiency. You never know how much you miss Southwest's overly organized system of boarding group and number until you are standing in one line with everyone on your flight. Once I finally reached the front, I found myself walking out of the airport, not onto a plane. Ok, flight boarding a la Burbank. Well, not exactly. I had to get on a bus which then took me to the plane. Besides the fact that this was simply annoying at 7:00 AM, it also should be forbidden anywhere but Burbank, where dropping below 70 degrees is considered the depths of winter. After all of this, I managed to overcome my usual inability to sleep on planes and passed out.
After about 2 hours, I arrived in Milan and was reunited with one of my high school best friends, Caitlin. Before we left, we casually (read: freaked out and super excitedly) chatted about meeting up in Europe. Now, the day had come and those seemingly impossible ideas became reality (wow, I'm dramatic today). I went to her beautiful homestay with her and then went off to see some sites. We went to Il Duomo, a huge beautiful church in the center of the city (I'm realizing there are a lot of those on this side of the world...).
Later that night, after a delicious dinner from Caitlin's host mom, we went out with some of her friends from the program. The freezing cold seemed to be keeping people away because nothing was very crowded, a slight change of pace from Madrid, but it was still a fun night with fun people.
The next morning, we woke up and rushed off to the train station to head to Venice. What a beautiful city. We talk a "water bus," a boat that went around the city making stops like a bus, to where our hostel was. I don't know how we managed to find it in those impossible, tiny, dead end, roads, but we did. The hostel was sort of like a hostel-level bed and breakfast with only a couple rooms and a very friendly host. We had a private room and shared a bathroom with 2 German girls. Our host gave us a map but told us that Venice is better without one.
We made it to the center of the city, San Marco Square, and were greeted with the Carnavale celebrations. People in crazy masks and crazy costumes everywhere in site. There was music and celebrations and people selling souvenirs in carts. We were awed by the site of the Palace and weirded out by the wine fountain that looked like it was pouring out blood. I particularly enjoyed seeing the campinele since it reminded me of Berkeley. We wandered a little bit out of the super touristy area to find lunch with some of Caitlin's other friends. After that, we decided that the only way to really enjoy the festivities were to get masks of our own.
After a little debate due to the extremely cold weather, we decided that we couldn't leave Venice without going on a gondola. So, as bundled up as possible and with masks to keep our eyes from the wind, we boarded the famous boats and got a little tour of the city via water. Yay for being super big tourists. I really wanted to wander the city for hours and get out of the hustle and bustle of San Marco Square but it was really just to cold to be outside for that long, so we went back to the hostel to relax a bit. Later that night, following a dinner at a restaurant only serving us, we went in search of some nightlife-none to be found. I guess the daytime events of Carnavale are enough festivities for one 24 hour period. Nevertheless, us group of Americans studying abroad (some in Milan, some in Florence, and me) had a fun night walking around and chatting.
After waking up at a ridiculously early time and taking the train back to Milan, Caitlin and I were too exhausted to do much more exploring, so we just hung out at her homestay before I had to go back to Madrid. Overall, it was a good trip, but I feel like the cold weather kept me from getting a full experience.
I guess it's just an excuse to go back one day...sigh.
To check out all of my pictures from the trip, click here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2517588314031.96618.1682940053&type=3
To check out my latest Global Jewish Voice blog post and read about my experience on a Friday night at Chabad, click here: http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/2012/02/12/judaism-something-to-hide/
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
a-e-i-o-u
Somehow, I ended up bragging about my niece and nephews today. I really don't know how it happened. It's not like every single topic that comes up somehow relates to something about my family.
oh you want to work in politics? my brother...
ya I'm a social welfare major, I take after my sisters and sister-in-law...
oh you went to a Jewish school? Camp? I bet I know it! My parents...
your mom's work building just got a leed certification? My brother-in-law...
pre-med huh? My other brother-in-law...
Oh you're talking about kids? I have 3 nephews and a niece...
Today, a girl on my program and I were talking about how funny it is to skype with our respective nieces and nephews. The funniest part about it is how they don't think the fact that I'm sitting in a room thousands of miles away and chatting face to face is unusual. Now, I get that my generation isn't so fascinated by it either, but believe me, we appreciate that we have the world (wide web) at our fingertips when our parents (or for some of us, our siblings) couldn't even imagine it. But for the little ones, it will never even be a question.
In all of this thought about the small people in my life, I started thinking about how my oldest nephew, Yonah, is starting to read. And you know what, reading is really difficult. I mean, come on English, why do the vowels make a different sound in every word? Spanish makes much more sense. Each vowel only makes one sound, no matter what other letters surround it.
Grand question: Do Spanish children have an easier time reading than American children?
I have no answer.
In some ways, the two languages are so similar. Sometimes when I'm not sure of a word, I actually just take a guess by adding an "o" to the English version and it's correct (and sometimes it's super embarrassing). But when it comes to vowel sounds, I really just don't know what the creators of the English language were thinking.
This brings me to a funny (and slightly suggestive) story. Today in my Spanish Language class, we were discussing the subjunctive tense. We were translating some simple sentences into English to reinforce the point that we need to use the infinitive after a verb. The example was:
"I want you to help me tonight."
Our professor asked if the sentence would make sense if we took out the word "to." Of course the answer is no, but one student brought up the point that if you replace "to" with a comma, it would make some sort of sense. Our immature selves got the better of us and we giggled a little. Our professor, however, was confused. You see, to her, the word "comma" sounds like "cama" which means bed. Funny coincidence. This caused even more laughter. Clearly, college students are real adults...
The joy of language barriers.
Let's help out my nephew, and the rest of the world, and take a cue from Spanish, perhaps?
(Thanks for indulging me in this stream-of-consciousness, completely random post. More about the daily life of an American in Europe soon)
oh you want to work in politics? my brother...
ya I'm a social welfare major, I take after my sisters and sister-in-law...
oh you went to a Jewish school? Camp? I bet I know it! My parents...
your mom's work building just got a leed certification? My brother-in-law...
pre-med huh? My other brother-in-law...
Oh you're talking about kids? I have 3 nephews and a niece...
Today, a girl on my program and I were talking about how funny it is to skype with our respective nieces and nephews. The funniest part about it is how they don't think the fact that I'm sitting in a room thousands of miles away and chatting face to face is unusual. Now, I get that my generation isn't so fascinated by it either, but believe me, we appreciate that we have the world (wide web) at our fingertips when our parents (or for some of us, our siblings) couldn't even imagine it. But for the little ones, it will never even be a question.
In all of this thought about the small people in my life, I started thinking about how my oldest nephew, Yonah, is starting to read. And you know what, reading is really difficult. I mean, come on English, why do the vowels make a different sound in every word? Spanish makes much more sense. Each vowel only makes one sound, no matter what other letters surround it.
Grand question: Do Spanish children have an easier time reading than American children?
I have no answer.
In some ways, the two languages are so similar. Sometimes when I'm not sure of a word, I actually just take a guess by adding an "o" to the English version and it's correct (and sometimes it's super embarrassing). But when it comes to vowel sounds, I really just don't know what the creators of the English language were thinking.
This brings me to a funny (and slightly suggestive) story. Today in my Spanish Language class, we were discussing the subjunctive tense. We were translating some simple sentences into English to reinforce the point that we need to use the infinitive after a verb. The example was:
"I want you to help me tonight."
Our professor asked if the sentence would make sense if we took out the word "to." Of course the answer is no, but one student brought up the point that if you replace "to" with a comma, it would make some sort of sense. Our immature selves got the better of us and we giggled a little. Our professor, however, was confused. You see, to her, the word "comma" sounds like "cama" which means bed. Funny coincidence. This caused even more laughter. Clearly, college students are real adults...
The joy of language barriers.
Let's help out my nephew, and the rest of the world, and take a cue from Spanish, perhaps?
(Thanks for indulging me in this stream-of-consciousness, completely random post. More about the daily life of an American in Europe soon)
Friday, February 3, 2012
When it all becomes normal
I've been in Madrid for about 3 weeks now.
3 weeks...I guess that's a pretty significant amount of time. After all, a session at camp is 3 weeks, and kids come out of that transformed with new best friends.
Here in Madrid, 3 weeks seems to be the marker of when things here seem, well, normal. It's like an alarm clock set to awake me from the confusion on the metro, the embarrassment of asking for directions-and then asking the person to repeat them, the fear of feeling dumb for getting lost on my way from the train to campus.
Instead, 3 weeks in and I'm on a great sleeping schedule, I have a rough idea of where I'm going most of the time, I know what to expect for dinner, I say "I'm going home" when I'm going back to my host family's apartment, and, although my Spanish is still far from perfect, I don't hesitate to speak or understand.
Is 3 actually the magic number? The magic number that brings you to a sense of normalcy?
Perhaps, because looking back at this week, I find nothing to report that is over the top exciting. I woke up every day and went to class. Classes are still pretty cool. Starting to get homework which is less than ideal, but still nothing compared to Berkeley. It's still so difficult to bring myself to do it though.
Maybe there's a disease called abroad-itis: symptoms include: the complete lack of academic motivation, obsessively making travel plans, going out too much. I don't think there's a cure.
One of my biggest symptoms is certainly making travel plans. Here's what's on the itinerary so far:
Milan and Venice
Cordoba and Granada
Cadiz, Spain
I am beyond excited. And again, this is normal.
But of course, it's not.
As I continue my life here in Madrid, life at home continues too. Because of the amazing technological tool that is skype (skype creators, I am forever in debt to you), I have been able to keep up with life at home and in Berkeley. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away this week. She lived a great, long life and we will all remember her with a smile on our faces forever. I wish I could have been home with my family. Luckily, this 3 week mark also means that there are friends here to look out for you, to care.
So life goes on. You learn to feel normal within an experience which is of course, anything but. It's incredible and special and awesome and crazy---and it's feeling good.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Why yes, I am a tourist
A lot of people have this insecurity about standing out as an "obvious tourist." They avoid taking pictures so people think they live here. They wear fashionable shoes over comfortable ones, even if they're walking around all day. They ignore the fact that speaking in English makes it quite obvious that you're not from Spain.
Think about it, though. Have you ever pointed and laughed when someone posed for a pic in front of the (insert famous landmark in your city here)? I don't think it's weird that people want a picture in front of the Hollywood sign, or want to spend a day frolicking at the beach.
Thus, this weekend, I embraced the fact that I am still a tourist in Madrid-and I'm proud of it.
Per usual, the weekend began Thursday night with an international student night at a bar and club. I met some Mexican guys and had a revelation: I can understand Mexican Spanish. There was loud music and huge crowds, but I understood. It was just so much clearer to me than Spanish Spanish (ok there really needs to be another word for that). And now I'm kinda craving Miguel's guacamole at Alonim...
Anyway, on Friday I did what most people do on any other day. I spent the day at a palace.
El Palacio is where the king and queen of Spain used to live back in the day, including Carlos III and Carlos IV. Today, it is still used for some official functions, but there is another palace where the current royal family lives. El Palacio was truly gorgeous. You could certainly spend a lifetime there and never be able to really know all the details of each room. There were frescos on the ceilings depicting religious scenes and some stories of ancient Greek gods, which I found particularly interesting since they replaced the traditional hero with the king. My favorite was Carlos III as Hercules. My other favorite room? The great dining hall, which was 3 rooms turned into one with a huge dining room table. Why my favorite? It would be the perfect place to host a Powell family Passover.
Think about it, though. Have you ever pointed and laughed when someone posed for a pic in front of the (insert famous landmark in your city here)? I don't think it's weird that people want a picture in front of the Hollywood sign, or want to spend a day frolicking at the beach.
Thus, this weekend, I embraced the fact that I am still a tourist in Madrid-and I'm proud of it.
Per usual, the weekend began Thursday night with an international student night at a bar and club. I met some Mexican guys and had a revelation: I can understand Mexican Spanish. There was loud music and huge crowds, but I understood. It was just so much clearer to me than Spanish Spanish (ok there really needs to be another word for that). And now I'm kinda craving Miguel's guacamole at Alonim...
Anyway, on Friday I did what most people do on any other day. I spent the day at a palace.
El Palacio is where the king and queen of Spain used to live back in the day, including Carlos III and Carlos IV. Today, it is still used for some official functions, but there is another palace where the current royal family lives. El Palacio was truly gorgeous. You could certainly spend a lifetime there and never be able to really know all the details of each room. There were frescos on the ceilings depicting religious scenes and some stories of ancient Greek gods, which I found particularly interesting since they replaced the traditional hero with the king. My favorite was Carlos III as Hercules. My other favorite room? The great dining hall, which was 3 rooms turned into one with a huge dining room table. Why my favorite? It would be the perfect place to host a Powell family Passover.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Classes, fútbol, and peanut butter
I found peanut butter.
No, it was nowhere near the jelly in the market. No, the label was not in Spanish, it was in English-and it's hekshered. And then I found a gluten free section.
For a second there, I wasn't sure if I was still in Spain.
You see there's this place called El Corte Íngles, which is basically a supermarket+Target+Macys all in one. Kinda like an American shopper's Disneyland.
But enough about that, and on to the more significant and interesting things in my life at the moment. I just finished my first week of classes at Carlos III. To my friends in college fighting for classes-imagine if you had a whole week to go to any class you want, not go the next day, and still decide that you want to take it without the fear of being dropped for not showing up and deciding to try another class at the same time. Sounds awesome right? That's basically how my week went. A lot of trying things out, a lot of judging whether or not I can understand the way the professor speaks, and a lot of debating over if a class is worth taking if I have a 7 hour break before it. A downside of my long commute to school is that it is hard to justify going home between classes, and there are a lot of long breaks. So, although I don't miss ruthlessly fighting with telebears, I do miss the luxury of living 2 blocks from campus.
In the end, I've chosen to take: Spanish Language (which everyone takes), Colloquial Spanish (learning slang, cool, huh?), Sociology of Gender in Spain (shocker), Journalism/Media (it's awesome), and Politics and Society of Spain (so I can discuss with my big bro). I'll let you know how they go.
Another notable thing this week: I've decided that I'm officially becoming a Real Madrid fan. I met up with my Spanish "buddy" who has a group of international students who she is available to help with anything regarding school or the city. She organized an outing to a tapas bar with multiple tvs, where we watched the Madrid-Barcelona game. Unfortunately, Madrid didn't do so well. But I was rooting for them! I must admit, I didn't actually stay for the whole game and one of my new friends from Canada explained who the famous players were, so I don't know if I'm a true fan yet...easing my way in.
Excited to start another weekend. I have plans to go on a day trip to Toledo at some point. Super excited to start traveling, even if it's only a 30 minute bus ride.
Don't forget to update me on your lives!
Besos
No, it was nowhere near the jelly in the market. No, the label was not in Spanish, it was in English-and it's hekshered. And then I found a gluten free section.
For a second there, I wasn't sure if I was still in Spain.
You see there's this place called El Corte Íngles, which is basically a supermarket+Target+Macys all in one. Kinda like an American shopper's Disneyland.
But enough about that, and on to the more significant and interesting things in my life at the moment. I just finished my first week of classes at Carlos III. To my friends in college fighting for classes-imagine if you had a whole week to go to any class you want, not go the next day, and still decide that you want to take it without the fear of being dropped for not showing up and deciding to try another class at the same time. Sounds awesome right? That's basically how my week went. A lot of trying things out, a lot of judging whether or not I can understand the way the professor speaks, and a lot of debating over if a class is worth taking if I have a 7 hour break before it. A downside of my long commute to school is that it is hard to justify going home between classes, and there are a lot of long breaks. So, although I don't miss ruthlessly fighting with telebears, I do miss the luxury of living 2 blocks from campus.
In the end, I've chosen to take: Spanish Language (which everyone takes), Colloquial Spanish (learning slang, cool, huh?), Sociology of Gender in Spain (shocker), Journalism/Media (it's awesome), and Politics and Society of Spain (so I can discuss with my big bro). I'll let you know how they go.
Another notable thing this week: I've decided that I'm officially becoming a Real Madrid fan. I met up with my Spanish "buddy" who has a group of international students who she is available to help with anything regarding school or the city. She organized an outing to a tapas bar with multiple tvs, where we watched the Madrid-Barcelona game. Unfortunately, Madrid didn't do so well. But I was rooting for them! I must admit, I didn't actually stay for the whole game and one of my new friends from Canada explained who the famous players were, so I don't know if I'm a true fan yet...easing my way in.
Excited to start another weekend. I have plans to go on a day trip to Toledo at some point. Super excited to start traveling, even if it's only a 30 minute bus ride.
Don't forget to update me on your lives!
Besos
Sunday, January 22, 2012
El Primer Fin de Semana
Weekends in Madrid put weekends at home to shame.
That is, if you love nightlife. And at least for the moment, I'm enjoying the nightlife.
The weekend technically began Thursday night, as we have no class on Fridays, something I've attempted at Cal every semester and consistently failed at, mostly due to my 5 days a week Spanish classes. Worth it? It seems like it. A lot of people went to this multi-story club called El Kapital, but I opted to stay home as I wasn't feeling too great. Desperate to stay healthy this semester unlike the 4 month cough/cold of el semestre pasado. I think it was a good choice,
So, the fun began on Friday. I met up with a bunch of girls to go shopping. I know, you're shocked. 20-year-old girls in a new European city shopping? Blasphemy. After returning home for dinner (which I eat at 9:00 PM), the group met up again to go to El Tigre, a popular tapas bar filled with a mixture of Madrileños and Americanos. We were delighted to find that as a group of Americans, we seem to be doing pretty well for ourselves in Spain with our ability to keep from completely embarrassing ourselves while speaking Spanish or acting noticeably obnoxious in the eyes of the Spaniard. At the same time, some Spanish guys made fun of us for going home at 2:00 AM.
On Saturday, the nerdy lover of camp-like organized activities in me totally came out. I participated in a scavenger hunt through the center of the city organized by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), a European student group that plans events for exchange students. We scavenged through the city stopping to do the maccarena (which the leader could sing in perfect Spanish...interesting...), take a picture jumping in front of El Palacio, the old palace for the king of Spain, and so-on.
After that, a bunch of us wandered around the city for a while with no apparent goal other than finding a place for a diet coke. Success.
Saturday night, we once again assumed the role of los jovenes españoles, got dressed up, and went out. This time to a bar/club with a famous drink that resembles horchata, and that is distributed through spouts coming out of the ceiling. Don't fear, cow utter jokes were made (although I kept the fact that it reminded me of the "kiddush cow" to myself, anticipating some very confused looks). Once again a mixture of Spanish and American 20-somethings, once again crowded, once again fun. Sensing a trend?
Today I'm just taking it easy. Possibly going to a travel fair to get some discounts and info. It's a beautiful day and I'm happy to relax. Give me a couple weeks of this constant going out and I'll be the one organizing the Saturday night movie marathon with some cafe con leche and churros con chocolate.
Missing you all at home!
That is, if you love nightlife. And at least for the moment, I'm enjoying the nightlife.
The weekend technically began Thursday night, as we have no class on Fridays, something I've attempted at Cal every semester and consistently failed at, mostly due to my 5 days a week Spanish classes. Worth it? It seems like it. A lot of people went to this multi-story club called El Kapital, but I opted to stay home as I wasn't feeling too great. Desperate to stay healthy this semester unlike the 4 month cough/cold of el semestre pasado. I think it was a good choice,
So, the fun began on Friday. I met up with a bunch of girls to go shopping. I know, you're shocked. 20-year-old girls in a new European city shopping? Blasphemy. After returning home for dinner (which I eat at 9:00 PM), the group met up again to go to El Tigre, a popular tapas bar filled with a mixture of Madrileños and Americanos. We were delighted to find that as a group of Americans, we seem to be doing pretty well for ourselves in Spain with our ability to keep from completely embarrassing ourselves while speaking Spanish or acting noticeably obnoxious in the eyes of the Spaniard. At the same time, some Spanish guys made fun of us for going home at 2:00 AM.
On Saturday, the nerdy lover of camp-like organized activities in me totally came out. I participated in a scavenger hunt through the center of the city organized by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), a European student group that plans events for exchange students. We scavenged through the city stopping to do the maccarena (which the leader could sing in perfect Spanish...interesting...), take a picture jumping in front of El Palacio, the old palace for the king of Spain, and so-on.
Saturday night, we once again assumed the role of los jovenes españoles, got dressed up, and went out. This time to a bar/club with a famous drink that resembles horchata, and that is distributed through spouts coming out of the ceiling. Don't fear, cow utter jokes were made (although I kept the fact that it reminded me of the "kiddush cow" to myself, anticipating some very confused looks). Once again a mixture of Spanish and American 20-somethings, once again crowded, once again fun. Sensing a trend?
Today I'm just taking it easy. Possibly going to a travel fair to get some discounts and info. It's a beautiful day and I'm happy to relax. Give me a couple weeks of this constant going out and I'll be the one organizing the Saturday night movie marathon with some cafe con leche and churros con chocolate.
Missing you all at home!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
So many presentations, so little time
The last two days I've been muy ocupado (very busy). On Wednesday, I ventured off to my new school. Luckily, I met up with some other girls so I didn't have to find my way on my own (I feel a song coming on...). I take the metro two stops to a train station, and a commuter train to Getafe, where Carlos III de Madrid is located. It doesn't take too long, but definitely can't roll out of bed and get to class in 5 minutes like I do in Berkeley. Wednesday and Thursday were two long days of presentations and welcomes and explanations (oh my). A Spanish student who we had met at our hotel took us on a tour of campus in what us Californians considered freezing cold weather. It might have actually been freezing-as in 0 degrees as we say here in Spain. The director of the program welcomed us and told us about all of the great opportunities we have and how we are here mainly for classes and all that jazz. I mean, classes sound great but let's be honest, they're one of many reasons why I'm here-life experience, fluency in Spanish... We ate lunch in the cafeteria where I was wryly greeted with a menu of sandwiches and baguettes, and one sad sad salad. Apparently being gluten free isn't quite as trendy as in LA and Berkeley. I think I'm going to start bringing my own lunch. Later on, each of the professors gave a short presentation about their classes, which was pretty helpful. Some of them spoke very clearly and at a decent pace while other rushed and mumbled-guess whose classes I prefer. Today we had more professor presentations and received some info about extracurricular activities we can participate in, including theatre, choir, and dance! Apparently, most universities in Madrid don't really have extensive arts programs, but Carlos III takes pride in theirs. Guess I chose the right place. Also took a placement test and discovered that I'm really not a fan of la gramática en español. My father was only a grammar police in English.
Besides school, I also experienced one of the madrileño's favorite past times-rooting for Real Madrid vs. Barcelona at a pub. I (legally, of course) went out with some friends from the program to a bar near puerta de sol, which is basically the heart of shopping and nightlife. Unfortunately, the bar was just as crowded and sweaty as a rush week frat party and we had to squeeze our way through to find a place to hang out. Oh, and to watch the game. Since Madrid is my home for the next 4 months, I felt obligated to root for them, but, like the Dodgers so often do in LA, they let me down. (Ok, the Dodgers never personally let me down because really, American's favorite sport is way less exciting than Europe's and the Dodger dogs frankly aren't worth sitting through 7 innings. But they let my brother down, so I have some sympathetic knowledge). After the game-watching crowd cleared out, it was quickly evident how many American exchange students were there. The bartender even spoke English pretty perfectly. It must be a thing. I'll keep searching for wear the real Spanish students hang out.
Today after school, a bunch of us walked around el Parque del Retiro, a big Central Park/Golden Gate Park type place in the city. It was a beautiful time of day, as you can see in the photo.
Now I'm just relaxing in my room. Still struggling with sleep a little bit but it's getting better.
As my adorable niece Lilah would say, besitos!
Besides school, I also experienced one of the madrileño's favorite past times-rooting for Real Madrid vs. Barcelona at a pub. I (legally, of course) went out with some friends from the program to a bar near puerta de sol, which is basically the heart of shopping and nightlife. Unfortunately, the bar was just as crowded and sweaty as a rush week frat party and we had to squeeze our way through to find a place to hang out. Oh, and to watch the game. Since Madrid is my home for the next 4 months, I felt obligated to root for them, but, like the Dodgers so often do in LA, they let me down. (Ok, the Dodgers never personally let me down because really, American's favorite sport is way less exciting than Europe's and the Dodger dogs frankly aren't worth sitting through 7 innings. But they let my brother down, so I have some sympathetic knowledge). After the game-watching crowd cleared out, it was quickly evident how many American exchange students were there. The bartender even spoke English pretty perfectly. It must be a thing. I'll keep searching for wear the real Spanish students hang out.
Now I'm just relaxing in my room. Still struggling with sleep a little bit but it's getting better.
As my adorable niece Lilah would say, besitos!
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