Semana Santa Adventures Week 2

The day that Mom and Dad left Nicole came. So, there was no gap between the two. We even all ate breakfast at the airport together. After we left the airport me and Nicole went to el Parque de Buen Retiro (as I have said before, its my favorite place in Madrid). We then ate lunch in Plaza Santa Ana (popular place to eat). We ate outside in the Plaza and had some good, traditional Spanish food: tostadas with tomato titurado (pureed tomatoes), empanadilla de verduras, un canapé with salmon, y tintos de verano. Yum

We then went and got dessert: Chocolate con churros

While we were eating the churros Nicole kinda hit a low point, sleepiness wise so we went back to the hostel to take naps.

After napping for a looonnggg time we went shopping on Gran Via-- Madrid's main drag. And then we went out for tapas, we had several delicious tostas (toasts with toppings)

On Sunday, we tried to go to Toledo, but when we got to the Train station there was a sign up saying that all trains returning from Toledo to Madrid that day were full, so we could have gotten there, but not gotten back. So we decided to go to Alcalá de Henares instead. Its a small but quaint town outside of Madrid. Its well known for being the birth place of Cervantes and also for its old University.

Here is a picture of the Plaza de Cervantes:

Here is a picture of Nicole with the statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The building behind her is Cervantes birth place/house. We got to go inside and look around. It housed lots of different copies of Don Quixote in all different languages. (There are also some classic Spanish nuns in the picture, how lucky!)

We visited several places in Alcalá de Henares: a mudejar palace, churches, parks, and a guided visit of the university. We returned to Madrid late, but in time for some more late night tapas.

On Monday, we headed out early to Don Benito and spent the rest of the day there. I was glad I got to show Don Benito to Nicole as well as everyone else who has come to visit me. I showed her the parks and the main avenue, etc etc.

On Tuesday, I went to work in the morning and Nicole went shopping in Don Benito. After lunch that afternoon, we headed out on a bus to go to Sevilla. However, we had to take a bus first to the city of Merida and then get on another to Sevilla. So since we were going to have a lay-over in Merida anyway, we decided to make the most of it. We went to see the Aqueducto de los Milagros (Aqueduct of Miracles). Its a roman ruin (obviously). Merida is full of roman ruins, but this is what we had time to go see. I decided to do a classic jumping pose infront of the aqueducto.

That night we got to Sevilla and checked into our hostel and ate close by. We were pretty tired from the day of traveling.

On Wednesday, we got to spend the whole day in Sevilla. we started out by going to the Reales Alcazares. Then we went to the Plaza de Espana. This is a pic of me there:

Then we went on a free walking tour of Sevilla organized by our hostel. It lasted almost 3 hours. It was pretty great. I learned alot of stuff about the city that I had never heard before.

The next day, we got to spend most of the day in Sevilla, so I finally got to see stuff I have never seen before. This was the fourth time I had visited Sevilla and I always see the exact same thing because Im always going with people who have never been before, so we always go to the top, same sites. Soooo, me and Nicole went to Cartuja-- a part of Sevilla and walked around the monastery there. Then we went to Macerena (another barrio) and saw some of the original border walls of Sevilla that were built by the moors when they inhabited the area:

Late that afternoon we headed east to Granada. We got there late so just got some kebabs and went to bed.

The next day (Friday), we started off the morning with a delcious breakfast of catalanas and then headed to the Cathedral of Granada. It is in my top 3 favorite church buildings that I have seen. So I was excited to see it again. Its a lot sunnier/happier than the cathedral in Sevilla. White and a lot of light. Here is a view down the center isle towards the main altar:

After the church we went to the nieghboring Capilla (chapel) hat houses the tombs of the Catholic Kings-- Ferdinand and Isabella.

After that we went and walked around the Albaycin. Which is the old, historic, moorish section of town. And it still houses a large population of Mosques and muslims-- a rarity in Spain. It is a beautiful section of town with beautiful views of La Alhambra and Granada itself.

After walking around the Albaycin, we headed to La Alhambra for the massive visit it is. We had to hike up the hill, but of course it is worth it. There are 4 parts to La Alhambra. The first we went to was los Palacios Nazares. This was the palace section of La Alhambra during the moorish times. Here is a view from one of the windows looking out on the Albaycin across the way. Is it beautiful or what?

We then went to Carlos V's palace (built right in the midst of all the moorish buildings) and then to the Alcazaba (moorish fortress), then to the little church, then to Los Palacios y Jardines del Generalife (Palace and gardens). It was all very beautiful. I didnt remember a lot of stuff, so it was awesome to see it again. This pic is of the Generalife:

So we spent a little over 4 hours at La Alhambra which is pretty normal. Its massive. But needless to say, we were pretty tired after all was said and done.

For dinner that night we went to get kebabs, which are everywhere in europe and usually of the exact same quality, BUT this night was an exception. We went to some place thats menu only said they had chicken kebabs, but ofcourse we wanted lamb kebabs, so we asked the waiter and he kinda of gave this weird answer like he wasnt sure if they had any meat left, but yeah we could have some. Then our kebabs show up with this weird looking meat inside. Its ground beef first of all, but in addition it didnt looked cooked. EEkk! So I spit it out right away and the waiter came over and asked what was wrong and he said that it was pink because it was flavored with red pepper. And after tasting it again it did taste cooked, but after half way thru, my mind took over and I just couldnt eat the rest of it. That was the last kebab of the trip-- i think me and nicole were scared after that kebab that we would get another one like that. So we declared those kebabs, kLebabs, becasue they were fake. Haha

That night we went to the Arabic Baths. I learned about these when I was in Spain the first time, but no one would go with me. So, luckily Nicole went with me. :) Its origins are from moorish tradition. The moors had public "baths" which were for the rich but was a form of relaxation. You move around from different temperature warm pools and cool pools. Its kind of like a mixture of going to the pool and a spa. It was really relaxing. And at first, the cool pool seemed silly because it was really cold but after being in the really hot water you kinda needed to cool down. It was decorated very arabic-ish. I loved it.

The next day, we spent the morning walking around the Albaycin again and getting some souvenirs. We then headed out of Granada for Madrid. It was a long bus ride-- 5 hours. But it could have been worse I guess.

That night we had a wonderful last meal, full of wonderful Spanish delights: tinto de veranos surtido de pueblo: queso manchego, jamón ibérico, chorizo, croquetas de carne, albóndigas, and cava. Buenísima!

The next morning, me and Nicole headed to the airport, and I saw her off. Sad.

I am so happy Nicole got to come and visit Spain. I really wanted her to see Spain and I also feel like it is probably the last opportunity we will ever have to take a trip just the two of us. Because we probably wont have an opportunity like this in the future with future marriages and families it can never be just us. So, it was awesome to get to have a sisters trip!

Having two weeks of family here was very refreshing and it was something to look forward to. Something that kept me excited. But, it also made me miss the US more than I thought. I think I am more anxious to get back now especially after hearing all about all the happenings back home.

So, whew, that was a long post. I applaud you if you made it all the way thru.

Thanks for reading. I love you all! (5 and half weeks till I return to US soil) :)

Semana Santa Adventures Week 1

Mom and Dad came and visited me for the week of Semana Santa. We went to Barcelona, Sevilla, Don Benito, and Madrid. Here are some pictures and stories from our trip together!

We started off the trip in Barcelona. Our first excrusion was to Parc Güell. This is a park that was designed by the famous, Antonio Gaudi.

Here is a picture of Mom and I on one of the beautiful benches in Parc Güell. The first year I took Spanish-- 7th grade-- I saw a picture of the benches in Parc Güell and I decided then that I had to someday go see them. And so I finally fulfilled that wish! :)

Our next stop was the Sagrada Familia, another Gaudi work. It was impressive as ever. And this time we got to go inside. And I realized just how unfinished it is! However the towers were closed so we couldnt go up in the spires or walk on the little bridges. I was pretty bummed.

The next day, we walked down the famous Las Ramblas with all its craziness and me and mom took a picture with one of the street performers. I carefully selected him as well. He didnt look scary like several of them do. :)

At the end of Las Ramblas, we continued on to the harbor in Barcelona. It was an absolutely beautiful day to walk around the harbor-- the sun was shining, it was warm and there was a nice lil breeze. I absolutely love coastal harbor towns; and this part of Barcelona definitely gave that vibe.

After walking around the harbor, we went to Parc de la Citudella-- a beautiful park where we saw the impressive fountain called, la Cascada.

Next, we went the the "Gothic Bari"-- which is the old part of town. We walked around the exterior of the Cathedral (La Seu).

Then we ate lunch on Las Ramblas and headed to the Montjuïc section of town.

We saw and climbed up to the Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya-MNAC (huge building, very impressive). Montjuïc is on this huge hill in the center of town. So we got some great views!

Also from up here, we walked around the Olympic Stadium (the olympics were in Barcelona in 1992).

The next day we walked around Barcelona a little more and visited Casa Milá aka “La Pedrera”. ANother Gaudi creation. This is a few of the rooftop:

Then later that day, we flew to Sevilla. And then the whole next day, we had to take care of some travel issues and made an emergency trip to and from Madrid. Even with the craziness, we still had time to go to el Parque de Buen Retiro in Madrid. I would say it is my favorite part of Madrid. I go there every time I am i Madrid, so of course, I had to show it to my parents. :)

This picture is of me and Mom in front of one of the big ponds:

The next day, we finally got to see Sevilla-- and we sure did see a lot! We started off by going to los Reales Alcazares. This was once the Moorish palace and then was taken over by the Christians and then served various political purposes. However, it still maintains its "mudejar" (morrish) style. Its very beautiful. Here is a pic of the gardens:

We then went to the Plaza de Espana. It is a beautiful plaza that was built in 1929 for an exposition of all countries that speak Spanish. It might be my favorite place in Sevilla.

Then, we headed back to the historic center and went to the Cathedral of Sevilla. It is the largest cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest Christian church. It is massive and impressve. Here is a picture from La Giralda (the tower that is in moorish style, because it was once a Mosque).

Sevilla is world famous for its processions that occur all over town during Semana Santa. It was insanely crowded at night and there were processions going on everywhere. There were 9 going on at once! And all within a relatively concentrated area because they all have to pass by the Cathedral. We would get stuck in zones because the processions would be blocking off all of our routes. Mom and Dad did not enjoy the craziness very much, but I thought it was an amazing thing to experience. Ever since i learned about the processions in Sevilla, it has been on my list of things to see. Here is a pic of one:

The next day morning. We headed off to Don Benito, my little town. I was very excited to get to show them Don Benito since its where I am living my life right now. I showed them the parks, my apartment, the main avenue and we even got to see Don Benito's procession for Maudy Thursday.

Here is Mom and Dad in the Plaza de Espana in Don Benito:

And here is a pic of the Procession in Don Benito:

The next morning we headed off the Madrid-- the last stop on mom and dad's trip. I first took them on the normal site-seeign route in Madrid. The route I pretty much take everyone on. We went to the normal locations: Plaza de Espana, El Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Gran Via, The National Library. I have never been able to make inside the National Library. I have tried to go many times, but I have never actually made it inside. And, of course, when we tried to go, it was closed for Holiday. ... sigh... Some day.

Here is Mom and Dad in the lovely Plaza Mayor:

Then we hiked it out to the Plaza de Toros. It is a beautiful plaza. We couldnt go in, but the outside is impressive enough. (Mom got in my picture, haha)

And then on Saturday morning, Mom and Dad flew back to the United States. I was lucky that they could come and visit me. It was great to have them here and I was glad I got to share something that is a big part of who I am-- Spain and Spanish.

Coming soon-- the blog about me and Nicole's adventures!