Portugal!!

¡El viaje a Portugal fue increíble!

This is the Tower of Belem which was constructed in the middle of the River Tagus in the 1500s. It was built as a fortress and once completed the city of Lisbon was never again successfully sieged. The inside was really cool with a spiral staircase that led to four separate floors. Me gustó mucho.

This is the Jeronimos Monastery that we visited in Lisbon. Construction began on the Monastery in 1501 and shows Manueline architecture which is a combination of Gothic, Moorish, and Renaissance influences.

Another view of the Monastery... me gusta esta pictura.

I stood and stared at this cross in awe for a good ten minutes. It was made in 1550 and was carved intirely out of wood! It's not your typical portrayal of Jesus on the cross but more realistic. Amazing.

Monastery from the outside. Where the street ends is where the water came up to before the great earthquake of 1775. This earthquake destroyed almost all of Lisbon and killed thousands of people.

Vino Verde! We went to a Brazilian steak house! They would bring out different cuts of meat and cut them onto your plate. Kate and I definitely ate more meat in one night there than we have had at our host house the entire time we have been here. lol. The Spaniards like bread way more than meat.

Katy is my wine buddy here in Spain!

This picture was taken after our quest for vino Thursday night. We made it back to the hotel, but let's just say it was an interesting journey getting there. :)

I have successfully acquainted myself with all the major varieties of Portugal wine! Accomplishment? I do believe so =) At our little wine tasting party this weekend, we tried a normal Portugal red variety (LOVED), two different Ports (eh, not a huge fan), Vino Verde (definition of amazing), Madeira (overrated), and Ginja (yuck). Port was a little too sweet and "hot" for my taste and Ginja, a kind of cherry liquor that Portugal is known for, tasted like cough syrup in my opinion. Madeira was the wine that I was most excited to try because it has such a unique history and is made only in the Madeira Islands which are a part of Portugal. During the age of exploration, wine was taken on long voyages across sea and a barrel of Port wine was exposed to extreme heat. This extra heat increases the oxidation and makes the wine more hearty. Once again it was a little too sweet for me but I was glad that I got to try it.

There I was in PORTUGAL tasting all these wines that I learned about in my wine class last semester...twas fun.

This is the 25th of April Bridge. It was designed and built by the same designers of the Golden Gate bridge. It is named to commemorate the Revolution of the Captains on April 25th 1974. This revolution ended the dictatorship with only five causalities.

Hello Jesus! This is the Cristo Rei in Lisbon. We went up onto the observatory deck and got a great view of the city. No better place to spend a Friday during Lent. chyeah!

Cute little otters from the largest oceanarium in Europe that we visited Friday.

Lisbon has tons of Plazas. The buildings were also crazy colors. We walked down one street and saw mint green, pastel pink, yellow, deep red, purple, etc.

Saturday we took a bus up to the castle, which is pictured at the very top here, but it was closed. :( We still got some good pictures and walked around a bit but it was disappointing.

After an amazing trip we took their advice and headed back to Spain. :)

Morocco!

I can now say that I have been on the continent of AFRICA!! Morocco was such an amazing trip. We went with a travel group called WeLoveSpain that focuses on excursions for study abroad students. Since Morocco can be considered a dangerous country to visit, I'm glad we went with this agency that kept us safe. I definitely stuck out with my blonde hair and blue eyes. One guy even came up to me and started speaking to me in his broken English... "what beautiful eyes are those your natural color? Oh my God, so pretty, so pretty"....and I walked faster

This is on the outskirts of Tangier. That is the Mediterranean Sea and an Arabic lighthouse from 1865 in the background.

Name of our first hotel...in ARABIC! Our guide, who knows five languages, was telling us that all of the children learn Arabic and French and then later pick up English, Spanish, and sometimes German. I think the US has a lot to learn from them.

I rode a camel!!! The camel ride was the selling point of the excursion for me and I'm pretty sure I talked about riding the camels for at least two weeks before...sorry Brandon :). Buuuttt it was definitely the highlight of the trip!
I thought the streets of Sevilla were small, but the streets of Tangier and Tetuan were even smaller. Street vendors would chase us down bartering as we tried to walk around. I made the mistake of making eye contact and the man continued to follow the group for at least 10 minutes trying to sell me a camel skin wallet. These type of street vendors were everywhere and even young boys would come up to you trying to sell gum or little souvenirs.

Cute old couple watching the ocean! In strict Arab countries, women are not allowed to leave the house without a male by her side and must keep their heads covered at all times. Morocco, while an Arab country, is actually quite progressive. There were many women, such as the one above, who could be seen wearing the traditional head dress but there were also many who did not wear them. In this male dominated society the men would go out at night to bars or wherever, but never did we see a woman out after dark. It was interesting to see this difference in culture.

This culture is definitely a barter/haggle society. In shops like this there are no set prices. Instead, they say an outrageous price or ask what you want to pay. It was pretty intimidating but fun to try out my skills. I must say, I got a few good deals.

Mountains of North Morocco. Fun fact of the day...Morocco was actually not a country until 1956. crazy, eh?

Finally a little spice! This is the Moroccan Kuskus we had for lunch. ohhhh so good

On the beach of the Mediterranean sea with Sarah and Katy!

We visited a rug shop where we could see them making rugs and scarfs out of wool and silk.

Great memories!

Morocco!

I can now say that I have been on the continent of AFRICA!! Morocco was an amazing trip. I have so much to fill you guys in on but I need to get through finals week first. I will post pics and everything Wednesday! :)

Tierra!

Tierra is what was shouted by the lookout when land was spotted on Columbus' voyage...

School excursion to the Atlantic Ocean and Huelva!!

We went down to the Atlantic Ocean!! I can now say that I've touched the Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and both sides of the Atlantic Ocean!

Last Friday we went to Huelva to visit La Rabida. La Rabida is a monestary where Christopher Columbus stayed while waiting for funding. He went there after being rejected by the King and Queen of both Portugal and Spain to convince one of the Monks that his theories on the Earth and sea travel were legitimate. This monk, who I have forgotten the name of, was well connected to Queen Isabel so it was imperative that he had his support.

This is a replica of the Santa Maria! They had to-scale replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go on the ships because the weather was horrible. :( sad day
This is a table that was there in the Monestary when Columbus was there. Columbus touched this table and so have I!! :)

This is the room where Columbus met with the monk. It was a tiny room with no frills, however, the significance of this room is incredible. Kudos, Columbus for stumbling upon America!

This is the well and the exact location where Columbus took sail (obviously the water has receded)!

This is the well where Columbus drew the last batch of fresh water before his voyage to the new world.

Awesome trip...minus the monsoon type weather. :)

Granada

Granada was absolutely amazing!! We arrived in Granada at about 10:30am and immediately took off on a morning jog behind our tour guide. The time slot to get into the Alhambra was small so there we were running down the streets of Granada. What an entrance! We were laughing so hard because we could only imagine what a herd of Americans running through the streets must have looked like. Granada was the last Moorish reign that was sieged by Ferdinand III and Isabel on Jan. 2nd, 1492 ending the Christian reconquest. The Alhambra, which we toured, is the most visited site in Spain! It was originally designed as a military base but became the royal palace in the 13th century. The decorative detail and the Muslim influenced architecture was incredible to see. We also visited the Real Capilla de Granada where the bodies of King Ferdinand, Queen Isabel, Juana la Loca, and Felipe el Hermoso are located. It was so astounding to stand right in front of some of the most influential figures in Spanish history. I really can't even describe it.

Friday night a huge group of us went to a Flamenco show in the hills of Granada. This was the first flamenco show that I have seen so it was an awesome cultural experience. I have no idea how they dance like that...definitely put my moves to shame :)

This week has been sooooooooo long but tomorrow we are headed to Moguer-la Rabida for a day trip with the school. I have no idea what is in this city but since we get out of school for it...I'm down. That's it for now :)

...

Great trip to Granada!! Update soon to come but for now I'm in study mode for my history test tomorrow. Just a bit stressed. I know...me, stressed?? No puede ser! Ha :)

En mis sueños

So, I've always been known to talk in my sleep but Kate informed me today that I now talk in Spanish in my sleep. Apparently the other night I started rambling on about my job in Spanish!! Kate said I spoke really fast and she could understand everything that I was saying. Crazy! One of our teachers said that dreaming in Spanish is a sign of increasing proficiency so that's exciting. Anyway, thought I would share that tidbit.

Headed to Granada at 7am tomorrow so hasta Domingo :)

Sin Título

So far just another normal week. Work has been getting better and better! Less weirdos have been coming in and I am able to understand more each day. I can pretty much recognize and make all of the different orders expect for the alcohols. I'm even getting to where I know what the frequent customers will order before they even ask. School work is picking up so I have a lot of little things to get done. We are going out for pizza and ice skating tonight so that should be a lot of fun. I'm so ready for Friday since we are headed out bright and early for Granada!! Granada is known for its cheap spices and herbs. If anyone wants some cheap saffron or vanilla powder let me know. :) that's it for now

Barcelona!!

We went on our first trip that wasn't planned by the school to Barcelona this weekend!

Making it to the airport and to the center of Barcelona went off without a hitch. There were quite a few of us that went on this trip, so that made it a lot less stressful in the traveling portion.

Hostel Experience

Finding our hostel took longer than expected and when we turned the corner all we saw was neon lights. Kate's reaction is "No, no, No way...this is not happening". haha. Luckily our hostel was a little further down without neon or strobe lights. We made our way in and started talking to the host. Even though they speak the Catalan dialect of Spanish in that region the host spoke English very well. This is one major difference between Barcelona and Sevilla. Anyway, we got our keys and headed up to the room. I was the first person to go in the room that night and I guess my mind was still in "hotel" mode. I opened the door and turned on the light, not expecting to anything out of the ordinary, and all I see is a pair of eyes staring back at me. I quickly flipped off the light and jumped out of the room ridiculously fast. I have no idea why I took the lead, knowing how jumpy I am, but everyone got quite a laugh and said my face of terror was priceless. :) There were two other guys in our room the first night and the other men in the building didn't find it at all strange to walk into the women's bathroom. It was an interesting hostel experience but not at all bad. I felt safe the whole time and it seemed respectably clean.

After we got all settled Katy, Sarah, and I went out to explore a little. It was already past midnight so we went to a little wine bar that was close to our hostel. I ordered Brut Hill Cava Rosado. Cava is Spain's version of Champagne that is produced there in the Catalunya wine region. I was so excited to get to try it where it is made!!

The next morning, after a quick cafe con leche, we headed out to see the sights. Barcelona is a beautiful city but the best part is definitely the beach. It was so cool to be able to touch the Mediterranean Sea!!! Too bad it was freezing or we would have been swimming in the Mediterranean. For lunch we found this hole in the wall place that had an incredible deal and great tasting Salmon! Katy and I had more wine of course...I found my wine buddy for the semester! : D Stomachs full we went on the quest for the Magic Fountain. This fountain was supposed to be in this massive park. While we were exploring the park, we went off the path a bit and started hiking through a "forest". When we made it to the top we saw huge caution signs and realized that we had been hiking through a restricted area. We finally made it to the magic fountain and..........it wasn't even on. :( It was still a fun adventure though. We made it back to the hostel for a quick siesta and went out to find the "best chocolate cake in the world". We shared a piece for 3.5 euro!! It was pretty good but too expensive for us.

Sunday we just walked around a bit more making sure we saw everything and then headed for the airport. All in all a great trip!

More homework so that's it for now :)