Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Pictures are up!
Ok, so instead of sleeping, I have posted some in-demand pictures from our trip to Spain. Enjoy! I have tons more pictures if anyone wants to see them; I also have some short videos of flamenco dancing for anyone who is interested. :)
Sunday, March 4, 2007
There's no place like home...
So, I made it back to the United States without too much hassle. We did indeed get closer and closer to the airport throughout the night, but around 1:30, after trying to sleep in the car, we realized that Torremolinos was in fact a super sketchball town, so we headed to Malaga, and arrived at the airport at 2 am. Dan C., Jamie, and Mia all slept at the airport, but Dan K. and I were wide awake (maybe it's all those nights on call). As we were waiting, we saw a homeless crazy woman talking to herself and who also told us she was from Mexico. Later on we saw a homeless man (also in the airport terminal) who pulled down his pants and sat down on the seats by the arrivals (about 100 feet from us) like he was going to the bathroom. He sat there for a while, adjusted himself, and after a few minutes pulled his pants back up and went about his other business. We later saw him take off his shoes and sleep on the ground using one of those luggage dollies as a pillow.
I had the first flight out of Malaga at 6:30 (slept the whole way), then had more of the same craziness at the Madrid airport (see previous posts), but was able to sleep for about 5 out of the 8 hours on the plane (those eye masks and ear plugs might just be my new best friends). Then got into icky JFK, taxi-ed on the runway for about an hour, then got into Columbus tonight around 7:15. At this point I had been at an airport or on a plane for the last 23 hours, and was desperate for home. Amanda picked me up, and we headed for--big surprise here--Chipotle, where I was heckled for still having my eye mask around my neck.
Anyway, back home, still working on unpacking and doing laundry, and organizing all of my 260 pictures from the trip. Back to work tomorrow, which I'm actually kind of excited about, although the 6 hour time change could throw me for a loop. I'm really looking forward to a normal-sized bed and a full-strength shower!
Stay tuned for lots of pictures from each of the 10 cities we visited! :)
I had the first flight out of Malaga at 6:30 (slept the whole way), then had more of the same craziness at the Madrid airport (see previous posts), but was able to sleep for about 5 out of the 8 hours on the plane (those eye masks and ear plugs might just be my new best friends). Then got into icky JFK, taxi-ed on the runway for about an hour, then got into Columbus tonight around 7:15. At this point I had been at an airport or on a plane for the last 23 hours, and was desperate for home. Amanda picked me up, and we headed for--big surprise here--Chipotle, where I was heckled for still having my eye mask around my neck.
Anyway, back home, still working on unpacking and doing laundry, and organizing all of my 260 pictures from the trip. Back to work tomorrow, which I'm actually kind of excited about, although the 6 hour time change could throw me for a loop. I'm really looking forward to a normal-sized bed and a full-strength shower!
Stay tuned for lots of pictures from each of the 10 cities we visited! :)
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The Costa del Sol...Saturday
So we were up and out of our dirty hostal around 10am, and Jamie and I hit up some little stores right when they opened, since we had missed them last night.
Then we reloaded into the car, squeezed out of our money parking spot, and headed off to Ronda. Ronda is about 1.5 hours away from Sevilla and is a very small and very touristy, but also very attractive city. Their claim to fame is a large bridge, the original of which was built around 1400, and from which 30 people were thrown at the start of the Spanish Civil War. For 1 euro, we went into the bridge and visited the museum. It is actually a very high bridge--I definitely would not want to be thrown off of it for any reason...unless I was attached to a bungee cord I guess.
After Ronda we zipped (well, not really zipped) down to Gibraltar, which is a British colony (passports needed, but no stamp provided!) on the very southern tip of Spain. You can actually see northern Africa from the miradors (viewpoints).
Gibraltar´s claim to fame is the crazy tailless monkeys they have, who are very brave and can jump ridiculous distances. We found the monkey area, and the car was immediately attacked by half a dozen monkeys when they saw that we had bread in the car. A couple of times they almost jumped into the car! One also pooped on the hood of the car. Apparently we could have gotten fined 500 pounds for feeding them, but guess what? We did it anyway. I almost had some video, but my camera, usually ever-so faithful, decided to crap out on me at that moment. But, we got some hilarious pictures. I´m hoping to send one into the Illinois alumni magazine!
After Gibraltar, we toured up the coast even further (we all have to be at the Malaga airport around 4:30, so we´re planning on staying up the whole night and moving progressively closer to the city through the night), to Marbella. Marbella is a really attractive small city along the Costal del Sol which is known for their previous mayor laundering 27 million euros around 2002, who was put into jail in 2002 and was subsequently out on bail. However, he died in 2004.
So, that´s where we are now. We looked in the guide book and found an authentic restaraunt with cheap food. We found it, and I thought it would be cool to order the rabbit, since I´d never had it. The meat itself was tender (once you picked it off the vertebrae) and flavorful, but a little gamey. However, I had to stop eating it once I found the skull, brain, optic nerve, and liver on my plate staring back at me. Ick.
So, I don´t think I´ll be able to post again until I get home tomorrow at 6:30 EST. I´ll have pictures up soon! :)
Then we reloaded into the car, squeezed out of our money parking spot, and headed off to Ronda. Ronda is about 1.5 hours away from Sevilla and is a very small and very touristy, but also very attractive city. Their claim to fame is a large bridge, the original of which was built around 1400, and from which 30 people were thrown at the start of the Spanish Civil War. For 1 euro, we went into the bridge and visited the museum. It is actually a very high bridge--I definitely would not want to be thrown off of it for any reason...unless I was attached to a bungee cord I guess.
After Ronda we zipped (well, not really zipped) down to Gibraltar, which is a British colony (passports needed, but no stamp provided!) on the very southern tip of Spain. You can actually see northern Africa from the miradors (viewpoints).
Gibraltar´s claim to fame is the crazy tailless monkeys they have, who are very brave and can jump ridiculous distances. We found the monkey area, and the car was immediately attacked by half a dozen monkeys when they saw that we had bread in the car. A couple of times they almost jumped into the car! One also pooped on the hood of the car. Apparently we could have gotten fined 500 pounds for feeding them, but guess what? We did it anyway. I almost had some video, but my camera, usually ever-so faithful, decided to crap out on me at that moment. But, we got some hilarious pictures. I´m hoping to send one into the Illinois alumni magazine!
After Gibraltar, we toured up the coast even further (we all have to be at the Malaga airport around 4:30, so we´re planning on staying up the whole night and moving progressively closer to the city through the night), to Marbella. Marbella is a really attractive small city along the Costal del Sol which is known for their previous mayor laundering 27 million euros around 2002, who was put into jail in 2002 and was subsequently out on bail. However, he died in 2004.
So, that´s where we are now. We looked in the guide book and found an authentic restaraunt with cheap food. We found it, and I thought it would be cool to order the rabbit, since I´d never had it. The meat itself was tender (once you picked it off the vertebrae) and flavorful, but a little gamey. However, I had to stop eating it once I found the skull, brain, optic nerve, and liver on my plate staring back at me. Ick.
So, I don´t think I´ll be able to post again until I get home tomorrow at 6:30 EST. I´ll have pictures up soon! :)
Seville continued...Friday 3-2-07
Well, we had to be out of our apartment in Sevilla pretty early, and we also had to clean, which was kind of annoying. Since we decided to stay in Sevilla for a 4th night, we had to find another hostal, which was very easy and also cheaper than the apartment. We then headed out to Italica.
Italica is about 15 min outside the city, and is a Roman city that was built around 206 BC. There was a huge Roman amphitheater which seats 28,000, some residential areas, and multiple baths. As cool and as old as it was, I think we definitely spent much more time there than was necessary.
After Italica we headed to Aracena, which is about 45 min away and has pretty much nothing except some tourist shops and some very cool grutas (caves). So we forked out 7 euros and went on a 45 min tour of underground caves. Once again, pictures were prohibited, but, once again, I snuck some anyway. These caves were much better than any I´ve seen before, so it was a good use of our dinero.
Friday night Mia and Dan wanted to go a paelladora, a restaraunt which supposedly specializes on paella. So Dan and Jamie and I went to a different restaraunt and got the menu del dia (these are super popular in Spain, and usually consist of a large quantity of moderately delicious food). I really enjoyed just sitting around and chatting at the table, without the stress of planning something else to do.
Italica is about 15 min outside the city, and is a Roman city that was built around 206 BC. There was a huge Roman amphitheater which seats 28,000, some residential areas, and multiple baths. As cool and as old as it was, I think we definitely spent much more time there than was necessary.
After Italica we headed to Aracena, which is about 45 min away and has pretty much nothing except some tourist shops and some very cool grutas (caves). So we forked out 7 euros and went on a 45 min tour of underground caves. Once again, pictures were prohibited, but, once again, I snuck some anyway. These caves were much better than any I´ve seen before, so it was a good use of our dinero.
Friday night Mia and Dan wanted to go a paelladora, a restaraunt which supposedly specializes on paella. So Dan and Jamie and I went to a different restaraunt and got the menu del dia (these are super popular in Spain, and usually consist of a large quantity of moderately delicious food). I really enjoyed just sitting around and chatting at the table, without the stress of planning something else to do.
Almost home...
So, we did indeed go to find the Archivo de Indias, which was, in fact, ridiculously boring. Jamie and I got lost on the way there, but it didn´t matter that we got there 5 minutes before it closed, because it took us approximately 4 minutes to go through the exhibit. I definitely feel duped, because there were no Columbus documents...only some computer printed maps and an old canon. Atleast it was gratis (free), because I would have been mad if I had had to pay.
After the Archivo, we walked across the city to the Plaza de Espana, which is a huge building which was constructed for the Worlds Fair in 1929. It is actually really neat looking, and has huge murals of all the major cities along the front. These were made in an effort to advertise and promote Spain during the Fair. I also ate an ice cream treat shaped like a foot, which was awesome.
After that, Dan was supposed to meet up with his host family that he stayed with while he studied in Sevilla. Well, he got lost and so we ended up being late, and by the time we got back, the other Dan and Mia were asleep. So Dan, Jamie, and I went to a tapas place which had no tablets, only tile-mosaic stairs to sit on, which was kind of cool. Unfortunately, the chorizo was less than cooked and rather chewy. However, I did have the best zumo de naranja (orange juice) that I´ve ever had.
After the Archivo, we walked across the city to the Plaza de Espana, which is a huge building which was constructed for the Worlds Fair in 1929. It is actually really neat looking, and has huge murals of all the major cities along the front. These were made in an effort to advertise and promote Spain during the Fair. I also ate an ice cream treat shaped like a foot, which was awesome.
After that, Dan was supposed to meet up with his host family that he stayed with while he studied in Sevilla. Well, he got lost and so we ended up being late, and by the time we got back, the other Dan and Mia were asleep. So Dan, Jamie, and I went to a tapas place which had no tablets, only tile-mosaic stairs to sit on, which was kind of cool. Unfortunately, the chorizo was less than cooked and rather chewy. However, I did have the best zumo de naranja (orange juice) that I´ve ever had.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Feb 28=Andalucia Day
So, we don´t really know what Anadalucia day is, and apparently neither do the locals. But this made everything closed, including the post office, bank, and grocery store, and therefore, we were unable to get toilet paper.
However, during the day, we went to the cathedral in Sevilla, which is the third largest in the world (second only to the Vatican and the one in London), and also holds the ashes of Christopher Columbus. We also climbed the 34 flights of stairs to get to the very top, which had an awesome view of the city, and very large bells that broke your ear drums every 15 minutes.
Later in the day, we met up with some of Dan´s friends, Neria and Susannah, who he knew when he studied here several years ago. We first went to another tapas bar (beware of pig grease), then went to an Italian restaraunt (notice the strange combination of foods we´ve eaten), which was very tasty.
After that we headed to a very smoky bar where there was a free flamenco show. The whole time we were debating about the gender of the flamenco dancer, but we were assured that it was in fact a woman, just a very ugly and very hairy gypsy woman. I was also concerned the whole time about the health of the man who was singing during the dancing. He was straining to hold the notes for way too long, and was beat red in the face during the entire song. I decided if he was to flop over and have a heart attack, that Dan and I would spring into action, and I would shove some Aleve down his throat...
Oh, I left out a very important point..the arguing. I won´t tell the details, except for the fact that there was a lot of name calling, slamming doors, us almost getting kicked out of our hostal, and a lot later bedtime than we had anticipated...more on that when I get back.
I think now we´re about to head to the Archivo de Indios, which has a bunch of stuff from Christopher Columbus´ trips. Should be neat! :)
However, during the day, we went to the cathedral in Sevilla, which is the third largest in the world (second only to the Vatican and the one in London), and also holds the ashes of Christopher Columbus. We also climbed the 34 flights of stairs to get to the very top, which had an awesome view of the city, and very large bells that broke your ear drums every 15 minutes.
Later in the day, we met up with some of Dan´s friends, Neria and Susannah, who he knew when he studied here several years ago. We first went to another tapas bar (beware of pig grease), then went to an Italian restaraunt (notice the strange combination of foods we´ve eaten), which was very tasty.
After that we headed to a very smoky bar where there was a free flamenco show. The whole time we were debating about the gender of the flamenco dancer, but we were assured that it was in fact a woman, just a very ugly and very hairy gypsy woman. I was also concerned the whole time about the health of the man who was singing during the dancing. He was straining to hold the notes for way too long, and was beat red in the face during the entire song. I decided if he was to flop over and have a heart attack, that Dan and I would spring into action, and I would shove some Aleve down his throat...
Oh, I left out a very important point..the arguing. I won´t tell the details, except for the fact that there was a lot of name calling, slamming doors, us almost getting kicked out of our hostal, and a lot later bedtime than we had anticipated...more on that when I get back.
I think now we´re about to head to the Archivo de Indios, which has a bunch of stuff from Christopher Columbus´ trips. Should be neat! :)
Sevilla
SEVILLA:
After the Capilla Real, we hopped in the car and headed to Sevilla, which is about 200 km from Granada. It was an interesting car ride, with a few pitstops for Spanish cheetos and ice cream treats. All 5 of us are crammed into a mini-minivan, which always makes for interesting trips.
Sevilla is also kind of a crazy place to drive, so we had to have some members of our group hop out of the car and find the hostal, while the rest of us drove around and tried to find a parking spot that was less than a 30 minute walk. We ended up finding one in a parking garage, and carrying the others´luggage the whole way...awesome.
Tuesday night in Seville, Dan and Jamie and I went to a little Mexican restaraunt called Tijuana, which was pretty tasty and had live music, but the servings were really small, and since I hadn´t eaten lunch that day, I ordered a second burrito, and got quite a few weird looks from the people waiting in the line to be seated. ¨Fat American pig!¨is pretty much what they were saying I think...
I was able to get lots of cool pictures of Sevilla at night, with the cathedral, the bull-fighting ring, and the river all lit up. The also had some really weird art work in the center of the city, with heads and anatomical parts that were several feet high.
We then attempted to move the car to a cheaper and closer parking spot, which led to some arguing (the beginning of much, actually)...
After the Capilla Real, we hopped in the car and headed to Sevilla, which is about 200 km from Granada. It was an interesting car ride, with a few pitstops for Spanish cheetos and ice cream treats. All 5 of us are crammed into a mini-minivan, which always makes for interesting trips.
Sevilla is also kind of a crazy place to drive, so we had to have some members of our group hop out of the car and find the hostal, while the rest of us drove around and tried to find a parking spot that was less than a 30 minute walk. We ended up finding one in a parking garage, and carrying the others´luggage the whole way...awesome.
Tuesday night in Seville, Dan and Jamie and I went to a little Mexican restaraunt called Tijuana, which was pretty tasty and had live music, but the servings were really small, and since I hadn´t eaten lunch that day, I ordered a second burrito, and got quite a few weird looks from the people waiting in the line to be seated. ¨Fat American pig!¨is pretty much what they were saying I think...
I was able to get lots of cool pictures of Sevilla at night, with the cathedral, the bull-fighting ring, and the river all lit up. The also had some really weird art work in the center of the city, with heads and anatomical parts that were several feet high.
We then attempted to move the car to a cheaper and closer parking spot, which led to some arguing (the beginning of much, actually)...
Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Granada
So, our last full day in Granada was spent at the cathedral, which was enormous and gorgeous. Unfortunately, we missed the time for the Capilla Real, so we had to go on Tuesday. The Capilla Real is an enormous building which was built for Ferdinand and Isabella, and has both their coffins and some of their paraphenelia, including their crowns and septers. No photos were allowed, but, because I´m a criminal, I snagged a couple of shots.
Both Monday and Sunday nights we went ¨tapeando,¨ otherwise known as eating tapas at various bars, which is what Granada is known for. A tapa is just a fancy name for an appetizer. In all honesty, I´m really not that impressed with them. The purpose of eating tapas is a social thing, and sometimes you get free tapas when you order a drink. In addition, the tapas supposedly get better the more drinks you order and the later it gets into the night. So, a good portion of our nights were spent hurrying to finish drinks and the current tapa in order to see what the next tapa would be. Hmm. This can make it not as relaxing as I thought it should be. However, some of the tapas bars are really funky, and have pork legs hanging from the ceiling with these little funnels attached to catch the grease. Kind of cool, but I am still in perpetual fear of having pig grease drip on my head...
Both Monday and Sunday nights we went ¨tapeando,¨ otherwise known as eating tapas at various bars, which is what Granada is known for. A tapa is just a fancy name for an appetizer. In all honesty, I´m really not that impressed with them. The purpose of eating tapas is a social thing, and sometimes you get free tapas when you order a drink. In addition, the tapas supposedly get better the more drinks you order and the later it gets into the night. So, a good portion of our nights were spent hurrying to finish drinks and the current tapa in order to see what the next tapa would be. Hmm. This can make it not as relaxing as I thought it should be. However, some of the tapas bars are really funky, and have pork legs hanging from the ceiling with these little funnels attached to catch the grease. Kind of cool, but I am still in perpetual fear of having pig grease drip on my head...
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