Last Post: Leaving Spain, visit to Greece & Istanbul

Well, I guess this will be my final post as my Spanish Adventure has finally come to an end *sniff sniff*.  As I'm sitting at Elliot's house in NY writing this, it just dawned on me that I'm sitting in the exact seat where I started this blog nearly 10 months ago... wow how time flies, it feels like I never left.  I know everyone says this.  Seriously, though, when we were landing in JFK it felt like I had been dropped off to catch my flight only a month before.  But enough of that.

As expected, I've integrated back into American life nearly seamlessly.  In fact, I really missed it!  I realize this as I sit here sipping on my Dunkin Donuts coffee, thinking about all of the places I can drive to with a car and all the types of food that are available to me, and laughing at the ridiculous idea of actually walking to work (or anywhere for that matter).  On our first day back we went to the mall.  Oh, malls, how I've missed you.  Oh how I can't wait to grab an iced coffee and stroll around the floors of the Providence Place, just the parking garage alone is bigger than some towns near me in Spain, and the stores are bigger than neighborhoods.  Bigger certainly is better here.  Another thing, I'm happy to no longer be the proud owner of a bidet (pronounced: buh-day) in my bathroom.  Google it.   I'm also excited to be in a place where it's socially acceptable to go meandering around with your face stuck in your phone, wonderfully oblivious to the rest of the world, which happens to be the case as I have finally entered the world of smart phones (better late than never!).  There are certainly things I will miss about Europe.  Fortunately, I haven't gone out for dinner or drinks yet.  I'm expecting the first bill I receive to potentially stop my heart.

Leaving Spain was sad.  Not heartbreaking, but sad.  As I've been bouncing around from place to place and job to job since I was a freshman in college, I don't get very attached, and 9 months in one place starts to take its toll on me.  I made great friends with all my private lessons, so it was tough to say all those goodbye's.  My older high schoolers weren't too depressed to see me go.  Not surprisingly, I wasn't their favorite person since I was the person making them do work.  The younger ones were adorable and gave me gifts, including photos, posters, flowers, and 2 sweeties sang a song for me.  The elementary school put a little book together of drawings from all the little ones, which is a great memory for me.  One of the student teachers from the school kept asking me why I wasn't crying and I didn't seem sad like she was.  I tried my best to explain how I don't get very attached to places, attempting to not sound like a cold, heartless monster as 20 little 7 year olds were clinging on me to begging me not to leave.  Spain did leave its mark on my heart though, because I unexpectedly started tearing up as my plane took off from Madrid.  But that ended quickly when Elliot and all the people around me on the plane started staring.

SO, my last trips.... We started in Athens.  It wasn't quite what I expected.  It was pretty run down, I guess that's what a major recession looks like.  It was more market-y than we expected, if that makes sense.  Lots of people trying rushing up to you trying to sell you things.. what you'd expect to see in a more developing country instead of a country in the EU (just barely hanging on- but still in it).  But I was mainly in the tourist areas, I can't speak for the rest of the city.  It was very very busy during the day, but deserted at night.  One thing that really struck me about Athens is the amount of kids there were on the streets begging for money.  It breaks my heart and makes me so angry.  Kids are more ballsy than adults, so they'll bother you anywhere.  One came up and started hanging on Elliot while we were having lunch, wrapping her arms around him and playing with his hair.  It was kind of cute/funny until she grabbed his fork and started playing with the food on his plate, then started pushing the food off his plate and onto the table.  But what can you do? She's a little girl, and one who won't understand you if you start yelling.  It was really odd.  During one lunch we had to ignore about 10 little girls coming up to us, and probably 5-10 more people trying to sell us stupid things.   I felt safer in Istanbul than in Athens, but we weren't really there at night because we stayed in the port of Piraeus.  I would recommend staying in Piraeus if you go to Athens because it's much cheaper (30 euros/night for a hotel) and is only a few metro stops from downtown Athens.  One suggestion I have to whoever is in charge of their public transport is to actually monitor their transportation systems.  After 1 day we completely gave up on paying for anything, because all you had to do to take the metro is buy a ticket and 'validate' it with a machine, a validation that no one actually checks.  We saved about 15 or more euros each by not purchasing tickets, and I can't imagine we're the only ones to do that.  We didn't even pay to get back and forth to the airport..twice. So, I'd be willing to bet Greece is losing lots of money on their public transportation... just saying.  Anyway, on the theme of saving money, we got ourselves into the Acropolis for free, saving us 12 euros each, by saying we were erasmus students in Spain (which is partially true).  To see the Parthenon in person is pretty cool.  It's hard to grasp the fact that these buildings have been standing there for thousands of years.

                                                                view of the Acropolis

                                                                The Parthenon
Honestly, the only disappointing thing is that all of the buildings on the Acropolis have been renovated so many times that you're hardly looking at the original structure anymore.  It'd be nice to see the Parthenon without the scaffolding, but what can do you?  These are things you read about during your high school ancient history classes.. and here it is in real life!  But if these buildings crumble you can kiss what's left of the Greek economy goodbye..

So, after a few days in Athens we were off to Mykonos.  We took a 5 hour ferry out of Piraeus, which was a beautiful ride through the Aegean Sea.  It wasn't like other boat rides where you're sailing through open water.  There are thousands of islands in Greece, so there's always an island visible from the ferry.  Most of them are very small and uninhabited, but very pretty.  We stayed in Mykonos for 2 days.  I chose a hotel that was far from town, out of the party scene and set in a hillside overlooking Panormos beach, one of the nicest, most relaxing beaches on the island.  We got super lucky with an upgrade into an awesome room, high up on the hill, with a really nice balcony overlooking the pool and beach.  This was for sure one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in (and totally affordable too!).  The owners of the hotel are a couple, and they really took care of us.  They gave us the room, let us stay the entire day after check out, gave us free dessert and shots after our meals.. they were great.  I highly recommend this place.

                                                                       Our hotel balcony
I also highly recommend going to Mykonos at this time because the high season hasn't started yet, so things are calmer and cheaper, but the weather is still perfect.  On the 2nd day we rented an ATV for 20 bucks.  It was a great, and reallllllyy fun way to get around and see the rest of the island's beaches and the town of Mykonos.  Mykonos is definitely in a competition with Ibiza, so if you're looking for a party trip, this is a great place.  The ATV is great, and I think even if you stayed in the main town you'd still want to rent one to get to the beaches.  Some of the best beaches are totally secluded, so you need to ride down scary hills to get there.  But completely worth it once you arrive.

Super Paradise Beach

                                                                Panormos Beach

                                                                  Mykonos town

Prices aren't too bad either, so it is surely an affordable vacation.  After beach hopping for a few days it was time to fly back into reality.  Our flight back to Athens was literally the shortest flight I've ever experienced.  I think we were in the air for 20 minutes.  By the time the flight attendants gave us our drinks, we were already descending.

All in all, Greece is a lovely country.  It's cheap and beautiful.  Great for a trip on a budget.  Stay in Piraeus, not Athens.  Don't pay for public transportation.  Don't pay for the Acropolis.  Eat lots of feta cheese.  There's nothing better than a country where it's acceptable to eat a week's worth of cheese in one salad.  Elliot and I have this phrase we always used about Spaniards.  In Spain people say "no pasa nada" which translates to "no worries".  So we describe Spain and Spaniards as being very 'no pasa nada'.  Well, if there is any country that is more 'no pasa nada' than than Spain, it is definitely Greece.  They are laid back about everything, including things you don't want people to be laid back about, for example airport security.  Anyone else notice a correlation between laid back countries and hurting economies?  I'm certainly rooting for Europe though, as I'm now stuck with a bunch of euros and a crappy exchange rate.

By the way, we JUST missed some riots going on in Athens due to that politician hitting the woman.  The riots just happened to be right where we had been 12 hours prior, so it was a relief and great luck that we missed it.

Next, we flew to Istanbul.  Istanbul is a beautiful city, and more modern than I expected.  This is also a cheap place to travel, although our hotel was a bit more expensive than the hotels in Greece.  The shopping is soo cheap.  I'm not really one to buy souvenirs, but I couldn't stop buying things.  All of the things they sell are gorgeous, like carpets, lights, jewelry, and anything else you can think of.  We stayed right near the Sirkeci tram stop, and I was very happy with that decision.  In my opinion, it's the best part of Istanbul to stay in.  It doesn't have the really high prices that come with staying in the old town, and it's not far from everything like the new part of town.  It's also right by the ferry port, in case you feel like taking a day trip to Asia.  I always felt completely safe.  So, we got lucky again with a nice hotel and great location.  I had read that things died at night, but I completely disagree.  The streets are packed with shops and restaurants that stay open really late.  I guess there wasn't much for night life, so if you want that you have to stay in another part of the city.  People aren't too pushy in shops, although haggling is the norm.  People are also really touchy, men link arms and kiss cheeks.  Randomly, a few of the people we met there had actually lived in the US.  People around that part of town all spoke English really well, and most of them were super friendly.  A man, self-named 'Mr. Delicious', offered to buy me for 2 camels.  Unlike the man in Morocco, he was actually kidding.  However, apparently its the norm to barter women and camels.

Right by the port is a bridge that links the 2 parts of the city, which has really cool bars and restaurants underneath it.  It looks beautiful when lit up at night because the colored lights reflect into the water.

Dinner isn't too expensive, and we got a lot of free tea and desserts.  Everyone drinks tea in Istanbul, and here's my opinion of it: the regular tea is really strong so I need to cut it with water, the apple tea is yummy but really sweet and tastes more like apple cider, and the mint tea kind of tastes like cough medicine.

The city is huge.  Half of it is Europe and the other half is in Asia.  This is the bridge crossing the Bosphorus, connecting Europe and Asia:

I highly recommend going to Asia (and adding another continent to your list).  The lovely ferry ride only costs 2 lira (about 1 euro) and is a 20 minute ride with views of Europe, Asia, the Sea of Marmara,  and all of the main sights.  Even if you don't want to get off the boat, at least go for the ride.  It's a nearly free cruise, a much better deal than a 40 euro Bosphorus cruise that all the tourists go for.  I considered making my own sunset cruise and just going again for the ride.  The other side of the river was much cheaper, and people didn't really speak English.  There were hardly any tourists, although I don't understand why.  In any event, it's always nice getting off the beaten path to see what a city really looks like.  

                             View from Asia: center: Hagia Sophia, left: Blue Mosque, right: Topkapi Palace

On a different day we spent the day in Sultanahment, the old part of the city with all of the tourist sites, including the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar (way less chaotic than expected), the Hippodrome (where the ancient Romans held their chariot races), the Basilica Cistern (old water storage that is huge and sits under the main part of the city), the Egyptian spice bazaar, and much more.  One thing that I thought was REALLY cool was an ancient Egyptian obelisk that was moved to the Hippodrome from Alexandria.  As a young kid I wanted to be an Egyptologist, so it was like a mini dream coming true..

Here's some travel advice for Sultanahmet: bring socks and a scarf.  In a lot of the mosques you need to cover up and remove your shoes.  Although the important places, like the Blue Mosque, will provide generic scarves and plastic bags for your shoes, I highly recommend bringing your own.  If you're grossed out about walking barefoot, make sure you bring some socks.  It's also best to dress modestly.  Istanbul is a pretty modern, liberal city, but most people do wear long pants.  In case anyone is wondering what the inside of the Blue Mosque looks like...

Another cool thing I saw is a famous mosaic of Jesus that I'd seen before but had no idea that it was sitting in the Hagia Sophia.  Maybe you'll recognize it..

Here's my favorite anecdote from this trip: while walking around someone shot off a gun right behind me,which was slightly terrifying.  Some guy was just shooting it for giggles.  When I looked at him in horror he gave me a silly, "oh, excuse me".  Oh my.  

We spent our last day just across the bridge in the Taksim area of the city, which was more modern and like being in a completely different city.  It was the more modern area, with huge shopping areas, commercial streets.  It was much less touristy and we felt like we had much less people hassling us in the street in front of stores and restaurants.  There wasn't much for historical sites (some embassies), this area appeals more to the nigh crowd (unfortunate for our sleep).  Sadly, even though we were only 2 hours from it, I couldn't muster the will to travel to the Black Sea, but I settled with seeing the Sea of Marmara.  I was kind of disappointed by my lack of motivation, but after schlepping all over the place and spending hours and hours and hours on buses, trains, planes, boats, or whatever, I couldn't bear the thought of traveling almost 3 hours each way on a crowded hot bus in traffic just to see a beach that was as pretty as the ones close by... not with a 16 hour day coming up 2 days later.  Another trip, another time.  Also, after nearly a year of traveling, Elliot realized that we had a panoramic setting on our camera.  oops.

Well, I could go on and on, but I should wrap it up.  Some closing thoughts..

One last piece of advice: never transfer more money in any country than what you think you'll need.
You get robbed on the exchange, then you'll get robbed exchanging it back.  

I finally finished my bracelet.. a bead for each country I visited.  I'm quite proud of it.

First 5 from the USA, then Turkey, Greece, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Malta, Holland, Portugal, Morocco, Ireland, Italy

All in all, despite how much I've seen I wish I could have done more. So much more.  My adventures are far from over.  Although this blog has finished, I hope to start another one with another adventure soon.  Until then.. travel, explore, take advantage of opportunities, make your own luck, DO what you want to do instead of just talking about it, and love life.

~ Nikki

Spring Adventures: Barca game, Ireland, Italy

What an exciting month this has been!  And only 8 more weeks left to go, it's unbelievable.  It makes me sad for sure, but for now let's focus on the happy stuff... like sitting 8 rows back from the best futbol player in the world during a Barcelona v. Sevilla game:

Besides that bit of awesomeness, we spent the rest of our time soaking up the awesomeness of Sevilla.  If you told me 3 years ago that I'd be living only 2 hours north of Sevilla, I would have never believed it.  I still can't believe how lucky I am.

OK, now for the highlight of this post: Venice & Verona, Italy and Dublin, Wicklow, Glendalough, & Howth, Ireland.
First things first, the pizza and gelato of Italy is truly heavenly, although I hear from Elliot that you can get equally amazing pizza is NYC... which is no surprise.  In any event, it far farrrr surpasses the pizza you can get in Spain.  I ate gelato and pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day in Italy.  Secondly, I love the Italian language, it's absolutely beautiful.  Even if you don't know what someone is saying to you, you can just close your eyes and imagine a tall, handsome Italian man serenading you.  The best is when they speak English, because they're singing your own language to you, and it makes you wonder why you don't speak it like that as well.  Also, my previous experience with Italians included a Costa cruise and trips throughout the rest of Europe.  That being said, I arrived in Italy expecting dramatic, pushy people shoving me around and yelling at me with dramatic hand gestures.  Although the hand gestures didn't disappoint, I found the people of northern Italy to be calm, welcoming, and very sweet (although I hear things are different down in Rome).

So first on the agenda was Venice.  Here are my recommendations for Venice travelers: 1.  Stay in Mestre.  It's far cheaper, a nice little city, and only an easy 10-minute train ride into Venice.  It's quiet and away from the chaos.  2.  Don't buy train tickets (if you have the guts) for trains under 30 minutes.  They are never checked.  Elliot and I decided that if we were locals we would never buy train tickets because the cost of the tickets is probably more than a fine would be should you get caught.  We took round trip trains between Mestre and Venice twice, round trip trains from Mestre and Verona, and round trip trains between Mestre and Treviso.  Our tickets were only checked between Mestre and Verona...a 90 minute ride.  Other than that, the tickets were simply money wasted.  As far as communication goes, most people spoke English and we could get by on our limited Italian (Grazie = Thank you, Prego = You're welcome, Birra = Beer, Conto = Bill).  If all else failed, we would speak at people in Spanish and hope they understood.  It all worked out for the most part.

So Venice, it's a lovely lovely place.  There truly aren't many streets.  Actually, the canals basically are the streets.  There are absolutely no cars, so every type of transport is on water, be it taxis, public transport, or even ambulances.  That's right, the hospital emergency room is actually a dock.

I also wonder how the city hasn't flooded and been destroyed.  The houses are literally on the water and most need to be accessed by boat.  The Adriatic must be relatively calm because if water levels rose even slightly, houses would flood.  A lot of the houses had little water garages.  Then, stairs would lead into the main part of the house from the garage.  Imagine your garage, only sitting on top of water instead of your driveway.  It's crazy!

I was actually a bit surprised about how run down the city was, especially with the amount of tourism.  But I suppose that's to be expected in such an old city, much like other cities in Europe.  Although the city was incredibly crowded, it was so easy to turn off at any alleyway and have a beautiful narrow canal all to yourself.  I was certainly glad that I did not stay on the island, because we never passed the same thing twice and the streets were impossible to navigate.

Finally, as anyone would expect, Venice is expensive.  However, in my opinion it's only expensive by European standards.  The prices are actually quite comparable to prices in the US, especially since I lived in DC before moving here.  And with all locations, it's easy to travel on a budget.

Our next stop was Verona.  Verona is simply beautiful.  It is exactly what every person imagines Italy to look like, with narrow streets and flowery vines hanging from balconies.  In contrast to Venice, most of the city was very clean and in good shape.  It was clearly a pretty rich city, judging by the beautiful homes, expensive cars, and high-end shops everywhere.  I don't think I had actually seen a Fendi store before coming to Italy... I had only heard about it in that song by Fergi.  The city was incredibly historic.  There were many Roman ruins, theatres, an arena (looking like a mini Colosseum), a castle, and old Roman streets running under the current ones.

There was even a wall that was built in 40 BC.  Geez! That's before Jesus was born.  It was used as a customs point into the city.  Possibly the coolest thing was that this city is the setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Although there's some debate about the authenticity of the characters, what is known is that the Montagues and Capulets were actual families, and their property is still standing in Verona today.  Of course marketing/tourism have exaggerated the importance and renamed these properties "Juliet's House" and "Romeo's House", but it was still pretty awesome to see the actual properties of these families, which were only a few blocks away from each other, by the way.  Funny that some simple neighborly feuds were blown into the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet (which was NOT Shakespeare's original idea, FYI).

So here's my recommendation for Verona:  Should you chose to travel in Verona, try to schedule it during the 1st Sunday of the month.  Every museum/monument of the city allows you 1 euro entrance, where you would normally pay about 6 euros.  With this deal, we were able to climb the Torre di Lamberti, enter into the old Roman arena, and check out the Roman archaeological museum/Roman theatre.. all 3 with amazing views of the city.  All of this for only 3 euro, pretty amazing.

view from Roman Archaeological Museum

View from Torre di Lamberti

Next stop was Ireland.  IRELAND IS COLD.  We spent 2 days in Dublin, then the last full day exploring the countryside, including the Wicklow mountains (which supply the Guiness factory with pure water), Glendalough (containing ruins from approximately the 1100's or ealier), and Howth (a nice port town near Dublin).

Dublin was amazing, but it made us homesick because its quite similar to the US, and especially very similar to Boston, minus the skyscrapers. I've realized that an Irish pub looks the same no matter where in the world you are.  But the food was awesome.  I ate Sheppard's pie, stew, burgers, fish and chips, and a host of other delicious things.  In the very first pub we went to the waiter said, "Oh, you're American? It must be nice to be able to drink beer here before you're 21."  I told him I wasn't drinking my first pint, but thanks anyway for the compliment.  Strangely enough, an older woman asked me not more than 2 hours later if I use Botox.  Ok...?

Street in Boston??

We met up with Elliot's parents in Ireland.  Thanks to his Dad's seemingly endless amount of points, we got hooked up with this amazing amazing hotel room that was 2 blocks from Temple Bar (the pub hot spot) and overlooked Trinity College.  I literally felt like a queen.

The people were great, very very friendly.  It was amazing to be able to speak English again, and we were able to make friends soo easily.  Almost every pub we went to had live music, so we had a great time.  Here's one of them:

Other fun stuff we did... We visited the Dublin Castle by hopping onto a tour that we didn't pay for.  We also visited the Guinness brewery, obviously a must see while visiting Dublin.  It's a bit pricey, but its a huge building with lots of cool things to see, plus you get to enjoy a complimentary Guinness on the 7th story Gravity Bar.  Guinness prides itself on using the purest water from the Wicklow mountains.  Obviously their huge focus on water explains the lack of flavor in the beer, but I couldn't say that there, could I?  One section I enjoyed was a collection of all of their marketing collateral from over the years.  This one is my favorite, and I feel like it explains a lot....

The view from the Gravity Bar...

On our final day we took a drive into the countryside.  Now remember, Ireland drives on the WRONG side of the road, so I can honestly say I hated every second of the drive.  It was terrifying, although the views from the mountains were beautiful.  If driving on the opposite side wasn't enough, we chose to go winding through the narrow roads of the mountains.  Adventurous? Yes.  Crazy? Possibly.  The fun began at the airport, when El's Dad was on driving duty and El was on navigation duty.  I watched from the backseat as they both got into the wrong side of the car.  I knew from there it would be an adventure.  But we're all still alive to tell it, and it ended up being pretty fun.

Glendalough

Off the coast of Wicklow

Overall, I truly loved Ireland and I was very sad to leave.  We spent our last night enjoying a lovely seafood dinner in Howth, just northeast of Dublin.  My only complaint from Ireland is the cold.  I can say I'm happy to be back in sunny Spain, where I spent the last of my glorious 2 week vacation sipping sangria and eating olives on my terrace in 80 degree weather.  Judging by the tan lines the sun leaves on my body, I estimate that ten minutes in this sun is about equivalent to 10 minutes in a tanning bed.  And since a tanning bed is supposedly equivalent to 1 hour in normal sun, don't be surprised if I arrive home looking like I just flew in from the Dominican.  Furthermore, it now doesn't get dark until about 9:30 PM, thus extending my hours in the sun, but completely messing with my sleep schedule.  

Well, I'd like to end this post with a short disclaimer.  I feel like half the fun of traveling and living abroad is being able to compare my culture to others, and celebrate the similarities and differences.  I stress that the things I say in this blog, whether they be positive or negative (ie: dramatic Italians or friendly Irish) are strictly my opinions formed on my observations and in no way should be taken too seriously or as the basis of your opinion - get out in the world and form opinions for yourself!  Likewise, I hope to never offend anyone, because the things I say are all in good fun and I have nothing but respect for every culture and country in the entire world.  Plus, I poke fun at Americans and my own culture way more than anyone else's!  My philosophy is that the ability to laugh at AND appreciate other ways of life will ultimately give us a broader understanding and acceptance of the rest of the world.  

That being said, I'm starting to miss my own country!!  But I don't want to be in too much of a rush.  As it is I only have 8 weeks of teaching left, 4 in each school.  More to come as my time here is sadly winding down to an end.. Until the next post.. Miss you all and Happy Easter to my friends and family back home!

March Thoughts

Well, not much has been going on, hence the lack of posts.  I haven't traveled in two months, and it feels like ages.  My 'dream life' has become regular day-to-day life.  But not to fear, more travel plans are in the works.

The biggest update I have is Carnaval in Badajoz.  As we have no equivalent in the US (except for maybe Mardi Gras which I've never attended), it's particularly exciting for me.  The best parts were watching the Murgas and Comparsas.  Murgas are groups that dress up and sing.  They all have a different theme of their choice, and they sing about the past year's political situation in Spain.  They're really funny to listen to, although I'm sure I don't understand most of it!  Comparsas are also performing groups, but they are percussionists and dancers.  They wear incredibly elaborate costumes, and it's what I imagine Mardi Gras groups to look like.  There was a 6 hour long parade in which 40-something different comparsas performed.  It was awesome to watch, and even better because the parade went down my street so I was able to watch it from my terrace.  Saturday and Monday nights we were out on the street for a huge botellon (outdoor drinking for which I really have no equivalent because it'd be completely illegal in the US).  No one leaves their house without a costume.  We had some other auxiliars staying with us, so we had a lot of fun.  I dressed up as a jester, Elliot was a knight, and our other friend was a king.

Other than that everything has been pretty quiet.  I'm not sure what's going on in US pop culture, but right now everyone is Spain is obsessed with this song... embrace it and love it!  There's an English version but it sucks compared the the Portuguese one:

You hear this everywhere, the bank, the grocery store, the streets, your students sing it in school... I'm not sick of it yet, and I'll surely miss it when I'm home, although if it's this popular here it MUST exist in the US.

Hmmm...what else what else?  An end of the year trip is in the works for Greece & Istanbul, but nothing confirmed yet (besides my flight to Greece!!! :)) As of right now, I should arrive back stateside sometime between June 9th and 13th!  I have mixed feelings about that.  Sometimes I can't wait to get back and somtimes I'm completely dreading it.  I love things about both countries, and likewise I hate things about both.  I love how Spain is so laid back and relaxed.  Nothing is stressful here, everyone takes their time, and no one is ever in a rush.  If you're late, oh well, no worries.  Why would I want to leave that, when there's only a 'big girl, real-life' job waiting for me back home (hopefully)?  However the same things I love about Spain sometimes tend to drive me absolutely crazy.  Like, when I'm late and I actually care to be on time, and a little old lady decides to cut me off on the sidewalk, turning my half-run into near stop.  You could have waited 2 extra seconds to throw yourself into my path, there's no one behind me..   The thing I hate the most about here is the early morning commute to work.  In DC, the 8AM metro is a peaceful place.  Everyone is sitting quietly, listening to an ipod, whispering with a friend, or grasping for a few extra minutes of sleep before they ascend into the chaos that is a typical American work day.  Here, the 8AM bus to work is anything but peaceful.  As I'm trying to get my few extra minutes of sleep before the chaos that is working at an elementary school, it seems like everyone else has been awake for 4 hours.  Everyone knows each other, and they have to scream from one end of the bus to the other to get their friend's attention. But a simple 'good morning' will not suffice.  Oh no, there's always some story that needs to be screamed over 20 other people's heads, and this is going on between maybe 3 or 4 sets of people.  If that isn't enough to drive you nuts, the bus driver is blasting freakin' party music, as if he was driving me to the club instead of work.
It's funny that the world thinks Americans are loud.  It may be true, but I've met louder.  Don't believe me?  Spend a day at work with me.  But Spaniards aren't the only ones.  I've met some loud Europeans.  Doesn't seem fair America gets faulted for that one.  Come on, there's plenty of other things wrong with Americans.

Well.. the weather got nice for about two weeks.  Not Sevilla weather, but I'll take it.  I even had a nice little tan going on.  I was getting compliments left and right, probably because I'm the only one crazy enough to lay out and tan in February while everyone else has their winter jackets still on.  The sun is so strong here!  But, as always, the weather was just a tease and we're back to clouds today.  This week will be a little cooler, but still maintaining mid 60's so I'll take it.  I have another whole month to wait before I take another trip... my poor life.  I leave on March 30th for Venice.  Hopefully the weather gets nice again so I don't get cabin fever in this little city!

Well, that's truly all that's new in the past two months.  I hope everyone back home is well, and planning your trips to Spain :) My roommate from Sevilla is coming in May, so I'm very excited about that.  Now everyone else get over here!  I can entice you with lovely weather, Sevilla, and Portuguese beaches... doesn't that sound like fun?  Miss everyone and see you all in a few months! 

December & January Travels

Since my last blog I've traveled to Lisbon & Porto, Portugal; Salamanca, Spain; and Marrakech & Essouira, Morocco.

The adventure began on Christmas Eve, Elliot and I met his parents at the airport in Lisbon.  There we rented a car and spent the week bouncing around Portugal and Spain.

We spent Christmas dinner in a quaint little Portuguese restaurant in Bairro Alto.  Our waitress had just returned from 13 years living in New Jersey.. go figure.  As usual, we met great company and had a lovely time.  Apart from Christmas dinner, we spent our time in Portugal walking until our legs wouldn't move anymore.  Luckily we had fabulous weather for the entire trip.  Everything in Portugal seemed to remind me of home.. the food, the language, people's names.. I really did grow up in little Portugal.  It definitely made me appreciate how lucky I am to have delicious Portuguese food on every corner at home.  After Lisbon we took a 30 minute trip out to Sintra to climb the walls of an old Moorish castle built in the 9th century and visit a 19th century palace.  From the top of both we had panoramic views for miles and miles over the Portuguese countryside and the Atlantic ocean.  

Next we were off to Porto, the 2nd largest city in Portugal.  It's located in the north of the country along the ocean.  Despite how far north it's located, it was quite warm while we were there.  Highlights of this stop include winding through the narrow hilly streets, watching surfers at sunset, and touring a winery of the famous port wine.  Also, we got stuck in an elevator with an operator who didn't speak English, which was slightly terrifying.. but hey it's all about the adventure.
Our 3rd stop was Salamanca, a cute little town about 3 hours north of Badajoz.  Again we encountered beautiful weather as we wound through the streets around Plaza Mayor, making stops at the major cathedrals and monasteries and enjoying the architecture.

After a 2 day break in Badajoz we were off again... but not before getting locked out on my terrace at midnight on New Year's Eve. After watching the "ball drop" in Madrid on TV, we went outside to watch the fireworks that were going off around the city.  Our sliding glass door that never wants to shut properly decides that this will be the night that it shuts, and locks.  Luckily our celebratory bottle of champagne managed to get locked out with us.  We spent nearly an hour trying to pry doors and windows open, but to no avail.  We peered over the edge of the balcony looking for potential helpful passerbys.  Finally as our last resort we started screaming our neighbor's name, and miraculously he was home at 1AM.  We had to throw our keys over to the next building, and our neighbor had to come let us into our own apartment, while we stood outside in sweatpants and slippers looking like idiots.

Okay, so after this event we were off again to beautiful Morocco, which was 3 firsts for me: first time in Africa, first time in a Muslim country, and first time in the Middle East (it counts as the Middle East- consult wikipedia).

The city of Marrakech was actually much bigger than I was expecting.  It's very traditional but pretty touristy with some high end luxury areas.  The city is surrounded on almost all sides by the Atlas mountains.  They're the highest mountains in Morocco.  It was funny to be standing in 80 degree heat and looking up at snow capped mountains just to our east.  Marrakech has a typical desert climate, very hot in the sun but cool in the shade and cold at night.  The two languages of Morocco are Arabic and French, although you are able to communicate with the necessary people in at least broken English.  The more I travel the more I realize that the world truly does speak English.  Everything there was super cheap.  When we converted our money we received a little more than 10 Dirhams to the Euro.  We bought several nice souvenirs and ate many nice meals for only around 10 euro.  

Within the city unregistered motorbikes with choking fumes seem to be the preferred means of transportation, aside from public buses that are always as crowded as the NYC subway at rush hour.  Because of this, the city is permanently covered in a haze of smog, both restricting oxygen to your lungs and restricting your view of the Atlas mountains.  As much as we tried, we had trouble capturing their beauty on camera.  This is the best we could do:

Going along the lines of not being able to breathe, smoking is also still allowed indoors.  Luckily, they outlawed this in Spain before we returned.  Another interesting point is, as this is a Muslim country, alcohol is extremely hard to find, considering the amount of Brits and Americans that are on vacation there.  The restaurants and bars that do serve alcohol only do so behind covered windows and doors.  

Morocco seems to be caught up between traditional and new culture: about half the men wear the tradition jalabas, and cover their heads with a hat.  Many women veil themselves to some degree, mostly the hijab (head scarf).  The other half of Moroccan women wear Western clothing and do not veil or cover their heads.

From all over the city you can hear the call to prayer crackling through loudspeakers 5 times per day.  They had quite different sounds.  Sometimes you were charmed by the melodic sing-songy voice, while other times it sounded like someone was angrily screaming right into your ear.  It doesn't help that I had no idea what they were saying.  On our last day we had the pleasure of watching a huge crowd of men gather in Jemma Fna Square (the main square) to perform their prayer ritual.  This is a video of the afternoon call to prayer being announced from Koutoubia, the main minaret in the city center (sorry it's sideways...blame Elliot)  It's of the less melodic variety:

 

We also took a day trip to Essouira, which is on the coast. It was quite similar to Marrakech, just smaller.  We opted to get out of the Medina markets and onto the beach to enjoy a lovely lunch in the sun.  It was relatively uneventful.. oh right except for almost being stranded there when the buses back to Marrakech were sold out and our flight left the next day.  We figured it out.  

Various other cool stuff and/or advice:

- I walked the entire length of Marrakech

- I saw wild camels roaming through the desert

- There are gas stations called "Afriquia" and "Oilibya" which I thought was pretty cool

- A man tried to buy me from Elliot for 2 camels (I'm pretty sure he was only half kidding)

- The medina of Marrakech is among the most confusing winding narrow alleyways I've ever seen... the markets are like a covered city of their own

- Public bathrooms consist of a hole in the ground.  And you're expected to pay if you want to use them.  

- Bargaining is a sport (one that I don't enjoy).  To get the price you want you must walk away then expect to be followed.

- Moroccan food, especially the spices, is absolutely delicious.  

And yes, I rode a camel.  

The Best Trip of my Life!!!

I've just returned from the best trip of my life... filled with beautiful cities, good food, great beer, and awesome friends.  As described in my previous post, I went to Dusseldorf & Aachen, Germany; Maastricht, Holland; Bruges, Belgium; and Paris, France.  It was absolutely wonderful and eye-opening.  I met some incredibly friendly, intelligent, and well-traveled friends, tried life changing beer, saw some famous sites, and realized German and Dutch peoples' language skills are far faar superior to mine.  While I could write a book on all of my experiences, I'm going to write the abridged version.  The following are the descriptions of the cities, as written on a coaster over a beer in Bruges.

• Dusseldorf - Modern, multicultural city along the Rhine river.  There are still very traditional structures, (for example a bar with a window facing the street, from when passerby's could grab a shot without having to get off their horses) the local beer is delicious, there is a huge rivalry between them and Cologne.    Very huge city, although there are no skyscrapers, the buildings tend to be quite tall compared to the rest of Europe.    
• Aachen - The perfect mix of traditional and modern Germany.  It's a very small, quaint, relaxed town with the best Christmas market we've seen.  
• Maastricht - It's a trendy, hip, commercial town with still a touch of traditional architecture.  The Dutch are incredibly intelligent and open.  The city is both modern and upscale, but has a very cozy feel.  
• Bruges - A medieval town filled with canals, fountains, and statues.  Each corner you turn is more beautiful than the last.  Meant to be experienced during Christmas time.  Extremely quiet and quaint.
• Paris - Well, what can be said about Paris that hasn't already been said a thousand times?  Beautiful, historical, stylish, and full of famous sites.  You need days and days to see everything.  

I started my trip in Dusseldorf.  We spent our first night couch surfing, and ended up becoming friends with our host, who joined us the next day in Aachen.  We spent most of our time in Germany walking through the Christmas markets and just exploring the city.  In Aachen we warmed up by spending some time in a bar from the 1500's, and met some great people from Holland and London.  The next day we went to Maastricht.  Wow, everyone in Holland speaks PERFECT English.. from shop keepers to homeless people.  We basically did the same thing there - wandered around the city and visited the Christmas market.  I had enough bratwurst and gluwein (warm spiced wine) to last me a lifetime.  We stayed in the most awesome hotel in Maastricht!!  Next city was Bruges.  Like I said above, it was a medieval town filled with really old buildings and beautiful canals.  We couldn't spend much time there because we had a 6AM train to Paris the next morning.  What can I say about Paris?  We saw it all... the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc d' Triomphe, University of Paris, Sacre Coure, Montemartre, Moulin Rouge, and probably a number of other famous sites that I didn't even realize I was seeing (or that I can't remember).   And that was my trip... the very abridged version.  It was absolutely amazing, probably one of my favorite trips of all time!!  Here are some photo highlights:

Christmas Market in Aachen, Germany

                                           

Us under the Eiffel Tower, Paris

                                       

Notre Dame, Paris

                                                         

Main Square in Bruges, Belgium

Canal in Bruges, Belgium

                                                 

Awesome hotel in Maastricht, Holland

November Updates

Wow, I just realized my last post was a month ago!  I guess this was a pretty uneventful month.  Work has been going well.  I keep myself busy during the week with work in the morning and private lessons in the afternoon.  I'm now teaching almost as many private lessons as regular school classes!  It's been a great experience so far, and it teaches me a good amount of Spanish.  Although, I catch myself using weird expressions, or saying things in a weird way.  I think because I spent the majority of my days speaking with people who speak English as a 2nd language, I've started saying things in English in a way that can be directly translated into Spanish.  Of course I can't think of an example at the moment.  Last weekend some of the Americans here got together and made Thanksgiving dinner.. it was really nice, although it can't replace spending the day with my family!

The only other (quite) exciting thing going on is my big trip that I'm leaving for in a few days.  Before I describe the trip, I want to describe my accommodations, because I'm equally as excited about them.  We joined CouchSurfing.  For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's an online community where you meet people from all over the globe, meet up with them traveling, and even stay on their couch if they're willing to host you.  I know - you're thinking this sounds sketchy.  Before you jump to conclusions, just know that there are all these verification processes, vouching, references, etc... that paired with simple common sense should keep you safe should you embark on the adventure that is Couch Surfing.  Last weekend Elliot and I hosted our first surfers, quite a nice experience.

Anyway, we will be surfing couches in Germany and Paris.  Three nights in hotels/hostels, 3 nights on "couches".  Not only does it save a traveler money, but you get to meet awesome, open-minded people along the way.. and they usually show you around their city!.. which is perfect for people like me, who can't speak a word of French yet travel to Paris.

So, the secret is out.. I'll be in Germany and France... and also Belgium and Holland!!!  So, the trip begins with one night in Sevilla.  Then, it's off to Dusseldorf, Germany.  Then Aachen, Germany.  Then Maastricht, Netherlands.  Then Bruges, Belgium.  Finally ending in Paris, France.  Can't wait!!! Although I hope I don't freeze to death in northern Europe in December lol.  So obviously there will be more to follow in the upcoming weeks :)  You'll be hearing from me soon... in the meantime get yourself pumped by checking out my travel path:

Trip to Northern Spain: Oviedo, Gijón, & Santander

So as the title implies, I took a long-weekend trip to the north of Spain.  While there, I visited Oviedo, Gijón, and Santander.  The abridged version:  I'm in love.  Northern Spain is absolutely beautiful, lying on the Atlantic coast and filled with green lush mountains - and vegetation!.. something I've come to miss since moving down to the desert.    Every city I visited I loved more than the last.  I also had the opportunity to learn about a new culture.  Similar to the US, the north and south of Spain are very different in almost every way - climate, food, traditions, attitude, pace, and even language.  The differences between the north and south almost mimic those in the US (or should I say, the differences in the US mimic those of Spain).  The south has a much warmer climate, more laid back people, a twangy accent, and a very distinctive way of life.  The north is much cooler, has less friendly people, and moves at a faster pace.  The flora also has a bit of a New England touch, which made me feel right at home.  I think I subconsciously feel more at home in the north.. I inherently feel more comfortable being impatient and in a rush!.. although this is in relevant terms, the "rush" here is nothing like the rush you find in New York.  But it's certainly more "homey" than the slow pace of the south.

 I'll describe my trip by breaking it down by city.

1st stop: Oviedo
Elliot and I took an overnight bus to Oviedo.  We left Badajoz around 10:30 PM.  Thanks to a combination of having an exhausting day of work + nyquil, I was able to channel out the smell of B.O. and the piercing voice of crazy talkative old ladies, and pass out for the majority of the lovely 9.5 hours that I spent on the bus.    I awoke at 7:30 the next morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day.  We were met at the Oviedo bus station by a friend that we had studied abroad with in Sevilla.  I must say he was a tour guide extraordinaire.  We started off the day with a nice breakfast, then it was off to explore the city.  We made a stop at the Museo de Bellas Artes to marvel at local art, and then continued through the cities main attractions - the cathedral, the government buildings, and parks.  Although it had been rainy and cool during the previous weeks, we apparently had brought the sun and warmth up from the south, because we had a beautiful day.  After a quick coffee, we decided to hike up a mountain that overlooks all of Oviedo.  At the top were some quaint old churches.

                                                  View of Oviedo from the mountain
After descending the mountain, it was time to experience a main Asturian tradition - Asturian cider (or "sidra").  Lucky for us, our friend lives just around the corner from the main street with all of the "sidrerías".  Before trying our first taste, we had to learn proper cider etiquette.  The cider is fermented with apples and yeast- no added sugar or carbonation.  The cider is to be poured from over the bartender or waiter's head into a glass.  Pouring from this height adds carbonation.  It then has to be drank immediately before it loses the carbonation.  Although the cider is tasty, I didn't much care for this.  I prefer to slowly sip on a drink to enjoy the taste rather than chugging it down then sitting there with an empty cup.  But you can't argue with tradition!

                                           *note the pour, and also how quickly you must drink

2nd stop: Gijón
Gijón is just about a half hour north of Oviedo, so it made for a perfect day trip.  Again, the amazing weather stuck with us, so we were able to walk around and experience the sun and beautiful ocean views.  We pretty much spent the day walking around a huge peninsula at the tip of the city to get panoramic 360 views of the ocean, coast line, and mountains that border the city.  After exploring the main part of the city, coast line, and beaches, we enjoyed a nice bottle of cider in the perfect afternoon sun.  Nothing too crazy or touristy, the best part of learning a new city is just walking around to see the sights.  After a few hours, we headed back to Oviedo to get a good night's sleep before heading over to Santander.

                                             view of city's main beach from peninsula
Last stop: Santander
Santander is about 2.5 hours east of Oviedo, and on the coast.  It's a fairly big city, although the sites worth seeing are in a pretty concentrated area.  We opted to take a less expensive bus, but it took about 3.5 hours to get to there.  It was quite an interesting ride.  First of all, (as expected) we were winding through very narrow roads, through picturesque mountain valleys.  It gave many photo ops, although unfortunately we were too slow to catch most of them.  Within the first half hour, a lady got locked in the bus's bathroom for a good half hour.  The lock on the door broke, and she couldn't get out until we had to stop the bus and break the door open.  It was pretty comical, but I felt terrible for her.  I probably would have broken down the door myself if it were me inside there.  Then within the next hour, the girl behind me was throwing up.  For anyone who knows me well, you know this was a very not OK situation for me.  I handled it like a champ, and soon enough we were in Santander.  We stayed in a pension that was within 10 minutes walking to the center.  It wasn't a normal hostel.  This older couple pretty much dumped us off in a room that was part of an apartment, and we never saw them again.  It was cheap and easy, though.  We pretty much did the same walking around thing here.  We saw cathedrals, the government buildings, parks, and beaches.  Similar to Gijon, Santader has a huge park that's on a peninsula.  There's also a huge castle on top of a hill in the park.  The park offered panoramic views of the mountains, bay in Santander, beaches, and city.  After a million photos, we snaked our way down to a tiny beach where we opened a bottle of wine and watched the sunset.  It was here that I went photo crazy with my obsession of sunsets.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The mountains in the background are like nothing I've seen before, and their silhouette over pink, purple, orange skies was breathtaking.

                                                           My favorite part of the trip
The next morning we woke up early to explore a bit more of the city before catching our flight back.  This was one of my favorite trips and I was very sad to have to leave the north.  My only regret is that I didn't have the time to see Bilbao and San Sebastian, but I guess can't see everything.  Now I'm back in Badajoz, contemplating what my next trip will be :)