http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Uber/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Uber en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:25:51 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:25:51 +0000 The 56 hour Tour of Madrid Anyone who tells you that you should take an overnight bus somewhere so you wonrsquot have to find a place to stay for the night is either a chronic insomniac anyway or a college student. Either way itrsquos highly unlikely that they have your health or wellbeing in mind and you should keep that in mind when making plans with them in the future. That being s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/blog-24216.html I remember reading in Candide that in order to understand the world one must travel. Now whether or not this is an absolute I cannot say only that the more I travel the more I learn about my own place of origin if only by explaining it to others. It is quite possible that I have learnt more in books about places than I have in actually going to them but then who would deny that regarding fa http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-30915.html This weekend I and about 30 fellow classmates traveled to Toledo. My history of Spanish Art class was in the midst of studying Gothic architecture and the paintings of El Greco both of which conveniently are found in great quantity in Toledo. Passing on our 6 or more hour drive through the fantastically colorless landscape of the region known as La Mancha I now see what was so humorous http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-27530.html The Eclipse It delayed Ramadan a few days and it was the first Irsquove seen since Second Grade so I thought it warranted its own entry. A solar eclipse went over Spain and although we didnrsquot get the full eclipse that Madrid and northern Spain got we had a really cool one. Almost the entire student population of the city was outside on the streets watching it. Some of the girls remember http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-24340.html A Little Piece of America The Last Bullfight Although itrsquos more of a visual experience I should mention that I took a little tour of the Plaza de Las Americas today and got a few more pictures of the fantastic Plaza de Espaa while looking for a place to do a painting. The doves are glorious in the little plaza out front appropriately named ldquoLa Gloria de Las Palomasrdquo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-24336.html Breaking all my Fitness Rules Anyone who has known me for very long is aware of my lifelong antilove affair with running. Many people can probably tell you that my number one fitness rule goes as follows ldquoRun only when chased.rdquo It has served me well leaving me things such as rollerblading skiing and paintball see above rule to fill in the fitness gap between lifting weights with http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-24332.html Casa de Carmen The night after we returned from Crdoba my roommate and five of our classmates of the female persuasion all went to the new flamenco show in town La Casa de Carmen. Like the Carbonera the Casa de Carmen is a sit down show but at a bit higher level of quality. The entry fee was 12 euros and no seat was more than 20 feet from the stage. The ambience was indeed that of a late 19th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-22602.html Friday September 16 2005After an early rise the history of Spanish Art class along with a bunch of students who just wanted to go met at the base of the Torre del Oro. We loaded up into a much nicer charter bus than the one I rode from Cuetzalan Mexico to Puebla Mexico the summer before last nobody had to stand up or hold their chickens under their arms and headed for Crdoba the Wester http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-21975.html If you find yourself looking for a flamenco show somewhere in Seville Spain I highly suggest La Carbonera. Tucked away in the escondido plaza de las Mercenarias you wonrsquot find La Carbonera in the local hotel guide and yoursquoll be lucky to find its microscopic plaza on the street map. As the sound of footsteps echoes down the narrow brick alleys and long ivies from rooftop gardens h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-20631.html Sunday September 11 2005 Today I went back to the same church that my host family attends. Isaias my host familyrsquos son played guitar because his big brother a 40 something assistant pastor named Juan was visiting a sister church that day. Needless to say our seora was quite excited about it. Not that the message wasnrsquot interesting but the real excitement began right afterwards http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-20382.html Friday September 9 2005Friday night after a hectic run trying to make our arrangements for Portugal I ate dinner with some girls from the program that I didnrsquot know very well. I had been enjoying a slightly more relaxing afternoon until Jared called to say that the website for the travel agency that was taking the bus out to Portugal had been broken and we had no reservations. He and fou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-20193.html Wednesday Thursday Sept. 1 2005Getting used to eating dinner at 9pm and then going out with friends may be one of the hardest things about living in Europe we all met at 11pm in front of the school and went to a huge hotel we had seen on the walking tour we took of the city. Some girls we ran into during the tour were here studying from the states as well. They said there was going to be a hug http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-20057.html Tuesday August 30 2005After a 445 am wake up in the hostel David and I tried to call a taxi. Lo and behold our phone card from the front desk last night did not work any longer so we had to wake up the shift manager who sleeps in the lounge when they are closed. He was not particularly happy about it either. Fortunately he called a cab for us and when it arrived we negotiated a very fair price http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-19678.html Arriving in Milan after an early rise and flight by Ryanair we experienced for the first time what it is like to encounter a third language and culture in one day entirely foreign to both of us Davidrsquos excellent French proved more than proficient for our time in Paris. Having several hours until our train departed from Milan to Florence we made our way via the subway to the Duomo cathe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-18653.html On our first day David and I walked to the Louvre Muse Rodin the tomb of Napoleon the Muse drsquoOrsay and finally knocked over some interesting Parisian food at the famous cafe Les Deux Magots. After buying the Museum card that allows us to hit 36 of Parisrsquo major museums and monuments for free euro18 for 1day card we joined the mile long line to enter the Louvre. Seeing the Wi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-18632.html Orientation week at JBU has come to a close and at last I am in Paris. No I am not in Paris I'm in Florence but since I didnt' have time to write in Paris we'll pretend like I'm in Paris on a river well next to a river and the sun is pouring through the surprisingly chocolatecolored Eiffel Tower.I'd like to give my thanks to my dear friend Billy Nye for his spectacular generosity and for http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-17821.html