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Page 2 of caitlinquigley Travel Blog Posts
October 21st 2006
hoorah! toledo! madrid's capital of swords, marzipan, and multiculturalism! for many years, christians, muslims, and jews lived in toledo TOGETHER and didn't even kill each other. how bout that. we visited the cathedral, a church, a mosque, and a synagogue. the synagogue didn't have any bagel shops near it, much to my disappointment. bagels are the number one thing i miss. i mean yeah, family, friends, comforts of home blah blah....i talk to my family and friends. i am completely cut off from bagelkind. don't worry, my delicious cream cheese covered amigos, i'm coming home in a few months. we also visited a damasquinado workshop, which consisted of one dude making damasquinado while the group crowded around him and took pictures. that felt really weird to me so i didn't do it. i still have some ... read more
October 14th 2006
a veritable hodgepodge of images! i went on a bunch of little day trips this weekend to towns outside of madrid. thursday bethany and i went to el pardo, the palace where franco sorta hung out during his dictatorship. at one point we were walking in the gardens collecting chestnuts and a police car pulled up. two officers jumped out and asked, what are you doing here? we told them we were, uh, strolling? collecting chestnuts? they told us it was a restricted military zone. not like we had seen any signs or chains or fences or gates. they looked quite stern, even though they were wearing berets. they took down our names and passport numbers, and escorted us out. later we were walking through town and they drove by and waved to us happily. oh ... read more
October 8th 2006
we just spent an action-packed weekend in barcelona, spain's capital of style, gelato and outdoor sculptures shaped like phalluses. some highlights: * hordes of funky architecture that can only be described as dr. seuss meets star wars * finding my grandpa's full name carved into a cactus leaf on a mountain * going on a tour in a bus that the sixers used the day before * aapta and i washing our tired feet in our bathtub...roommates that wash together, stay together...or something * dancing to thriller on a platform in a discoteca on the beach with a guy in a sailor costume * skinny dipping in the mediterranean at 2 am with a team of rogues * eating a viciously delicious gofre, which is a waffle covered in hot chocolate hazelnut sauce with giant walnuts ... read more
October 6th 2006
one part of study abroad is the whole "going to school" thing. my classes are marvellous: * Spanish Language: Words that are actually useful in real life. plus, we're writing screenplays! * Spanish Film: how perfectly relevant to my majors * Documentary Production: I'm the only foreign kid in the class * How to make a dictionary: why is this class awesome? it's 20 hours over 4 consecutive days...and the only grade is attendance....also, it's about dictionaries * Science in Film: come on, that's a double whammy of fun and adventure * Belly dancing: possibly the most useful of my classes...because it is a step closer to shakira * Delightful little Spanish cooking class....so i can bring home the flava plus they're all in spanish, so i'm learning that allll the time. for most of the ... read more
October 3rd 2006
today i visited aranjuez with alexa! aranjuez is a pretty normal town, about an hour south of madrid, except that it has a ginormous royal palace. in our attempt to get to aranjuez, alexa and i had a rollicking good time sprinting down an up escalator trying to get to the right train. it is more difficult than you might think. those things move fast. we laughed like maniacs for about 10 minutes afterwards. on our tour of the palace, there was a little girl with a blue haired doll that sang "barbie girl." you know, "come on barbie, let's go party, ah ah ah yeah." the little girl was six years old and french and obviously could not appreciate the ridiculousness of the song as well as alexa and i could. when the doll started ... read more
September 24th 2006
yep, i went to a bullfight. although i can certainly appreciate the skill and grace it takes to be a matador and handle a half-ton bull, the essentially useless torture and slaughter of otherwise-healthy animals seems like a wholly bad idea. that is my verdict. i am impressed, however, that in a super-machismo society like spain, there is still a space where it's cool for guys to wear a tight, lavender, sequined suit with pink socks and a pink cape. nice work. i don't have too many pictures because i took a lot of video...perhaps i will get around to editing it for your viewing pleasure.... read more
September 16th 2006
we just took a little excursion to segovia, the world capital of roast suckling pigs! it also has a castle and an aqueduct.... read more
September 11th 2006
wow! i went to morocco! i went with lan, aapta, tatiana, consuelo, and alex. we took a six hour train ride and a 2 hour ferry and ended up in tangiers, the port city on the strait of gibraltar that the movie casablanca was ACTUALLY based on. in tangiers, we explored the medina (marketplacey area), the palace, and the new section. thanks to lan, we tried every single type of street food in the city. throughout the trip we had tons of delightful mint tea. later we spent a night in chefchaouen, an incredibly picturesque town in the mountains about two hours south of tangiers. we smoked apple-flavored hookah, had a really fantastic dinner, and met a hilarious shop owner named mohammed. on our way back to tangiers we visited the city of tatouan. we saw ... read more
September 3rd 2006
madrid is marvelous. when i got to my homestay, there was a parade of basketball hooligans on the street outside my window. mayhap a welcome parade? my homestay is amazing. my senora, Maru, is lovely and delightful. a spanish woman named Maria Jesus has been living with her for three years. i haven't seen much of her but she seems pleasant as well. there are two students from duke here too, they are very friendly. and there is me, in my out-of-this-world room. look at the pictures. more like, admire the pictures. i was completely floored when Maru showed me the room. it blows my mind every time i come home. i am so lucky. AND i am stealing internet from the shoe store across the street. my windows open up onto calle goya, which runs ... read more
August 27th 2006
An excursion! Jolly good! We only spent a few hours here, but we visited the aquarium, the tower of Hercules, and the beach. Delightful.... read more
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