loronasp

The following pictures are of the public showing of the world cup final in Placa Espanya, Barcelona with approximately 75,000 people. You won't ever find a celebration like this in the States. After the final whistle was blown, I couldn't resist I had to seize the opportunity to celebrate in the fountains of Plaza Espanya with the locals. Highlights of the day were seeing so many Catalunians supportive of their countries team, including a sign that read Catalunia loves Spain. The party continued all night, with every car on the road honking their horn and every Spain flag waving. Along with the pictures I am posting search the following links to see videos taken of Placa Espanya during the game. Just copy and past into your search bar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7agMlGWnlA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHOnhpggG6I and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE... read more

Hello everybody, I am skipping a lot by posting this particular blog. I still plan on posting the rest I just need to get this big one out of the way. This trip was kind of a last minute decision. My roommate Zak did a report on the Alhambra Palace in Granada while at his University, so talked about going to see it since he first arrived. I had initially wanted to visit Seville, but after some research it ended up being much cheaper to go to Granada with my roommate. We had another last minute tag along as well, a guy in our program named Nadir. We took our final for class on Friday the 25th, and our flight to Granada was Sunday morning. We arrived in Granada around 9 am. It was all pretty ... read more

This blog entry is about my day trip to the Montjuic area just outside of Barcelona. Montjuic translates to, not a joke, the Jewish Montain. Unfortunately we just winged this trip and didn't get a tour guide or anything so as far as the history behind any of this stuff you will just have to look it up on Wikipedia. There are multiple ways to get to the mountain from Barca, the most dramatic being a teleferic (gondola) ride over the Barca harbor. It cost us 12 euro but was well worth it. It was a perfect day to take the ride, see the pictures for a great view of the harbor. It was a modern gondola so it seemed safe, and the ride lasted about 10 minutes. It dropped us off about half way up ... read more

In the morning we began the eight hour bus ride to Barcelona. It shouldn't take that long, but bus drivers in Spain are required to rest every two hours or so. This wouldn't be too big of a deal, but a Spanish siesta lasts a very long time. We spent a lot of time wondering where the bus drivers were. At one point one of the buses in our caravan wouldn't start, so all the bus drivers gathered behind it and started pushing. After if finally got started, our driver came back to our bus and struggled with the door for ten minutes. When we finally arrived in Barcelona around 6:45 pm, there were families waiting in the plaza in from of the University of Barcelona, the Placa Universitat. The ISA program had briefed us on ... read more

Toledo is one of those towns you picture in your head when you think of Spain. Unfortunately I and only one day and night to experience what this town had to offer. It is a short hour and half bus ride from Madrid, but the difference between the two is huge. The view from outside of town is stunning. It makes you feel as if you have gone back in time and are seeing the city as it was centuries ago. Although the view is nice, the best part of Toledo is down in its cramped streets. Take away some night lamps and electricity cables and you can film a movie of the Spanish Inquisition. Cobble stone roads lead through streets lined with different assortments of flowers, and stores selling all sorts of memorabilia crowd every ... read more