tronqui1
Jill Benevides Joined: September 21st 2007
Logged in: July 17th 2009
Logged in: July 17th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
The Turkish Flag
I was very lucky to spend my birthday this year in Istanbul. East meets west, the major religions collide, and thousands of years of history are hidden behind 24,000 taxis, hundreds of modern lounge bars and cafes, and 12 million bustling Turks. The harmony within the city is the most amazing part. On any sidewalk you can see a group of girls, a few with tank tops and shorts on, others wearing headscarves and long sleeves, all being chatty, free, energetic women. Hundreds of men fill every open space on the bridges, hoping to throw their lines into the Bosphorus and catch sardines, while ferries cross from Europe to Asia, weaving between the hundreds of oil tankers traveling from Russia to the rest of the world. Ayasofya, the basilica-turned-mosque-turned-museum, a spice bazaar, 1500 year old underground ... read more
Have you ever heard the Crooked Man nursery rhyme?
Rothenburg ob der Tauber...GO for Christmas. Yes, I realize Christmas was some months ago, but since we've had a heat wave here in Spain, I needed to cool off a little (its been in the 90's all week). So, for Christmas my love and I headed North and East. We got in the car and drove straight through Spain and France and headed due East. The first real stop on our trip was Rothenburg. WOW. A little village famous for Christmas, handmade toys, and schneeballs (yes, I said SCHNEEballs). So take a look at the pics and though the weather was bad, I think you can make the decision for yourself about how special it really was. ... read more
The Spanish Steps
Jolee sheet (thats in my best Spanish accent, and remember, the J is gutteral!) If you've never been to Italy, get your culo over there. I took a 14 day stroll from Rome all the way to the Lakes region near the border with Switzerland. I ate and drank my way through Rome, Tuscany, Liguria, and Piemonte. I think the best way to do this is to start with one area and then slowly make my way through. I've been to Rome again since then as well (probably my favorite city to explore that I've ever been to, but I still have quite a few more to do). Stroll by the Colosseum or eat under a trellis in Trastavere. Buy some fresh parmesan in a traditional market, stare up at all the ceilings in the Vatican, ... read more
La Boca del Asno
Last weekend I spent some quality time with nature at a mountain pass called ¨La boca del asno¨ or ¨The Ass´s Mouth¨. Paula´s parents, Mamen and Juan Carlos, their best friend Maribel, and myself took a bus with a mycologist (mushroom specialist) to the Sierra north of Madrid. When we arrived, we were instructed to pick all the mushrooms we could find, meet up with the specialist and the other 40 people on the trip, and he would classify all that we had collected and organize them in groups of edible and toxic species. We would then have a delicious meal of...you guessed it! MUSHROOMS! (We all crossed our fingers that he REALLY knew what he was doing.) This, at least, was what was supposed to happen. Unfortunately, when we arrived, I had a little problem. ... read more
Man Vs. Beast
Because I expressed so much interest in the LAST bullfight, my friends got me tickets to another. I got to see a Puerta Grande, or a Grand Exit. The bullfighter was so good that he was carried out of the arena on the arms of the crowd. Its hard to describe a good bullfight from a bad one. Even though they do the same thing in every bullfight, some are terribly boring. The bullfighter´s job is to train the bull to see only the flag and to continue moving smoothly around the bullfighter. Eventually, if the bullfighter has done his job right, he can actually get to within an inch of the bull and get the bull to go behind his back and sides to follow the flag. In a bad bullfight, the bull stops and ... read more
First Third: Tercio de Varas
So I've been to Spain a lot, but I've never seen a bullfight. As a matter of fact, neither have most of my Spanish friends. The majority of young people here don't believe its right. I completely understand why, however, after witnessing it myself, I think the cultural importance of it outweighs the cruelty to the bull. You are free to disagree with me on that one though. A bullfight, or corrida de toros (which more accurately translates into running of the bulls) consists of 6 different individual bullfights. There are 3 matadors (or toreros in Spanish) and each fights 2 bulls, one at a time of course. So its more like you go and watch 6 different bullfights. Each bullfight is broken into thirds. In the first, or the Tercio de Varas, the bull enters ... read more
Our House in Javea
Ok, Friday I woke up, went to see 2 other BAD apartments, went grocery shopping, had dinner at 330 and packed. Left at 9:00 PM to go to the Mediterranean for the weekend to a friends house with 8 other people. We get there at 1:30 AM after driving almost 5 hours through pouring rain. The house is Rocio's, Paula's best friend from high school. Her dad has 5 houses in different parts of Spain and a house in London and Argentina....WHAT LUCK I HAVE!!! The house is beautiful. It has an in ground pool and is in the middle of this huge national park, so there are only a few houses here an there. The landscape is scrubby, with lots of short trees, mountains, and We play cards and have drinks until 3:30. Next morning ... read more
Its now 431 in the morning. I have to go to look at apartments at 930 tomorrow....and I can't sleep....AND i'm supposed to with Paula's (my friend who I live with's) dad. I'm gonna be a mess. I hope I can fall asleep by 5... So heres the lowdown on what I've done. I landed at 3:00 yesterday after being up for 24 hours. I took a 1 1/2 hour nap, got up, showered, went to see Ratatouille (in Spanish of course) then went out for dinner and drinks until 1:30. We ate tomatos with shaved goat cheese, croquetas filled with ham and cheese, and fried potates covered in jamon serrano, onion, and something else...I can't remember. Woke up this morning, oops I mean this afternoon, at 1:30 (Thursday) just in time for 3:00 dinner (garlic ... read more
