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Published: November 4th 2005
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Hello, All!
Included in this Blog:
1) Cordoba/Seville
2) Home in Spain
3) Bilbao/San Sebastain
4) Stuff
1) Last weekend all of the students from the UIUC & UW-Madison program took a day trip to Cordoba. Cordoba is a nearby southern city, smaller than Granada. Afterwards, Amy, Bridget and I parted with the group and went on our own weekend adventure to Seville. Our hostal ended up being in Carmona, a “suburb” of Seville so we spent the rest of that day in the small town and had a fabulous dinner complete with tapas (I opted for the Octopus) and Sangria. We spent the following day in Seville visiting the major tourist spots. I really don’t want to spend time writing about that weekend trip because I have more things to write about so I will just put up some photos.
2) The other night I returned home to a strange man in the bathroom. His name is Toshi and he is a student from Japan and is here to study at another language school. He likes to leave the lid up and Anna and I have both discovered urine that misses the toilette. He wants to
call Mercedes “Mama”. He is also very loud in his chewing. Mercedes thinks he speaks English because they has some miscommunication but Anna and I know that he does not. He isn’t so bad to just sit and try to have a conversation with but the whole bathroom situation has to change soon … and it will …
Anna and I haven’t been getting along with Mercedes too well because of many things but hopefully that will all become better. If not, I am only here for about 4 more weeks. Oh, and Anna extended her stay—she is staying until Dec 3rd instead of leaving next week. Yea! I really enjoy having Anna around as she is turning into a really good friend.
3) This past weekend I surprised Bridget with a trip to Bilbao and San Sebastain. I was dying keeping it from her for a few weeks! The trip was amazing though because Bilbao and San Sebastain are the most beautiful cities I have seen in my life. Trust me- these photos do not adequately represent the visual stimulation these places give you. Bilbao and San Sebastain are two of the most northern cities in Spain
in Cordoba
site #2 in cordoba. name tbd, also. in the Basque Country. This area is actually so prosperous that they want to separate from Spain- there are big debates in the senate between Spain’s president, Zapatero, and Pais Basco’s president.
First, our hostel in Bilbao was right along the Bilbao river in the Deusto neighborhood, just southwest of downtown. We began our first day with a long trip to the Guggenheim, the main attraction in Bilbao, which is one of the best things to see in all of Spain. The Guggenheim is a modern art museum that was built in 1997 and designed by American Architect Frank Gehry. The main exhibit on the bottom floor was some interactive art which (my bad description…) was huge metal chunks that you could wind through and come to the center and discover … wait … I’m not telling. Anyway, just enjoy the photos of the outside. Then we took the Eusko train and ended up at the Museum de Belles Artes. The temporary exhibit there was British Pop art, which consisted of more American images than British. Oh well. We spent the night eating ice cream, strolling, and playing in the Parque De Dna Casilda De Iturrizar. This park is
in Cordoba
Ok so I remember now. These are ruins of an ancient Muslum hood. The Christians were still throwing their bodily fluids out of the window 500 years after the Muslums designed a way to have flowing water ... que guay! so beautiful- there are these huge fountains in the center where locals hand their kids bread crumbs to feed the ducks and swans and throughout it there are windy paths and cool looking trees. The park is built in a small valley so up above are basketball courts, ice cream stands, and a plaza.
The following morning we headed to San Sebastain by bus. It was only an hour and fifteen minute ride. Thankfully the bus station was right outside the hotel we were staying at so we didn’t have to suffer because of my lack of preparation for this part of the trip as I wouldn’t have known how to get to the hotel otherwise. We stayed on the top floor of a pretty swanky hotel (see pictures from our hotel window). My favorite part of the hotel was all of the free things that came with the room … you know shampoo and lotion and stuff … classy I know. After settling we headed out and walked about 20 minutes past downtown and to the Part Viejo to find this delicious little lunch place.
Then we walked to the really cool aquarium (yes, right on the
Amy
Amy hanging from the ceiling of our hostel. It was really clean, and new, but yeah ... the walls didn't go all the way up ... sea). Then, we took a bus to get to the Funicular to get to the top of Monte Igueldo. From the top of the mountain we could see the entire city along with beautiful scenery of the Mar Cantabrico (sea) and Isla Santa Clara (island). We spent many hours at the top of the mountain because there is a really old theme park up there. The first ride we went on was a “log ride” type thing that went around half of the mountain and through a tunnel which appeared to be a very cheep version of Disneyworld’s “It’s a small World” … but with Peter Pan and his hommies. Bridget was afraid that our little windmill-powered boat would go down a waterfall … but, alas, it did not. We also ventured into La Casa de Terror (house of terror), water bumper cars (we got a whale!), and we went down Spain’s version of a “Fun Slide”. We spent some of the night playing carnival games and choosing various plastic weapons as our prizes. Ate some churros with sugar (they’re different from the Mexican ones). After heading down we took the bus to Playa de la Concha (beach) and walked
church
some church by our cells for the night. we stumbled across it while we were in search of the delicious tapas and sangria we found. around, took photos, wrote in sand … you know stuff. It was romantic, I guess … and the company wasn’t so bad. : )
I wasn’t feeling well the following day so we didn’t accomplish as much as we had hoped but we had breakfast and had to be on the bus heading back to Bilbao at 12:30. Of course our plane in Bilbao was delayed. We got home safe and the “plane pooped us out”.
4) This weekend- I am staying in Granada. Yes, I know, this is a rare event but I just need to 'chill' for a weekend ... and enjoy it here I guess.
I spent last night with my lovely roommate and her hilarious group of Swedes. Sin duda, we had a great time- it kind of felt like I was back in Urbana. And of course, they waited until I had a few drinks in me to start discussing politics. Ha! They seemed surprised that I wasn't gun-ho for the Bush administration ... get it ... gun-ho!?
I re-registered for dormland when I return in the Spring. There were issues with my online application but the Hall's director handled it
all herself- I feel so special. Actually, because she was mean to me last Spring and wasn't going to let me in her dorm this Fall is the reason I decided coming to Spain NOW was a good idea- and why Bridget and I kept in contact after we met.
Now I have to email a hostal in Madrid to see if they’ll let B and I leave our luggage there for 10 days while we travel Europe. Our plan is to meet my mom and my cousin Tammy in Madrid, we will all stay there for a bit and then head to Florence together, then we are splitting off in pairs and Bridget and I are heading to Rome, then to Berlin, and then to Prague.
Love, pax,
Alex
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Jenny bo benny
non-member comment
ALLLLLLLLL what dorm?!