http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Extremadura/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , Extremadura en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:58:24 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:58:24 UTC Day 9 Thursday 18th September 2008 Avila to TrujilloWe left the hotel around 1030am and stopped at the four pillars just out side the city centre in order to get the best view of the medieval walls.Then we headed for Guadalupe. This proved more difficult than we expected and somewhere on the road we became lost and decided to head south west for Trujillo into the Extremadura.There are various th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/Trujillo/blog-340838.html This weekend we went on a school trip to various towns in Extremadura which is the province above Sevilla. Check out the map I added. We started on Friday morning. The bus left for Merida which is a town that is famous for its well conserved Roman ruins. They have a gorgeous amphitheater and a theater. The theater is the best conserved Roman theater in Europe. There is one that is also we http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/Trujillo/blog-338355.html The next stop on our trip was Trujillo. This is a smallish town in Extremadura. I think it is fair to say we are well off the English tourist trail and we do need to use our rather bad Spanish. We are in the nicest hotel so far. It is an old convent that is now a 4 hotel. The conversion has been done well and there are some super modern lights and art work which look really good. The room where http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/Trujillo/blog-329439.html Here we go again This time not the width of Spain but the length... Our first go at the old Camino was so enjoyable we have decided to do it again... Are you mad Actually the delay in going back has not so much been about why we would do it again but which route.Should we go via. Back to the Camino Camino Frances but starting in Le Puy 1600kms How about starting in Roncesvalles and going http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/blog-238225.html I cant believe it Its almost time for me to go back stateside I leave Spain in 11 days and Europe in 2 weeks. And best of all I probably have more work to get done now than I have had to do the past school year but no worries. It will get done one way or the other. Just to update you this semester has gone so fast I went to London for 4 days over Semana Santa Holy Week the first we http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-150954.html After chocolate in Brussles Dionne and I headed south to meet up with fellow ISU Spanish major Kyle in Paris. We didnt have the best of weather in Paris it was quite windy the whole time and on and off rainy but apparently the wind wasnt nearly as bad as in central Europe trees downed across rail lines semis blown off highways really crazy stuff. Had we planned on leaving Prague a bit la http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-136176.html I thought you might appreciate some of the cultural differences I have observed here in Spain. No pictures at the moment as I have begun the first leg of Christmas vacations. I will travel with my sister Alice in Greece and Italy and then my friend Dionne through Vienna Prague Brussles meet up with Kyle in Paris and on to San Sebastian before heading back to Caceres. I hope I can carry my s http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-108271.html Two weeks ago our fantastically amazing Advanced Grammer Composition professor also known as Javier gave us a special lecture on Tauromaquia the art of bull fighting. He is an afficianado and wanted us to leave Spain knowing a bit more than we did about this important Spanish tradition.The lecture started with a bit of history and the importance of bull fighting in Spanish culture. There ar http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-106154.html No big travel events in the last two weeks but more culture than you can shake a stick at. Halloween is not celebrated here in Spain but All Saints Day is. We had November 1st off from school and I went to the farm of another ISU students host family. We picked olives scared sheep and even skinned a rabbit. I did not skin the rabbit I just watched. Oh and it is not really a rabbit but http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-102421.html We traveled to Granada and Crdoba this past weekend. It turned into quite the adventure in many ways...We were stuck outside of Granada for more than an hour in traffic. We missed our entrance time into the Alhambra the fabulous and enormous Moorish palace at the edge of the city but after some wrangling and fast Spanish our indomitable coordinator the fabulous Toni got us in and we had our http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-99782.html A brief recap to bring you up to date. In my defense getting to the internet in Spain can be quite difficult and the Universidad doesnt make it any easier. It is a crap shoot each time you enter the computer labsometimes the computers work sometimes they dont. And even when they do it is hard to post photos as most of the computers are slow.Three weeks ago we had a puente Thursday was http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-99044.html Two weekends ago the Iowa State group traveled to the city of Mrida accompanied by two Erasmus students one from Sweden and one from France our wonderful program coordinator Toi our lastminute guide Tois husband Louis and a few Spanish students. Mrida was the Roman capital of Lusitania the northwestern portion of the Iberian Penninsula and has many of the best preserved examples of http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-94242.html Queridos amigosI went to the hometown of my host mom Valncia de Alcntaras this weekend. It is a town of about 1000 people and less that 20 km from the border with Portugal. We stayed at the home of her son David outside of Valncia in an even smaller village called San Pedro de Alcntaras. The San Pedro mountains are beautiful and are high narrow ridges of granite that start abruptly an http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-91648.html Queridos amigosThe first week of classes is finished but the homework is not. The professors are wonderful and understand that some of us still need the Spanish spoken clearly and slowly. This weekend I will go to Valencia de Alcnteres a small pueblo not far from Cceres where Tresa my mom here in Spain grew up. She says that we will stay in the old house that could mean centuries old I http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-90115.html Hola amigosYa estoy en Cceres. Flights went well my luggage was not lost and all the americanos got to Cceres without any problems.Cceres is an awesome city with two very distinct parts. The old city is up on the hill and still surrounded for the most part by the medeival walls. Much of the wall isnt visable as houses and newer buildings have incorporated it into their structure. It i http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-89577.html Queridos amigosI am in the midst of packing mayhem as I leave for Caceres Spain tomorrow I will study at the Universidad de Extremadura through an Iowa State program. The end of packing is in sight and it shouldn't be long before I can close the suitcases. I think getting to Spain will be less intense than lastminute packing. Although I will have to find my way through customs baggage cl http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-88442.html Queridos amigos Dear friendsI have not yet left home and cannot believe that I leave in less than a week I leave next Wednesday and as my mother has not failed to tell me need to start packing. I assure you that I am full of worry.Hopefully my next entry you will find me in Caceres Spain.Hasta luegoClair http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-87493.html NYU's dimewhich is to say my parents dime translated through innumerable internal NYU accountstook a bunch of us to one of Spain's least famed autonomas Extremadura. Though its marginal status and name are somewhat justified the land to interesting stuff ratio does not favor interesting stuff the wilderness held certain treasures. Notable features included Mrida a fairly well preserve http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-50858.html Somehow.. I got an extra free trip with NYU to the region of Extremadura. We saw Roman Ruins and other things but because this is a learning experience they did all the info in Spanish. I know I should be learning and I am but how am I supposed to know terminology about the Roman Ruins and their tools. Either way the trip was nice and free. Check out the pictures... http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/blog-47769.html We had to leave at 8 orsquo clock this morning These early mornings are gonna kill me. I donrsquot even get up for school that early We drove like 4 hours before we reached our destination. What disgusting weather. When we got off the bus it was only drizzling. By the time we got to the ruins it was pouring. I wanted to quit life. It was so miserable. My umbrella kept flipping insid http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/blog-44867.html This morning Kris and I woke up packed our things and went to breakfast at 930am. Again we had the loaf of bread a bowl of Cola Cao hot chocolate orange juice but instead of the package of cookies we had a magdalena which are tasty little muffin things. After breakfast we returned to our rooms to get our things then boarded the bus once more to go on to our next destination. It was only http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/Trujillo/blog-42638.html This morning Kris and I reluctantly pulled ourselves out of bed and got ready for our 930am breakfast at the same restaurant we went for dinner the night before. We would have all of our meals here which was convenient since it was close and they had plenty of tables upstairs for our group. One thing that has been hard to get used to in Spain is their lack of the typical hearty breakfast we ha http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/C-ceres/blog-42453.html Today I ventured out into the cold dark morning to board a bus bound for Extremadura the western Spanish province that borders Portugal. I had not gotten to bed as early as I had hoped on Thursday night so after some issues with my alarm clock and the snooze button I managed to get ready and be out the door at 645am. UA has three organized trips this semester one was a day trip to Toledo a http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/M-rida/blog-42255.html It's raining it's pouring... why are we not surprised Today is officially the first day of Autumn although we've already had the central heating on for a week. Still on Monday I'm off to sunny SpainThe town I'm going to is called Trujillo in the region of Extremadura. Not many people have heard of Extremadura but it's the region which borders Portugal and is north of Andalucia where they http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Extremadura/Trujillo/blog-850.html