Blogs from Valladolid, Castile & León, Spain, Europe - page 3

Buenas Tardes amigos, Another weekend came and went here in Spain. I traveled to Valladolid (Northwest about 3 hours from Madrid) to visit some friends from AIESEC. I didn't really know what to expect because Valladolid is much smaller than Madrid, but it did used to be the capital of Spain so it has a lot of beautiful buildings and palaces. I wasn't about to turn down an invitation to stay in the apartment with three wonderful ladies, so i bought my bus ticket and was on my way. Once I got there Filio (greek friend from AIESEC) picked me up at the station and we went directly to campo grande (huuuuge park) and met up with her other roommate from Syndey who was really fun and nice as well. I wasn't really planning on sightseeing ... read more

After a quiet stroll and breakfast at our hotel we headed off for another day of adventure ending at a monesterio turned hotel. I'm afraid my journal of our trip and pictures are going to get redundant. I don't know if I just don't remember our previous trips to Europe or Spain has a lot more ruins of ancients times. It seems like evey hilltop has evidence of villages, castles, palaces, etc. We spent the day stopping off at various towns and villages as Lynn reported on the travels of King Fernando, Queen Isabel and Juana (Juana La Loca): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juana_of_Castile). History has not been kind to KF and QI's third child, whom inherited the crown, as "Joan the Mad" may be an unfair and inaccurate label...hence our fact finding journey thru Spain. We stopped off inTordesillas ... read more

Hello! I know it's been a long time since you've heard from me, but I have no pics to add, so I feel bad just sending text....oh well, hopefully I'll write clearly enough so you have a full vision of what I've seen recently. Not quite sure where I left off, but the most recent big event in Spain for me was Semana Santa, or Holy Week in Valladolid. I went to several of the Holy Week processions, which are like nothing I've seen in the US. Easter is celebrated quite differently here. The whole week in Valla is filled with processions every day to celebrate the Passion. These are indeed the processions with the people dressed up in the huge hoods, that look like KKK outfits. It is actually quite scary when you're watching the ... read more

Tuesday night for Carnaval I went to the Negra Flor to party with the other people all dressed up...including the numerous, beautiful drag queens!!! I think we should celebrate Mardi Gras more in Wisconsin! Here are some pics of the evening...happy Fat Tuesday... read more

Apparently, to get your English teaching experience in, you have to leave the english speaking countries first. Before getting back into gear for our second semester abroad, Laurel and I spent the week in Valladolid (a two hour ish drive north of Madrid) helping run an intensive english program for a group of Spanish people that work for Vodafone (like the Spanish verizon). It was 6 on 6, as in 6 members of each native language. We met the Spaniards at a four star hotel called Lasa Sport, and played a few break the ice games that I´ll definitely take back to Swedish camp, because they were a lot harder than they initially seemed. For example, trying to order ourselves correctly according to the number we had by making only bird noises and with our eyes ... read more