After a busy week at home, I've moved back to Boston and settled in on campus, so I finally have a chance to sit down and write my post about my trip to Barcelona with Stephanie!
We spent four days in Barcelona, which gave us a chance to go sight seeing, experience the nightlife, swim in the Mediterranean, and relax on the beach. On our first night in the city, we decided to go out for a drink or two. The thing about the tourist cities in Spain is that bar/club employees stand outside on the main streets and offer you coupons for free drinks and try to convince you to go to their bars. Most of the time, we just said "no, gracias" and kept on walking, but finally we gave in when one guy said, "just come on, it's a lot of fun!" We followed him up to a crowded bar filled with people from all different countries and introduced us to the bartender, Salvatore, as "the American girls!" We got a big welcome, and Salvatore found barstools and told us to sit at a table with the Germans. We ended up having a great time, and spent the entire weekend hanging out with our new German friends. On our last night out together, we decided to pay Salvatore another visit. His bar was packed again, but he recognized the Germans right away, and kicked people out of our table from the first night so that we could sit there. Needless to say, they were rather confused.
Barcelona is an incredible city, and we got to see sights such as "La Sagrada Familia," a Basilica designed by the famous architect Antoní Gaudí. The project was commissioned in 1883, and construction is estimated to be completed between 2026 and 2028. We also visited Camp Nou, the home of Futbol Club Barcelona, arguably the best soccer team in Spain, and Europe.
El Gotic - this is the neighborhood of Barcelona where we stayed
The balcony at our hostel.
Passeig de Gracia
Camp Nou
Giant people-puppets dancing in a plaza.
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia, opposite facade
Me with our German friend, Tim
Steph with Tim's brother, Mike
The German brothers with our bartender, Salvatore!
When Steph arrived in Bilbao, I was excited to show her my home away from home and my new city. On her first night, I brought her out in Getxo to Puerto Viejo (the Old Port), where there are lots of bars and restaurants. She had her first pintxos there, then we went to the beach where there were fiestas going on with fireworks, rides, sideshow games, and churros stands, of course!
Steph's first pintxos!
Churros con chocolate!
And a giant chocolate-filled, chocolate-covered churro for me :)
On Day 2 with Steph, we went into Bilbao to see the Guggenheim Museum and el Museo de Bellas Artes (fine arts museum), then went to Casco Viejo for an authentic Basque lunch.
Stephanie and I were on the go during her entire visit in Spain, so I haven't had a chance to post any updates. I showed her around Bilbao, and we spent a long weekend in Barcelona before a few days of day trips to beaches not far from Bilbao. We had a fantastic time together, and I have lots of photos and stories to post about it, so check back within the next few days!
We returned home on Thursday, and were traveling for a full 24 hours. I was much more excited to come home than I expected to be. My time in Spain has been even more amazing than I'd expected, but I've missed my family and friends, and there's no place like home <3 I was excited to land in Philadelphia after our 8 hour transatlantic flight, but unfortunately, we arrived to news of a delay for our flight to Boston. It ended up being delayed 3 hours, but we finally made it home, and Dad and Mom welcomed us at Logan with big hugs :) I got to relax with the family at the campground this weekend, and I'm still adjusting to the time and dealing with some jet lag and reverse culture shock.
I'm sure I'll be back into the swing of things in no time, but my travel experience has truly made an impact on me and my perspective in the world. I'm looking forward to more adventures in the future!
I wanted to bring a taste of home to Spain, so I decided to make an apple crisp to share with my host family. The grocery shopping turned out to be the most difficult part of this endeavor. The "supermercado" that my host mother sent me to was set up, not in organized aisles, but more like a maze with dead ends and random placement of products. I searched through the section where the baking goods are about five times before I finally found sugar, and discovered that brown sugar (azúcar marrón) comes in a carton here (like a milk carton). I finally found all of the ingredients I needed, and headed home to prepare the dessert. It turns out that azúcar marrón is not like the brown sugar we have in the States, it was more like sugar in the raw. Still, I used it to make the crisp topping, and when all was said and done, it came out great! I served it with vanilla ice cream, of course, and everyone enjoyed it after our lunch :)
On a more exciting note, I am (not so patiently) awaiting the arrival of my sister! She is currently flying from Boston to Philadelphia, and this evening she'll board her flight in Madrid to land in Spain around 8:30 am local time. Then a 5 hour bus ride will bring her to Bilbao, where I will meet her at the bus station so we can continue our adventures together!
El viernes terminó el programa de la universidad. Tuve una clase de cultura y política española contemporánea, y una clase de literatura española del siglo XX. Las disfruté mucho y he aprendido mucho de la cultura, historia, y política española. Mis profesores eran estupendos, también. Durante estas semanas pasadas, pasaba las horas entre mis clases en Bilbao. Andaba por la ciudad a las tiendas, y visitaba a veces una pastelería (me encantan los martes, cuando todos los productos cuestan mitad del precio normal!) . Pasaba muchos días leyendo en el parque cerca de la universidad. Quiero compartir unas fotos de mi vida cotidiana en Bilbao.
The university program ended on Friday, the time flew by! I took a class in culture and politics of contemporary Spain, and a class in Spanish literature of the 20th century. I enjoyed them both, and I've learned a lot about the culture, history, and politics of Spain. I was also lucky to have great professors here! During the past few weeks, I've passed the time between my morning and afternoon classes in Bilbao. I walked through the city to the shops, and sometimes stopped by the pastry shop (I loved their half-priced pastry Tuesdays!) I spent many days reading in the park near the university. I'd like to share some photos of my daily life in Bilbao, check them out below!
Plaza Moyua - The building on the left is the Spanish government building.
It's one of the few places in Pais Vasco where the Spanish national flag is flown.
Bilbao is nestled in a little valley surrounded by mountains and the ocean.
I love the green hills that rise around the city and can be seen from the city center!
A beautiful church not far from my university. And my favorite pastry shop is right across the street :)
Musicians at the park in Bilbao.
The park where I spent many days reading in the shade or the sunshine.
Ever wonder how google maps gets the street view on park pathways? The google maps bicycle. I caught a picture of him as he rode by. Maybe I'll show up on google maps holding my camera!
Fountain in the park
Another view of the park
Family feeding the geese.
I think I've mentioned how people dress their kids in matching outfits. Here's an example, even the mom has a similar outfit!
Unfortunately, I've been sick with a head cold and sore throat all weekend, so I spent most of my time resting and reading. But to look at the bright side, I rounded out my Spain experience with a first hand experience of the medical system. Andrea brought me to the emergency clinic on Thursday, where I had to explain my symptoms to the nurse and doctor in Spanish. I got some medicine and I'm feeling much better today! Plus I get the souvenirs of my hospital bracelet and a copy of my sinus x-ray.
Looks like I need to catch up on my past two weekends here in Spain!
Last weekend Jessi and I went out with a group of friends we met from Austria who were studying in a computer engineering program at our university. When I came here, I expected to meet people from Spain, but I didn't think about how many people from other countries I would meet as well! These guys are all students at a university in Vienna, but they originally came from Germany, Serbia, and Bosnia. The role language plays in our lives is so interesting to me, as we became friends with this group because they realized that we speak English, and could communicate easily with them (they speak no Spanish). We had a fun night out on Friday in Casco Viejo, the old town section of Bilbao, and then said goodbye to them because they were flying back to Austria the following day.
Representing Bilbao's football club (as in soccer, of course) with our friends...and a random German man.
I spent the following day on a day trip to Santander with Andrea, Milan, and Jessi. Santander is home to "Palacio de la Magdalena," which was built in 1911 as a summer residence for the royal family. Today, it remains as a historical monument in a public park, and holds a reception hall for weddings. After our visit to the palace, we spent the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in what I consider warm ocean water (although those of you who didn't grow up going to beaching in Maine may disagree).
El Palacio de la Magdalena
My study abroad group with our wonderful director, Andrea
It was a blustery morning in Santander!
On the beach!
Santander coastline
We didn't miss a beat last weekend, and went out on Saturday night after our trip to Santander. The "fiestas" were going on in Santurzi, a suburb close to Getxo (where we live). There were carnival rides and sideshow games, churro stands, and crowds of people hanging out and dancing in the streets and outside of bars. I went on my first ever ferris wheel ride (somehow I've gone almost 20 years without ever having been on a ferris wheel, don't know how I managed that!) and then walked around town and got churros. After pushing our way through the crowds, we decided that it really wasn't our scene after all, it turned out to be too dirty and crowded for my taste. Nevertheless, we were glad we experienced the fiesta, because we really don't have anything like it back home.
Me and Milan on the ferris wheel!
A sideshow game to win entire legs of ham - only in Spain
A week of classes, with evenings out with Andrea for a Spanish movie and chocolate con churros, was followed by another exciting weekend. This past weekend also turned out to be especially musical. We kicked it off on Friday night with a concert at the Guggenheim Museum. We saw the group "Cocorosie" which is made up of two sisters and their band. The sisters are originally from the US, but formed their band in Paris. The music is a very unique blend of pop, blues, opera, electronica, and hip hop, and uses a variety of instruments from a traditional concert harp to folk instruments like wooden flutes. Check out the video below if you'd like to listen.
On Saturday morning, Jessi, Milan and I took a bus to San Sebastian. We were lucky to have much better weather for our return trip to the beach city. After we found our hostel and got settled in, we went shopping in town and out for a lunch of paella and fresh fish. We spent the afternoon at the beach before returning to the hostel for dinner. We met the other guests at the hostel, who were all from Germany, but were not all traveling together. They invited us to go out with them that night to the jazz festival - there was a concert right on the beach! The band was "The Waterboys," a Celtic rock group. We had a great time dancing to the music, and met two Irish guys on the beach who were doing the jig to the fiddle solos. I preferred this music to the music from Friday night, listen below! After the concert, we went for a nighttime dive in the ocean. It was fun at the time, but probably not my best idea from this trip seeing as I then had a long and cold walk back to the hostel in my soaking wet dress. Live and learn :)
Sunday was a beautiful beach day in San Sebastian, and we returned to Getxo last night with lots of great new memories!
This past week, has been the week of the festival of Sanfermines in Pamplona, a celebration of the city's patron saint, San Fermín. Every morning of Sanfermines begins with "el encierro," (the running of the bulls) at 8:00 am, followed by parades and "las corridas," (bullfights) later in the day. The streets of Pamplona are filled with crowds of people dressed in the traditional white clothes with red scarves and belts. Pamplona is a party 24/7 the entire week, with people hanging around and drinking in the streets all day and all night. Our university group went to see "el encierro" on Wednesday, which meant we had to leave Bilbao at 4:30 am for the 2 hour bus ride so that we wouldn't miss the action. We got seats in the arena where the bulls and crazy participants run to, and saw the people flood into the ring followed by huge charging bulls. After the bulls are herded out of the ring, a young bull is brought out to run around the crowd and charge people. It is a very unusual form of entertainment, but definitely a big part of the culture here. Another Sanfermines tradition is to eat churros con chocolate after el encierro. Sticks of fried dough dipped in thick, rich hot chocolate - of course this was my favorite part of the Sanfermines festival! We spent a few hours walking around the town visiting a flea-market area and watching a parade of "gigantes y cabezudos," which are giant puppets that people walk around with a sponge attached to a stick and try to whack kids on the head with it. I think that would be considered borderline child abuse in the US, but here, it's just part of the fun!
After
enjoying the festivities in Pamplona, we headed to San Sebastian.
This is a city known for its beautiful beaches and exciting
nightlife. Unfortunately, the weather was cold and cloudy that day,
so we couldn't enjoy the beach, but we walked around visiting shops
and got delicious gelato before returning to Bilbao.
