El fin

So I'm leaving Valencia in an hour (yes, it is 3:30am here). I'm sad to be going, but ready to see everyone at home. It's bittersweet. However, before I go I have a few more things to tell y'all about. 

Wednesday, after classes were over, Jordan and I went on a mini adventure. We might have gotten a bit disoriented at one point, but that's okay necause we were just trying to kill time before heading to the Catedral. Yup! I went back to the Catedral again, but this time with a class! My Culture and Civ class took a tour, lead by the one and only Professor Valle. Although I've been to the Catedral several times, it was cool going this time and learning more of the history and seeing a bit more. For example, we saw the Chalice that was used during the Last Supper. The one in Valencia's Cathedral at least is the most likely to have been at the Last Supper because a) it dates back to the first century amd b) if you follow the path of the chalice through history, this one had the same path. Pretty cool right?! Something else we learned was that it's Valencian tradition for a lady who is about to give birth to walk around the Cathedral 9 times (and we even saw a lady doing this!).

After my visit to the Cathedral, I got to go to a birthday party :) Inma is Natalia's niece (she also lives with Maggie), and she turned 9 on Wednesday! This party was really cute, and the kids just ran around and played. But the food was quite yummy! Especially the cake. ;)

Thursday I didn't do anything too exciting because I had to study for exams, however I had the most delicious lunch! Natalia's dad came over and made Maggie and I paella, and boy was it delicious! I was super haply to have paella one last time before heading home. After paella I got to play with Pablo some, and that was fun too (way better than studying!)

Friday I had exams (yuck :P) but both were pretty easy and went well I think. After exams, Jordan and I got pastries one last tome (I might have had one before my exams too, YOLO) before I headed home for lunch. After lunch, and after packing up my suitcase (everything fit! Yay!) Natalia and I went to the church where she got married. I saw all her wedding pictures yesterday, so was excited to see the church in person. We walked from our house, getting there around 7 only to see that a wedding was about to start. Nevertheless, we went out for drinks and tapas (had nachos! Yum!) before heading back to the church. And it was gorgeous! Natalia said that being there during the wedding brought back lots of memories, especially because the priest was the same one who married her and José. We were leaving the wedding when crash bang smash, we were hit by a storm! A huge thunderstorm (which is rather rare in Valencia). At first I was a bit bummed because Maggie, Inma, Natalia and I were going to go out for tapas, but we ended up going to Inma and Maggie's house i stead for dinner. Dinner was yummy and a lot of fun talking and hanging out.

After dinner, I went to Sagardi with a few friends (it's near Plaza de la Reina) to spend tome together for out last noght in Valencia. When Sagardi closed, we went to get some ice cream and yhe. Headed fir Carmen. Carmen is the area of the city where most the ecollge kids stay and is the happening place to be on a weekend night with your friends. The first bar we went to was getting near closing, but we were still able to sneak in and stay for a little while! We actually ended up talking art with two other ladies who were sitting in the bar too! Who would have expected that! The next place we went was a lot more crowded, and after trying to figure out what we wanted, we decided that it would actually be better to go home. So Maggie, Anna and I walked on home. And this is where you find me now, at home waiting to go!

I have to say that tonight was a lot of fun! It was just the right combination of friends and family, and the perfect last taste of Valencia before I go. I'm going to miss this city a whole lot, but I'll be back before too long, I absolutely know it! Valencia, you haven't seen the last of me!

So there you have it, my journey through Valencia, from starting as a tourist who got lost a block from her house to becoming a Valenciano (or starting to get there at least!) Thanks for being faithful readers, and I hope you all get to visit Valencia some day! Come with me :)

PS I'll post picutres of these last few days when I'm back in the US

PPS It was really sad saying goodbye to Pablo and José (they went to Alicante this weekend), but I'll chat with them and Natalia on skype! :)

El martes

Panorama of Valencia!

It's my last week here (have I said that enough times), so today I wasted absolutely no time going places after class!  After eating a bocadillo (a sandwich on delicious bread), Jordan, Will and I headed out to L'Almonia.  L'Almonia is an archaeological sight where there are ancient Roman ruins underneath the city streets.  Initially found after demolishing some houses to expand la Catedral, the discovery of these ruins halted the expansion project and turned the sight into a museum.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum (although they said nothing about touching anything or climbing onto the ruins... priorities?), but it was still neat to go see.  At pretty much every point there was a video playing of what the

Basílica de la Virgen de los
Desamparados

 sight would have looked like way back in Roman times.  This was super helpful and made me wonder what the city was like years and years ago (when the city was called Valentia).

After L'Almonia (probably the lowest point in Valencia), we went to one of the highest points in the city, the Torres de Serranos.  But first, we stopped at the Basílica de la Virgen de los Desamparados.  Remember this patroness from las Fallas entry?  This is where she sits most of the time and where people can come and pray to her!

Torres de los Serranos

The Torres de Serranos were one of the original entrances to the city when there was a wall around it, but today stand by their lonesome selves awaiting visitors to climb to the top.  I had been
wanting to do this for awhile, and today couldn't have been better day for picture taking!  When we got to the top, the view of the city was incredible!  You could see everything, and more!  It was fun picking out the places I had been.



Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for long because I had to run to IVAM with my art class.  IVAM is the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, so of course my class on modern art had to go.  This museum has things that are from today's artists, and the exhibits change every 15 days (with the art being rotated through several big cities).  The exhibits were a little on the strange side, but still pretty neat, and I liked the museum overall!  Below are a few of my favorite exhibits!

 After IVAM, I couldn't go home without trying a Kinder Egg!  Yup, I got the chocolate and the prize inside! Ryan and I walked to the Plaza de la Reina before heading home, so we both stopped for this snack (well,

Kinder Surprise!

 he got horchata and fartons instead).  The Kinder Egg was super yummy (it's chocolate, for me chocolate's always yummy!)  I'll probably get another one before I go, meaning I will get a second one.  I wonder what that prize will be.

Tomorrow I have another few things lined up, before studying for my exams.  Be on the lookout for what adventures come next!

Valencian flag at the Torres de Serranos

Granada (and Pablo's Festival)

NOTE: See all my pictures from this weekend on Facebook! CLICK HERE

Well, I am back from my adventure in Granada!  This weekend was filled with walking and lots of pretty sights.  So let’s start with Friday :)

Friday morning (at 10 to be specific) we left for Granada.  This is after a whopping 4 hours of sleep because I decided to go to a discoteca Thursday night.  After walking an hour and a half (we might have went the wrong way), Jordan and I met our friends at a bar before heading to the L’umbracle (the discoteca).  At L’umbracle there was quite a bit of dancing, and an overall fun night with friends and two TAs!

Okay, now back to Friday morning.  We stopped twice during our bus ride (once for lunch and a second time for another descanso or rest) and got to Granada around 5:30.  The group (all 50 of us) checked into our hotel, which was about a 10 minute walk from the city center.  My roommate this time was Grace, but everyone from Barcelona (minus Julia) came to Granada as well.  The five of us decided to take a short siesta since none of us had slept much before heading out into town at 7.  We wandered around for a little bit, stopping here and there and looking in some of the shops, before running into another group and deciding to go eat dinner.  For dinner we had tapas, because Granada is known for their tapas!  I don’t remember what the restaurant’s name was, but we ended up ordering three of their “10 tapas sampler plates.”  Each plate came with 10 different tapas, and seeing how there were 10 of us eating we decided this would be perfect!  And the tapas were quite good :) After dinner, we of course had to get ice cream (Granada was really hot!) It was another good decision.

flamenco!

We had to be back at the hotel by 10pm so that we could go to a flamenco show.  The entire group was picked up in 2 mini buses and driven to the Albaycín.  The Albaycín is the largest Moorish city quarter in Spain, and it was around here that the city of Granada was built.  We took a quick tour of the Albaycín before heading to the show, but I’ll tell you more about these Granada streets later.

The flamenco show took place in the Albaycín in an intimate setting.  We were seated in chairs around a narrow room and the flamenco dancers were literally right in front of me.  Jordan, who sat at the other end of the room, right next to the dancers, said she felt like she was a part of the show she was that close.  Funny thing is, at the end she became a part of the show (the dancers picked a few people at the end to flamenco with them)!  The show had two halves, with two different groups of performers for each half.  Each group had a singer, a guitarist, and a few dancers who would take turn dancing by themselves or in pairs.  These dances were really impressive, with lots of quick foot taps and some fancy hand movements.  One lady even danced with a fan, and another with castinets, which are classic in flamenco.

a water fountain!

After the flamenco show, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.  Saturday, wake up was at 9:30.  After breakfast, we had free time until our trip to the Alhambra, so my group went to market.  The market area is called the “Zoco,” and it is filled with narrow stores full of teas, ceramics, pants, leather purses, abanicos, pashimas, postcards and lots of other things.  All of these narrow stores line even narrower streets.  We wandered in and out of these shops, and I got presents for people (and some pretty pictures for myself!).  After wandering through the Zoco for a while, we continued our wandering, heading up towards the Cathedral some.  We did have a bit of fun stopping at one of the public water fountains.  Water was super important to the Muslims, since they came from the desserts of Africa.  So they made sure that water was in full supply.  Nowadays, there are public fountains that are flowing with fresh, cold water at all times.  We stopped at one near our hotel every time we passed it to fill up water bottles and get a drink (it was a solid 30+ degrees Celsius all weekend).  We started walking up the lower part of the Generalife (the gardens of the Alhambra) without realizing it at one point, but came back down before we got too far up since we knew we'd be there later.

Later came, and we had to get back to the hotel to leave for the Alhambra.  After climbing onto the bus, we drove around to the other side of the Alhambra (so that we would come out the side near the city center).  The Alhambra is super strict about entrance times, especially for groups, so it was super important we got their on time.  Everyone from UVA was split into two tour groups, one group that was given a Spanish tour and the other was in English.  I decided to go with the Spanish group (and our guide was great!)  We headed in at 4, but not to the Alhambra right away.  We started with the summer palace and gardens, called the Generalife (pronounced hen-er-al-ee-fe, not general life).  The palace and gardens were originally built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302-1309), but the gardens we saw were started in 1931 (and completed in 1951).  The walkways are still paved in the traditional Granada style though, and of course they were still gorgeous!  See my pictures (here and on Facebook) to try and see how pretty! :)

 

Our entrance time for the Alhambra was 5:30, and we arrived at the entrance with just enough time to take a rest before entering.  The Alhambra was gorgeous!  The intricate details of the walls within the palace are absolutely incredible!  And I absolutely loved all the different patterns of tiles.  My one wish is that I knew Arabic, because everything known about the Alhambra is written on its walls and it would have been cool to read it.  Next time I'll just have to go with Maddy :)

Patio de los Leones

I think my favorite part of la Alhambra was the Patio de los Leones.  We lucked out because the Lions had all been restored within the past 8 months or so.  Had I been a year earlier, I wouldn't have been able to see them. These 12 lions surround a fountain and sit in the center of a courtyard, symbolizing strength, power, and sovereignty.  What's unusual about these lions is that the Muslims never sculpted animal or human figures, and yet here are 12 lions.  The reason they exist is that the lions aren't Muslim, they come from Jewish influence.  You can also see Christian influence in the Patio, or rather in a room right off the patio.  In here are pictures of the great rulers of this part of Spain (at the time when Spain was split into several empires).  These portraits were given by the Christian rulers as a gift at a time when the Muslim and Christian kings got along.  Unfortunately, the pictures were being restored during our visit.

The Salón de los Embajadores is the largest room in the Alhambra.  It is perfectly square with a dome center.  This room was the throne and reception room, and ti was here that Christopher Columbus received Isabel and Ferdinand's support to sail to the New World.  Another room we saw was the Sala de los dos Hermanas.  This is where the wives of the king lived.  The king could officially have 4 wives, but only one could be the queen.  Now, check out some of these patterns and details below!

La Catedral de Granada

Our tour of the Alhambra finished with us walking out of the gardens to the city center.  We then had some free time, so of course I went for ice cream! :) We didn't want to eat dinner since the bus was taking us to get tapas later, but we were hungry.  After dinner, it was back to the Zoco area for some last minute gifts and then chilling on the Cathedral steps.  We went back to the hotel to hang out and rest our feet form a full day of walking.  At 10pm, the bus took us to the Plaza de los Toros for tapas.  I know what you're thinking, a bull ring to eat food?  Yup!  All around the outside of the ring (built into the walls) are tapa places.  We went to the first one we saw and ordered drinks and tapas (a tapa comes with your drink, then you can order more).  The best part of this meal might have been that our two chaperones ate with us :)  That turned out to be really good, because the menu wasn't all that clear about the ordering tapas with drinks procedure and such.

Plaza de los Toros

After eating, my group wasn't ready to turn in quite yet and it was still too early to go to a discoteca, so we took a loop around the bull ring.  Best idea, because we found a little exercise park (although there wasn't much "exercise."  There were finger stairs and some hand pedals, with a few other half broken things).  We finished our loop after playing for a little bit, only to run into another group on a playground.  I promise we all are college kids and not five year olds.  From the playground, someone convinced us to go into his bar.  There are these collector people all over the place, trying to convince you to come inside because they have the best deals, hoping you'll accept the deal (typically a free something or another) and then buy more drinks.  We went in, only to find that every other person there was about 40 years old.  We left kinda quickly (sorry to those over 40 reading this, I'm not trying to offend you, but I also didn't want to be there).  The guy at the next bar quickly saw us and came in for the kill.  We said why not and went on in.  I ended up leaving after not too long with some people, and the rest followed soon after, because we rather quickly determined that it was either a gay bar, or tonight was gay couples night (men showed up in tutus).

Albaycín

 Sunday morning wake up call was at 8:30, with check out at 9:45 and we were on our way to the Albaycín by 10.  The Albaycín is a district of Granada, and this district is the largest Moorish quarter left in Spain.  Declared as a UNESCO world heritage sight (along with the Alhambra and Generalife), all the buildings are in the old style, along narrow streets with small, white walled houses.  The houses at one point had more than 40,000 inhabitants before

Albaycín

the moors were forced to leave or convert.  I loved this part of the city.  The walls were crisp and clean and some were covered in flowers, the narrow streets provided shade from the sun, and the cobblestone streets were perfect for reflexology (okay, not really, they just made your feet hurt and you worry about twisting an ankle), but I still loved it!

There were two places in the Albaycín that stood out.  First was the Puerta Nueva (built in the 12th century), also known as the Puerta de las Pesas.  This is attached to the Plaza Larga and is where the weights of goods sold in the Plaza were monitored.  Thieves would also be punished on the wall right next to the Puerta (fingers would be chopped off and hung here... at least I think that's what the guide said.  The tour was in Spanish again and I was busy taking pictures).  The other place was the Church of San Salvador, although what I liked more was the view

La Alhambra (from the Albaycín)

from up here.  From here, you can marvel at the Alhambra and Generalife with the Sierra Nevada backdrop.  We were there before flamenco the first night, so I got to snap a few pictures of the Alhambra all lit up, but returning in daytime was gorgeous, too!  The Church of San Salvador also has a bell tower, that  for one euro I got to climb up to the top.  And the view from up high was amazing!  You could see everything, the Alhambra, the Albaycín, and Granada.

Our tour finished in downtown Granada, with the Cathedral, the statue of Isabel and Christopher Columbus, the Capilla Real (where Ferdinand and Isabel are buried... I didn't get to go inside though) and a few other touristy sights.  After the tour was over, we had exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes until the bus left for Valencia. On our list of things to do, grab lunch, get ice cream, and some people wanted to grab super last minute gifts from the Zoco.  We also wanted to say buy to our friend at the Africa store (he was a part of our crú/croo/creu which developed over the weekend).  We became friends with Mr. Africa because Jordan and I talked to him while in the shop Friday, then we ran into him later Friday walking down the street, and we waved every time we passed his store Saturday.  Unfortunately we didn't see him Sunday :(  With that off our list, we decided to forego the lunch and get ice cream first.  A few people quick ran into the Zoco while

I scream, you scream, Michelle Obama screams for
ice cream!

the rest of us headed to Los Italianos - aka the best ice cream in Granada and where Michelle Obama got ice cream when she was here.  It really was the best ice cream in Granada.  I had straciatella and chocolate (who's surprised...) and it was great!  The others came and grabbed their ice cream, leaving us with just under an hour to get lunch.  We had such a yummy lunch on Saturday (and it was cheap too) that we headed back their to grab lunch to go (it was also on the way to the hotel).  I had eaten falafel and hummus Saturday, so Sunday went for a Schwarma (the place was called Schwarma King).  I couldn't tell you what a Schwarma is, except that mine had chicken and was delicious.  You should try one!  We also got a picture with the Schwarma King (aka our waiter both days) and added him to our crú/croo/creu.

We got back to the hotel with time to spare, so some sat and ate lunch before heading onto the bus.  We stopped twice during the ride home (I ate lunch at the first stop) and arrived in Valencia at 8:30, an hour early!  Then it was home to eat dinner, upload pictures and head to bed!  Oh, and did I mention that we watched 5 Harry Potter movies on the bus this weekend?  Yup, it happened!

Pablo's ready to dance!

So, now you're probably wondering what exciting thing I did today after this crazy weekend!  Well, Pablo had an end of the year celebration today with his school.  And this is a celebration unlike any in the U.S.  Each class performed two dances or skits (one in English, the other in Spanish).  Pablo was absolutely adorable and did awesome!! :)  His class danced to a Bollywood song and a song about the rainbow (did you know in Spain blue and purple are switched).

After his show, everyone came over!  When I say everyone, I mean all of Pablo's extended family - Natalia's brother and his family, her sister, her dad, and José's parents.  Pablo was super excited, and it was fun chatting.  Maggie (another UVA student) came, too, because she's living with Natalia's brother's family, so I talked to her (in Spanish of course).  And, while everyone was here, I tried horchata for the first time.  Horchata is a typical drink from Valencia, made with something called chufa.  It's in the same family as a potato, but isn't one.  I think I liked it, but I don't really know.  I drank two cups of it, so I can't say I didn't like it, but after those cups I'm still not sure what I think.  All I know is that it was sweet and not like anything I had tasted before.

Everyone left not too long ago, and Natalia and I had a quick dinner after cleaning up and putting Pablo to bed.  Now it's time for my bed time.  Only 4 days left in Spain, so I gotta be well rested to live them up!

La Alhambra

Las Fallas

Howdy!  So today's going to be short and sweet.  I went to the Museum of the Fallas.  What are the Fallas? Well, that my friend is an excellent question!  Good thing we talked about them in class today before going to the museum. :)

Let's take a few steps back, and talk about partying!  Spain is one big fiesta.  Every year, through the summer months, there are fiestas throughout the pueblos and cities.  You have probably heard of some of these fiestas (for example, San Fermín and running with the bulls in Pamplona).  Well, Valencia's fiesta is known as Las Fallas.

So, I guess I should start with what a falla is...  Basically, the fallas are giant paper maché figures.  They are made by falleras who are commissioned by each neighborhood to build their falla.  Now, I say paper maché, but these things are huge!!  Some are as tall as the 7 story buildings here, and all are more complex than just paper maché.

To make these things, first you start with a design.  The head artist draws a picture of what he plans for the falla (typically it's pretty satirical.  Once it is approved by the neighborhood committee, construction starts.  First, a miniature diagram is made of the falla, with all the colors worked out and the figures made to scale.  Next, they start making molds from plaster at full size.  These molds are made in a variety of ways, with the most complicated ones being sculpted from clay to then become a plaster mold.  For the simpler shapes, the molds are then turned into wooden frames and covered with thin strips of wood (I think poplar if I remember correctly) before finally being covered with newspaper and paste to smooth everything out.  The more complicated pieces are paper mached directly onto the plaster mold, and a wood structure is then built to fit inside of it to hold it up.

These paper maché pieces are then painted with a base coat of paint before being sanded completely smooth.  Only then does the painting start, with all the details being added with care.  This process to build a falla is a year long process, with falleras starting their work the day after the fiesta ends.  And these paper maché figures can be expensive - one cost one million euros ($1334500).

Las Fallas officially run from March 15 through 19, but really this fiesta is a year long process.  While the origins aren't officially known, the most popular theory is that they started because the carpenter guild would burn the lamps they used all winter to work on the eve of the day of San José (San José was their patron saint).  These burnings were symbolic, because they burned away all the troubles of the years and from the fire came new life (much like a phoenix).

Today, the burning of the fallas still has this symbolism, but it also has a lot more celebration.  The festival starts on the last Sunday in February, with the crida.  The crida is a call made by the fallera mayor to all the commissioned falleras, Valencianos, and all the tourists.  The fallera mayor is elected by all the falleras, and there is a bit of pomp and circumstance surrounding it (including a "royal court").  The next thing I should tell you about is called the mascletá.  This happens every single day, from March 1 until March 19, at 2pm on the dot.  At the Plaza de Ayuntamiento, there are fireworks set off.  And I mean lots of them.  This isn't so much to see them (it's two o'clock, the suns out and the lights can't be seen), but rather it's for the noise.  According to my professor, you have to keep your mouth open so your ear drums don't burst - it's that loud!

On March 15 they have what is called la planta.  All of the fallas are set out today (well, really they've been getting set up for awhile now, but they all have to be out by the end of the day).  All the commissioned falleras work hard to make sure these pieces will stand strong through the wind and the rain that could come.  These pieces are not only works of art, but also great engineering feats!  The reason everything has to be set up by the 15th is because on the 16th comes the prizes.  There are various categories with prizes, and the fallas that win the top prizes are the ones most visited by tourists.

The ofrenda is on March 17 and 18.  This tradition was actually started by Franco to give the fiesta a more religious aspect.  All the falleras offer a bouquet of flowers to Our Virgin of the Foresaken (the patroness of Valencia).  The women are all dressed up in traditional outfits, and many say this is one of the most emotional experiences they've had - after working all year on th

eir fallas being able to bring flowers to their patroness.

The fiesta ends with the Calbagata del Fuego (or Cavalcada del Foc in Valenciano) on March 19 (the día de San José).  It's now when they burn the fallas, just like the carpenter guild.  All of the fallas are burned, except for one which is put into the Fallas Museum.  These fires are huge and oftentimes are accompanied by fancy pyrotechnics!  The burning of these fallas represents all of the past year's burdens and the coming of the spring.  And as soon as the fires are out, the fiesta is over and everyone goes to bed.

So like I said, I went to the Fallas Museum today.  And there I saw all sorts of fallas from years past, and a bit on how the fallas are made!  Take a look at my pictures to see what it was like! :)

Comida!

So I said I'd tell you about school next, but food is just so much more exciting.  And I happen to currently be waiting for dinner so it's on my mind ;)  In Spain, the food and food schedule is super different from the U.S.  So let's start at the beginning of the day so you can see exactly what I'm eating and when.

Sometimes I splurge
on breakfast :)

I wake up in the morning and the first meal is breakfast (of course!)  But unlike the U.S., breakfast is really small here.  As opposed to the pancakes, waffles, fruits, muffins, doughnuts, french bread etc., my breakfast typically consists of a piece or two of toast with jelly.  Sometimes I'll make myself tea, but most the time I'm too lazy and drink water.

La Comida

Lunch, called la comida, is next.  When I eat lunch, the clock doesn't read 12.  Instead it reads 3 or 4pm.  This meal is by far the largest of the day, much like dinner is in the U.S.  Typically, I'll either have a pasta salad of some sort or a regular salad and some meat, along with bread (always bread!), fruit, and sometimes gazpacho.  The first day I saw lunch, I assumed it was for both myself and Natalia to share, but nope, it was all mine (and was all delicious).

After lunch, later in the evening, is the merienda.  This is basically a snack, and I usually eat a pastry while out exploring if I have one.  I'm really going to miss having pastelerías on every corner when I get back to the states.

Dinner is eaten around 9:30 in my family, although sometimes it's much later.  This meal is smaller than lunch, typically consisting of just a salad (well, and bread too).  Sometimes there's meat instead of a salad, but the main point is that this meal is smaller.  After dinner, we eat fruit!  Melon has been the big hit in our kitchen (it's delicious!) and then after fruit we will often finish the night with some ice cream.

Pinchos

Sometimes, instead of a merienda, I'll go out for tapas with friends.  Tapas are kind of like appetizers.  They're basically little foods that you eat before dinner (more as a social thing).  My favorite thing to get is pinchos.  Pinchos are basically tapas, except that they are all on a piece of bread and have a toothpick through them to hold everything together.  I've been trying different pinchos and have yet to find one I don't like.

So there you have it, a typical day of eating.  When I get back to the U.S. my schedule is going to be so messed up...

Mi penúltima semana

I will be home in a week and a half.  This is both sad and exciting.  I wish I could spend more time in Valencia, but I'm also ready to see friends and family at home.  With time dwindling down, and since I'll be in Granada this weekend, I'm trying to finish off my checklist!

The first check on my list came on Monday (June 10).  I wanted to go to the beach again and Jordan did too, so after classes we went out to soak up the sun (and get some sand blown our way, too).  The water was a bit colder today, but the sun was definitely brighter!  And we basically just napped the entire time.  The real adventure came in getting home.  We hopped on the same bus as last time, only to go one stop and hear the bus driver say "última parada" (last stop) and watch him walk into a cafe.  Well, we decided to head a few blocks towards the city to find another stop.  And we did, but not with any bus that we wanted.  Luckily we looked at the map and found a bus that would work.  We get to that stop, and after being passed by quite a few taxis (some of which seemed to be laughing at us), someone came up and told us that the bus we needed wasn't running (well, I guess really he asked us if it was, but it seemed more like he knew

Compromises are so hard...

 it wasn't).  Luckily, we were in the main bus stop area, so we walked to the next stop (right behind us) and climbed on.  It took us to the train station/plaza de toros where Jordan, Anna and I usually meet up.

But that wasn't the end of the struggles, oh no!  An hour and a half after leaving the beach, we had finally made it to a familiar area.  But before we had left, we decided we wanted to stop at a pastelería (pastry shop).  Now, normally there are pastry shops everywhere!!  You can't walk a block without finding one!  That is until you want to find one.  Try as we might, Jordan and I couldn't find a pastry shop.  We ended up getting ice cream instead, which was refreshing on a 90 degree day!

The Mercadona

Tuesday was Tuesday.  I took a nap after classes and then had homework to do.  For my art class, I had to draw four different pictures in the four styles of cubism - synthetic, analytic, orphic, and synchromism.  This ended up being a fun art project and didn't really seem like homework.  Plus I finished relatively quickly and got to play with Pablo!  Oh I also got mini Nutella filled croissants (to make up for Monday) and went to the grocery store!


This morning (June 12), Jordan and I went to cross something else off our lists - go to el Mercado Central.  This is Valencia's huge market place.  For you Lancaster folks, it's actually a lot like Central Market, only maybe a bit bigger (or at least the aisles are bigger to walk down).  We wandered around market for awhile, getting juice (I got Strawberry Orange juice), pastries, and saffron!  We both wanted to get saffron while in Spain, so we have also checked that off our lists!

We then had to head to class, and after Monday's bus catastrophe decided to give ourselves 45 minutes to figure it out.  We ended up stopping at a tourist shop on our way to the bus stop (where I got a recipe book of Tapas, for the next time Hannah or a sibling needs food for a fiesta!), but we still got to school by 10:20.  This time the bus adventure was quite the success, definitely making up for Monday.

Who's gonna get what... ;)

After classes, I did a bit more wandering (and actually got a little lost too!).  I was up by the Cathedral again and stopped in little boutiques and shops all around that area.  After today, my pile of souvenirs for people is growing, almost as fast as the pile of presents I bought for myself!  I still have a few more to get, but I have ideas and will be in Granada this weekend!

My days in Spain are starting to be numbered.  I think my Spanish has improved while I've been here (I know my English has gotten worse... that will be the challenge to tackle when I'm at home!).  Anyway, time to live up the last week and a half!  I'll let you know what happens!

Also, here's a peak at my art homework in case anyone wanted to see it!

BARCELONA!!!!!

NOTE:  If you want to see all my pictures, or the 138 I posted, check out my Facebook album.  If you really want to see all of them, ask me when I'm home!

That's right, I went to Barcelona this weekend.  And it was great!!! I absolutely love the city, the architecture, the food, everything!  This is going to be a long post, but be prepared for the awesomeness that was Barcelona.

We left at 10am Friday morning (no class, yay!!), but that was after only 4 hours of sleep for me.  I went out with people Thursday night, and although we didn't really end up doing anything other than people watching, quite a bit of walking, and lots of being indecisive, it was still a late night.  Luckily I had a 4 hour bus ride to sleep... Except I didn't sleep much - oops!  Instead we watched Slumdog Millionaire and Avengers and I chatted with Julia.

Anna, Grace, Maisie, Jordan, Me, Julia

Before I continue, let me tell you who exactly I hung out with this weekend, since their names might be coming up a lot.  I shared a hotel room with Jordan and Julia.  All three of us are in Cultures and Civ together, and Julia also has Art with me.  We then hung out with the other triple - Anna, Grace, and Maisie.  These three just finished SPAN 2010 (gooo you guys!) and are starting SPAN 2020.  We had a funny group, with Jordan and I being the mother hens since the others are all a year younger.

La Sagrada Familia (Nativity Facade)

Now back to Barcelona.  We arrived at the hotel around 3, and after checking in and having a bit of a siesta we were off to La Sagrada Familia.  This was beautiful!!  Absolutely gorgeous.  And guess what, it's not done yet.  Construction began in 1882, and here we are in 2013 and it's still not done.  Most of this is due to financing, but finally things are moving and construction is getting closer.  It's supposed to be finished in 2030, and I'm already planning on going back when everything's done.

Details of the Nativity Facade

La Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaudí and he worked on it his entire life.  He's even buried in the crypt there.  The entire building is one big piece of symbolism.  First, there are 3 entrances - the Nativity Facade, the Passion Facade and the Glory Facade.  Each is done in a different style and represents a different part of Jesus' life.  The Nativity Facade is probably the one most photographed, since it was finished first.This side celebrates the birth of Jesus, and is covered with intricate sculptures of the nativity story from the gospels.  The Passion Facade was the second to be built, and this side represents his crucifixion.

The Passion Facade

The style of the Passion Facade is a lot less decorative than the Nativity Facade.  The Nativity Facade faces east, and the Passion Facade faces west, which just adds to the effects of both.  The third facade is the Glory one.  This one will be the main entrance of the Sagrada Familia once it is built, but for now it's still under construction.

Each entrance has 4 bell towers, making 12 total, to symbolize the twelve disciples.  In a loop that is closer to the center stand 4 taller towers.  These represent the 4 evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In the very center, the tallest tower of them all represents Jesus.  This tower will be almost as high as the highest point in Barcelona.  And there is one more tower, just outside the evangelists towers, and a bit shorter.  This one represents the Virgin Mary.  So far they've built 8 of the 12 bell towers, and they're working on the tower for Mary and the bases of the evangelist towers.

The "tree" columns

Inside the building is absolutely gorgeous!  Unlike most churches, this one has a ton of light!!!  That's because Gaudí made his design based on nature instead of using the straight edges and corners that most architects of his time used.  What this means is that he used the trees to design the columns inside la Sagrada Familia.  These columns, like trees, have their roots in the floor and branch up to the top.  If one column falls down, none of the others will, just like trees.  Also, these columns completely support the structure of the building, meaning the walls don't need to support any weight and can be windows from the

Some of the stained glass windows

floor to the ceiling.  With these windows, there is light everywhere!  What's really cool is that they're all stained glass (or at least are going to be.  They aren't all finished but when we were there one had been finished the day before.  The colors of the stained glass are chosen by the way the light shines through them, casting colors onto the floors and creating a calming and pretty atmosphere.  To add more light, all of the towers have windows in them and will funnel light into the building.

The Crypt

There's also a balcony stretching around the perimeter for the choir.  It can hold almost 1000 people (that's a big choir).  I was also able to go down into the crypt.  I mentioned that Gaudí is buried there, but I didn't say that this is also beautiful.  Gaudí, when he was commissioned in 1883, he decided to make the crypt 4 feet higher than the original architect intended so that more light could get in.  Gaudí was originally hired because the original architect wanted to design a building that was too expensive.  Gaudí came in saying he could do it cheaper, but wanted to do it exactly how he wanted.  In reality, this building is probably a lot more expensive than the original.

The Crypt

Okay, so I could keep on going on and on about this building, but we did a lot of other things in Barcelona as well.  If you want to read more about the Sagrada Familia, look here!  I'd recommend the History, Symbology or Architecture sections.

Okay, so Friday night was a relatively low key night.  We walked around Las Ramblas, a tree lined street in central Barcelona that stretches between Plaza Catalunya and the Christopher Columbus monument.  It's pretty much a tourist place, with lots of restaurants, stores, etc.  We got dinner, wandered around, ate ice cream, and went back to the hotel to get some sleep before Saturday.

Saturday started off with a delicious array for breakfast.  We were actually surprised how much food was available since Spain doesn't really do breakfast.  For example, at home I eat toast every morning for breakfast.  At the hotel, I had kiwi, pastries, bread and jam, sausage, ham, cheese, and orange juice, plus they had a ton more food.  After breakfast, we hopped on the bus to take a tour of the city.

Panorama of Barcelona

During this tour, we passed some of the best known spots in Barcelona.  We saw some of Gaudí's most famous work (like Casa Batlló and Casa Mila), the Olympic Park, and the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña.  We got out at Olympic Park to take pictures, and stopped again at the highest point in Barcelona to admire the panoramic view of the city.  It was sweet seeing everything from that high up, and being able to pick out la Sagrada Familia from way up there (it wasn't hard, that building is HUGE!).

Park Güell

We also stopped for awhile at Park Güell.  This, of course, is another work of Gaudí.  Originally a part of housing project which hoped to create a neighborhood/garden, the project failed, but the works that remained were turned into a park years later.  Once again, the architecture of these structures is gorgeous.  I'm not going to describe the park too much, instead just posting pictures, but one thing that was really neat is the music.  There were different parts of the park that had live performers, and these performers were great. What I found out later was that these musicians are all over Barcelona.  They have to audition in order to be allowed to perform, and then on Monday each

the Park Güell salamander

performer chooses where they want to be for the week, setting up there every day and playing until the following Monday comes and places change.  The styles were all different, but if I had time I could have just sat and listened to them play.  Unfortunately there wasn't enough time, and I wanted to explore the park (and get my picture taken with the salamander!).

La Boqueria

After the bus tour, my group and I went back to Las Ramblas for some lunch and an afternoon of exploring and shopping.  I added to my pile of presents for people, and bought a few things for myself (including a scarf... I'm going to become a scarf person!).  We went to la Boqueria (Barcelona's market), too, and saw all sorts of fish, meat, fruits, and other foods.

Ice Barcelona, with the Ice Sagrada Familia

Saturday night, after a yummy dinner at an Italian restaurant, everyone except for Grace went to Ice Barcelona.  This is a bar, on the beach, made completely of ice.  Inside it was -13 degrees Celsius, so when we got there we were given coats and gloves to wear.  The inside was really cool (no pun intended).  Like I said, everything was made of ice - the counters, the seats, the walls, even the cups.  The only thing that wasn't ice was the TV (and it was playing Happy Feet while music was blasting).  My favorite part was probably the ice Sagrada Familia, but my drink was pretty good, too!  We lasted 60 minutes inside, leaving because our toes got cold (the rest of my body was nice and warm), but the average visit length is 45 minutes, so we reached our goal of being above average!

After Ice Bar, we walked down the beach a little bit before heading into a club.  The club was a lot of fun, but really loud!  The DJ that was there only comes on Saturdays, and he was really good.  Jordan, Julia, Maisie, Anna and I danced the whole time under the strobe lights and bubbles until we decided it was time to leave and take the metro home to get some sleep for Sunday.

The Cathedral of Barcelona

Sunday morning started with another delicious breakfast before our walking tour.  The walking tour was through the Gothic Quarter of the city.  We visited the Cathedral (which had a strict dress code of shoulders covered and skirts/pants down to the knees).  The inside was gorgeous, as every church has been!  I didn't get to explore too much as mass was starting, but I did get enough looks to appreciate the beauty.  We also saw the Cataluña government building, Santa Maria del Mar (another beautiful church), the official residence of the President, and a few other places.  Unfortunately, I don't remember what all of them were (that's the problem with having a walking tour), but check out the pictures if you want to see what I saw!

The bridge between the
government building
and President's house

Santa Maria del Mar

Waiting for the Picasso Museum

After the Gothic Quarter, we ate lunch and headed over to the Picasso museum.  After waiting in line for an hour, we only had 20 or so minutes to explore inside, but it was still a neat experience.  Most of the works were from the beginning of his career.  There were some blue era pictures and a few protocubismo ones (art class for the win!), with a lot of self portraits too.  At 3:45 we took off running to find the bus, hopped on, and were off around 4:15 to get back to Valencia.  I was home just in time to say goodnight to Pablo and eat dinner, before posting pictures and crashing.

A flag for Cataluña Independence
(yes, they want to be their own country)

So there you have it, my weekend in Barcelona (in a condensed version!).  If you want to see all the pictures, check out my Facebook album.  Until next time, I'm off to sleep!