Spring Break Shapes Up...

Hello! I have started to plan and book flights for my fabulous, unbelievably luxurious, go-NYU(!), two-week-long-spring break.

First: April 8th at 10:00am I arrive in London!

And then on Thursday April 14th at 9:30pm I arrive in Berlin to see and stay with my Freshman roommate Jessica who now lives there!

And then possibly to Rome!

Avila

Avila is a town with an entire medieval wall still surrounding it's downtown. It is an amazing sight.

You can walk along the wall for only 1.50e which is amazing:

The rest of the town was beautiful too. It was by far my favorite excursion out of Madrid.

Flea Market Gold

Rebajas

Monday will be a very sad day for the people of Spain. Twice a year, and only twice a year, Spain has "Rebajas"--massive, wonderful sales. Clear out the old, in with the new. It is very interesting: Spanish stores are legally required to restrict "sales" to only February and July. It isn't "fair" for the big stores to have lower prices and sales and run the smaller stores out of business. Some very interseting food for thought.

So to celebrate the final days of rebajas I bought two dresses (6e each) and a pair of shoes (9e).

Barcelona!

Hello! Last weekend I went to Barcelona with a friend of mine. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous city. It feels slightly more bustling than Madrid, and the pace reminded me more of New York than Madrid has thus far.  The Catalan and French influences were present all over the place and gave the city a nice vibe.

I apologize for such a lag in posts! School is beginning to feel like school. I also have a slower internet connection at my homestay so uploading pictures takes a very long time. I am going to try and upload as many pictures as possible but at the same time keep my blogs more consistent! Tomorrow I will put up pictures/write about the fabulous, gorgeous, very cool town that is Avila. It has a completely preserved and intact medieval wall surrounding the entire city. Very cool. 

Cordoba y Granada

Hello!

Last weekend I went on an NYU sponsored trip to Cordoba and Granada in Andalusia. The bus ride to Cordoba was about 4.5 hours long. We watched Spanglish, which was a hideous movie, but then arrived to this gorgeous sight:

Cordoba! We toured the Mezquita (mosque):

And then walked around the city, and took the bus a few more hours to Granada. 

The next day we toured the gorgeous Alhambra:

And then had a fabulous, NYU-Sponsored lunch! 

The Restaurant!

And then we toured the Cathedral, another beautiful thing! 

Sorry for such a delayed post! The "study" part of studying abroad has finally hit. I leave for Barcelona tomorrow at 7am, and get back Monday morning at 8am! I will post pictures and stories from that as soon as possible!

Hoy puede ser un gran dia!

Every morning our Sra sings this song to us. Tonight we finally decided to you tube it and had an impromptu dance session! It was corny and delightful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T1blhMd6iA&feature=fvst

Food from today!

Here is what I ate for lunch today in the park!

1e sandwich!

A few updates!

Hello!

Just a few updates from Madrid. Last night some friends and I went to a bar where Hemingway supposedly went..

www.museo-chicote.com

It was cute, had nice little booths, but very pricey. A glass of wine here usually about 1.50-2 euros (aka cheaper than water) but at this place it was 5e!

So then we went to some other places and saved our money! But it is nice to say I have been there.

Then today we spent the day in El Retiro which is Madrid's central park. It was lovely!

Tomorrow we are going back to Retiro!

List Contd

11. Apparently, I learned at dinner today, it is incredibly maleducado (rude) to keep your left hand in your lap/off the table during meals. Apparently, the Spanish don't like the fact that they can't see what your hand is doing under the table and that you could use said dubious hand to touch their food. It was eye opening. We all tried to eat with our left hands on the table but it felt incredibly...rude.

Barcelona!

I am going to be in Barcelona on my Birthday!

My friend Abigail and I just bought bus tickets and booked a hostel! Will keep the blog posted until then! Next weekend is Cordoba y Granada!

Seville!

Hello! Sorry for such a lag in posts! I was in Sevilla without a computer for three lovely days!

We started our trip Friday morning at 8am--meaning I had to wake up at 6am which was harder than it should have been, at the rental car place. We were expecting the worst of the worst as we had requested the smallest car available that could conceivably hold four people. We were greeted with the best thing in the world--Benny the Mini:

I know. Driving through southern Spain in a Mini Cooper. It was almost too much to handle. 

Getting out of the city was a nightmare. I was the only one in the car that didn't drive stick, oops, so my only function was to take up one of the seats in the back. After several lane-less roundabouts and some assertive driving we made it out onto the open road!

The drive was about 5.5 hours and we passed the time with a variety of interesting Spanish radio stations and snacks. Lots of snacks. We consumed, over the entire trip, three boxes of one particular cookie: Palmeritas

Arriving in Seville was just as stressful as leaving Madrid. Street signs, if there are any, are always on the sides of random buildings on either side of the road, so orienting oneself and making any planned turns is nearly impossible. Eventually we found our hostel and settled in. It was a room for 8 people, we took up four beds and had our own little nook. The bathroom was huge (!) and clean (!!) so that was reassuring. 

Seville is gorgeous. Every street is lined with orange trees: 

The first day we wandered around the city, and found several different restaurant and bars to relax in and several different beautiful plazas to explore. We went into a Flamenco dress shop, found some other boutiquey stores, and spent a nice night walking around.

 We eventually went to a free Flamenco show which was interesting! It wasn't as intimate as my experience at Casa Patas, but it felt just as authentic. There was a female dancer, a guitarist, and a singer who all snapped and clapped and played and sang to make something very emotional and fun to watch!

Somehow we also managed to "stumble upon" (how we didn't notice this thing before we did is inconceivable as it is huge) 

The next day we did all of the touristy things we had planned. First we visited the Alcazar (a castle) and its beautiful grounds: 

Then we went inside the cathedral and up the huge bell tower which was gorgeous. We could see the whole city and different pieces of the cathedral. 

All in all we had a great time. The last day of our trip we spent wandering around the city more and then driving back to Madrid.

More updates coming soon!