Dbellgo!

Bullfight! Olé-Olé-Olé-Olé

2012-06-14T16:24:00.000+02:00

So I had to go to a bull fight. I'll let the reader know how it works. WARNING: this is not a humane practice. This is a cultural experience and shouldn't be taken as anything other than that.

First they come out and do a few laps.

They introduce all of the fighters. There are generally only 3 main bull fighters (Matadors) - everyone else helps to distract the bulls. They first play with the bulls by making them run around to tire them out. Each matador gets two bulls - 6 bulls a show.

Next, these guys (Lancers) on the horses come out and stab the horses in the spine with spears.

Next the group of bull fighters (Banderilleros) stab barbed wooden decorative sticks into the bulls.

Once the bulls have been weakened, the main matador comes out. This is the most iconic part of bull fighting. The skilled matadors come out and show their dominance and grace by leading the bull around.

After they play with them for a while, they finis the bull with a quick stab to the spine. There is one tiny spot on the neck of the bull. The less experienced matador will glance the sword off the bulls skull several times.

If the bull fighter puts on a great show, the presidente (or presiding dignitary) will reward him by giving him the bulls tail or ears.

Sometimes the bulls run into the ground and flip.

Other times the bulls get revenge by flipping the padded horses. Apparently they used to not have pads; a lot of horses used to die.

My overall experience was excited, disgusted, and impatient. I did not realize that they killed so many bulls. It was a lot. Watching a bull fight is a cultural experience that I never have to experience again.

That's all from my trip. It was a blast.

Casa de Pilatos

2012-06-12T04:28:00.000+02:00

This post is some of the last photos that I took while I was in Spain.

This was one of the last sunsets that I saw by the Giralda.

Another sunset picture. Everything else is pretty much at the Casa de Pilatos.

Cool statue.

It was a cool time of the year when all of these pink petals were falling all over the courtyard.

This was really weird - maybe one of the weirdest things ever. Yes he is breast feeding.

That's the last bit of what I saw while I was in Spain. I still have one more ride on my Metro Card. So I have to return. I know I sure do miss Seville. The last thing I remember about Seville was driving away on the bus to the airport while my roommate was walking home.

Sad day. I learned a lot and lived a lot. I'll remember that time of my life with great joy.

I'll keep the blogging going. NYC and Chile and onward.

Italy Part VI: TIVOLI

2011-11-05T17:50:00.000+01:00

So I am back on the blogging grind. I've missed having something to Blog about, so this is nice. Tivoli was the last place that I visited on my trip to Italy. It was a spur of the moment deal.

I wanted to see the place that inspired my parents (their company is Tivoli Partners).

So I went with my two buds James and Chase.

It was rainy and nasty, but still a gorgeous town. It has rolling country side that even a downpour couldn't spoil.

This picture is of the last leg of the train ride.

I was looking for iconic pictures I could take for my parents. I guess this works haha.

Europe: the land of old stuff and Vespas

Homies

A cool bit of modern art in the middle of an ancient town.

And the clouds were rolling in as we were heading out. That's the end of my Italy experience.

It was a blast.

I capped my trip with eating 7 scoops of Gelato in Pisa and flying back on the charming RyanAir discount airline.

I've got some more pictures of Spain that ended my trip. They are pretty sweet - at least for me anyway. Hasta Pronto - Dblog

Italy Part V: ROME 2.0

2011-11-01T02:38:00.004+01:00

Wow. It has been many fortnights since I have last blogged.

I can't believe it. I've been gone for as long as I was in Spain.

I miss my friends and the crazy traveling lifestyle.

It's great to be back. I'll be going to Chile soon and I'll have much more to blog about.

So I'm still in Italy (in my blogs and maybe in my mind).

Haha blogspot has improved tremendously since my last post - nice work guys.

St. Peter's Basilica

This is on top of St. Peter's Basilica looking into Vatican square.

On top of of the Basilica there were all these prayers written on the stones. This one has been answered since I took this picture. Haha craziness.

This is a big thing around Europe that I noticed. People write their names and the names of their love and lock it onto bridges (and in this case the Basilica) and throw away the key.

This is in the Vatican museum. It was a shame how many people took pictures of the Sistine Chapel. I personally didn't love it.

I loved these Obelisks. They were old Egyptian monuments and when Christianity came about they just slapped a cross on top and dedicated it to Jesus.

And I'll end with the Spanish Steps. There's another Easter Egg Obelisk for you. Italy is one of the most beautiful places on the planet - Rome especially. I'll see what other photos I can dig up. I do hope that Italy survives this European crisis. Until next time... Dbell.out.

Italy Part IV: ROME 1.0

2011-06-28T17:17:00.005+02:00

Rome is probably the coolest place in the world (that I've been to). We had some adventures in Rome. Oh boy. I'll explain below, but check out some photos.

Trevi Fountain.

I believe this is the Piazza Venezia. Stuff like this isn't even that big of a tourist attraction.

This is inside the Pantheon. The Pantheon has survived 2000 years of vandalism.

The Pantheon at night.

The Roman Forum or Old Rome

More of Roman Forum

This is the Arch of Constantine

The Coliseum

Roman Forum

This is the beautiful story of Rome. My friends and I thought it would be a good idea to stay at a campground that was an hour and a half from Rome. The campground closed early and we needed to take a metro to a train to a shuttle bus. The main Metro station was closed for the beatification of the Pope. Needless to say, it was a horrible experience that ended with my 5 companions and I sleeping without pillows or blankets in a freezing tent. We thought Rome was lost. Luckily, we booked another hostel in Rome for the next 2 nights. More Rome to come!

Italy: Part III - Sienna

2011-06-20T05:09:00.004+02:00

So it's been a while since my last blog post. I'm home, but the show must go on. Sienna was one of the coolest places ever. It is very authentic Italian without feeling touristy.

This is the main square in Sienna where they have horse races.

The Cathedral - We have some pretty good jumping pictures in front of it.

You can read the NY Times - just as long as you want to pay the equivalent to $17 USD

I will continue post - I'll be going to NYC soon.

Italy: Part II - Florence

2011-05-14T20:42:00.005+02:00

Florence was our second stop on our trip. We were only there for one day, so we had to make it count.

This was a market we found when we were lost

This is by far some of the cooler graffiti I've seen.

This is the Duomo of Florence

This is the view from the tower.

This is the ceiling of the baptistry which is right across from the Duomo. The painting were really amazing and each ring shows a different bible story or book.

This is the famous Ponte Vecchio. It's a cool bridge filled with jewelry stores and other shops.

This couple was taking wedding photos on the Ponte Vecchio.

This here is a picture I took inside of Pitti Palace (before I knew you weren't supposed to tak photos inside of Pitti Palace).

This statue is sweet. I don't understand why they had so many Roman statues with centaurs.

This here is inside of the Santa Maria della Carmine - they had beautiful fresco paintings.

The one thing I regret is not sneaking a photo of Michelangelo's David. It was by far one of the most impressive things that I've ever seen. Florence was gorgeous. Our next stop was Sienna!

Italy: Part I - Pisa

2011-05-08T19:06:00.007+02:00

Kicking off the Italy trip blogs. First we flew to Pisa because it was cheaper. I loved Pisa though. There is a place where you can get 2 euro gelato w/ 3 scoops.

This is the Duomo and the leaning tower.

Duomo

The Baptistry

Not sure what this is, but I like it.

Lion by the bridge.

This is a Keith Haring painting. It was awesome.

This statue is in Livorno. The guy has slaves - it was weird.

This is an American market. Apparently all we have in the US is Army / Navy supplies.

So this is Pisa. I'll get working on Florence.

The Alcázar

2011-05-08T17:58:00.003+02:00

So I finally got around to doing touristy things in Seville. This is my first time going to the Alcázar which is right next to the Catedral in the centro. It's basically a nice palace with beautiful gardens.

It took me about 10 minutes of staring at this picture to realize that those are baby heads on the edges - weird.

Old baths.

I'll be posting pictures from Italy this week and hopefully I'll get to see some more of Seville before I leave - only 2 weeks!

Semana Santa

2011-04-26T22:29:00.004+02:00

Semana Santa is a big deal in Sevilla. It is probably the biggest week of the year. There are dozens of "Paseos" which are big processions with these elaborate floats. Underneath these huge heavy floats are people (costaleros) who have been training all year. This year it rained - a lot. Most of the processions were cancelled. I managed to take some photos earlier in the week.

This is the first procession we saw.

This is how the bridge looked where the procession was taking place. No bueno.

These gents are Nazarenos. They often carry black crosses and candles. They are not to be confused with other infamous cloth-wearing white supremest groups. It was a bit different though.

The next day or so, I saw this procession.

Later, I saw this procession. This area is brand new in Sevilla. It supposedly looks like a mushroom. I disagree. There is some drama about the new building being too modern for the city. I think it is a really neat contrast.

With ever procession there one Jesus float and one Virgin. Also, there are often full bands.

Some more Nazarenos

The Nazarenos started off more as a way of showing submission (walking barefoot and not speaking), now it is more of a cultural staple of Semana Santa.

The rest of the time - it rained.

Semana Santa was pretty great. There were a lot of tourists.

I just went to the Alcázar of Seville and took some pictures. I'll post them soon. Also I'm going to Italy in two days!

Bridges

2011-04-22T16:14:00.007+02:00

Bridges! There are some really cool bridges in Seville. I've taken pictures of some of the bridges that are closer to where I live, but my friends and I took a walk to go see the big famous harp bridge north of the city (not positive whether it is actually called the harp bridge or not). It was pretty awesome. So here are some pictures.

I'm not sure why they designed it to have a slide in the middle. Maybe the just wanted people to potentially hurt themselves while trying to deface the bridge 25 feet in the air.

This is the back side.

This is the bridge before the harp bridge.

And this is some random bridge on the walk.

It's been raining most of the week and that has interrupted the processions of Semana Santa, but I'll make a post soon.

Graffiti

2011-04-20T14:45:00.004+02:00

I like graffiti. While strolling through the centro in Seville, my friends and I walked past over a mile of pretty impressive graffiti. I took almost a hundred photos, but I'll give the viewer some of my favorites.

Now that I look at this one again, it is kind of confusing at first glance what layer of art I'm looking at / are those vines real?

This was actually outside of my window. I thought people were staring at me from across the train tracks, turns out it's some installation artwork.

I was impressed with some of this art. I also took a lot of pictures of the famous bridges here in Seville. Those will be up soon.

Bull Fighting Ring & University of Sevilla

2011-04-17T14:52:00.007+02:00

Well, let's put some random pictures online. What we've got here is the University of Seville mixed in with some pictures of the bull fighting ring. The University of Seville is gorgeous.

This is the front entrance of the University. **UPDATE** Apparently the University of Seville was a tobacco factory after the discovery of tobacco in South America. Pretty neat.

And this is the ring.

This is where the royal family sits to watch the fights.

And this is in the bull fighting museum part of the ring. I don't know what this is, but it's by far my favorite sculpture - ever.

Sometimes people get gored by bulls.

Currently it is Semana Santa here in Seville, which is the biggest celebration of the year. I'm going to be taking loads of photos over the next week and will post them soon. Also, I really want to see an actual bullfight - a couple of friends and I bought tickets for May 15th. Hasta luego!

La Catedral

2011-04-08T11:14:00.007+02:00

So I finally went to the Cathedral here in Seville with a fellow Boonie. Apparently the Cathedral is the 3rd largest in Europe and it is HUGE. I thought that I couldn't be amazed by any more ancient huge Cathedrals. False. I took a few pictures (not that they ever upload in order).
Here they are:

Some door knocking device

This is in the courtyard outside of the Cathedral. We climbed that tower which is called the Giralda. It's called the Giralda because it used to be part of the mosque that originally was there. It was used for the call-to-prayer.

The supposed burial site of Christopher Columbus is here in the Cathedral. If that is his actual tomb, he was a bite-size explorer. He died in northern Spain and was transported to the Dominican Republic 30 years later. After the island became independent, he was moved to Cuba. Then later Cuba became independent and his remains were brought to Seville. So there's a little doubt as to who is actually here in the cathedral.

We got to here those bells in action - LOUD.

Courtyard in black and white

Plaza de Toros

From the top of the Giralda

So that's the Cathedral in Seville. I think I'm going to spend more time exploring more Seville in the next few weeks.

Mediterranean Adventure

2011-03-28T21:13:00.007+02:00

So let's knock this out. haha. I haven't been too motivated to get these photos up, but here they are. Africa. I was stoked. I then went. I have been. That is about how the story goes. We stayed in Tarifa which is between Gibraltar and Cádiz in Spain. It was beautiful. The place we stayed was gorgeous and great. We learned quick that was kind of too far for a backpacker, but we managed. We took a ferry to Tanger, Morocco and went on a tour.

At first it was great. We saw a lot of cool places. We rode camels - if you consider a camel standing up a camel ride. We ate a delicious Moroccan lunch and I had a beer from Casablanca. Later we endured a torturous couple of hours in a timeshare like sell-a-thon. We were separated from the group and hit with a berage of sales tactics because we are Americans. We sat and listened for 30 minutes while our tour guides friend tried to sell us rugs, and then, immediately after, we went next door where his other friend tried to sell us spices. Glad to go. Glad to be back. Awesome. Here's photos:

Sunset in Tarifa, Spain near our hotel

c

The beloved carpets. I wish I got the spices guy too.

The hotel

Snake charming. An ancient art with a modern gym-bag flare.

Tanger, Morocco

Tanger, Morocco

Love it.

Tanger, Morcco

Old fort on the beach in Spain

Our Hotel - Hotel Hurricane

I just thought the gas tank on picturesque beach was too ironic.

On the bus in Spain, looking out at Africa

Rope on the beach

So that's it. I've been on another continent. haha. It was great.

Plaza de España in Starwars!

2011-03-18T21:18:00.006+01:00

So I've been to a planet in Star Wars. I don't know if I should be excited, it was episode 2. Anyways, I'll take it as a win. Just give it even more of a Spanish feel, it is in Spanish haha.

Here's the clip.

Lisbon, Portugal Part II

2011-03-16T16:27:00.006+01:00

And to conclude this journey, we have more photos.

Outside of Monastery of Jerónimos

Monument to the Discoveries

Belém Tower

Pasteis de Belém - fantastic postre from Belém - they try to duplicate them, but only one place in the world has the recipe. They sell 35,000 a day.

Lisbon's most famous square. We stayed less than 5 minutes away from here.

Again at Monastery of Jerónimos, a storm was brewing.

Inside the Monastery

Also in the Monastery

haha also the Monastery

We also went to the aquarium here in Lisbon. We went under the impression that it was the second largest aquarium in the world - false. It was still pretty cool. They had a Pacific Sun Fish though - couldn't get a good picture of it. Anyways, Lisbon was awesome. I really enjoyed my stay there. I'm now in Tarifa (near Gibraltar) with my friend David Balmer. We're going to Morocco tomorrow! I'll post again soon.

Lisbon, Portugal Part I

2011-03-16T15:48:00.006+01:00

So I went to Lisbon. It is the most beautiful city I've ever seen (so far). It's packed and gorgeous and over 3000 years old. I had a blast.
Stayed at Yes! Hostel - I highly recommend it. We went on a couple of cool walking tours / pub crawls and it was very cool. So I took some pictures. I didn't feel like putting them all up at once because it takes a while. They're all kind of mixed about.

So here's part I:

That dog was mean.

Fado is a type of Portuguese music. What I gathered is that it's like jazz or emo music where they try and make you cry. Atleast that's what the tour guide said.

Little section of the city that was destroyed by the earthquake in the 1700's.

Public restroom - no plumbing, just a wall. It's a classier way to use the bathroom on the side of a building - it even has a sign.

Cat.

Thought this was cool. The vandal of this particular property was throwing down life lessons.

To be continued...

Pig vs. Caveman

2011-03-10T13:33:00.005+01:00

By popular demand - I have posted the pictures on facebook.
This is a public link to the album. Check it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=346318&id=617066132&l=42268b5c51

Carnival in Cádiz

2011-03-07T12:54:00.009+01:00

Carnival in Cádiz was crazy. It wasn't your normal traveling experience. Most of my photos were of an altercation that took place between two highly intoxicated Spanish guys. It was a battle of the ages as they were both in full costume - Pig vs. Caveman. Keep in mind this is about 3 PM. I took about 70 photos, but I'll put the highlights on here - maybe it deserves its own post. I think so. Anyways. After thousands of drunk Spaniards and foreigners pilled into this small city, all that was left was a trash pile and urine (not kidding). But I got a few pictures before the distruction.

Courthouse?

So there's a cat living on a cardboard box next to the water. It didn't like me.

4 AM trying to capture some lightning.

Glad this is over... 24 hours of walking around in a crazy city and sleeping on the floor of a train station next to what I'm pretty sure was throw up - yeah. But hey. I'll try and get a post up here of the valiant battle between man and beast.

Flamenco

2011-03-06T23:47:00.002+01:00

So I went to a Flamenco show. It was kind of a cool coincidence. I ended up tagging along with a group of students and professors from Presbyterian College. We went to the museum of flamenco in Seville. It was founded by Cristina Hoyos who is one of the most famous flamenco dancers. You're not supposed to record the show, but somebody else on youtube did. If by extension I'm at a fault here, sorry. This guy is so awesome. It makes me want to learn!

So I tried to get a good photo without flash - fail

Granada

2011-03-02T23:27:00.008+01:00

Alright so Granada is a cool place. After a late arrival, a late night, an early rise, 16 hours of walking to catch a 3 AM bus, I saw Granada and survived. I took some photos.

This is where Granada is (if you're like me and you don't know geography)

View Larger Map

Most of these photos are of the Alhambra. The Alhambra, from what I've been told, is a huge castle that some prince built for his girlfriend. It's huge, beautiful, and elaborate.

Catedral

Alhambra

Door. I find it funny how they cement in buildings for sale.

The rest are of the Alhambra (except the last).

Balloon!

The view off the terrace of our hostel. The Oasis hostel in Spain is superb - no joke. We had home-made Paella (cost a little extra) and a monstrous breakfast in a beautiful building all for 20 euro a night.

Travel with French people - they know how to enjoy themselves (smile).

Also! I met some people from SC the other day and saw some flamenco - always good times being a guiri.

Anyways. I am going to Cadíz this weekend (beach).
Blog - I'll talk to you real soon.

Musica

2011-02-13T16:07:00.001+01:00

There isn't too much Spanish music that's super popular that I can find. I often hear Shakira's "Waka Waka" which is getting old. I did find a couple of cool songs that I like though.

Raphael - Como Yo Te Amo

This guy Raphael is basically a Spanish Frank Sinatra.

Vetusta Morla - Un Día en El Mundo

You don't have to know too much Spanish to have this song stuck in your head.

Young Folks

2011-02-13T16:04:00.001+01:00

Sorry. I can't help myself.

Córdoba Part II

2011-02-13T15:53:00.002+01:00

So here's part II. I'm sorry if the cliff-hanging post left the reader wanting more - I've watched too much American Idol. Anyways, I have some photos of the Mezquita. It was an Islamic Mosque, and after the reconquest of Spain, it was too beautiful to destroy, so they turned it into a Cathedral. This place is so old and awesome that the graffiti is famous.

Pedestal

It's kind of hard to explain how impressive this place is.

Stay tuned for some more fun stuff and hair cuts.