O Valencia!

I am not a big fan...

2010-03-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

So, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I am still loving it here in Valencia and have tons of pictures and stories to share. The bad news is that the fan on my laptop died about 3 weeks ago and it is currently in a repair shop being fixed (I am on the very slow host-family desktop computer). There are currently no official Apple stores in Spain, so I had to find an authorized reseller and they directed me to an authorized service shop. This took up about a week because they weren't open due to the festival of Fallas (Which was ridiculously amazing). Then, in typical Spanish fashion, they told me they would look at it Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning and give me a call. I had heard nothing by Wednesday morning so I called. They said they were still diagnosing the problem (Which was obviously the fan, as I had heard it die a seemingly painful death). I finally heard from them on Thursday afternoon and I found out that the price was much lower than I expected, which was a glorious thing to know. So now, they are ordering the new part and will be calling me when it is done. The super good news is that tomorrow morning I am getting on a train to Barcelona to meet my mom at the airport. We are going to be checking out Barcelona, Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Valencia. I am very excited to see all of the artwork in Florence and to chill in the beauty of Cinque Terre (Google image it). Thus, I will not be back in Valencia until April 9th and I am hoping my laptop will finally be ready to roll so that I can unload the 800+ pictures from before this post and the crazy amount I will take during this trip. So, my life will start getting more hectic after that as final projects start being due, but I will try to start blogging up a storm and making up the gaps. Thanks for anyone who reads this! ¡Hasta luego!

Throw your hands in the air if you's a true playa.

2010-03-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

Barcelona from the Olympic hill.

A few weekends ago, our ISA group made the trip to Barcelona. It was only about 3.5 hours by bus (plus stops) and the ride was filled with stellar views of the Mediterranean and mountains, including the sunrise over the sea (Nothing that compares to the fields of South-central Minnesota, of course). When we arrived, we took a short guided bus tour of the city which took us up a pretty immense hill that is near the coastline. It was where all the Olympic stadiums were built for 1992 when Barcelona was the host city. We stopped and took some scenic panorama shots of the city and continued to our hotel.

Spain is nice.

The rest of our day was free, so we walked a few blocks to the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is unfinished (Construction started in 1882 and isn't expected to be completed until at least 2026). It was huge and beautiful (There are multiple architecture styles due to time passing) and the picture we saw of what it will eventually look like was unbelievable. It is considered the masterwork of Antoni Gaudí who seems to be Cataluña's favorite son. The rest of the evening was spent gathering sandwich supplies at a grocery store (You can eat for crazy cheap if you enjoy sandwiches as much as I do) and walking a bit to explore the city.

Tourism.

That night, we went to check out a bar that is based on the New York Stock Exchange. It was such an awesome concept. There were 5 categories of drinks and the prices varied depending on popularity. If someone bought a Guinness, the prices of all the other beers would go down. It became a waiting game where we tried to watch for the lowest possible prices before buying anything.

La Sagrada Familia is gigante.

The next morning we headed to the Gothic quarter and had a guided walking tour. Our guide was from Barcelona but when she would repeat phrases in English to make sure people understood, she had absolutely no accent. She sounded like she was from America, it was unreal (I hope someday I can become that good at Spanish). We got to see cathedrals and buildings that have been around for centuries (There were even marks in the walls from when the soldiers used to sharpen their swords). This area is often used in movies to portray medieval cities. There is also a set of pillars that are encased in a building that are from the Roman era (It is so crazy to see things and realize how old they are as well as the quality of the architecture). In one small plaza we encountered, there were still holes in the wall of a church from bombing during the Spanish Civil War. Franco, the Spanish dictator died in 1975 and the wounds are still very fresh. My host-father actually almost shook Franco's hand when he was young (That recent).

The Passion façade.

After our tour, a few friends and I headed down to the beach. Throughout the weekend, we constantly compared Barcelona to Valencia (Valencia wins) but I must concede, the beach in Barcelona is slightly more gorgeous. There were awesome sandcastle artists and lots of overpriced food along the boardwalk. Next, we headed up Las Ramblas, which might be the most touristy few blocks I have ever walked in my life. It is known for pickpockets and so I was in turbo guard-my-stuff mode and had my camera in a kung-fu grip. However, there were some pretty sweet caricature artists and street performers. There were people dressed up as demons, princesses, painted entirely gold, and juggling soccer balls (Unfortunately not all at once). One guy could keep juggling a soccer ball whilst climbing up and down a ladder, ridiculous. After lunch, some street performers picked my friend Chris to be in a group of 3 that a guy was going to jump over. He is well over 6 feet tall and yet no blood was shed, it was impressive. Before dinner that day we watched part of "¿Tío, Dónde está mi coche?" (Dude, Where's my car?) It was still a really terrible movie, but we learned new words like mola (sweet) and it was a good way to rest our tired feets.

The Nativity façade.

One really interesting thing about Spain is that it is made up of 17 autonomous regions which are similar to states but with more power. Historically, Spain was united by combining kingdoms and there are some groups that are not very happy with the arrangement. Two of those groups are Basque separatists from Pais Vasco and Catalan separatists from Cataluña. There is even a Basque terrorist group called ETA that does political motivated bombings and killings in an attempt to pressure the government (They are far north of me, don't worry). In Barcelona, the Catalan culture is very evident and people prefer to speak Catalan more than Castellano (Spanish). This led to people speaking English to us because they would rather not speak Spanish. Nearly all the signs in the city and on store fronts are in Catalan, which is similar enough that we could normally understand them. From what some Spaniards have told me, the Catalan separatist movement gains a large amount of support due to the fact that it is a wealthy region and they don't want to pay taxes to the central government when other regions don't contribute as much (Sound familiar?).

The tallest towers aren't yet completed, but it is crazy tall.

The next day, we had a guided tour of all things Gaudí. We started out by visiting Park Güell, which was originally supposed to be a housing development within Barça. It is incredibly awesome. The colors he used and the mosaic style is so unique (It was build between 1900-1914, I can't imagine what people thought). It features the longest continuous bench I have ever seen (Which is crazy comfy). There are two buildings that are beautiful and multiple sculptures of reptiles that are part of the incredible water system. It collects rainwater from the bench area and holds it in a giant chamber before it is used in the fountains.

A vertical view from the area next to the Roman ruins.

After the park, we headed to see two houses designed by Gaudí. The first was Casa Milà which has beautiful curving lines and although we didn't get to go inside, the roof looks like it has some sweet surreal designs. It was almost demolished back in the day because it broke construction zoning rules. Next was the Casa Batlló which is only a few blocks away and was superguay. It has a lot more color and has a skeletal aesthetic. Our guide described the roof as being built to resemble the back of a dragon and the turret being the sword of Saint George (Gaudí was very religious and Saint George is the patron saint of Cataluña).

I really dug this guy smoking a pipe and selling art.

Like a boss.

We were once again left to our own devices for a few hours before the bus ride home. We crossed through Las Ramblas once again to the giant statue of Christopher Columbus and the port area. There was a really cool little used goods market going on and so we checked that out and walked around the port. We stopped at the beach for a few minutes and there happened to be a guy, just totally naked and strolling along the beach. No one else was even in swimsuits (It was quite brisk), but this dude was just living it up. Things are a bit more laissez faire here.

Catedral de Barcelona which started being built in 1298.

It was a lot of fun to see Barcelona and I am excited to spend a bit more time at the Gaudí buildings with my mom when she heads across the pond in late March. There are also Dalí and Picasso museums there that I didn't get to see. However, upon arriving back in Valencia, I was very relieved. I hadn't realized how much I enjoy this city until I had another to compare it to. When we got back, Valencia felt like home. I am going to miss this city and its semi-small city vibe and the fact that even though it attracts some tourists, it is not touristy at all. I am never spoken to in English and actually a few weeks ago, I was asked for directions in Spanish by an American and I was able to help him out and he thought I was a Spaniard (Bonus).

The boardwalk (Note the guy doing the Abbey Road)

Las Fallas is coming very quickly (< 2 weeks) and Valencia is already changing. It is the city's biggest festival and the population of the city doubles for the week. It is essentially all about fire and explosions (Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds). More on that next time.

¡Fotofiesta!

This sandcastle had a working fountain.

The Mediterranean is a good place to be.

This is my buddy.

He was absurdly good at juggling.

The guy throwing him kind of looks like the Green Goblin.

Passionate.

I didn't see that person until later and then it was full of folks. Bummer.

Gaudí was a crazy tío.

Park Güell was so beautiful.

This picture makes it look like the girl is famous. Paparazzi.

This bench is way comfortable and gives an excellent view of the city.

Casa Batlló, unfortunately without a view of the roof. Still chulo.

This man's face looked like a mask.

This was below the Columbus statue. Choice.

Hitchcock tried to warn us.

Lines and tourists.

Overall the trip receives: Two thumbs up and an overenthusiastic smile.

Cuenca very much.

2010-02-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

The view from the river.

A few weekends ago my friends and I decided to make a day trip to Cuenca (About 2-3~ hours away by train). We got up fairly early and met at the train station and then took the subway to a satellite station (Unfortunately not actually in space). We arrived in time and settled in on the train as the sun started to rise. It was mighty fine to get out of the city a bit and see the countryside. There were tons of little pueblos and one stop was a single house in the middle of the mountains and only one guy got off the train (Talk about service).

Casas colgadas

As we got near Cuenca, the train started to shake quite heavily from side to side. It made it pretty tough to sleep as my head smacked into the wall (a lot). When we rolled into the city, we got a map from the help desk and walked towards the older part of Cuenca. We immediately noticed the smaller town vibe compared to Valencia (80k vs. 1 million). We walked up to a small river and headed up a hill towards the "hanging houses" which the city is known for. There are only about 3 or so that are truly built on the edge of a cliff and share a wall with the rock face. It was pretty crazy to see them in person and to imagine living in one of them (Constant fear of houseslides?)

Upside down nose rock.

Nearby was a giant bridge that crossed the valley to a monastery. I took a pretty intense amount of fotos here and eventually we wandered up near the hanging houses and saw that one was a restaurant. However, it was about €30 for a meal (Totally within my budget). So we moved on and walked through the narrow and hilly streets until we found the main plaza and the cathedral. Inside there was some pretty sweet stained glass that cast colors all over the walls. It is interesting to see all the cathedrals here which are hundreds of years old and then compare them to the churches and cathedrals in America (Such history).

Cuenca was a bit colder due to its inland location.

Next we continued up the hill to a lookout at the top that gave some wonderful views. We ate lunch at a nice and cheap restaurant and then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. Later, we chilled at a park and eventually caught the train back. It was a lot of fun to take a side trip, but we started to run out of things to do after seeing the sights (We were avoiding things you have to pay for).

My host mom told me she doesn't like this bridge. Too high up.

Last Saturday night, MTV España put on their annual enormous free concert in Valencia. This year the headliner was the Arctic Monkeys who are from the U.K. There were also some local bands that we didn't arrive in time to catch. It was a pretty cool experience being there and seeing thousands of Spaniards hanging out at the edge of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias while the policia patrolled on horses, dirt bikes, and 4-wheelers (But never stopped any illegal behavior). The weather wasn't great that day, but it had stopped drizzling in time for the show and so there were at least 10,000 people there. They drained one of the giant wading pools in the CAC and so the stage was set up where it is normally watery. The music was excellent and although we were separated at the beginning, somehow by the end my friend Tanner and I had found everyone we came with and a bunch of other ISA people. It was pretty ridiculous.

There were creepy guys walking around offering to take pictures for people (I think for a price).

One of the most interesting changes with regards to Spanish culture is that interrupting others while speaking is not considered rude and is constant. If I don't interrupt at the dinner table, I won't get to say anything at all. At first it was hard to try to catch the Spanish when they were all speaking at once, or knowing who to follow. Now I am used to it and my friends and I interrupt each other all the time. I am sure I will accidentally interrupt someone and appear rude when I return to the States. Multiple conversations going on at the table are completely normal as well.

At the base of the hanging houses.

In other news, I have started watching a television show in my free time that is called Aguila Roja (Red Eagle) which is about a school teacher who moonlights as a Samurai-Robin Hood in Medieval Spain. It is pretty ridiculous (evil men plotting to kill the king and all that jazz), but a good way to keep working on my listening comprehension skillz. The main character is kind of like Zorro and has a Sancho Panza-like sidekick.

I enjoy Spanish architecture.

Random thought: We never drink milk here. The only time I have it is in my coffee every morning. It is also kept in non-refrigerated parts of stores and sold in 1 liter boxes (Weird). My family does refrigerate it once it is opened at home, though. At meals, however, we drink water 99% of the time. I wonder if there is an osteoporosis problem here. I worry for the structural integrity of Spaniards.

Bonus Photos:

Haphazard.

This tiny tunnel was choice.

The sky was mega blue.

Proof I didn't steal the pictures from Google Images.

No Spain, No Gain.

2010-02-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

VLC from the top of Miguelete (Tower on the Catedral)

Hola everybody, I apologize for not blogging much lately and my new goal is to start doing shorter blogs with greater frequency. It is harder to find time/motivation with 60 degree weather outside and a city to explore. However, I will try my best to shape up.
I really love it here and have yet to experience any of the culture shock or stages of adjustment that I had to read about 20 times during the process of applying to come here. I honestly think that returning to the U.S. will be much harder (Except paying in USD's will seem awesomely cheap). However, there is one thing that has gotten on my nerves to some extent. In Spain, everyone wears their shoes all the time in the house. We usually chill out in our room for a bit before meals and so we take off our shoes to give our feet some freedom. However, when we head down to a meal, we have to put our shoes back on and then when we come back upstairs, take them off again. In reality, it doesn't really bother me that much, I actually find it pretty funny. Fun fact: I have never seen my host family in socks.

This is mi casa. I will try to get a better picture and a picture of my street another day.

I noticed how quickly terrain changes in Spain on the day we left Toledo and drove to Valencia. Near Madrid, the soil is red and it is fairly steppe-y, but once we were within 40 minutes of Valencia, we started seeing mountains filled with green trees. There was one specific spot where a series of mountains were hanging out with a big lake between them. It was so scenic it was almost unfair.
When we arrived in Valencia, we drove along what was previously the Turia river. It was diverted south of the city after a terrible flood and the old river basin is now a huge park that runs through the city (It is extremely useful for navigating when you don't know the city well). It was fairly odd to see a park filled with green plants and palm trees in January.
Next we drove past la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias which is a crazy futuristic complex filled with buildings designed by a Valencian architect named Santiago Calatrava. I am planning to take absurd amounts of pictures there and will hopefully be able to soon (It was built with nighttime reflection shots in mind). It is essentially like being in the future (The buildings were actually featured in a spaceship on the show "V").

El Mercado de Colón.

We finally parked next to the Mestalla stadium where Valencia Club de Fútbol plays. I haven't gotten to a game yet, but I plan to go to the next home game. We met up with our host dad, César. We threw our bags in his car and set off driving through the city. It is funny to think back on how driving through a roundabout seemed so weird to me. Now, I don't even have to think about when the little green walking guy will appear. Call me a communist, but I think they are much more efficient (plus they provide a green area for sweet statues).
We walked into our house (which I had creepily viewed through Google Maps Street View) and met our host mom, Matilde and host sister, Marta. Marta had some friends over and so we sat at the dinner table and were immediately offered pastries (The Spanish stereotypes of continuous food offering are so true). We tossed our bags in our room and headed out with Marta and her friends to a beach on the Mediterranean slightly south of Valencia. It was pretty crazy to think about how I would be living on the coast for the next few months (I am stoked for swimming weather).

La Plaza de Ayuntamiento

Then we went to the Albufera which is a giant lake near the ocean that is magically filtered underground through science to make it freshwater (Sort of like the Everglades in appearance but minus the alligators) Sometime in the near future, we get to come back with ISA and do a boat tour, which should be excellent. The view was pretty sweet with mountains in the distance and we got to practice Spanish during the drive (or Castellano here, as Spanish could be any language spoken in Spain such as Catalan or Valenciano). Initially, conversations were like intense brain workouts, but have significantly improved. We came back and unpacked and then hung out with our family and watched Spanish TV. The shows here are fairly ridiculous and basically anything goes in terms of making fun of people.

La Lonja is where the silk trade went down back in the day. (The pillars are designed to look like palm trees when they go into the ceiling)

Our family is great and I am super grateful to be with them. César is a very kind man who is working on his English which helps a lot in conversations. Matilde is also super warm and loves to laugh. They are both very fun to talk to, especially about current events. I have three siblings, but only one who still lives in the house. César is 32 and mostly visits for meals but speaks English fairly well. Marta is 29 and recently got her own apartment and Miguel is 28 and still a student. They are all really nice and happy to help with our Spanish. My roommate Chris is from Colorado and is a good guy. I am glad that I got a roommate who is interested in working at Spanish and that we get along well.

Dynamic lighting.

Our house has two stories and is super nice. There is a little porch thing that starts on the ground floor and on the second floor has a spiral staircase to a terrace on the roof. We have our own bathroom and the house has heating, which isn't very common here. We also have 3 fish, 3 turtles (They live in a little pool thing in the terrace) and a cat named Trasto. Overall I give it two thumbs way up.

The floor was an optical illusion.

The next day we had an orientation of sorts at the ISA office and the University of Valencia. I am taking Spanish Grammar, Mediterranean Society: Past and Present, Panorama of Spanish Literature, and Spanish Culture. My schedule isn't too bad. I have class at 8:45 2 days a week, but to counter that, I have no class on Thursdays. Our Culture prof is hilarious. He is the most scatterbrained person I have met. When he hands out papers, he doesn't give out a stack to pass out. He gives out random numbers of papers to certain people and it takes about 20 minutes for everyone to get papers. It is quite excellent.
Our house is about a 35 minute walk from the University and instead of spending money on the bus, we walk everyday.This 70 minutes a day plus walking whenever we go anywhere in the city has been a great way to counter the sheer amount of food consumed here.

Valencia is slightly larger than Decorah and New Ulm.

The meals here are quite different from in the States. Breakfast is a cup of coffee (Soooooo good here) and a little muffin thing or two. La Comida is at 2:30~ and is a feast of epic proportions. It usually consists of 2 large main courses followed by dessert and fruit. La Cena is at 8-9pm and is smaller and usually has soup or vegetables with a small portion of meat. We eat fruit every meal for dessert and the mandarin oranges here are incredible. Also, we have fresh baguette style bread every day for comida and cena. It is sooooo good.

The Basilica and Cathedral

Our host mom is an amazing cook and I am hoping to learn a dish or two from her. We eat a lot of seafood and vegetables here and I know I am probably eating more healthily than I ever have. Mom, I know you will be surprised, but one of my favorite meals here is peas with little pieces of chorizo and a pepper based sauce. Crazy, right? Our ISA group went out for horchata one night, which is a mega sweet drink. You dip bread things called fartons in it and it's nearly too sugary to handle. (at least farton presented many pun opportunities) (P.S. I am mature). We also had the wonderful experience of chocolate con churros. It is a cup of melted fondue-like chocolate and delicious sugary churros that you dip in the cup. You feel like a sinner just looking at it.

The cranes in the top right look like giraffes if you click on the picture.

In other news, my relatively new shoes have developed a penchant for squeaking upon every step. I am too cheap to buy new ones and am currently opening an investigation into the source of the noise. I may just become a clown for a new source of income.
This entry seems more scatterbrained than previous ones, but such is life. I am going to try to do one entry per week. Even if that means without fotos or maybe it will force me to go on more photo expeditions.

Mis amigos Max, Tanner, y yo at the top of Miguelete.

Posdata: I recently was informed that I have been selected to go to Oslo, Norway for 6 weeks this summer as a part of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum program at the University of Oslo International Summer School. I am fairly enthused. Quadruple bonus: The flights, housing, food, and classes are... Free. ¡Super guay!

Lucy, you got some ex-Spaining to do.

2010-01-24T05:07:00.000-08:00

Toledo. Click on it for gigante sized.

Day 13 - Jan. 14
My last day in London was spent primarily in the airport (awesome). I left the hostel at 6 and rode the subway for about 45~ minutes to the London City Airport (3 line changes and one with a daring long distance fast walk + jump between closing doors combo). When I got to the Light Rail, I noticed it was snowing fairly significantly and I started getting nervous.

Downtown Madrid

As I sat in the lounge of the airport, it felt like I was in gym class. I kept watching my teammates (flights) getting smacked in the face (cancelled) by speeding dodgeballs (the weather). Fortunately, my flight ended up being delayed for 4.5 hours instead of being cancelled (Odd to call that fortunate). I passed the time trying to not look suspicious to the men walking around with MP5 Machine guns and watching On the Road Again. It is a show where Gwyneth Paltrow and 3 friends travel around Spain exploring the gastronomic culture. It was crazy to watch it and realize that within a few hours I would finally be arriving in Spain.

Catedral de la Almudena

When I landed in Madrid, it was very rainy but warmer than England by quite a bit. I snagged a jamón y queso sandwich and took the metro to the hostel. It was a really nice and cozy place. I spent the first part of the night on my computer in the lobby, since it was rainy and already dark (Not great conditions for exploration).

El Palacio Real (big).

Later on, I went to a grocery store for a snack and It finally felt like I was in a foreign country. Ireland and the U.K. were definitely different, but a change in language really emphasizes that you are no longer in Kansas. I meandered about the grocery store and looked at the totally different selection of food (abundance of ham products). Also, the carts are similar to wheeled luggage and you pull it behind you. I bought shaving cream and a razor and shaved off my sketchy facial hair and became quite a bit younger looking.

An epic plaza by the Palacio.

I spent the rest of the night chatting with some Italians, Brazilians, a Brit, and one guy from New Jersey (Unfortunately not DJ Pauly D). I hit the hay fairly early and prepared to finally meet up with the ISA group the next day.

Day 14 - Jan. 15
After a quick breakfast I took the metro to the hotel to meet my group. It was quite a change from 16 bed dorms in hostels to a 2 bed room in a 4 star hotel. Although, oddly enough, our hotels charged for internet, whereas nearly every hostel had free wifi (humorously pronounced weefee in Spain). It seems a bit backwards considering the difference in price.
I had a while to wait before our group arrived, so I wandered down the street until I found a plaza that had an excellent Don Quixote and Sancho statue. I almost accidentally walked into a live TV shot of a reporter at a food bank event and narrowly avoided Spanish TV stardom.

I wish nice places let you take pictures inside.

When I got back to the hotel, there were about 30 ISA kids with absurd amounts of luggage sitting outside waiting to check in. It made me pretty glad to have been limited by Ryanair's strict weight limits. Some people had two enormous wheeled luggage things and I had a messenger bag and a backpack. Let's just say, should a baggage-carrying foot race have occurred, I would have definitely been the champion.
I went upstairs and settled in and met my roommate for the semester (Chris) and a few others joined us at a cafe nearby for lunch. We went for a stroll through a large park and wandered a bit. On the way back, we stopped in a super small bar for refreshments and the owner brought us a free plate of paella (Stellar).

Toledo and the old castle.

That night we had a guided bus tour of the Madrid which included the biggest Spanish flag in Spain (Think Perkins in America big) and a Egyptian building from 200~ BC that was brought to Spain and reassembled. Next was an awesome meeting about safety and an opportunity to buy a prepaid cellphone (which still hasn't worked and I am currently using one a previous student left at my house). After the meeting we went out for tapas where I had some patatas bravas (literally courageous potatoes… and I must say, they were quite valiant).

Day 15- Jan 16.
This was the day of sightseeing in Madrid. We started out with a bus ride to the Prado art museum. However, our bus broke down halfway there, so we moved like a gigantic herd of cattle through the crowded streets of Madrid. Fortunately, it wasn't very far and the weather was great. We only had time to go through the Goya, Greco, and Velázquez exhibits, but they were awesome and a half. Plus we had a guide to throw out fun facts (I love fun facts).

Ayuntamiento is basically the city council/hall.

Afterwords we traversed the town on foot to the Palacio Real, which used to be the stomping ground of the kings and queens back in the day. It was absurd. I felt like I gained net worth just standing in it. In my long and luxurious life I have never seen such fanciness (Midwest, we got to up the ante). There was a room entirely lined with porcelain and another that took 27 years to make that had crazy intricate designs sewn into the walls. Every room had beautiful frescos on the ceilings and we only saw 27~ rooms out of the, wait for it… 3,418 rooms. It is the biggest palace in Europe and I wanted to sell everything in it to try to save the world economy.

Scenic, no?

Afterwords we were free to do as we pleased and so we headed back across town (couldn't get enough walking). We ate "la comida" (enormous Spanish lunch) at a restaurant and then went to the Reina Sofia museum. It is primarily modern art and the first room we went into was essentially a sensory deprivation chamber with repetitive noise and strange lighting. It was weirdness to the nth degree.

Apparently cars drive through streets like these.

We crossed a purposefully empty exhibit (modern art is a bit over my head sometimes) and eventually found the cubism exhibit and Picasso's Guernica. It was huge and amazing to see in person. There were also photos of the progression and evolution of the painting and a good amount of art from the era of the Spanish Civil War. We finished up by visiting the Surrealist exhibit which contained Dalí and a movie which was fantastically ridiculous.

This is the old Jewish quarter, before they were kicked out of Spain by los Reyes Católicos

At this point we were all way tuckered out and grabbed the metro back to the hotel. We hung out the rest of the night in the hotel and had cheap dinner from the Corte Inglés (imagine a bigger and less evil Spanish Walmart).

Day 16 - Jan 17.
After a feast of a breakfast at the hotel (I was used to toast and coffee from hostels), we hopped on the bus and left Madrid. Toledo is an incredibly beautiful city. It is surrounded on 3 sides by a river and used to be the capital of Spain. It is also a Unesco World Heritage site and is filled with crazy skinny streets. We started out with a panoramic view of the city from the opposite side of the river which had craggy hills (Craggy is a sweet word).

A cloister in Iglesia de San Juan de los Reyes

Next, we took at 2.5 hour walking tour and got to see huge churches, the oldest synagogue in Spain, and Greco's The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (Very very cool). Our tour guide was hilarious, knew tons of people around the city (population is only 80,000~), and kept making jokes (Everybody come closer…wait… just the ladies). Seems slightly creepier typed out, but it made the tour more fun.

Toledo, Ohio probably doesn't look quite this good.

After our tour we grabbed some hamburgers at a restaurant near the plaza and it turned out that they were actually burgers of ham. Very strange but decent tasting. Fun Fact: Coca Cola is super awesome here (small glass bottles and real sugar). I fear I may develop a coke habit (rimshot). Sorry, bad joke, I know.
Next, we all got on the bus and rode to the newer part of the city to our hotel. We chilled out on our balcony and watched the Barcelona ISA group arrive. The hotel was another 4 star and was pretty sweet (yet unnecessary).

As you can see, the city is neatly organized.

We had a 2.5 hour meeting and then set off in search of a restaurant. We found a cerveceria (bar and grill of sorts) and had tasty sandwiches. After a while, I noticed a beer can display on the wall and low and behold… A Schell's beer can. I wish I had brought my camera with.

View from the main plaza.

Afterwords, we went back to the hotel bar and watched a Real Madrid v. Atlético football game on a huge projected screen. Unfortunately, the guys from the Barcalona ISA group were really living up to the loud annoying American stereotype. They even wanted to ask the bartender to change the Madrid football match to a NFL football game (Luckily, they lacked the Spanish speaking capabilities). It was sad to see it in real life and I was embarrassed.

Some folks from my ISA group. We have about 52 in total.

The next day we headed to Valencia, but I will save that for my next blog post. I will try to keep updating this as much as I can, but it is harder when I actually have stuff going on now. However, I will give it a valiant effort (like my potatoes).

Bonus foto:

This is a borrowed picture of the dining room in the Palacio Real. The table is twice what you can see here. Ritzy.

Londone.

2010-01-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

For Aslan!

Day 7 - Jan 8:

National Gallery and Merwoman - Trafalgar Square

Our last day in Edinburgh was spent in a relaxing fashion. We ate breakfast and read the paper and then went to a Starbucks to wait for our train. We had two train changes and even though one of our trains was 20 minutes late, we got to Nottingham safely.

The entrance to the mall.

Taking a train along the Scottish coastline was incredible. There was one point where Hannah and I interrupted our movie (In Bruges) on my computer just to see what city we had arrived in. The view from our bridge was of other bridges and the river weaving through the buildings to the sea (I wish I had gotten my camera out). There was free wifi and electricity on the train which felt like the future (I am still not entirely sure how the internet worked). We made it back to the flat and chilled out until some of Hannah's flatmates arrived and then we went to the Program Director's house for tea and cake (British much?)

Awesome dancing rabbits in the mall.

Day 8 - Jan 9:

Statues outside Buckingham Palace

We basically hung out in the flat the whole next day. It was great talking to everyone about their experiences during their month long travels and seeing their pictures. In the evening, Hannah, Lauren, and I went to the Lion and sampled a few local brews that were written on a chalkboard (They change quite often). It was a lot of fun and I almost felt like a non-tourist for the first time in a while.

Poor guy didn't feel well.

Day 9 - Jan 10:
I woke up and had some scrambled eggs and walked to the tram to the train station. Having met Hannah as soon as I arrived in Dublin, it was immediately weird to be alone. The train ended up being way more expensive than I expected because I didn't buy my ticket ahead of time. I am not sure why this happened, as it hasn't happened to the Nottingham folks.

Buckingham Palace

When I arrived in London, I decided to walk to my hostel to save some money. However, I accidentally thought it was in Euston Square instead of Russell Square (At least the mistake didn't cost me money and was only a few blocks off). It wasn't too far of a walk and I found the street quite quickly. Unfortunately, the outside of the hostel is not very clearly marked. This meant that I walked about 5~ blocks down and back the length of the street with 50~ pounds of weight in my bags (multiple times). I resorted to asking a bigger hotel where it was and they told me it was a few minutes walk down and on the left. So I went down and back one more time without success. I returned to the hotel and asked to use the internet (Google Maps is the best) and he told me it was about 100 meters from the hotel (which isn't a few minutes walk by my standards). I discovered the hidden hostel and checked in. It felt amazing to take the weight off of my shoulders (mentally as well).

I love Goooold.

I grabbed pizza at a cafe for lunch and bought a 48hr. pass to a Big Bus tour. It was a double decker with an open top (somewhat chilly) and I rode the whole tour which was about 2.5-3 hours (Bus tours are a great way to see more of the city while learning sweet history tidbits). However, the tour didn't do a complete circle from where I got on and so I had to take a different bus back to the hostel. I grabbed groceries (PB&J's for the win), made dinner, and relaxed for the rest of the night.

There was a stone unicorn on another section of this wall.

Day 10 - Jan 11:
The next morning I took the same bus to get downtown (My pass got me to Trafalgar Square each morning for free). The entire day ended up being a gigantic photo expedition through London. Unfortunately it was incredibly overcast and dreary, which led to entirely white skies (bummer). I started out by wandering around Trafalgar Square (excellent statues and mermen/maids in the fountains) and then headed through an enormous gate to the mall which led to Buckingham Palace. I discovered a pair of guards with ridiculously big machine guns that had hunting knives attached to the barrels. They kept yelling and stomping a lot while I chuckled and took pictures (I'm mature). Sometimes I forget that I am in a different country with traditions and customs connected to a unique history. The plaza in front of Buckingham was packed with other tourists and had shiny golden fences. The statues were pretty sweet and a procession of soldiers with swords on horseback came through (I wonder how skilled at sword fighting they actually were).

It's all about the Big Benjamins.

Next, I strolled through St. James Park along the mall and encountered squirrels that were as friendly as the ones at Luther. I would have taken pictures of them, (They came within a foot of me) but my battery was already halfway gone and wanted it to last (it was only 10am). Westminster Palace (Big Ben and Parliament) was gorgeous and I took many many pictures.

Hey remember that time when I would only smoke Parliaments?

I headed to Westminster Abbey and spent the rest of the late morning there (Student discounts are awesome and add up quickly). The interior blew my mind. It was so incredibly beautiful and filled with so much history. It is where English kings and queens are crowned and contains the tombs of royalty and many others. I felt myself flashing back to my European History class as I looked at the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Interestingly, Charles Darwin and Sir Issac Newton are both buried there as well (In a science corner of sorts). It was surreal to stand near the graves of two minds that have had such an influence in the world of academics.

Westminster Abbey.

Afterwords I walked along the Thames and avoided two scammers who were trying to put things on me and then make me pay for them (I politely declined the leaf and "friendship" bracelet). Otherwise, the walk was great and after lunch I ended up at St. Paul's Cathedral. It was also magnificent and a bit cheaper due to upper level viewing areas being closed (due to weather). My budget didn't mind the lower price and I got to see the tomb of Admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wellington along with the Dome's beautiful artwork. The Millennium Bridge was close by and has a pretty neat design (It was featured in the beginning flying scene of Harry Potter 6).

It's named after Sir Benjamin Hall who oversaw its construction and was most likely big.

Next, I headed to Tower Bridge, which is iconic and used to require about 90 men to function (Now it is primary operated by computer). My tour bus pass included a boat ride on the Thames from the Tower of London (which is actually a castle), so I grabbed that and enjoyed the view as I headed back to Westminster. Fun Fact: The city of London is primarily the economic area by St. Paul's whereas Big Ben and Parliament are actually in the city of Westminster. I went over to the Parliament building, where a bobby (which are named after Sir Robert Peel who started Scotland Yard) told me that I could sit in on a debate in the House of Commons. I headed through security and got to listen to a discussion over the creation of a mandatory registry for home schooled students. It was really interesting to read the pamphlet and compare their system to our government (particularly the role of royal assent which has unelected control over bills passed). I also learned that there are two red lines that run through the chamber on each side which the members are not allowed to cross. These originated as an attempt to stop rivals from cutting each other down with their swords during debate. Interestingly, powdered wigs are still worn by officials in certain positions in government. Afterwords, I headed outside and took some night pictures and rode the bus back to the hostel.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Day 11 - Jan 12:

It is fairly large.

My last day in London, I grabbed my favorite "free" bus ride to Trafalgar and started out by visiting the National Portrait Gallery. It begins with paintings of royalty and progressed to photography exhibits which were pretty awesome. There were some photographs that were crazy beautiful and emotion-evoking. It made me wish that I had more subjects for practicing portraiture.

The color choice surprised me at first.

Next I ate lunch and headed to the much bigger National Gallery (Both are free). I spent the better part of my day in there and saw an amazing amount of paintings (I couldn't help thinking about their combined worth). I have found that I am a bigger fan of artwork from the more recent centuries when it becomes less than 100% religious (exaggeration). I particularly loved Van Gogh's Sunflowers and A Wheatfield, with Cypresses. They both have incredible textures from the paint and the Wheatfield was particularly eye-catching. I also happened upon a 35 minute presentation on Seurat's Bathers at Asnieres. It is a huge beautiful painting and was basically his first big work (Before his invention of pointillism). It was interesting to learn that the painting was essentially a flop until much later. I really enjoyed learning more about it's symbolism and connection to his A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (It is the other side of the same river, where more bourgeois people hung out).

It still opens up for ships, but I didn't get to see.

After my brain was filled to the brim with paintings, I walked up to Piccadilly Circus where I found far fewer elephants and tightrope walkers than I expected. It is actually London's version of Times Square and has huge electronic billboards and theatres everywhere. I took the bus back a bit earlier and am currently sitting in the hostel and planning for my flight to Madrid tomorrow. London was pretty awesome, especially in terms of history and I would enjoy visiting when it is a bit warmer. However, I cannot wait to get to Spain and to start using Spanish and experiencing their culture.

One more of Benny and the Jets... for good measure.

Losing £s - Scotland

2010-01-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

The only picture I got of Glasgow from our hostel.

Cheers! I am currently sitting under a blanket in the living room of the Luther College Nottingham program flat and enjoying a more relaxed afternoon. Here is an update of all of my exploits in Scotland and a plethora of photographs.

St. Giles Cathedral - Edinburgh

Day 4 - Jan. 5:
As you know from previous posts, we had a 6~ hour delay for a 30 minute flight (We probably could have swam to Glasgow in that time). When we finally took off, I realized why Ryanair is so cheap. The entire flight they were peddling different goods and the seats felt like plastic (Leaving absolutely no room for my knees). However, flying into Scotland was gorgeous and the highlands were covered in pristine snow. Our train to Glasgow was about 20 minutes late, which was a bit stressful, but we eventually got to the city (The airport was actually 40~ minutes from the city).

Near Edinburgh Castle.

Our hostel was 3 blocks from the train station and was enormous (9 stories tall). It must have been an old hotel and only had 4 beds per room and its own bathroom/shower (Luxurious!). Hannah and I went to a grocery store a block away and got some frozen pizza and watched an almost artistically distorted version of "The Weakest Link." The TV split the image into blue, green, and red versions which were slightly offset.

Edinburgh had such beautiful buildings.

After cooking, we went up to my room to eat the pizza and found that I had another roommate who had checked in and was from London. He was about 30 or so and had just been hiking up in the highlands. We ended up chatting for about 2 hours about a wide variety of topics and ended up talking about politics and world events. It was really cool to have a British perspective on things (Such as his dislike for Mel Gibson and his movies critical of England like Braveheart/The Patriot). Afterwords we went down the bar that was in the ground level of our hostel and ended up meeting two Argentinean brothers who now live in Milan, Italy. We played darts with them for the rest of the night and it was great Spanish practice.

You could hear bagpipes almost everywhere (way too cold for kilts).

Day 5 - Jan 6:

The view of the North Atlantic from Sir Walter Scott Monument.

To save money on renting a towel (a pound or euro per hostel), I resorted to a cheat code (Thanks Ehler!) and used my sheets. Oddly enough, the Argentinean brothers were actually heading to Edinburgh as well and ended up staying in the same hostel. We walked with them to the train station and found out that the train we were supposed to ride had been cancelled. The snow in the UK has been causing tons of delays and there is supposed to be more this week (I'm hoping it doesn't interfere with getting to Spain). We asked the desk and found another station that had a train to Edinburgh and after 5 blocks of hurrying, we found it and were on our way.

Our hostel was in those buildings. Scenic.

Leaving the Edinburgh station, I looked up at the buildings and knew I would like the city. We walked up a curved hill (The first real elevation change in Europe, oddly enough) and quickly found our small cozy hostel. Our room in the hostel was called "the Fridge" and our beds were Guinness and Corona (All the other rooms had their own themes). We couldn't check in until 2pm, so we left our things in a luggage room and set off for the National Gallery which had some pretty cool arts (including spiral staircases surrounded by marble faces) and guards in kilts (hard to take them seriously).

Serene.

We walked around the city and explored for the next two hours. It is an awesome thing to enjoy photography and visit these places. Later, when we were about to climb a monument, we discovered that Hannah's billfold was not in her purse (including our train tickets to Nottingham). We headed back to a Starbucks we had stopped at and fortunately, someone had turned it in and not taken anything (good people exist). Then we went and checked into our rooms and enjoyed some free hot cocoa/coffee/tea and relaxation.

The coast was pretty swell.

We went to a pub from my guidebook for dinner and enjoyed a meal of a burger, chips, and a pint for only £3.50. It was a really cool place called The Tron and was primarily filled with university students. We hung out there for a while and watched British music videos (It is pretty expensive to do things at night and more difficult when you don't know the city that well yet). We ended up spending the rest of the night sitting by the fireplace in the hostel common room (soooo nice) and just chilling out.

I climbed down into the area by the boats and it was covered in seaweed and moss. Treacherous.

Day 6 - Jan 7:
To start out our second day in Edinburgh, we had a cheap hostel breakfast of croissants and then headed to the birthplace of Harry Potter for coffee. The Elephant house is where J.K. Rowling came up with the ideas of Harry Potter and Dumbledore on napkins. It was pretty wild to be in the place where one idea altered the path of her life so greatly. I tried to come up with some brilliant ideas while we were there, but I think she used up all the magic (rimshot).

Sunset with Edinburgh Castle on the right.

Next we headed to a photography exhibit of Craig Mackay in the National Museum. It was all portraits of famous Scots and people with Scottish heritage and was excellent. There was a video of interviews with the subjects and the photographer that showed a lot of Scottish flavour (UK spelling is great fun). Afterwords we headed back to the Sir Walter Scott Monument (The tallest in the world for a writer and 287 steps up). The top got super narrow and I had to turn my shoulders to get through the door at the top. The view was phenomenal and we got a greater grasp of where Edinburgh sits. It is right on an inlet of the North Atlantic with an extinct volcano and the Scottish highlands all around it. It was beautiful.

The views were pretty decent.

We decided to walk to the harbor after the monument and ate at a deli on the way (Amazingly delicious meatball sandwich). The walk was about 4 miles and it was nice to get into the smaller community feel of the area near the harbor. It used to be a different town called Leith, but was absorbed into Edinburgh (Like Pac-man). There were sailboats abound and high snowy hills across the inlet (Photo-op-alicious). We took a bus back and walked up to Castle Hill in time to see the sunset (Glorious).

St. Giles Cathedral - I had never seen an open steeple before.

It was a great day filled with tons of photo taking and galavanting about town. We had dinner again at the Tron because it was close, cheap, and had good vibes. This time I had a bowl of chili and Hannah had a curry/chicken dish. We ended the night by returning to the hearth of the hostel to have some wine and relax and figure out our trains for the journey to Nottingham.

Don't worry, I was on a boulevard.

Cultural Fun Fact: English folks use the same words for different things. Por ejemplo, this sentence, "It is so cold out, I wish I was wearing pants." In the States, it might indicate that someone is wearing shorts or a skirt and the wind might be a bit brisk. However, in Great Britain, trousers = pants and pants = underwear. Imagine the unfortunate consequences and hilarity that comes from this difference. Today I was washing clothes in Nottingham and Hannah asked if I was cold (I was wearing shorts). I responded that I was a bit cold due to the fact that all my pants were in the washer, leading to laughter.

Edinburgh has a huge New Years Eve celebration and there were still lights and things up.

Pants… hahah.

Dublin your money! Part III

2010-01-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - Jan. 4:
Getting used to the conversion rate is pretty tough, so we decided to cut costs on eating on the third day. We ate our hostel breakfast, made some PB&J's and grabbed some crisps and put them in Hannah's purse. Then we bought a 24 hour pass for a tour bus that you can hop on and off of. We rode the whole route and used it later to get around the city. The announcer had some awesome dry humor and chuckled to himself while joking about Dublin's Guinness consumption rate.

The entrance the Kilmainham Gaol.

Kilmainham Gaol was haunting. It was a political and criminal prison that held many rebels throughout Ireland's history. It was created when most jails were just one big room and introduced isolation and reform in jails. The cells were tiny and the windows to the outside had bars without glass to prevent disease. This meant the prisoners had to deal with terrible cold and wind. Many of the rebels who weren't executed ended up being major politicians. My camera battery died during the tour and so I have limited pictures from that day. Afterwords, there was a moment of despair when we saw a sign on the bus stop saying a bus wasn't coming due to ice, but it showed up after a minute or so.

Chamber of secrets?

Next, we rode to Jameson Distillery and got into a conversation with a worker who was a Packers fan (small world). It was really interesting to see how whiskey is made and the tour guide was hilarious. Whiskey's ingredients are just barley, water, and the barrels (which are actually important). Jameson gets used sherry and bourbon barrels which add color, flavor, and prevent the seeping of chemicals from the wood. I was chosen as a taste tester at the end of the tour and tried a taste of Scotch whiskey (Johnny Walker Black), American whiskey (Jack Daniels), and Jameson. I received a diploma verifying my abilities which I will most likely attach to my résumé.

This is the hole used to give prisoners short pieces of rope that they had to unwind to keep working.

We stopped by the Dublin Castle which wasn't much of a spectacle, but had sweet sculptures in the courtyard (Same shape but painted differently. Similar to the Snoopy's in MN). We returned to the hostel and made some very delicious stuffing for dinner (Thanks Greg and Laura!). We went to bed early to wake up for our checkout at 4:30am. I ended up awake up at 2~ when people were coming home from the bar and couldn't sleep much more. My internal clock isn't quite right yet.

Cell block which has been in quite a few films.

One of the most awesome things about Dublin is that every crosswalk has sweet sound effects. It sounds like a laser is fired whenever the light switches to walk. So you hear a PSEWWW and then half second pulses until it switches back. I think it is for people without very good vision but it is great because you don't have to pay attention and can cross when you hear the sound (Plus I like lasers).

The rest of the jail was incredibly old and this was the newest part.

The combination of conversion rate and being a major city made Dublin fairly expensive. However, we are doing our best to keep costs low. We actually just got a 5 euro snack or drink voucher from Ryanair due to the 6 hour delay (They are so generous). We won't get to see much of Glasgow because of the bad weather, but that is the way the cookie crumbles (I wish I had a cookie right now). Just gotta roll with the punches and all that business.

Until next time Dublin.

A Dublin Entendre. Part II

2010-01-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Day 2 - Jan. 3rd:
The second day began with free hostel breakfast (toast, coffee, amazing orange juice) and afterwords I showered. It was a glorious shower and felt like a new beginning. I was human again. There was absolutely no water pressure, but at least it was warm. Next, we walked to Trinity College which was filled with beautiful old buildings and had a cobblestone courtyard. That morning, it was essentially ice with little rock islands to grip on. Eventually a guard kicked us out of the courtyard due to the icy conditions. It is really interesting how they aren't used to snow and ice here (a cultural difference I didn't anticipate). There was even a guard by a set of three stairs to point people towards a ramp. Pretty surreal after the blizzards in Minnesota this winter.

Trinity College

For lunch we met with my second cousin, Megan Sammin. She took us to a crepes shop that she likes on a small street near a pedestrian mall. The food was delicious and the conversation was great. Megan was very kind and it was a fun to have a local opinion on things. I felt quite European sitting on the sidewalk eating crepes although it was fairly cold.

A tower in the courtyard at Trinity.

After lunch, we walked to the Dublin Spire, which is fairly new and 120 meters tall. It was pretty sweet because tall things are cool. Then we took a bus to the Guinness Storehouse and took the tour. It was super interesting and ended with a "free" pint at the Gravity bar which is the highest bar in Dublin and gives a 360 degree view of the city. The whole building has glass in the shape of a pint glass and the bar is the head of the beer. It would hold something like 14.3 million pints and apparently Ireland drinks that much Guinness in 2.5 weeks.

It is weird to see green grass in January.

From there we wandered to find Kilmainham Gaol but ended up off a block and went the next day. However, we did find an Emo petrol station. We tried our best to cheer it up.

I cannot jump the distance, you'll have to toss me. (Gaelic looks like Dwarvish)

We snagged a pizza and some apples and went back to eat supper. One thing that is really nice about Ireland is that although they have a 20+% tax, it is included in prices, which makes for easier/quicker payment. That night we ate while watching the Arsenal v. West Ham United game. It is so nice to have football games on all the time.

Interesante.

I ran into my first dilemma that evening when my card wouldn't work at an ATM. I couldn't really call home or the help line as I have no phone and so I borrowed my friend hannah's phone to make a one minute call ($2) to leave a message for my mom.

So many churches.

Later, we went down to Gogarty's and then the Temple Bar that night for live Irish music and had a pint. I got to chat with a father, son and daughter from Spain in Temple Bar after they noticed I could understand them talking about Spanish football. It was really nice and the brother recommended an area in Madrid for me to visit. To top off the night, the ATM worked at the bar and I got enough money out to make it through the rest of Dublin.

Photo Binge:

The River Liffey

¿Por quuuuéeeeeeeeeeeee?

My goodness, my Guinness.

If your bangs cover your eyes you get 10 cents off!

Final Dublin post coming soon.

Dublin your pleasure, Dublin your fun. - Part I

2010-01-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Wooooooooooooooo. My flight from Dublin to Glasgow has been delayed 5~ hours! However, I found free internet (In an airport!?), so I have time to type up a bit of my Dublin experience. I really loved it and hope that I can make it back to Ireland and get into the countryside a bit more. Hopefully when it is a bit more warm and green.

Day 1 - Jan. 2nd:
I arrived in Dublin International at 10:25am (4:25pm CST) having gotten about 3~ hours of sleep on the plane. Over Newfoundland we hit some pretty intense turbulence that lasted about 2 hours with a few moments of calm. Having only flown twice before, I wasn't very excited. At one point, the pilot told the crew to sit down and buckle in and I became even less happy. The plane felt like it was moving a ridiculous amount and I kept thinking about the "Lost" plane crash scene and how I didn't want to be marooned in Canada (at least the healthcare would be better).

When we landed in Dublin, there was a slight dusting of about 1 inch of snow. We were delayed an hour and a half because usually snow doesn't accumulate here. As a Minnesotan, I had a hard time understanding how slight ice and snow could cause such a major city to shut down, but they just don't have plow and salt distribution systems. After going through immigration and waiting anxiously for my checked luggage, I walked into arrivals to see my friend Hannah Crippen who is studying in Nottingham, England for the year. It was great to see a familiar face as I stepped into a foreign country.

Christ Church

I used my first euros to grab a bus to the city centre (Thanks Fien!). It's a crazy feeling being in a new place without any idea of where you are and no cell phone or means of communication. Scary, yet somewhat liberating. We got off on the bus and used the printed directions to make our way across icy cobblestones and found our hostel fairly easily. The girl at the desk was from Argentina and kept referring to me as "Mr. Anderson" in the Agent Smith voice from The Matrix. We had a dispute over room fees which led to a 20 minute Kung-Fu battle ending with my triumphant acquisition of the room key (I wish this sentence was true). She told us that we had to wait an hour to check in, so we rented some luggage storage and went to find food.

The bridge between Christ Church and Dublinia.

We went to Quay's in the Temple Bar district and had a burgers, chips, and a Guinness (When in Dublin…). The food was good and I learned that it is common to dip chips (fries) in gravy here, which isn't actually half bad. I had been told the Guinness is better here and it's true, it is smoother tasting. We checked in and moved our things into our room on the 3rd floor. It was a 20 person room (mixed gender) and was subdivided into 5 smaller 4 person coves. There were keycards to get into the hostel and then the rooms, so that helped with not worrying about theft.

Excellent Viking beard.

Our hostel was right next to Christ Church (beautiful) which was connected to another older church building which housed Dublinia, a museum of viking and medieval history. The Viking part was pretty cool and there were hilarious models of people from that period. After paying, a shifty character (similar to a sketchier Barty Crouch Jr.) told us to follow him and quickly walked towards the back of the museum. My tourist sense started tingling and I started getting nervous. He led us to the back to a staircase and I paused and asked about the exhibits on the main floor. He told us that you start in the basement and a less scary lady appeared and agreed, so we went down stairs to Vikingland (but I bet he has the dark mark).

Intensely creepy mannequin at Dublinia

Afterwords we went into Christ Church which was beautiful and holds the tomb of Strongbow (Excellent name). That night we went to a Spar (little grocery store) and got ingredients for a feast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some cheese and onion crisps (chips). We also munched on Babybell cheese wheels which were awesome. We spent the night in the hostel common room and watched a football match (Soccer). All in all, it was a good first day in Dublin. I was a bit jetlagged throughout the day, but mostly functional. I apologize for the length of these posts, but I will be in the airport another 4~ hours and need to occupy myself.

Inside of Christ Church.

Bonus Picture:

This guy was in the Viking exhibit in Dublinia and he kept making groaning sounds.

I guess moss doesn't make good toilet paper.

More to come soooooooooon.

El principio

2010-01-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well I am currently sitting in the Chicago O'Hare airport and waiting for my flight at 8:35pm to Dublin. It was pushed back an hour and a half because there is snow in Ireland and they aren't as tough as the midwest. I arrive in Dublin in the morning and meet my friend Hannah Crippen and I am hoping that this delay doesn't complicate things too terribly.

I got on as a stand by on a flight from MSP to Chicago and have been here since 1:00 pm. I am getting a little bit anxious to get on the flight and I hope that I will be able to sleep well. I exchanged dollars for euros and pounds and it was incredibly painful to see how little I got back.

I haven't planned a whole lot for what to do tomorrow, but I have a guidebook that should serve as a good start. I am grateful that so far things have gone fairly smoothly. The plane ride from Minneapolis was pretty decent and I got in plenty of Sky Mall scanning. I was really tempted to get the $400 Lord of the Rings chess set or the $100 telepathy obstacle course (Maybe for Christmas). The best part of the international terminal is that I am surrounded by people from all over the world, speaking a ton of different languages. As a language nerd, I really enjoy it (Especially Spanish speakers).

Thoughts by Sean.

They keep announcing peoples names and nearly all of them are O'something or something-igan.
My right foot is asleep and doing that uncomfortable tingly waking process.
It is incredibly bizarre to know that I will be moving at 500mph above the Atlantic whilst I sleep tonight.
I just imagined myself doing that without the plane, just sleep-flying. Like sky-luging. Neat.
I am really excited to do a jig. In Ireland. I know you all will be there dancing in spirit.
I wish that the repetitive public service announcements in the airport would have excited voices or be sung in a little ditty.
Have you gathered how bored I am yet?
I would take a picture of the terminal to show you how thrilling it is, but I think people would be weirded out.
If there was no one here to yell at me, I would sprint on the moving walkways so that I could achieve maximum speed. However, reality would strike pretty quickly when I hit the end of it.
Money belts are convenient. It makes me think there should be a new design and subsequent renaissance of the fanny pack.
I think some of the TSA security workers just need a hug.
Almonds are dangerously delicious.
In Minneapolis, this little boy was super excited every time a plane took off. I wish life was still that simple.
I think I saw a family that was moving to Ireland while I was checking in today. Either that or they just wear way too many clothes.
It would be nice if streamers and confetti shot out of the plane when you landed safely. To celebrate science.
I would like it if the stewards/stewardesses would stand in the tunnel to the plane while you ran through it and received dual high-fives like a sports team. (Pilot chest bump at the end)
Abu Dhabi. Say it. Real places shouldn't have such hilarious names. (Looked it up: It means father of gazelle. Fitting)

I apologize for the length and lack of focus in this post. It was my maiden voyage of blogging and I have yet learned to steer or have a destination in mind. Well I am going to go walk around a bit. I will blog again when I can (rhyme).

Paz,

Sean

P.S. This may or may not be the dawning of the age of Aquarius.