first saturday exploring madrid

With some friends waiting for the metro

My roommates and I in front of a large fountain in one of the cities many parks 

The Temple of Debod: an Egyptian temple in Madrid

The park behind el Palacio Real

Taking a little break to sit on the grass across from the palace

We met an adorable little boy named Santio who couldn't get enough of Kaity

Us standing in front of El Palacio Real. Look how tiny we look in front of it!

We went inside and walked through the palace, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures.

Every room was ornately decorated and gilded with gold and silver. There were rooms for everything you can imagine, like conversing, getting dressed, smoking, etc. Every room had massive crystal chandeliers that were my favorite part of the palace. There was also a large chapel inside that was made up of frescos and different kinds of marble and a huge organ that was also very impressive.

The Cathedral of Madrid, across from the palace

El Plaza Mejor

The most important plaza in Madrid, with this statue in the center. It is surrounded by apartment buildings with cute restaurants all around the bottom, which makes for a very nice place for lunch or dinner. It's a very touristy area though so things are a bit overpriced.

My friends and I before going out for Kaity's 20th birthday!

atletico futbol partido

This past thursday, I went to a soccer game between Madrid's Atletico and Scotland's Celtics. I have been to one other European soccer match before when I was studying in Florence in January, but Florence has a very bad team, so it wasn't a great game and there wasn't as big of a following as there was here in Spain. Atletico is thought of as a less important team, after the more prominent Real Madrid, which is considered the best team in Europe. Atletico still has a huge following however, and it more the team of the working class, whereas Real Madrid is more of a white-collar team.

The game started at 9 pm, but the pre-game festivities started much earlier. The bars and streets surrounding the immense stadium were packed full of fans dressed in all red, white, and blue. Everyone was drinking beer and singing team songs, and chanting for a win. It was definitely a cultural experience to be a part of the pre-game party and learn the team chants. There was a sense that the team pride was more important than the win itself. 

We headed into the stadium right before the start of the game, and found our seats high up in the nose bleeds section of the stadium. Something interesting about Spanish soccer stadiums, is that they don't serve alcohol. Which is really interesting because alcohol is considered a big part of attending sporting events in the states. Here, the fans are so rowdy, that serving alcohol at stadiums causes huge riots and is too dangerous a risk. The game resulted in a 2-0 win for Atletico! So we went out and celebrated the win just like the rest of Madrid: in the bars. It was a really fun night, and a great cultural experience to hang out and celebrate with real fans and locals.

My friends Cecily, Tallia, Christene and I

Kaity enjoying a post-game beer... or two.

september 7-8: seville and cordoba

After Granada we traveled to Sevilla. We got there pretty late in the day and just in time for a class session and then we went down the street to a deli and bar called "100 Montaditos" that had 100 different kinds of mini sandwiches. On Wednesdays, the place had a special where everything cost only 1 euro, so needless to say we took full advantage of it. We ordered tons of different sandwiches as well as pints of local beer and sangria (remember the drinking age here is 18, so it is completely legal) and we were there pretty much all night.

The next morning we went to the Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede. It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. The cathedral is the burial site for Christopher Columbus who has a massive coffin in the middle of the church. It was built on top of an old Muslim mosque, as were many of the churches we saw in Spain, so we could see evidence of other cultures in the remaining arquitecture. The cathedral has 80 chapels and is considered one of the "12 Treasures of Spain." Some pictures below show the inside of the cathedral as well as the courtyard.

The part of the cathedral that I enjoyed most was the tower. After climbing 34 flights of stairs, we reached the top of the tower where you could walk around and see a 360 view of the whole city. Again, it was really hot and I was very sweaty, but it was worth it to see the beautiful view.

A lot of the USD students after climbing the tower decided to take a load off and sit directly on the floor of the church... this is frowned upon.

After the day in Seville, we started our journey back to Madrid with a short pit stop in Cordoba about halfway back to the city. The picture above is of the view walking from the bus into the city. In Cordoba, we visited (I bet you could guess this) ANOTHER cathedral! The Mezquita-Catedral to be specific. The site used to be a pagan temple, then a Christian church, before the Moors converted the building into a mosque. The architecture was very eclectic due to all the different groups that constructed it. The most notable part of the church was tons of arches everywhere, which you can see in the pictures below.

Kaity doing some serious thinking in the cathedral.

After our short visit in Cordoba, we loaded back on the bus for the final four hours back to Madrid. We had an amazing nine days traveling around Spain, but were very excited to head home to our adorable host sisters and their amazing cooking. The cumulative 40 hours on the bus were killer, and we're happy to be back to our normal public transportation: the metro. The metro here is air conditioned at least! Sort of. 

Up next: Oktoberfest in Munich. We're possibly planning a trip to San Sebastian in the next couple weeks. At the end of October, we'll spend five days in Morocco. In November, we're looking forward to visiting Kaity's grandparents in Ireland, and then a weekend in Amsterdam. In December we'll be visiting our friends from USD for about five days in Florence with a day trip to Venice. 

I feel incredibly lucky to have this experience and the ability to travel to all these amazing places. I am not taking anything for granted and I'll keep everyone updated on my travels! I miss home a little but the homesickness hasn't completely set in yet... I'll let you know :)

In case you want to let me know any great places to visit while I'm here or if you want to get in contact with me, here is my contact information:

E-mail: pbrewin@sandiego.edu

Spanish telephone (for emergencies): 654086583

september 5-6: granada

Next stop: Granada after another seven hour bus ride

We got to Granada pretty late in the day and only had time to change clothes and go explore the city looking for a good place to eat dinner. The city is made up of small streets and alleyways all full of really cute shops and cafes. Some were very upscale and others were a little more "local". I really liked Granada because our hotel was very centrally located so we could find everything from walk up sandwich delis to 10 different shoe stores within a five minute walk. The other hotels we stayed at were a little more removed from the center of the city and more difficult to navigate. We stumbled upon a pretty square surrounded by restaurants and picked an Italian one where I ate pizza for the first time since being home. It was different but still yummy. My roommates and I stopped for a quick picture in front of the fountain in the middle of the square before going to get crepes and nutella and head back to the hotel for much needed sleep.

The next day we had a short one hour walking tour of the city where we saw the city's cathedral and walked around the outdoor markets where there were lots of vendors selling souvenirs and food. We ended the tour at this fountain in the middle of the city. Pictured above is Kaity and me and some of our friends in our business class.

The real attraction in Granada however was yet to come. It's a palace called the Alhambra about an 8 kilometer drive from the city. It is the second most visited site in the world, after the Eiffel Tower and before the Statue of Liberty, and I have to say I was much more impressed by the Alhambra than by either of those structures. It was MASSIVE. Built on a huge hill overlooking the city, every side of the castle provided a beautiful view of Granada.

Some of the boys in our group tried to adopt the local style by purchasing MC Hammer/Gypsy pants at the outdoor markets for 9 euro each... Not sure I saw any locals wearing them, but the boys were pleased that upon sitting down, the pants magically turned into tables!

The gardens were really beautiful, and huge with lots of terraces and different paths to walk down and explore. It was about 102 degrees that day so we were pretty tempted to jump in every fountain we saw.

The view from one of the structures.

Up in the highest tower of the castle, some of the boys posed for what they thought made a great photo, hanging from the flag poles overlooking the city.

My friends Charyssa, Christene, and I in the gardens in front of one of the many fountains.

As my blog progresses, you'll notice a lot of repeating clothes among my roommates and I. This is because we each packed for the travel seminar in about five minutes, and brought approximately five shirts each for the nine day trip. Very well thought out. 

I think that Granada was probably my favorite city that I visited along the travel seminar because the people were very friendly, there was a lot of vibrance to the city, and there was more diversity of both cuisine and activities than there was in the other cities we visited. Tea shops are very popular in Granada and so we took a night off from our usual activities and visited Kasbah, a tea house about a ten minute walk from our hotel and tried some of the different teas they had to offer. The decor and ambiance was very different than anything else we had experienced in Spain so it was a nice view into the other types of cultures that exist outside of paella and flamenco. It also happened to be a hookah bar.

Next stop: Sevilla!

september 3-4: valencia

The next day we left for Valencia which was about four hours away by bus. Yes, another bus ride in cramped seats surrounded by grumpy college students. We arrived in the late afternoon and had time to grab a quick bite before a bus tour of the city. We went to a nearby hole-in-the-wall cafe and had quick bocadillos (sandwiches). In Spain, a bocadillo is a sandwich on a baguette, and a "sandwich" is served open-face on sliced bread, which I learned the hard way after several confusing orders. After being in the cafe for about twenty minutes and it being time to hustle back about four blocks to the hotel, we were met at the door by a torrential downpour and sprinted back through the rain to the hotel where we made it just in time to board our favorite bus for even more quality time in the uncomfortable seats. 

The city was really beautiful though and I was incredibly impressed with the architecture because many different parts of the city were in different styles and the neighborhoods were all very cute. Unfortunately it was Sunday, so everything was closed because Spain pretty much shuts down completely on sundays, except for the small shops with chinese owners. Go China! We ended our tour at the aquarium and museum of arts and sciences. The aquarium was awesome, with everything from the smallest crabs and jellyfish, to beluga whales and seals. Still didn't beat Monterrey though. The designs of the buildings were really cool and modern though, as pictured below.

All the girls before going to a pub called Finnegan's in Valencia

The 105 degree humid weather was perfect for a beach day the next day. Don't worry, we had class too. We spent an hour that morning learning about the importance of tourism to the Spanish economy. Valencia is a very young and vibrant city and the beaches are beautiful. Later that evening I enjoyed some of the best paella I've had yet, second to my host mom's. Apparently, the water in Valencia is not good for drinking, unlike the water in Madrid, but because of this, it makes it the best for cooking paella because it already has a lot of flavor to it. Big cities inland from Valencia even import the water for cooking their paella. 

Final note: In Spain the word "valencia" is pronounced "balenthia." 

I'm just now starting to get used to the Spanish lisp that I never had to use in my high school spanish courses.

september 1-2: barcelona

We started a 7 hour bus ride to Barcelona and arrived around 6 

that night in time for a short siesta before dinner.

A group of us going out for the night in Barcelona.

We began the next day early to do a walking tour of Barcelona that started with the old Olympic stadium, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. It was built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition and then in 1992 was used for the summer Olympics. It is located on a large hill a little outside the city that overlooks the harbor. It's named after the former president of Spain who was later executed by the Franco regime. Now, they only use the stadium for big sporting events like important soccer (futbol) games.

Tallia and me in front of the stadium

La Sagrada Familia was definitely the most impressive part of Barcelona in my opinion. It was absolutely massive and it is difficult to capture its size in a picture because it simply doesn't do it justice. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi and dedicated his last years to it, but when he died thirty years later, the church was only a quarter of the way complete. The completion has progressed very slowly over the years because it's construction relies on private donations and it is expected to be done on the centennial of Gaudi's death in 2026. There is a lot of division among the citizens of Barcelona because they think some of the work after Gaudi's death doesn't follow his design or because it could compete with the cathedral of Barcelona. Again, I loved the stained glass because it was very bright and geometric, which is different than the religious designs in most churches here.

the back of the church

the front of the church

Another really cool part of Barcelona is the large outdoor market La Rambla located in the center of the city with tons of vendors that stretch about a mile down. The middle of the street has vendors selling everything from flowers to small toys for children. Along the edges of the street are tons of small cafes and bars to stop for tapas and sangria. The best part about this area is the Open Air Market, el Mercat de la Boqueria, which was sort of similar to Pike's in Seattle. There were tons of different vendors selling fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, cured meats, crepes, etc. It was really impressive and there were lots of strong smells of cheese and fish coming from every direction. I tried some yummy cheese and admired the rest of the selection.

My roommate Jenna walking through the fishy area

Barcelona was very beautiful (and humid) and it was a really fun city. 

I was sad we only got to spend one day there before leaving for our next stop.