Spring Break 4

Thursday 1 April 2010 Day 7: Salzburg

Today was a beautiful day in Vienna! Was so sad to leave it. I loved Vienna. Got on Austria’s high-speed train, Railjet to Salzburg. The train ride was very nice and the cars extremely new. About 10 minutes out from Salzburg, the sky started to cloud over. The temperature was about 36-degrees—not very warm but do-able with a coat. We walked through a market and through the gardens of a palace, Schloss Mirabelle.

By then it was lunchtime and Nic and I were rather hungry. We went to café bazaar and ordered the special (which tends to be about half the price of anything else on the menu). It was a something I have never eaten before but apparently pretty common to the region because I saw them in the market too. They are big balls of like pasta dough lightly packed together and mixed with spinach. I forget what they are called, but they were very good! They were served with butter, more wilted spinach, and cheese—rather tasty.

After lunch we made our way to the old part of town. We saw Mozart’s birthplace, walked down an outdoor mall, and stopped in a Swedish candy store for Nic too. It started to rain here too! So we went to take refuge in a church. It was very ornate and grand like the Spanish Cathedrals I’ve seen but still slightly different. When left the cathedral, the rain had gotten stronger and we decided we weren’t having fun and would just like to go warm up. So we walked back to the train station and left for Munich. On the train ride home we passed through snow! It was pretty, But I think I’m ready for some sun and maybe a beach?!

We arrived right on time in Munich (I love train travel in Europe! So efficient and easy). Our hotel was only a 5 min walk from the train station. We were going to take a quick nap, but that turned into a full nights sleep of about 12 hours. Apparently we were pretty tired!

Friday 2 April 2010 Day 8: Neushwanstein

Today Nic and I visited King Luwig II’s fantasy palace in the foothills of the German Alps in southern Bavaria. The train ride there was one of the most beautiful. The train passed through quintessential little German towns with the view of the mountains in the background. As we got closer to Füssen, the last stop, the snow-topped mountains filled the train windows! The castle is about a 10 min bus ride from the train station to the castle, but realizing that this trip was quickly eating at our two-week budget, we decided to go for the more health-conscious option—walking the two-miles to the town and then another 30 min climb to get to the top of the hill on which the castle sits. Definitely got our exercise for the day!

Views from the top were quite pretty and I got some pretty neat pictures! The castle on the other hand, was rather disappointing I thought… A weakly lead required tour of information that could easily be found on the Wikipedia took us through a fourth of the castle because most of it was left unfinished. I’m very glad I went, but don’t think I’ll make the trip back again. I will however, make the trip to the alps again to do some skiing! We grabbed some lunch in a café just outside the train stop. The lunch specials here are amazing—7 euro for a dinner-sized portion. Plus, it fills you up so less for dinner too! It’s great.

We got back to the hotel 2 hours later and, afraid to take a nap because we thought we might sleep the whole night again, we watched some BBC world news about the bombings in Moscow, the census in India, the scandals with the Irish church, and a special on the closing of Guantanamo Bay. Then deciding to do something German, we went to the oldest beer cellar in Bavaria, Haufbräuhauskeller since 1644. Quite expensive, but definitely worth it for a liter or two of fine Bavarian bier! (I wouldn’t eat there though). There aren’t really individual tables but long cafeteria-like benches where you pick a spot and make friends with the people around you (the beer helps with that last part!) Nic and I grabbed a seat and randomly enough, they were Spaniards sitting next to us! They were actually from Valencia, where Nic studied a summer in high school and I want to go soon! They were really nice and after the beer hall closed, we went to another bar with them to play futbolín, foosball. Germans are crazy good at foosball. Nic and I didn’t even try to compete! It was strange speaking Spanish in Germany… forgot where I was for a little bit. Felt like “home” in Madrid! It was hard to switch back to the little German that I know that night. Finally got some kebaps on the way home! So delicious!

Spring Break 3

Sorry for the delay. (kind of forgot about the blog.... :-/)

Tuesday, 30 March 2010 Day 5: Vienna

We got up at 8:00 am this morning to a beautifully warm and sunny day—only needed a sweatshirt! We walked to Bellevedre, a huge estate near our hotel built by Prince Eugene. It’s two giant palace-type buildings and a large lawn and garden with lots of fountains. Very pretty. Then we walked to Liberation fountain built by the soviets after World War II to commemorate the Germans being removed from Vienna. From there we walked to Karlskirche, Charles’s Church. It was built to commemorate Vienna being delivered from the plague and named after St. Charles Bartolomeo to the patron saint against the plague.

After the church we went to the History museum. We received a history lesson of Vienna from 500 B.C. to present day. Vienna was ruled by Vienna’s history is quite interesting and the museum was quick and painless. Included in the ticket was entrance to an exhibition on art created by the mentally ill. Vienna was the birthplace of modern psychiatry, and famous Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Many of Europe’s mentally ill came to Vienna to be treated in the state of the art facilities and by the best psychiatrists of the time. I learned a lot and enjoyed it very much. Well worth the 3 euro student price.

After the museum we went to get lunch at a restaurant famous for its southern Austrian cuisine, which is extremely similar to Italian cooking—a lot of pasta! I had a delicious zucchini soup followed by a type of free form pasta with bacon and spices and herbs. Nic got chicken and potatoes and veggies with a sauerkraut salad to begin with. To drink we ordered Riesling for which Vienna is known. In fact, Vienna in German is Wien, which is also the word for wine! Everything we had was very good. Lunch was followed by relaxing in the park with some chocolate and laying in the sun in Stadtpark.

After the park we ran past Stephensdom, a huge Cathedral in the middle of the city (Unfortunately under renovation like almost every major attraction we have gone to see. Thanks off-season!). Then we went past the canal and since it was such a nice day we walked to the palace and town hall, Rathauskeller, to take pictures. Then we came walked back to the hotel, picked up some souvenirs along the way, and relaxed before dinner just down the street. I had more goulash! And Nic got Weiner schnitzel. Not as good as lunch but still good. Finally we ran past McDonald’s to use the free wifi but my computer was almost out of battery and neither umail nor gmail would work, just facebook. Tomorrow is another busy day of museums and the castle!

Thursday 31 March 2010, Day 6: Vienna

Today was not the most beautiful of days… We woke up to 40-degree weather and rain. L So we got to sleep in a little bit to wait it out. After the rain calmed down a little bit we went to the Palace two metro stops outside the city, Schloss Shönbrunn. The castle was a bit expensive, but because there were still some rain showers, we decided to go in. There we learned even more about the history of Austria and its royal family. After the tour of the palace the rain had stopped and we walked through the gardens of the palace but they were not nearly as pretty as they would be in the summer because there were no leaves or flowers. The statues and fountains were still pretty though!

After deciding it wasn’t worth the cold to take pictures of pathways lined with dead trees, we took the metro back to the center of the city. There, we went to the Rathaus, Town hall and the Museum of Natural History, voted one of the top ten museums in the world in 2001. For lunch between the two stops we went to a completely deserted restaurant and ordered some chicken cordon bleu (the only thing we could recognize!) expecting a medium-sized plate. What we got were two huge chicken breasts pounded out to the size of dinner places! It was a ton of food! And good too! In the Museum of natural history we saw some really cool exhibits about the earth and how it was formed. There was a chunk of gold that weight nearly 700kg, some huge diamonds, meteors and a 25,000-year-old rock figure of a woman.

We then walked to a café to eat some cakes traditional of Vienna, sachertorte, a chocolate cake with an apricot jam layer, and SCHOIUWEPWIER, a white chocolate and dark chocolate cake mix. I preferred the sachertorte. And there was also Internet at the café! Sent a few emails and checked facebook! We weren’t too hungry for dinner after the large lunch and desserts so we got hot dogs from a street vender. Mine was disgusting! It had like a cheese or mayonnaise in the wiener. I did not like it. But then we came back to the hotel and caught up on the world news with the BBC and CNN International (the only two channels in English).

Tomorrow is Salzburg and then to Munich that evening!

Spring Break 2

Sunday, 28 March 2010 Day 3: Prague

Woke up a little late today. Missed breakfast at the hotel, L but luckily just made checkout. Thank God our phones switched times with daylight savings! Went to an old Soviet radio tower near our hotel known as the baby tower. Prague held a contest to see who could decorate the tower to make it look the better. Famous Czech artist, David Černy won with his design to put giant creepy babies crawling up and down the tower. Even the Czechs make fun of it! We ate our breakfast of an apple and some granola bars then we went up in the tower. We got a great view of the whole city, and some good pictures too!

Afterwards we walked towards the center of the city and stopped for lunch along the way. Goulash again for me! And Nic tried a different dish that was a little sweeter but similar to goulash with the dumplings and sauce/gravy called svíčková na smetaně. Lunch in total for both Nic and me was 195 Czech Crowns (slightly more than $10). After lunch we met Gretchen down town at the New-Old Synagogue and decided that was too expensive so we visited the Spanish Synagogue, which was really pretty (I wonder why…. ;-)) Then we went back to the town square to get some trdelník (jokingly pronounced “turtleneck” by young Americans, who have no idea how to pronounce it). Trdelník is a type of pastry that is made by taking a strip of sweet cinnamon-sugar dough, wrapping it around a wooden spit 3 or 4 times, and then cooked by spinning if over a fire (Delicious!)

Hilary and Diana arrived and they decided to go shopping with Gretchen and Nic and I did some more sightseeing/eating around the downtown area. We got bramborák (giant potato pancake/hash browns) by the opera house followed by a walk along the river towards Charles Bridge filled with lots of little stops to take the in the view and rest. We walked to an island a little south of the center of the city and relaxed. Needing to warm up we stopped by the Easter fair again and drank some mulled wine and listened to some Czech folk music. The wine and the walk seemed to whet our appetite and we ate a sausage on a baguette with plenty of ketchup and mustard.

The sun had set by then and we needed a place to warm up and spend our last few Crowns! We walked towards the area where the bar was last night and decided upon an Irish pub. We ordered two Budweiser Budvars (Thankfully nothing like the US’s Budweiser at all! Budweiser means a beer from that region). I also needed something more in my stomach so I ordered some Heinz Baked Beans. We left the pub around 10pm and headed to the train station for our overnight train to Vienna that departed at 11:11 No major problems getting on, just a few minor ones about uncertainties of how the train worked and which car was ours. Things were all figured out, and we are now in our three-bunk sleeper car and I have about 6 hours to sleep until we arrive in Vienna. Need to get some rest now! Bratislava tomorrow!

Monday, 29 March 2010 Day 4: Bratislava and Some Rest

Our train arrived half an hour late into Vienna but still arrived before 7:00 am! We then took the metro to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and then walked to the train station for our 8:52 am train to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It’s a small city that is easily seen in a day (or half day like we did because the castle was closed for renovation :-/). We saw the main square, the castle, some cool churches, and a big bridge over the Danube. We ate lunch at the Slovak Pub—a restaurant and bar dedicated to selling authentic Slovak dishes and especially cheap for students. Beer for half the price and cheaper food options. You can get a free soup for getting an A on an exam! Nic and I both ordered a creamy garlic soup in a bread bowl and a tradition Slovak empanada-type dish of beef and/or pork with a sour cream sauce toped with bacon. After lunch we made our way back to Vienna so that we could relax and get some rest after a not-so-restful night on the train.

When we came back to Vienna we checked-in to our very nice and affordable hotel, showered (finally!), napped for a few hours, and got some dinner late at McDonalds (the only place open at the time). It’s supposed to be a very warm and sunny day tomorrow. That means lots of walking a picture-taking!

Spring Break

So... after just writing the first week of my two-week spring break, I'm at 7 pages single spaced.... So I'm going to spread the love and post them a day or two at at time. That way, you all have something to read and I have time to write the last week! anyway, here it is:

Friday, 26 March 2010 Day 1 Arrive in Munich/Train to Prague

Landed a little late... Got in around 11:50 Nic landed a little early. But we missed each other at first. Finally met up around 12:45 and got our eurail pass validated and took the s-bahn to Marienplatz and saw a few of the highlights to start with—the rathaus (city hall), St. Peter’s Cathedral, and Karlsplatz. We got some lunch at this restaurant and tried out our very poor German skills! But got what we wanted beer and food! We found the general area of our hotel for when we come back next weekend and are now on the train after just one more beer :) nic is now dozing as we fly down the track whizzing by houses and fields. All I can think is "is this real?! Am I really traveling across Europe for the next two weeks!? This is Awesome!

Saturday, 27 March 2010 Day 2: Prague

Our train arrived in Prague around 11:30 pm last night. We walked to the hotel where we made our reservation, Hotel Florenc, and they told us that they had “technical problems.” The water pipes had burst in five of their rooms—one of which was ours. So they made a reservation for us at a hotel just a little farther from the city center, but easier to walk to. We got to bed around 1:00am.

We woke up to a sunny and mild morning at 8:30 to get breakfast in the hotel for free! Some yogurt, cereal, tea, chocolate pastries, cheese, vanilla wafers, more cheese, cookies, and some pork/ham cold cuts to make sandwiches. After breakfast we showered to get ready for some sightseeing. One of the girls Nic is studying with in Bologna, Gretchen from Maine and goes to school in Bryn Mawr, has a friend, Diana also from Maine, studying in Prague for the semester so we had plans to meet with them to get a tour from a local!

Nic and I first went to the square in front of the Opera house and saw a few little stands set up with some street food and decorations. Then we turned right to walk along the river and then up to the castle to meet everyone. Gretchen’s other friend from back home in Maine, Hilary who studies at Middlebury, but in Paris for the semester was there, but not Diana. She had gotten food poisoning earlier in the week and was still recovering. By the time we made it to the top of the castle, some dark rain clouds had moved in and threatened to rain. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped a few degrees. So we decided to walk through the largest castle in the world! Well, it kind of cheated… The castle in a connection of government buildings, a cathedral, and a Vineyard that make a large enclosure that kind of is and kind of isn’t a castle, but still cool nonetheless! And is didn’t end up raining and the skies even cleared a little!

After the Castle we descended the mountain to go see John Lennon’s wall and Lock Bridge. Then we crossed the Vltava River on the famous Charles Bridge to grab lunch at an authentic Czech restaurant. Nic and I both had some delicious garlic soup, cesneková, goulash and dumplings, gulaš na knedlíky, with some Czech beer, pivo, Krušovice. After a late lunch we walked to the Center of the city to see the Astronomical clock, get a nice view of the Týn Church, and see, taste, smell, and hear the Easter Festival going on. So many traditional Czech paraphernalia, such as braided willow branches (I’ll explain later) intricately painted and carved eggshells, beer, mulled wine, pastries, sausages, and shish kebabs! Throughout our time there we ate one of everything. We met up with more of Gretchen’s and Diana’s friends from high school and/or studying in Prague for some more sightseeing. Two of the friends wanted to go on the boat tour, but the rest of us didn’t want to go because it was cold and about to rain. So we decided to go to a bar. Two of the bars we went to were packed with people, mind you this was 6:00 pm on a Saturday, so Karen, a girl studying in Prague invited us all to her apartment to chill and relax for a little bit.

On the way to her apartment we stopped by the grocery store and picked up some beer and snacks to enjoy. It was really cheap! Almost everything in there cost just a dollar. Karen’s Czech RA/mentor/roommate came home shortly after we did and joined us in a game of kings that we taught her. Nic and I “kidnapped” her from the party to learn about Czech culture. She told us SO much, and by just showing a little bit of interest, she gave us a present—a shot of plum liquor! 60% alcohol by volume! Well… actually two, because Czech tradition says that if you have just one you’ll walk lopsided for the day! The plum liquor was actually made from plums from her parents yard in Moravia! Every year they pick the plums and prepare them to be fermented. Then they take them to a factory of sorts to be made in to alcohol because it is too difficult to be done at home, not to mention illegal. Then they go back later and pick of their liquor, which makes very easy Christmas gifts! Lika (?) got 8 liters last year! Czech tradition says that the drink is healthy and you should start everyday with 2 shots to stay healthy and youthful. A small shot is also taken when you have a sore throat! Lika shared a story with us about an old woman that kept going to the doctor every morning because she got sick and then later in the afternoon she’d feel better and go home. Then one day an older doctor saw her and asked her if she took the shots of plum liquor and she said “yes, of course!” It turns out that the woman had Alzheimer’s and didn’t remember how many shots she was taking and would get drunk every morning, sleep it off at the doctor, feel better, then go home and do it over again the next day!

Lika also shared with us the Czech’s Easter tradition. Way back when, less now, but still in her small town the young boys would weave willow tree braches together to form a whip/switch to which they would tie ribbons. The bigger the stick with more ribbons the better. The girls would buy tons of eggs and color and decorate them. Then the boys would come to the girls’ houses and ring the doorbell. The girls (reluctantly) answered the door and the boys would hit them with the sticks and the girls would give them eggs! Kind of like a fertility ritual. The boy with a lot of eggs was said to be a good luck and have lots of kids. I enjoyed talking with Lika more than any of the sights we saw that day. Prague definitely an awesome city to visit!

SPRING IS HERE!

The sun is shining! The weather is warming up! It's raining less often! The flowers are blooming! and Midterms are over! Spring is finally going to come after all!

The one place Spaniards love to be more than el estadio del futból or the bar is: outside! When the weather is nice, (and even when it's freezing) the spanish people are always out of their cramped apartment. Do not be offended if a Spanish person never invites you to their house. The home is a place of privacy, of which there is very little in a large city like Madrid. Almost all social gatherings are held in public spaces such as, bars, cafés, restaurants, la plaza, or (my favorite) the park!

This is where I spent most of my weekend and a portion of my week studying for midterms/picnicking a fresh baguette, some cheese, and jamón serrano! (a spanish meal is never complete with out some ham!) This is Parque del Oeste. A 20 min walk from campus and a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment depending on which section you decide to go to.

I imagine that as the days get warmer the parks will be swarmed with people relaxing on the lawn, kids playing in their "yard," and excessive amounts of PDA and dog poop... Both rather unsettling.

Italy Visit (finally posted)

Better late than never! this is from February 10-14

Bologna trip 2010

I was put in a holding pattern for about 20 min because of snow in Bologna. When I landed and it was snowing/raining. Not a very pretty day. I didn’t have to go through customs so no stamp :( I took the bus from the airport to the train station and met Nic there. I was a few mins late and he was right on time, so we basically arrived at the same time! We went to lunch at a pizza place. I got what Nic recommended but I didn't like it very much. It was some sort of ham/prosciutto, arugula, and a little bit of cheese. Nic got potato and prosciutto. I made him switch because I liked his better!

Ferrara

We missed the 3:15 train to Ferrara so we went to his programs office to use the comp and check for the next train. Met some of the program people and saw the office. It was really cool. took 4:56 train to Ferrara (about 30min) We walked around in the rain, :-/ saw a huge castle, but unfortunately it was closed - We were too late - saw a big church, but it wasn't open either, went to a little cafe and had some mocchiatti which are little tiny cups of super strong coffee and cream, Did a litte souvenir shopping but didn't buy anything, and took the 7pm train to Venezia (about 1.5hr). We arrived around 9:30.

Venezia

Soooooooo beautiful! And so confusing! We got lost so many times! It’s nothing but tiny narrow streets that change their name randomly and signs that assume you can make 3 turns on your own! The guide book said to not even worry about a map! It's basically no good anyway! When we got to Venice it was still raining and also happened to be high tide... So San Marco’s square was flooded by both water and decorations for Carnevale. So needless to say there wasn't much to look at that night. We had to wade through a few inches of water to get to the hotel. It was a really cool place—lots of character. It was inexpensive, decently sized, and had an awesome location, about 3 min to San Marco! (if there wasn't a flood that you and to walk around...) We set our bags down in the room and left for dinner. So hungry! We asked for a recommendation from the guy working the front desk and he suggested a place about a 15 min walk away, without getting lost (which was very unlikely), or a place that had their card in the lobby. So we decided on the place with the card in the lobby. It was closer, but unfortunately really expensive (not for Venice we soon came to find out) and also a little too touristy (which we also came to find that that's all Venice is!). We finally found a place to eat. I had cheese ravioli in a cream sauce with prosciutto and spinach. Nic had pasta with mushrooms. A very good dinner!

The next morning we woke up for the hotel’s breakfast at 8:30 had bread, cheese, juice, coffee, tea and croissants—a typical European breakfast. Then, went to San Marco’s square, which was still flooded. Luckily we found a way into the square the same way we took the night before to avoid having to walk through more water with our already soaking wet shoes from the night before. This time there were people dressed completely in Carnavale attire—masks and elaborate dresses and ridiculously huge hair! It was kind of creepy because their “faces” were expressionless masks! We wanted to go up in the Bell Tower and Basilica, but both were closed due to the high water. So we went to the Doge's palace instead. It cost 12 euro! But turned out to be really cool! One of the coolest museums I've been to. When we left, it had warmed up a bit and a lot of the water had drained out of the square! So we went up the bell tower and got some pretty cool views of the city. It was really cold and windy. We went back to the hotel to warm up and dry off a bit. We got some Paninis for lunch and went to the basilica. I was kind of disappointed with the basilica. There wasn’t much to look at. Then took more pictures of people dressed up and walked around the city some more. The sun finally came out for a little but it was still a little chilly. Did more souvenir shopping then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the restaurant the host suggested the first time. Of course, we got lost so it took a little longer than expected... But not too long. It was a seafood place, which was good but overpriced (just like everything else). On the way home we got kebabs! We stopped at a random concert and San Marco’s square for a beer on the way home. Took some pictures and then back to the hotel. We went to early because we had to get up at 5:45 am for our 7:30 am train to Trento. Only kind of got lost once on the way to the train!

Trento

We decided to take the cheaper 4 hr train for 8 euro instead of the 2.5 hr high-speed one for 30 euro. It ended up that this train went through the Italian Alps (called the Dolomites). The train ride was very pretty! Then in Tretno the views are amazing as well! The whole city is surrounded in mountains. We climbed a smaller hill up to a medium sized war memorial. It had a good view of the city and mountains. Then we took a tram up to a Sardagna even higher in the mountains. We took more pictures there and searched for a place that sold water bottles, but apparently the Italians take an even longer siesta than the Spanish! We went back down to Trento to another piazza, then to a church, and then a bakery. We had some traditional Carnevale treats at the bakery. I had some fried dough covered in powdered sugar that promptly got over all of my clothes! Then, we took the train back to Bologna. The train was so packed! I fell asleep almost instantly and didn’t wake up until we got to Verona when a lot of people got off the train.

Bologna

When we got back to Bologna we went straight to the restaurant and had this amazing fried pillow bread with sliced meat and a cottage cheese type of sauce. I had gnocchi in a red sauce. It was also very good. Then we went home and set our stuff down and got ready to go out. We met up with some of Nic’s friends and went to a place called Irish Bar and had a beer. The place was really nicely done and very spacious. Then we went to a place called Bar Paris. We didn’t stay out too late because we were exhausted from a day of traveling and sightseeing.

The next day Nic and I slept in. Then walked around Bologna, went to a museum, and up this really tall tower in the center of the city. We visited this market-type place called Vito. They make really fresh Italian food. I was going to buy some tortellini but ended up not. We went to McDonalds to snack on a McItaly! It’s a sandwich with all 100% Italian produce and meats and endorsed by the Italian government. It’s a big deal. It was on the BBC. We were going to go to dinner at Osteria d’Orso with Nic’s roommates, but the line was way too long. Apparently it’s a good restaurant! So we went to another osteria a little ways away. As a first course, I had pasta with spicy sausage that wasn’t too spicy, and as a second I had a vegetarian option of cheese and grilled vegetables. Then we went to where one of Nic’s roommates works and had a few beers there and danced some. When we left, I smashed my head on the low ceiling of the entrance because its called Bucca di Campana (Bell’s Basement) and to make it authentic they built it not to code?! Haha I dunno. It hurt and kind of ruined my night. We went to go get crepes after partying and then made it back home and went to bed.

The next day we got up late… as usual and had lunch with nic and his roommates. Authentic Italian food! It was delicious! J But shortly there after I had to go home L I had a great time in Italy and hope I can go back! Some great memories and awesome sights there!

Kristy's Visit

One of my best friends from IU, Kristy Anderson, came to visit me this weekend! Kristy is studying in Rouen, France this semester and decided she'd make a quick little hop from Paris to Madrid. I picked her up from the airport after she had landed in Madrid late Thursday night. We came home and I whipped up a little pasta and mushrooms for dinner (Kristy is vegetarian). Then we went to bed because I had class on Friday and she had been traveling all day.

The next morning we got up around 9:00 and went to get a café con leche and a little breakfast before my class at 11:30. We walked around Parque Del Oeste until it was time for me to catch the bus to school and Kristy explored the city for a few hours.

I met up with Kristy in the center of Madrid, Sol, around 15:00, but unfortunately I had forgotten the camera at home, and Kristy, her Student ID which we needed to get into the museums and sights for free/reduced fees. So we had to come back home and pick those things up. We were starving by this point so we went across the street from my house to a little cafeteria and got some sandwiches and patatas bravas for lunch.

After lunch and travel it was about 16:00 when we returned to the center of the city. We were heading to el Museo del Prado when we Kristy realized she couldnt find her wallet! we knew she had it when we started walking down el Paseo del Prado because it was in a picture, but could it have gotten pick pocketed in the 5 minute walk down the street?! Surely not. We retraced our steps to the place we knew she had it last, scanning the ground as we walked. We didn't see anything! Maybe we had missed something so we walked the same path in the other direction. We ended up back at the Prado empty handed and very distraught, no one had even been close to us! How did it get pick pocketed?! We went to the police right outside the Prado to alert them and give the Kristy's information in case the wallet miraculously showed up. As Kristy walked up to the police car she spotted in the mirror, what else but her wallet! When we first arrived to the Prado, Kristy reached in her pocket to get the camera out. when she pulled it out her wallet must have fallen out with it, and some very nice person turned it in to the police. Needless to say, we were quite relieved after that.

The line had gotten too long for us at the Prado by this point that we decided to go to the Reina Sofía, a contemporary art museum. It is free to students all the time! After walking around the museum we came home ate dinner. Later that night we went this tiny bar on the outskirts of town that has some of the best Flamenco music and singing I've ever seen. And it was also free! My french roommate, a music student in Madrid for the year, took us to this hidden favorite of his where he was quite the local - got kisses from everyone that walked in! I think Kristy, My roommate, Audric, and 2 of his friends were the only non-spaniards in the bar! Some great singing and dancing too! We left a little earlier because we wanted to take the metro home and get up early to do more sight seeing the next day.

We left my Aparment Saturday morning around 10:00 Went to do a tour of the Palace but the line was way too long so we went to this tiny church that Kristy had found in her guide book. We walked along the river in Madrid which was must have been at one of its highest due to the amount of rain we have had this winter. We ate some paella for lunch and churros for dessert in the old part of Madrid. Very Spanish. Later that day we finally made it to el Prado wallets and everything! For dinner that night we made sandwiches on ciabatta bread that we bought at the market in Old Town. For dessert, bananas and peanut butter! Bed early again that night because we had to get up at 5:30 for Kristys flight at 7:50 on Sunday.

I had a great weekend with Kristy! It was nice to have someone visit and show them around! It is kind of a bittersweet weekend. I had an awesome time with Kristy but now I miss everyone so much more! But I'm much more content here in Madrid.

The past few days haven't been the easiest...

Coming back to the reality of classes and homework after spending an awesome weekend with some of my closest friends in Barcelona, coming down with the flu, and now finally having to time to take a break from all the hurrying and bustling to think, I have become very homesick. It wasn't until now that I realize how much I miss just simple things at home. I always knew they weren't here, but thats just how it was. Now, I realize they're not here and I miss them. Simple things like my own laundry detergent at home, my clothes don't smell right here... I guess this is culture shock? Seems to me that it's coming a bit late. But from what I hear, it gets easier from here... Let's hope so!

I'm Back!

I'm not sure if you knew this, but February is National-Don't-Blog-Month and this year I decided to participate. ;) To catch you up on Feb... Three of my Five classes started the first of the month. Normal classes nothing too exciting going on in them... Then, Feb 10-14 I went to visit Nic in Bologna Italy (Link to pictures below) and we travelled to a few cities in Northern Italy including Ferrara, Venice, and Trento. Then another week at school. This past weekend I went to Barcelona for a business conference with a bunch of friends from IU who are all studying abroad throughout Europe. It was a lot of fun and Barcelona is a great city, but I think I like Madrid a little bit more - Maybe because I am more accustomed to Madrid? Or maybe because on the last day, I caught the flu! displaced anger? Maybe. haha Yesterday I went to the Doctor with a 101 degree fever. Got some antibiotics and Im feeling 100x better today. So for the last two days its been mostly sleeping and just laying around. Tomorrow I think I'll try class. I think I'm going to keep the blogs shorter now so maybe I'll be more likely to keep up with them! haha

Here's the Link to some pics of Barcelona for you to peruse at your leisure.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042536&id=1160221039&l=02be9d57b7

Pictures of Italy

Here's a link to pictures from my Trip to Italy with Nic, still working on the journal haha

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042300&id=1160221039&l=d711f34150