Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Lots of analyzing paintings and poems in class and then lots of homework after class. Shoutout to Eric and his Peruvian blog for brightening my day and making me laugh!
Wednesday was a rough one because I had to give a presentation in class, but I think it actually went ok! After my group's presentation we watched a really trippy video about the life of Francisco de Goya that nobody understood, so hopefully we don't have to write too much about it in the future... After class a few friends and I (Katie, Lauren, Bri, Christine, Nicolette) went to El Retiro, a famous park in the middle of the city that is absolutely beautiful. We sat and had lunch and then walked around until we discovered my new favorite place: El Palacio de Cristal. It was absolutely beautiful, and I intend to go back very regularly. Then Katie, our friend Lauren, and I went to some helado (ice cream) place that Lauren wanted to try. It was delicious but also grossly over-priced, so we will not be returning. It was fun to try though! Then we went for tapas and had the delicious eggplant in honey tapas again with some sangria. I could definitely get used to the tapas life, it is wonderful. The tapas only served as an appetizer though, because Katie and I came home and had a full dinner while watching Footloose. I should mention that all of the escapades were possible because we had a long weekend, so only three days of class! Katie and I stayed up past our bedtime while procrastinating packing for our trip to Valencia, during which time we discussed the World Cup, and Katie wisely asked is Spain only gets one team in the World Cup... (Disclaimer: she is going to kill me for writing that so if I don't make it back to the states, you all know why)
Thursday morning came early because Katie and I had to leave the apartment at 7:30 in order to make it to the bus station to meet Bri for our 8:30 departure to Valencia. It was a pretty easy trip and the bus wasn't that crowded, so we got to spread out a bit. 4 hours on the bus and then a few subway stops to get to the place we stayed. We did not stay in a nice hotel or even a hostel, what we did was use a website called Airbnb recommended to us by one of Katie's friends from Europe who had used it before. It worked amazingly. The three of us shared a room and a bathroom and we also had access to a kitchen, tv, and living room. Plus it was very cheap. Also, we got lost on the way to the apartment and had to call the owner to have him come find us. But he was very gracious about it, and his wife was the sweetest. It was a great experience. Anyway, as soon as we got there on Thursday afternoon, we took advantage of the semi-nice weather and headed to the beach. It was about 70 and extremely windy, so we got cold quickly, but the beach was beautiful. After the beach we stopped at the mercado (grocery store) and bought ourselves some snacks and some ice. Ice was the greatest purchase of all, because for some reason Spaniards don't really like drinking ice water, and it is slowly killing me. Then we showered and headed out for dinner around 9:30. We found a really cute cervecería called "El Rincón" that was delicious and SO CHEAP compared to everything in Madrid. I had a delicious tuna salad and then a revuelto, which is basically an omelette. Very delicious.
Friday was not a very nice day in Valencia, and by that I mean it wasn't beach weather because it was less than 70 degrees. So we walked into more of the city of Valencia. We found a mall where we could withdraw some cash and we ate lunch at a place called Lazaran, or something like that. I ordered over easy eggs with jam over french fries. Apparently I like breakfast food here. Who knew? Then we made our way over to the Science Museum, we walked through the first floor, and then encountered some giant beach ball type things that people go in and attempt to walk on water. Unfortunately, I had a massive headache and somebody needed to stay with the stuff (wallets and phones, etc.) so I watched as Katie and Bri attempted, and it was absolutely hilarious. After they wee finished we went to the aquarium, which is apparently famous, and it was so fun! I can't remember the last time I went to an aquarium or a zoo just for fun, so we took lots of pictures and had a great time. We made it back to the apartment eventually and then passed out, because we were all way more tired than we realized. Then we went out for dinner to a place called Casa Hong Kong. I already struggle knowing what Chinese menu items are when they are listed in English, so attempting it in Spanish was a struggle, but we figured it out eventually and had another delicious meal. Back at the apartment I got email video updates from my mom and Mrs. Lyon as NTGS crushed Loyola 4-0, congrats Jen!!
Saturday morning was kind of gross, so we slept in, but by mid day it was nice out again, so around 1 we headed over to the beach. Before going we went to the mercado again and bought ourselves ingredients for bocadillos. We were very domestic. Then the beach, and it was glorious. We spent a good 4 hours there until it got very chilly and windy again, and then headed back to the apartment. We relaxed for a while and then went out for an Italian dinner and then to GlaSol for some helado, and then home to sleep.
This morning we woke up early, went to the beach from 11-2 and then came back, showered, made lunches for ourselves and then said goodbye to Valencia. We found our WashU friends at the bus station (we had ditched them the night before because we were too tired to go out...) and now we are back in Madrid. On our final leg of the journey home one of the girls from WashU was robbed on the Metro. Her entire purse was taken including phones, credit cards, etc. Pretty scary, and a constant reminder that we have to be careful! The good news is that I look Spanish, so I'm not an easy target. Then I stayed up until 5:11 am just to watch the Blackhawks lose in overtime... It's gonna be a long day tomorrow, especially since we are visiting the Prado during my designated naptime.
A pond in El Retiro that I will (hopefully) get to row on soon!
El Palacio Cristal
Another shot of El Palacio Cristal
left to right: Christine, Nicolette, Lauren (behind the pillar), Briana (Bri), Katie
The eggplant tapas!! With a Spanish tortilla one behind it.
One of the revueltos from El Rincón
Lunch from Lazaran, where buying beer was cheaper than buying water.
Katie and Bri attempting to walk on water.
Katie and myself at the aquarium / science museum district.
Starfish
Jellyfish, they were so pretty! And they literally glowed.
Sea lions that were extremely loud.
Dolphin show! We got there as it ended, but some of the dolphins were randomly jumping around after, which is when I got this picture.
Sharks.
La playa.
Aquarium / science museum district.
Update: Today, June 2, 2014 the King of Spain (King Juan Carlos) has abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Crown Prince Felipe. There will be lots of demonstrations tonight that take place in Puerta del Sol (a block from where Katie and I live). It is a very interesting time to be in the area right now! More updates to come later, hopefully only good ones!
No comments:
Post a Comment