¡Mi Casa!

Alright, here is where I have been living for the past month:
This is my bedroom. Yes, it´s a little cluttered right now but I´ve been too busy to clean. Unfortunetly my window does not give off a very interesting view (only of the apartment next door) so I just keep the shades closed. It´s a little smaller than my room at home but I like it!
This is the bathroom. I was so surprised when I arrived because I was actually given my very own bathroom. Again, a little smaller than I´m accustomed to but it gets the job done. I was a little confused at first because you don´t push the handle to flush on the side of the pot, like you would in most U.S. bathrooms. Instead, you either pull up a lever on the top or you push a button. Don´t worry, I figured it out fairly quickly.
Here´s the kitchen, where we eat every day! It´s also where the clothes washer is too. Kind of multi-purpose.
And finally the living room. This is where we eat on special occasions (the only time I´ve eaten there is Mother´s Day) and where we watch T.V. and movies. I´m so lucky to have been put with a family that appreciates movies like I do (actually my sister´s favorite actress is Audrey Hepburn, same as me! What are the odds?).

Toledo Power!

On Saturday, we went on our last excursion to Toledo. It was so amazing!! The city, as you can see, is beautiful. After a 2 hour bus ride, we met up with Gloria, our tour guide. She took us to the Cathedral, an old synagogue, and to a church that houses a very famous Greco painting.
This is the beautiful Cathedral in Toledo. I probably like this one more than the others, actually. Although they´re all outstanding... how can I choose! This one had a lot more stained-glass windows, which I really like.

This sideways picture is of the synagogue. It has really beautiful carved walls, which you can´t see very well in this photo but you get the idea! Although the Jews were expelled from Toledo hundreds of years ago, this synagogue was not destroyed or converted into a cathedal. It was small but very interesting!

La Granja

We visited La Granja on Friday morning, which is a district or provice of Segovia. While we were there we visited the glass museum, where they made all of the chandeliers of the Summer Palace (what we visited next). It was very interesting to see them actually blow the glass. It´s hard to believe that goo could be turned into glass!

This is a photo of the Summer Palace. It´s very beautiful but we couldn´t take pictures of the inside. This is just one of the 4 palaces of the King and Queen. It´s sort of like their summer cabin!!

Paella!!!

This is paella. I´ve received quite a few e-mails asking about it here and yes, I have had it and yes, it´s amazing! The first paella was made with chicken and the second was made with seafood, which is what is pictured here. This paella has peppers, calimari, shrimp, clams, rice, and various spices. Don´t worry, my mom promised to teach me how to make it. Although I doubt that mine will be as pretty!

Romanesque Segovia

On Monday we walked around Segovia and viewed the Roman architecture. Like the aqueduct (which I just realized I forgot to put pictures up of...), much of the architecture in Segovia is very old and still in good condition. We visited 3 churches, 2 of which I have shown here. The first one was very pretty inside, however the tower had not been cleaned in years. It was full of pigeon droppings and feathers. Since the stairs were skinny, steep, and full of crap (literally) it made for a difficult climb.
This tower is thought to be the most famous and beautiful Roman tower in the world. It´s connected to the Church of San Esteban. It´s very beautiful from the outside but they do not allow visits in the church, so I have to settle with this picture. So crane your neck to the side and enjoy!

The Beauty of the Alhambra

As I stated before, the Alhambra is the ancient Muslim ruins in Granada. We spent 4 hours touring the complex on a sunny (very hot) Saturday afternoon. My favorite part, without doubt, was the gardens. They were especially elaborate because we were told that Muslims consider their afterlife to be similar to an extravagant garden. They specialized in many different types of roses, along with beautiful fountains and hedges. In fact, it is in the running to be placed in the "New 7 Wonders of the World."
We also visited this palace-type building. It is square on the outside but a circle around the inside. The square represents the earthly world while the circle reflects a heavenly sphere. We found it to be a good place to rest on a sunny day.
This is one of the most famous patios in the Alhabra. It is thought to be the most beautiful because of the pillars and the amazing fountain. Unfortunetly the fountain was under renovation and we were not able to see it. Bummer!

Another place we visited was the military complex overlooking the city. It gave us a great view of Granda so we could pick out the places that we had visited previously. The man in the green shirt is Ricardo, our everything guide to Spain. I´m sure that he is passing on some precious information to Jenna in this picture.

Granada

On Friday we hopped back into the bus and took another 3 1/2 hours to get to Granada. A very different city than the others. Unlike most of Spain, Granada is not a Catholic city. Actually, it´s Muslim populated which gives it a very different feel. As we were walking the streets when we arrived, we got to hear the call to prayer given at the main mosque in town. Pretty cool! We also saw many markets (we got to haggle for the price!), gypsies trying to sell us this and that, and lots of outdoor bands in the plazas.

This is a distant picture of the Alhambra, which we went and visited the on Saturday. It´s the ancient Muslim complex with mosques, gardens, harems, etc. I´ll talk more about it when I post the pictures from the Alhambra excursion, but I thought this was an amazing photo the entire thing.

Flamenco Dancing

Our last night in Sevilla we went to a Flamenco dance. It was unbelieveably cool. The ladies decided to dress up. Here´s a picture of a few of my friends. There was actually a picture of all of us, but I was in the second row in that one and you couldn´t see my Spanish skirt. Therefore, I decided on this one instead. I´m sure that you appreciate it!
They women and men danced with guitar and clapping in the background. Their dances were so passionate and energized that I smiled the entire time. Unfortunetly it was really dark in there so the pictures are not very good. But it gives you a little taste anyway!

Palacio de Sevilla

This is the palace in Sevilla. It is beautiful, but our favorite part was the fountain. It was over 100 degrees that day and we were boiling in a bus. There was a group of guys swimming in the fountain when we pulled up and we thought it was a good idea. Granted, we didn´t go in as far... but just wetting down our feet felt so amazing!

¡La comida otra vez!

As you can tell, I´m pretty passionate about my food. While we were in Andalucia we ate out a lot. Actually, most of the restaurants we went to served italian food. So I´ve been eating lots of delicious pizzas and pastas. Yummy! This is a picture of me and my girls at a pizzeria, eating dessert and drinking cafe con leche. I´m a little sad that my parents have given up coffee now that I´ve discovered new and better ways to drink it.
Also I´m still eating the Spanish tortilla, but it´s really good in something called a bocadilla, or a sandwich of sorts. My mom has been making them for me here for my packed lunches. You can bet that I´ll be bringing home a recipe!

Cathedral in Sevilla

We also visited the Cathedral in Sevilla. It was amazing! I liked it a bit more than the Cathedral in Segovia, but they´re all very pretty. Here is a picture of the outside of the Cathedral so, as you can see, it´s breathtaking. (sorry, again you must crane your neck to the side to look at it. I don´t know how to flip it on this site!)

We also got to climb the Giralda tower, which was 33 stories tall and gave an amazing view of the city. Unfortunetly there were lots of people there and the tower was absolutely packed! Here´s a picture of us squeezed into a little window and also a picture of the bells at the top of the tower.

¡Viva Sevilla!

The first activity we did when arriving in new cities was to walk around and get accustomed to the area we were in. Sevilla was so beautiful, that we happily walked around and snapped a few photos. It´s very picturesque and, although it´s quite a bit bigger than Segovia (about a million people live in Sevilla), it still had a small town feel. Here is a picture of a few of us by the river, so beautiful!!
Along with beautiful streets in Sevilla there are many fountains to decorate the squares. Here´s a picture of one of my favorites! ¿Qué guay, no?
In our free time we went shopping. Lots of shopping! Then we went to a fútbol (soccer) game that night. It was especially special because it was against Sevilla and Barcelona... it was also for an important Cup of some sort. Sevilla won!! Gooooooooaaaal! The city burst with life at 1am. The entire night we heard the Sevillian anthem, firworks, and car horns. The energy was contagious and we found ourselves partying along with them until ungodly hours! Phew, what a fun night!

Córdoba and the Mesquita

Our first stop on the Andalucian tour was in Córdoba. We left Segovia at 6am on Wednesday morning (with a 20 minute walk, packing, and breakfast that means I was awake a 5am! Not an easy task for me). After a 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in Córdoba. We were only given 3-4 hours in this city. Just enough time to see the Mesquita (which is pictured above, I accidentally left my camera on the bus so this is not a Rachel original picture but it´s still the same place I visited), do a little shopping, and eat pizza at a very cute pizzaria. The Mesquita is, more or less, a Muslim meeting spot for prayers. However, when the Christians conquered Córoba they converted part of the Mesquita into a Cathedral. However the arquitecture is so clearly Muslim that a crucifix hanging on the wall seems out of place. The Mesquita has been my favorite Cathedral/Mosque we´ve visited so far. The Google picture does not give it justice. Then we packed ourselves back into the bus and enjoyed another 2 hour bus ride to Sevilla!

The Cathedral and The Jewish Cemetary

Yesterday (Mon the 14th) We went on a walk through the Judería, the Jewish quarters in Segovia. Per many countries in Europe, the Jews were persecuted and we often forced into neighborhoods and locked away from the rest of the city, eventually being excommunicated. This occured in Segovia as well, although not to a very extreme degree. The photo above is part of the Jewish cemetary (you can even see the outline of the body). They were buried inside the rock on the outskirts of the city, only about 3% of the tombs have been dug up, the rest still remains deep underground.

We also went into the Cathedral in Segovia. It was very beautiful, of course, although I´m told that we will see some more beautiful cathedrals in Andalucia this weekend (I´m told the one in Sevilla is breathtaking). I enjoyed seeing all the amazing stained glass windows, as this Cathedral is thought to be one of the most well lit.

¡Para los amigos de Chile!

Lo siento, escribiendo en español es más dificil que en inglés. Si tengo tiempo, trataré escribir en las dos lenguas. Victoria, tú estás correcta, España está muy muy hermosa. Yo visité Madrid el fin de semana pasada, y me gusta mucho pero creo que me gusta las ciudades más pequeña mejor, porque es más fácil para conocer personas nuevas. Mi comida favorita es la tortilla española (la fotografía abajo) y mi bebida es Sangria. Mañana voy a ir para Andalucia para pasar 5 días viajando en muchas ciudades. Estoy emocionada pero solamente pensando sobre el viaje me hace cansada. Con esperanza, puedo visitar Chile en el futuro. Lo siento para los errores con mi español y espero que este es más fácil para leer que el inglés. Gracias para buscando a mi sitio web!

The Metro!

Yes, I have pictures of the Metro. It was my first time taking one, so I felt I needed to document it properly. The first ride was quite enjoyable, they really try and keep their Subways clean. However, the later we rode it the more people were on it. I believe the words "can of sardines" more properly describes the experience.

Madrid: Food Chapter

We also ate extremely well while we were in Madrid. The last day we were there, we ate outside at a restaurant in one of the main plazas. This is a picture of my favorite Spanish dishes, the tortilla española. It really only consists of eggs and potatoes, but is amazingly delicious. We only ordered one piece for our table, so we´re all taking bites together to be sure that no one gets any more than anyone else (we were kind of joking and kind of serious at the same time). My madre makes something called a bodega con tortilla, which is a large sandwich with the tortilla in the middle. Let me tell you, she knows the way to my heart! I´m going to try to find a recipe for the tortilla so I can make it for everyone at home too.
Here´s my friend Val pouring one of my favorite Spanish beverages, Sangria. It pretty much consists of wine and fruit juices, but is very very yummy. We´ve tried to order it at bars but many don´t make it. Apparently it´s more of a tourist thing to order...but since they have it at all the restaurants and I am, in fact, a tourist, I´m going to continue ordering it!

Arte favorita

This is Picasso´s Guernica, one of my very favorites and unbelievably large. According to our guide (for the entire trip, not for the museum), next to the Mona Lisa this is the most famous painting in the world!
This is "Las Meninas" by Velazquez (the man painting in the picture) Also one of my favorites. I have so many others that I like as well, but probably shouln´t transform this site into a art gallery.

¡¡Madrid!!

This last weekend (May 12-13) was spent in the capital of Spain, Madrid. It was an am amazing weekend. Firstly, we walked around the city and took in the sites (the sideways photo on top is of a group of us in front of the a fountain and the Presidential Palace, one of the most famous sites in all of Madrid). We also saw many street performers on our walks around town. The one I liked the most was playing the water glasses (as shown in picture), although most would stand on a chair all day and pretend to be a statue (their bodies completely painted silver, gold, or mud caked), then when you put in your money they would move for a good 30 seconds before returning to their original position. I can´t imagine how awful that must be in the hot weather! On our walks we also saw the Cathedral (the gated building above) and ate in the beautiful Retiro Park next to the "Crystal Palace" The highlights of the trip consisted of visiting the Museo de Arte Reina Sofia, seeing a Spanish play (which I read this year in my Spanish lit), visiting the Museo del Prado (my favorite!), and THE FOOD! We stayed in a very nice hotel and I got to experience my first time on the Subway, which I like unless it is ungodly packed (which is was most of the time).

Titirimundi: Acrobats

While I am in Segovia, theres a festival going on called El Festival Titirimundi. Most of the performances include puppets, although this one was acrobatics. They take place at various plazas and theaters, some are free and some are not. The performers in this act entertained us by pole twirling at dangerously high heights (without any supports), flipping and dancing wildly across the stage, and tight rope walking in crazy positions. The picture on the left (sorry you have to turn your head) is of the woman performer walking across the tight rope on her toes. It was amazing!! You cant see very well in the photo, but the plaza this performance took place in was packed with people from all over Spain. Many of the kids either sat in front or on their parents shoulders. The festival lasts for a week (until next Tuesday) and I am very excited to see whats in store for us today.

Day Life

Most of the time during the days, we go to cafes and work on our homework. Either that or go window shopping, being careful not to go in too often lest we be tempted to spend all of our money. I enjoy going to pastry shops and having delicious desserts with hot chocolate (which is very similar to pure fudge in a cup). Here is a picture of my study group sitting around a bench in the Plaza Mayor (the main square in Segovia). You can also sort of see the Cathedral in the background, which is sooo pretty! But don´t worry, we´ll be visiting it later so I will have plenty (probably too many) photos later!

Mountain Hiking

On Sunday we went hiking up a mountain about 15 minutes away in La Graja (a ritsy part of Segovia). I had absolutely no idea that it was going to be quite this difficult. My muscles were burning and I felt like they were going to burst from my body (perhaps that´s a little over dramatic). Even so, I made it slowly to the top. We were so high that we were, quite literally, in the clouds. I rewarded myself with a Nutella chocolate sandwich, lots of water, and a crispy apple. We also got to fill our water from a spring at the top, the water was so cold and tasted so good! This is a picture of some of the chicas that climbed that beast with me, with an amazing view in the backkground. Let´s just say that even though I´m writing this 2 days days later, I can still feel the burn!

El Escorial and El Valle de los Caídos

On Saturday, we went to El Escorial and El Valle de los Caídos. El Escorial is a library, school for children, monastery, church, and palace. Although many of the parts were closed off to us, some of the places we got to visit were the sanctuary (amazing!! and apparently only $1,000 if you want to rent it for your wedding, just an idea), the library (the penalty for stealing a book would be excommunication, no joke!), and the tombs of the kings and queens. We were also told that the last king and queen are in the rotting room, where they wait for 20 years before being put into their caskets :P We also visited the Calle de los Caídos, which means the Valley of the Fallen. This was created as a monument for those that died during Spain´s civil war. However, it was commissioned by Franco (the dictator of Spain from 1939-1975) and was built by slaves--many of which died on the job. It contains the tombs of those that died in the war (or at least those who died from Franco´s cause) and also the tomb of Franco himself. So although, as you can clearly see, it is a very beautiful monument--many Spaniards refuse to visit it today.

Walk through the Alameda

This walk took us around the old part of the city, along the wall of the Alacazar. We finally got out of the city and spend some time with Mother Nature. It started raining though (actually it began as this photo was being taken). The path also followed the river and was absolutely breathtaking. As you can see, we got a very good view of the castle and took many photos! This is a picture of the entire group (with the exception of the professors and Ricardo, our tour guide and source of all information hispanica)