Frankfurt,Germany

Germany has been way fun! Here are a few snip bits of what we've done. There are four of us here in Germany, including, me, leslie, my friend Gina, and Leslie's friend Melissa. The first couple pictures are of us at the Christmas market, or what will be the Christmas Market when it begins (it starts tomorrow right after we leave!). The German people really know how to do Christmas!

Frankfurt is right on the Main River. We loved walking down on the path right next to the water.

We took a trip up to the Rhine River Valley and it was gorgeous! While there we hiked up through the vineyards to a monument. It was a bit brisk at first, but by the end we felt the burn!

These last couple are just of some fun-ness, definitely including our little chat to the SOS in the metro as we were trying to find the right line to get on.

Granada

Here are some pretty pictures from the area that I took. Granada is a pueblo de blanco, meaning all the buildings were white. It was fun to look at from up high!

This is in an Arabic bath house from back in the day, and yes, I am washing my hair.

...After a long day of historic sites and shopping!

Sevilla

Sevilla is by far one of the favorite places I´ve visited in Spain! By day we explored the gorgeous Alcazar (or royal residence), la plaza de España, and the Cathedral. By night we watched the wonderful culture of Flamaco dancing and walked around this rather enchanting town, soaking in its richness.

La Plaza de España: this was a way beautiful place. There was a stand at the enterance where about 10 of us bought spainish aprons. I can´t wait to cook in it!


These are pictures from the gardens at the palace. They are the main reason why I loved Sevilla. I walked around them for a good hour by myself and really didn´t see any other poeple. The only thing lacking of this romanitic get away was a boy to share it with!

Sometimes we´ll be walking down the street and think, ¨serirously, is that on the wall?¨ I think you know what I mean from the above pictures.

Cordoba

Short hair, like really short

I finally did it! I paid 12 Euros to have a short Colombian man chop 12 inches off my hair and I LOVE it! I don't think I have ever had my hair this short, but I think I might keep it like this for a while. I hope you all like it too!

Cuenca

Yesterday I drove in a car for the first time since arriving here in Spain, well except for that one time we took a taxi in Madrid. Four us drove two hours to see this quaint and beautiful town. Cuenca was built on the top of a mountain and so all of the old buildings hang over cliffs. It was pretty sweet.

Bull Fight

This last Friday I paid the steep price of 9.70 euros to see a show I was rather unprepared for. The metro was packed with people, mostly men, as we arrived at the stop leading up to El Corrido de Torros. Upon entrance back into the light of day from the depths of the metro, I was overcome by the presence of a beautifully designed Islamic building where I would be spending the next 3 hours of my life. I was surprised once inside as to how small the actual arena was, yet impressed with how many people were able to enter and view the events. It all makes sense as one sits with their knees touching the person in front and has their butt hanging off the back of the seat.

There was a great cheer when the first bull entered the stadium. I was excited to see the matador dance with his red cape as the bull charged him. Instead what I witnessed was an artisict form of brutality that allowed me to better understand and appreciate the culture of Spain. A bull fight is not for a weak stomach. First the bull is teased by about 8 matadors. A horn is blown and 2 men on horses enter the arena with spears. They stab the bull twice and then exit. Three men then come in on foot with two shorter spear type things upon which they stick them into the bull and leave. Once this has all been done, the dance between the bull and the matador begins. This is the cool part that everyonr pictures in their head when they think of a bull fight. After about 10 minutes of this, another horn is blown and the matador kills the bull with a sword in one swift move ment.

Over all it was a great opportunity to be a part of a piece of culture that has been around for so long. I enjoyed the respect the people gave both the fighter and the bull. The fighter was cheered for when he did well, and silence was given to the bull after he gored the matador, twice! The first time was like, holy crap, he just got gored. The second there were some screams from the audience as he has lifted up off the ground by the horns in his leg. The best part has that the matador tied a piece of fabric around his leg and kept going! There were some definite intense moments, but don't worry, the matador has lived for more fights; the bulls, well they were all on the market the next morning

.

Eres constipada?

Did you think they same thing as me while reading the title? One can only imagine my reaction when I was first asked, eres (are you) constipada? I replied in the negative of course, as I was in no way constipated! For 2 weeks straight I was asked this question on a regular basis. My wonderful roommates would try to hold in their laughter as the Senora that I live with would ask me about my constipada-ness. We would talk about the medicine I was taking, my energy levels, my ability to pay attention during classes, you know, the normal things associated with being constipada that everyone loves to talk about at the dinner table. The word "constipada"in Spanish can mean congested or stuffed up. All I had was a little chest cold, but it was the funniest chest cold I've had in a long time! I have since learned to talk openly and willingly about my constipada.

This is just a fun picture from last night in La Plaza Meyor in Madrid.

Salamanca 9/27

Salamanca was a beautiful town! It was way crowded with tourists, but I enjoyed the architecture and antiquity of it all. Our hotel was close to La Plaza Meyor, which is where the movie Vantage Point is based. I'm so glad that they really didn't blow up the place because as you can see above, it was, well, illuminating! A couple of us ate at a cafe for dinner here in the plaza and it was delish


These are examples of some of the plateresque decor on a couple of the buildings, some more modern than others. Do you see the frog on the right and astronaut on the left?







Here is a picture i took from el coro looking down on the main worship area. This retabla (the gold thing) is baroque in style, while the rest of the church is very gothic.






The insides of most Cathedrals are very spacious and tall. I like this picture because you can see the hight of the building compared to the people. It's been a joke among all of us here on the trip about the amount of churches we visit. It's become a game to me to find something new in every church that wasn't in the last. I have to sometimes remind myself how amazing it is that I'm visiting these places and that each one is unique. I always find that one thing that increases my gratitude and appreciation for each place. In this Cathedral it was the fact that there was music playing that allowed me to chillax, and the mirrors that allowed you to see the ceiling without looking up. I like it when I don't have to work as hard to enjoy life.

I think everyone was really short when they built all the buildings. Here I'm standing in a door that lead into the cluastro (I don't know the english word).

Avila

I've realized that many people desire to see more pictures, and I've therefore decided to begin posting more! So exciting, I know.

This picture has the city Avila in the background. It was taken near the four columns right outside the city. And yes, that is a real artists painting the city!

This is a close up of the city wall that was constructed by Alfonso XI in the 11th century. We actually got to go for a little walk on the wall, which was cool as we could see the whole city from a bird's eye view.

We get to see many churches everywhere we go. And by many i mean we saw 4 in this town alone (we were only there for 4 hours!!). This is the Cathedral that has never been finished, though construction began in the 12th century.







These are the four columns built back in the day by the romans. The cross was added later.











If you couldn't tell, this is a bull sculpture from way back in the day. They are famous in Spain.