Journal Entry- Chelsea Raubenheimer

June 28th, 2011-

Due to changed plans by a princess, a train that could somehow split in two, and an angry ticket man who spoke no English, Jessica Kutz, Emma Lawler, Brooke Olsen, and I are now on a train in the middle of Slovenia, en route to our third connection. Final destination: Zagreb, Croatia!! However, Zagreb is only a brief pit stop before we must catch a theoretical bus to Plitvice Falls National Park. The next three days will be ideally spent hiking through waterfalls and lakes ranked as some of the most beautiful in the world. Amazing?

The road to this random moment began with an anonymous man waking me from a fitful sleep on a miniature couch in the Dublin International Airport. Apparently my alarm had been blaring for a few minutes before someone had the decency to jostle us. Who knows how Jessica and I managed to fall asleep at all because I can assure you that they must have been doing construction all night in our section. Despite the fact that we slept in the airport, we nearly missed our RyanAir flight and had to catch our breath after sprinting manically through three different terminals and begging people to let us through security faster. In the early afternoon we landed in Bratislava, Slovakia- a city I am sure must be lovely however after an hour of waiting for our train at a cafe, Jessica and I began to notice we were in the center of a 10 man gypsy thief gang who were following hurried travelers waiting for opportune moments to pick a pocket or two. Thankful to finally board our train to Budapest, Hungary, we placed ourselves in a compartment with an attractive older Hungarian man who was eager to converse in English for the entire three hours. I think he was so tickled to be speaking English that every sentence was finished with a little giggle. At some point I fell asleep to his endless chuckling and dozed the remaining two hours. Arriving in Budapest our next mission was to find Judit- a Hungarian door women who had the keys to the princess's flat where we would be sleeping for free for four nights. This lucky twist of fate was thanks to my grandmother. She is friends with Suzanne's (the princess) sister and through her we were trusted enough to stay in the apartment. I don't know how these things happen to me. After calling twice, realizing that Judit doesn't speak English, and navigating our way through Budapest with a simple map, we show up at our elegant abode situated a stones throw from the Danube River and right next door to Parliament. Success? Judit was magically there to deliver the keys and we entered into an ornate, aristocratic wonderland, dressed appropriately in our grungy T-shirts and hauling in our huge backpacks. Welcome notes had been left for us, liquor was placed fancily on end tables, and Jessica and I immediately put on a CD of Hungarian classical music we found in the sitting room. We frolicked around for a bit, realizing how lucky we were, and then set out to the streets to see the city. Budapest was completely unexpected- it was very modern, clean, tranquil, livable, bike-able, walkable, explorable- a watered down, Eastern European version of Barcelona maybe? Every building looked like a palace and the Danube River bisected the city into two parts- Buda and Pest. The ancestor of the princess was the one who helped unite the two parts of the city long ago. He had a bridge, several streets, and a Turkish bath named after him- we were staying at his heir's flat. My mind doesn't comprehend the enormity of that statement. I guess you could liken it to staying with George Washington's relatives? But like times 10 considering her family were leaders in the Austro-Hungary Empire and fled to Geneva when she was twelve due to the severe persecution of aristocrats by the Soviet Union's communist regime- intense. We met her for tea Friday night before leaving Budapest. Jessica and I, once again in our backpacker gowns, walked to her flat with nervous butterflies, thinking of all the great stories to tell her about Ireland, Spain, and all our budget travel adventures. Suzanne and her old English-out of a movie- aristocratic girlfriend served us wine, red peppers, and sausage. And surprise, Jessica and I managed to giggle our way through an hour with this worldly, elegant royalty somehow finding herself sitting in front of two dirty, silly American girls. She mentioned how she had sold a meadow to purchase this flat in Budapest, how Russian girls are so educated and beautiful, how we should start reading the Wall Street Journal, and how Hungarian banks are corrupt. She asked us how many languages we speak, why we had traveled to Budapest, what we wanted to do with our degrees, and what kind of experience working we had gotten on the trip. Somehow I don't think our three weeks making beds at the hostel and adventure center in Ireland really impressed her. The hour passed with her and her friend discussing world affairs and politely answering our questions about the country. It was slightly traumatic haha, Jess and I ran out of there, had a brief life crisis, vowed to spend the rest of our lives studying politics and reading up on history and economics, bumped into a pair of cute Italian boys, and proceeded to drink beers at a bar with them and denying their attempts to woo us in Italian haha. Besides boys and bourgeoisie, the rest of our adventures in the city were phenomenal. We walked and walked and walked every day and saw a great deal of Budapest. Notable memories- swimming in thermal baths, visiting the House of Terror, attending a performance of Othello at the Budapest Opera House, taking a Hungarian tour of Parliament, eating dinner on the castle wall in Buda, crepes and water fountains on Margaret Island, eating ghoulash, thrift store shopping, and being the best little tourists we could possibly be!

On Saturday morning we got a late start, went to a train station to buy tickets for a train leaving from another station for Vienna, Austria! My mom's best friend from college is living in Vienna right now working for the UN, testing nuclear weapons, and other wonderfully intellectual duties and she invited us to come stay with her for free at her apartment. Debbie was in Salzburg for the weekend so we were sent on another scavenger hunt to find another anonymous person with a key for us. This time her name was Elisa. As Jess and I strolled along the street where she lived after not reaching her by phone, I imagined how grand it would be if someone would just come up to us on the street and say "I've been looking for you!". Sure enough, if by some magical travel energy, a young woman only a few minutes later stopped us and handed us the key to Debbie's apartment! That night was the Danube Island Music Festival, an enormous festival with well over 15 stages that stretched for several miles along the island in the river. Because we had to change our plans due to a scheduling error by the princess, we were in Vienna a week later than planned and thus by chance we were able to meet up with Emma Lawler and Brooke Olsen, friends from Boulder, who were also on a backpacking trip and had gotten on a wrong train and ended up in Vienna. After searching high and low for a public phone we got in touch with them, made a pit stop to dance at a techno rave party stage, and walked at least over a mile to the last area where we found our two blond friends and their Austrian couchsurfer host. Music, large pretzels, cheese-filled sausages, hot Austrian boys, and the militant sound of the German language- a wonderful introduction to our fourth stop on the trip. Debbie's apartment for three days was a nice comfortable recovery zone for Jess and I. We slept in, got sick and then got better, ate pizza with her husband Don, and didn't pressure ourselves to do such intense sightseeing like we did in Budapest. The second day the four of us girls went to some beautiful gardens at Schonbrunn Palace and the third day Jess and I just wandered by ourselves while Emma and Brooke took a day trip to Budapest. The last night was great because Debbie took Jess and I to trivia night at a Scottish pub! We would have avoided last place had the questions been in English, but alas- the "Vienna's Girls Choir" (our team name) managed to only rack up 5 points.

All of that leads me to this morning when Jess and I met Em and Brooke for our early 7am 50 Euro direct train to Zagreb, Croatia. All was going fine until about an hour outside of Vienna, a ticket checker informed is that basically the train had split in two shortly after departure- the front side was going to Zagreb, the back side to Graz, Austria. And of course to our dismay, we had unfortunately gotten on the back side of the train- grrrreeeeattttttt! She told us the solution was simple and all we needed to do was get off the train at Graz, transfer to one headed to Ljubjuana (the capital of SLOVENIA), and then catch another train from there to Zagreb- we could do it free of charge but we would be getting in four hours late- phenomenal. We transferred easily in Graz and were cruising along just fine until sometime after crossing the border into Slovenia a huge, mustached man busted into our cart and demanded for tickets. Calmly handing the tickets over, we were promptly SCREAMED at for having the incorrect tickets in awfully broken English. "THIS IS SLOVENIA! YOU HAVE NO TICKET FOR SLOVENIA! NO TICKET- MUST PAY! NO TICKET- MUST PAY!" We argued for several minutes- nearly getting thrown off, when finally he granted our wish of speaking to someone with a higher level of English to explain our peculiar situation. A nice, innocent woman with the face of someone who looks perpetually guilty appeared in the doorway and managed to spit out that the four of us would need to exit the train at the next station to get our tickets readjusted. And so it was. We departed in Maribor, Slovenia- paid 16 extra Euros, and sat in the grass of a park in some small town waiting an hour for our train which would take us only as far as Zurni (sp?) Most, Slovenia where of course we were required to transfer... again. The train ride was beautiful and once arriving in Zurni Most we got off the train to a lovely view of a river with a mountainous backdrop. From there a train conductor told us that in fact we could get back ON the train and travel one more half hour to Dobova and catch the train from there. Cool. Back on the train. Get off in Dobova, Slovenia, see warnings for human trafficking, board another train within an hour, get our passports scrutinized by police, and now I am HERE. Still on a train in Slovenia.

Today has been a wild adventure, and soon enough, I hope, we will be in CROATIA!!!

We leave Ireland tomorrow and I am so sad to go. This whole place and experience was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better time. The people we met, the places we went, the things we did, all was wonderful. Thank you to Russagh Mill Hostel for an amazing 3 weeks, CorkXSouthwest music festival for introducing us to the best Irish people around, Ethan our favorite 16 year old tour guide, and anyone we met in between. SUCH GOOD CRAIC!!

You guys should check out Jessica's blog because she just put up pictures...

jessicabarcelona.wordpress.com

off to Budapest!!!

LOVELY IRELAND

Sooo I have totally failed at keeping up with the blog, but basically I am in love with Ireland and all its wonderful people. I am sooo happy we are here and everything has been perfect. I'm just going to write a top 5 list...

1. We are working at a hostel/adventure center near a town called Skibbereen in the south of Ireland. The place is awesome, our boss is this great English guy named Sean, the work is fairly easy nothing more than cleaning, making beds, and checking people in and out. We have been kayacking and swimming out on the sea lakes and hiking a bit!! The place is BEAUTIFUL!! They give us about 100 Euro a week for food which is more than enough and all of us helpers cook for each other. Right now we are working with 3 other american guys and an italian guy just left a few days ago.
2. We worked last weekend at a big music festival called CorkXSouthwest in exchange for free concert tickets. Best decision ever because they put us as "security" at the campsite so basically we did nothing, met all the cool people at the campsite during the day, and then spent the night at the festival with all the cool people we had met. It was hilarious and everyone was great. We learned how to riverdance in a field, went to drum circles, met band members, and also met generally the entire county of Cork.
3. We spent 2 nights in Dublin when we first landed and we fell in love. Everyone is so friendly, the atmosphere is super relaxed, and the pubs are hilariously fun. Everyone talks to everyone. And we had our first tastes of Guiness and to my suprise they were actually pretty good. We decided we almost prefer it to a lot of other beers. At one point we met some Scottish guys in kilts on the street and they ended up buying us pints and we spent a few hours dying of laughter with their ridiculous accents.
4. The weather is not a selling point. We definitely packed wrong and ended up having to go into town to buy long sleeved shirts the other day. It rains or is cloudy atleast once a day and is generally always cold. However, the sun does shine and when it does this place truly is magical. Its greener than green. And there is nothing more beautiful than seeing green rolling hills against clear blue skies. Ireland is soo peaceful. Such a change from the craziness of Madrid.
5. And finally, as always, the people we have met completely make the place. Last Monday we camped out with a group of crazy Irish kids who had come to the hostel on their long weekend to hang out and relax. This weekend there is a group in of 40 irish guys all here to play in a Warhammer competition- basically a big nerdfest where they paint figurines and get really in to this intense board game all the while getting drunk and causing a ruckus. We have been invited to stay in 200 different homes all over Ireland, from Cork to Kerry to Limerick to Dublin to Belfast. We have hung out with girls in a Polish punk band, a historian from Ireland, a group of cyclists from Wales, lots of hippies at the festival, Ivan- a security guard from Georgia the country, an Iranian candy man, Ruben Stone, an Australian guy who picked us up hitchhiking, the list goes on...

Last night I played electric guitar at a the bar where the Polish punk band played the week before. There was a guy we ran into at the bar celebrating his 22nd birthday who turned out to be the Aussie guy who picked us up 2 weeks ago when we first got to Skibbereen haha.


Gosh I love this place.

We go to Austria in a week!!!!

So Jessica and I are leaving for IRELAND today!!!!!!! I am excited beyond belief.

... And so thankful for Madrid and all the wonderful people I have met here. I feel like I needed this experience and I needed to meet the people that I did. They have helped me grow and have helped me look towards the future. I hate saying goodbye and the past week was full of them. My last night was spent hanging out in my apartment in Malasaña and cooking pasta with my Italian friend Cristian. I couldn't have asked for a better, simpler end to this adventure. Speaking spanish with a friend since the beginning :)

So now I move on to the backpacker lifeeeeeee- Jess and I will be spending two days couchsurfing in Dublin, then heading down to the south to work at a hostel/adventure center!!! Then hopefully stops in Austria, Hungary, and Greece!!! Lets hope the money holds up! I know we will have the time of our lives and in the end I hope to return to the US with a happy, peaceful heart. :)

Holaaa! Okay to hear all the work that I did for my radio class this semester click on this link.

http://chelsearaubenheimer.wordpress.com/

You can hear my voice in "Ficcion-Nicky" and "Programa Final"

Madriddddd- our time is coming to a close :(

This past weekend my friend ELLE was here from Boulder and we had an absolutely amazingggg week, exploring and relaxing and being part of the protests here in Spain.

Right now Spain is having this huge revolution type thing spearheaded by the youth- protesting against the unemployment rate, the lack of opportunities, the corruption of the entire political system, etc. In Sol, the center of Madrid, they have literally created a huge camp sight with a food stand, bathrooms, medical center. It is truly a sight to see. And every night and day thousands of Spaniards fill the streets to cheer and yell and make signs and start dialogue about some of these issues. The whole thing is pretty peaceful, but super overwhelming when you are standing in the center of this cheering, pulsing crowd. It is so cool to be a part of this in some tiny way, just to sit there and watch their history unfold. I am very lucky. My host mom says these protests will go on for at least another week.

Yesterday, Elle and I took the best little day trip to Cuenca, Spain- this little village about 2 hours away by train that is famous for their "casas colgadas" or hanging houses. They are literally these very old houses that were created off the cliffside so half the house is actually hanging. Its so odd haha. But the whole day was wonderful. We had good weather, packed a picnic lunch, and ended up going hiking around the whole town where there were paths along a river and the mountains around it. On our way home on the train we watched the Harry Potter movie on her IPad. Perfect end to a perfect dayyyyyy!!

But to top it all off I finally bought a shirt that says Malasaña on itt!!! Wahooo. There is this bar right down the street from me that sells shirts and even though I never really go there I just wanted something that said malsañaaaa- my homee. haha

Well the goodbyes continueee- I said a final goodbye to my friend from Galicia this weekend. No fun.

But I have to remember- next stop- IRELAND :)

I think my favorite thing in the world is when people from all different countries come together and speak Spanish as the common denominator. It is literally amazing to me that I was at a bar and had a full conversation with an Italian, a German, a Turk, and another American all in Spanish. None of us were speaking our native language, but we could all communicate because of Spanish. I absolutely love it.

This past weekend has been absolutely crazy. There has been a huge festival called San Isidro, and literally all of Madrid has just been an absolute party. But what else is new? Madrid is always a party. The other night me and some girls headed down to La Latina and ended up in a huge plaza with probably over 1000 people there just drinking, dancing, BBQing, and hanging out. The weather was chilly like fall in Colorado and it could have been a massive tail gate. But literally it was one of my favorite nights in Madrid- everyone was in such a good mood, we talked in spanish to a ton of different people, and I have never felt so connected to the city. It was amazing. Then at 6 in the morning, this like alien police force SWAT team, dressed in helmets and armor and with there weapons at the ready descended from the stairs in formation onto the plaza and started kicking everyone out. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life haha. There were probably about 100 cops that encircled the people and everyone more or less just quietly backed away into the night haha. We walked to the metro and I was in bed by 7 am. Hilarious.

Sunday was Chrissie's last night in Madriddd. We went out in La Latina with Christian for a few drinks and then had a very tearful goodbye at the metro. I will miss her so so much and I seriously don't know what I would have done without her here in Spain. I am so lucky to have such a good friend and I can't even imagine what this experience would have been like without my chicaa wapaa. I need to go to NYC soon to visit herrrr!!

Sooooo things are wrappin up in Madrid. I have less than two weeks left and it is so weird that it is all coming to an end. However, I still meet new people everyday- apparently there is a rapper group that lives in my apartment who I just met yesterday hahaha. Love it. This week I have one final exam that I need to start studying for and my friend, Elle, from Boulder is coming to visit!!!

Looove,

Chelsea

Madrid: Post Spring Break.

Soooooo lots has been happenin since returning from my beloved Portugal, let me try to summarize it all...

1. Jessica Kutz, my Greece buddy, came to Madrid for a few days because her program ended a month earlier than mine! So we spent a wonderful week meandering around the streets of Madrid, going out in Malasaña, and booking our flights to Ireland!

2. That's right! We are going to Ireland! Plans firmed up so it is definite that we will be in Ireland for a month working at a hostel/adventure center on the south coast outside of Cork. Could anything be more wonderful? No. We will fly into Dublin on the 28th of May and stay there for 2 days to see the city before heading down south!! We can not wait. Jessica left a few days ago to do a solo hike on this famous pilgrimage trail called El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, so I won't be seeing her until we go to Irlandaaaa to begin the next step of this crazyyy Euro adventure :)

3. My classes officially ended last Wednesday. I had a huge written exam in my class with Spaniards that I hope went well, and in my radio class we recorded a final radio show where I had to be interviewed in Spanish about my experiences here in Spain, it was hilarious. So all I have left are two more exams in a few weeks and then I will be completely free from school and Getafe. Geez, it didn't just hit me till I wrote that last bit that I'll never again be in class with those Spaniards... makes me sad thinking about it..

4. We have been trying to explore new areas of Madrid lately to see what else the city has to offer. I finally went to the Prado, the most famous art museum here in Madrid, we checked out the National Library, which was weird because we couldn't actually go where the books are, we have walked to parts of north Madrid, got amazing Indian food in the immigrant neighborhood, and yesterday me and my friend, Krystal, literally walked 5 hours to the suburbs of Madrid where we watched some kids play soccer and found a beautiful park to rest in. It was cool seeing the more residential, less touristy parts of the city. Also, I have been trying to run more in Retiro and Park Oeste. Many people from my program have already left to go home to the United States (so strange to me), so I have been spending much more time alone than usual. Kind of sad, but I have found myself sitting a lot lately in the plaza by house reading a book or the newspaper. Speaking of the news, its odd reading about Osama's death from the point of view of a Spaniard. They seem to be much more critical of it all, and at the beginning a lot more disbelieving that he really had died. It seems to me that Europeans never think we do anything right...

5. I continue to meet the most interesting people here in Madrid. The other day at the bar, Tevia and I literally spent an entire hour editing a Spanish man's cover letter for his application to trade school in England. His resume was so poorly written in English that we pretty much re-wrote the whole thing for him. It was really funny and he was very grateful. Also, I finally met the owners of the hole in the wall Greek restaurant on my street. They saw me walking by the other morning and called me in to have a coffee and chat. So I went in, they made me a delicious frappuccino type drink for free, and we spoke in Spanish about Greece and our lives for an hour or so. Awesome. Met the Italian guy who I see everyday whenever I pass by to go get the newspaper who works at the Italian pizza place in the center of Malasaña. Met a Venezuelan guy who works at this club a few of us went to on Thursday and he pulled me up on the DJ stand and taught me how to play the Djembe (a type of Bongo drum) to the beat of the techno music. Hilarious.

6. And finally, FINALLY, I rode on a VESPA!!! Another goal complete haha. The other night we were walking around Sol, when our program director sped by on his motorbike. He has always known that I wanted to one day buy a vespa so he stopped and asked if I want a ride. Yesssss!! So the next 20 minutes I buzzed around the city with its lights glittering in the night, sooo happy. Brought back Bourtzi boys memories and riding around the countryside in Greece.

But anyway, tonight was a very good night. Chrissie, who just got back from Germany, Christian, and I went to yoga at the squat, then for a beer at Palentino, and then for another drink at a little cafe where we met up with his three other awesome Italian friends. I love when I can sit at a table and hear three different languages spoken throughout the conversation. It's amazing. I then walked back home, ran into the Italian guy and had a little chat in Spanish, then ran into the Greek guys closing up the restaurant who invited me to come have coffee there tomorrow morning. I am finally getting to know all my neighbors!!

Welllll, besides that, all is well. Chrissie leaves Madrid in a week so I will be spending these last few days adventuring with her!! I am going to be sooo sad to say goodbye honestly. Three more weeks left in Madrid... uggg I remember when I had three months. Time flies.

Ahhh okay let me try to wrap up PORTUGAL in this post:

so the third day in Madeira, Tevia and Chrissie weren't up for a hike, so I decided to venture off on my own into the mountains of Madeira to see what kind of solo adventure I could have. The woman at the tourist agency told me to take a bus to this little town in the east of the island and from there I would find a few good levada walks. So I headed out in search for a trail head. On the bus there was a group of older Germans that all looked dressed for a hike, passing around a guide book. I asked them what hike they planned on doing and they showed me the guide book which described a nice levada walk that began at the town I was headed to. Forty five minutes or so later we got dropped off at this little village, more like a convenient store on the side of the road, in the middle of the lush green mountains with terraced farms extending in every which way. I saw a little levada on the other side of the road with a path next to it that headed up more into the farm land. I said bye to the Germans, who were taking a bathroom break at the convenient store and headed off on my own down the path. Within 5 minutes the path forked and seemed to be going basically through people's properties so I wasn't exactly sure what to do. Doubting myself for even wanting to go hiking by myself without a guide, I turned back on the path to see if I could just follow the Germans. Right then, a nice French couple was walking up the path and asked me if it was the right way, I said I wasn't sure but then we all consulted their guide book and determined that in fact the path winded up by peoples little shacks on the side of the mountains. I let them go first, seeing as I am a slow walker, and get a little ways ahead of me before starting again.

So basically the hike was amazing!! I honestly felt like I was in the Sound of Music, weaving through farms, and gardens, and cliffs, and views of the sea, and ahhh I was in heaven. Every time the path looked confusing the French couple would wait up for me to let me know where to go, and then we would set off separately again. Halfway through, the path came upon a little cafe where I sat with some other hikers and got a coffee while overlooking the lush rainforesty valley of eastern Madeira. The blue skies came out, and I passed a wonderful four hours taking pictures and meandering down the path occasionally running into other hikers along the way. This was suchhhh a goooood dayyy I can't even explain how happy I was, I really haven't felt that positive in such a long time. There is something truly liberating about being somewhere by yourself and knowing that really no one else in the world knows exactly where you are. It was just pure freedom and my soul was filled. It was also really cool thinking that I was only 20 and hiking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on some island. The hike was perfect and it ended at a road overlooking the ocean, and me and the French couple took the bus back down to town where I caught up with Chrissie and Tevia for dinner. Blissss.

The next morning we flew out of Madeira and I was so sad to go. The whole time had been perfect and I had done almost everything I had wanted to do there. Madeira is truly amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. I have never seen a place so breathtaking and just utterly unbelievable. It is a different world honestly.... I can't wait to go back!

Next was LISBON!! Immediately charming city built on seven hills overlooking a harbor and with yellow cable cars just like San Francisco. The first day we randomly ran into this guy from the hostel in Lagos which turned out to be great cause he lived in Lisbon half the time and took us on a full day tour of the city, complete with an all you can eat Chinese buffet, chillen at a sunny cafe overlooking the water, and wine and dinner at his apartment in the old town. Could you want anything more? No. That night we went out in Barrio Alto which is Lisbon's Malasaña. I have to say that Malasaña has some definite competition because Barrio Alto was wild. Everyone was out on the streets drinking and it was completely packed with the coolest people dancing and talking and yea it was sick.

The next day we got up and headed to Sintra. A little fairytale village right outside of Lisbon that was highly recommended to us by basically everyone. Once again we stepped into another world, colorful castles, misty mountain tops, a rainy haze overlooking the pastures outside of the city. I don't even know how all these crazy, amazing places exist in one country. Like I said, Portugal is awesome. We managed to sneak into a castle without paying (success) and wandered around the grounds for a few hours, got some food, bought a necklace, and then headed back to Lisbon for the night. That evening we did another Barrio Alto tour and ended up meeting some lovely Portuguese guys who were hilarious and we pretty much spent the whole night with them laughing and joking and wishing we could move to Lisbon forever. Our last day in Lisbon was a cold, rainy day so we slept for most of the morning and then got up to take a famous cable car route around the city. It was wonderful wonderful and really everything was so great.

In the early morning we flew back to Madrid after 10 days of an amazing adventure. Chrissie, Tevia, and I, despite our many differences managed to travel well together and I feel like I got so much closer to them throughout all our misadventures. Portugal was a boost to my spirit and got me even more excited for the things to come this summer!!! Well yea.. thats it for now, maybe I will write more later on today but I am actually headed to the PRADO on this rainy Spain afternoon.

Love youuuu,

Chelsea

PORTUGAL continued!!!

Okayyy, so where did I leave off? Back to Madeira- the afternoon of the first day after all the tobaggan/ cable car adventures, I managed to convince Chrissie and Tevia to come with me on a bus to the center of the island where there is this little village in the middle of a huge canyon/ valley called Curral Das Freiras. The story is that back in the day a bunch of nuns hid there from pirates and now its this kind of touristy, but not, place where you can get your picture taken with a cut-out nun. Random. The town is tiny, tiny and its in the center of these huge mountains and we got there by the local bus, cutting across mountainsides and nearly falling down cliffs. It was nervewracking!! The bus dropped us off around 7 and apparently we were the only tourists in Curral Das Freiras haha... So we wandered the deserted streets and took pictures of the mountains. It really was insanely beautiful, but Chrissie and Tevia, both being from New York City thought that we had found the end of the earth--this nothing village in the middle of an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I think they were kind of freaking out. Anyways, we found some local restaurant where we were the only customers and some adorable 15 year old boy native to Curral Das Freiras was our waiter. We asked him if he liked living here (he spoke pretty good English) and he said he thought it was beautiful but everyone gossips all the time and one day he would like to leave. He then proceeded to point out his house which was a little shack down farther in the valley. We talked to him probably for 45 minutes and he told us how he was a folk-dancer and has never been to Portugal mainland. I think he thought we were funny and we thought he was funny too. It's amazing how different his life is to ours. We caught the last bus back to Funchal and by that time the sun had set and we were ready to get out of that little village in the valley. The bus driver blasted techno as we sped through the mountains being the only people on the bus save a local drunk who was dancing to the techno all the way home. Locuras. Here is a link to a picture of the town. It was soooo pretty!!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.olhares.com/data/big/263/2639358.jpg&imgrefurl=http://br.olhares.com/curral_das_freiras_madeira_portugal_foto2639358.html&usg=__Q6u6_U7NsO6R4dFkwCCdGoTY6_4=&h=750&w=551&sz=338&hl=en&start=17&sig2=s3Bc0l-hx6H2iV5xqXWAuQ&zoom=1&tbnid=8o_IQwH0VF5uZM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=101&ei=bfi_TZ3QI8aZ8QP66IHYBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcurral%2Bdas%2Bfreiras%2Bmadeira%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D607%26tbm%3Disch0%2C228&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=484&page=2&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:17&tx=55&ty=56&biw=1280&bih=607

The next day I was intent on hiking. Madeira is famous for its hikes and levada walks. Levadas are basically like little aqueduct/canal channel type things that weave through the wilderness and bring water into the towns. There are literally MILES and MILES of these canals throughout the mountains and and forests and towns so many of the walks are based on following the levadas. There are hundreds and hundreds of walks and there are some amazing landscapes and scenery to be discovered. Anyway, since we couldn't rent a car and public transportation couldn't really get us to a trailhead, Chrissie and I signed up for a full-day group hike along a two levadas called 25 Fountains and Risco Waterfall. The company told us they would pick us up on the road near our hotel so we waited anxiously at 9 in the morning in our hiking gear to see the group. As we are standing there, all of a sudden this older man with a long beard and ponytail, and thick vest with patches, and basically swimming goggles comes up to us and goes "Are you Russian?!?" "I've been looking for you!!". Chrissie and I stood there for a second and assured him we weren't Russian and that we had no idea who he could have mistaken us for. He seemed intent on convincing us that he was sent to get us, when finally it clicked that Chrissie's last name is RUSSO and we used her name to make our booking for the hike. He thought it was our nationality. Russian. It all got cleared up that we were indeed the girls for the hike and he told us he would be our guide for the day. Phenomenal. I already forgot his name but this man was one of the biggest characters I have ever met in my life. He was born and raised in Madeira and basically hikes all day and is one of the most popular guides on the island. He told us a number of stories throughout the day about how his daughter owned 15 cats, how he escorted hundreds of rats out of his house rather than killing them, and how he met a rich American couple that hired him to be their private guide. Random. Anyway, the other people on our group were just as interesting and I can't even tell you how funny our Motley crew was. First of all it was Chrissie and I, the two silly American girls, an older Spanish man who was super interested in all the flora and fauna of Madeira, an older Finnish couple who I think were ready for a serious group and a serious hike, two 75 year old French women who were so slow that we had to leave them behind, and an adorable Portuguese family- a dad and his two teenage kids that he basically dragged on the hike, and finally Mr. Madeira himself- our guide. The guide spoke like 5 different languages so he would be switching back and forth all day to interpret all the information on the hike to all the different nationalities, however he didn't speak any language well and would go on random rants all day, nearly spending an hour debating with the Portuguese dad about Portuguese health care and abortion. I don't even know haha. The actual hike was mind-blowing and beautiful/amazing/unbelievable doesn't even describe it. We were literally walking by waterfalls, through lush valleys, through secluded nature paradise, I was sooo in love with it all. We also had to walk 10 minutes through an underground tunnel. Which was actually really scary cause there was a point when we couldnt see a light on either side and the tunnel was super small and all we had were a few flashlights, water was dripping everywhere, and all Chrissie and I could think about was wow this is our life- following a crazy nature man through a tunnel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Crazy. The day was sooo much fun and our little group got to know each other and I was actually sad dropping off everyone at their respective hotels at the end of the day. The Portuguese family gave us their number to get into contact with them when we got to Lisbon, but it never really worked out that we could meet up. The main picture on my blog now is me on that hike!! That night Chrissie and I passed out. What a great, great day :)

Okay, thats all for now!!

The blog is back!!! Sorry for such a long stint without a post, but now I have so much to write about!!!

Anyways, first and foremost- I went to PORTUGAL for Spring Break!!!! Let me just say that Portugal was absolutely wonderful and the first country that I have ever traveled to that I could honestly say that I could live in for a longer period of time. Spain is phenomenal for a semester, but I don't think I would want to live here permanently. I didn't feel that way about Greece either... but Portugal... maybe I could stay? I seriously fell in love with it- its the secret gem of Europe and I NEED to find a time to go back. It felt like a mixture of Brazil and Europe- could you want anything more? No haha... well maybe a bit of Australia thrown in there. The people were super friendly, super relaxed, less arrogant than Spaniards (sorry Spain), more diverse, and generally all around a very likable country. Plus, Portugal is basically a beach so there is a huge surf culture, which makes everything like 15 times cooler. Nothing I could possibly complain about- and of course Portuguese is a beautiful language. Tudo bem?

So the adventure began with a very early morning flight to Lisbon, a manic cab ride to the bus station, and a 4 hour bus ride down to the Algarve. The Algarve is the most southern part of Portugal and we stayed in a famous little beach surfer town called Lagos. We were off to a great start right away when we had a hilarious talk in Portuguese with the cab driver and he wished us well on all our journeys. Arriving in Lagos, we got off the bus along with 5 or so other backpackers (!!!!). I am almost back in backpacker lifeeeeeeee!!!!! It was a great feeling seeing Australians and Canadians hoist their huge pack out from the bus and it reminded me so much of me and Jessica two years ago. That was us. Tevia, Chrissie, and I, only traveling for 10 days, took rolly suitcase carry-ons, not nearly as cool, but whatever.. the group of us trekked to the hostel and we were greeted by that wonderful carefree instantly at home feeling when you find a great hostel. It was called the Rising Cock (I know, awkward). But it is an award winning hostel and has been rated one of the best hostels in the world multiple times. Deserving of all the hype, the Rising Cock was a great way to begin our Portugal trip. Everyone staying there were fast friends and the hostel had a huge upstairs hang out room where everyone played cards and could watch movies and generally chill out. Our room was great and the manager of the hostel (Mama) made us free crepes and magical lemon tea every morning. The guys working at the hostel were hilarious and down to earth andddd also staying at the hostel was a group of 5 jock bro-ish American boys. Hate to say it but it was refreshing being around "dudes" rather than these stylish, skinny, fancy Spanish men. They were also hilarious and goofing with each other the whole time and also it was so nice being able to get to know someone in English. We also met 2 Aussie surfers, 2 Canadian girls, and a group of random american sorority chicks studying abroad in Granada. Anyways, we all became this sort of family for 3 days and Tev, Chrissie, and I spent everyday lounging at the beach, getting tan, skim boarding with Portuguese guys, eating real food, going out in the town, getting hair wraps(!), swimming, watching movies, sleeping, and pretty much just enjoying not having school. We were sad to leave at the end of it all, honestly if we didnt have a flight the following morning we would probably have stayed the whole week!! Lagos was seriously like a re-vamp to my spirit and like always, I would love to go back.

On the bus ride back to Lisbon, Chrissie and I chatted the whole way home and managed to make friends with a few Portuguese surfers sitting behind us who gave us their numbers and told us they would be road tripping through the United States next year. I told them I was going to come with them.

We got to the hostel in Lisbon late at night and passed out early because at 6 we had to get up for our flight to MADEIRA ISLANDDDDD. Now ever since I knew we were going to Madeira I have been seriously obsessing about it- I researched on the Internet like crazy, and bought two guide books (one in English and one in Spanish for good measure). And let me just say, Madeira blew me away. It was more amazing, more magical, more out of this world than I could have ever imagined. Madeira, being out in the Atlantic Ocean a bit closer to Africa, feels like a different universe. Its like a mixture of Avatar land, Jurassic Park, Laos, and heaven. Pretty much all I can say about it. If I were to use one world to describe it, I would say lush. Literally from the drive to the hotel from the airport we passed by jungle type canyons, waterfalls on the side of the highway, sea cliffs on one side, greenery just growing out of every surface imaginable. You almost become numb to all the beauty. Our hotel was the cheapest one I could find on the whole island which was nice cause it was in a surprisingly good location in the center of town and close to public transportation. The maid checked us in (random), but it was sufficient for us on such a tight budget. We hit the ground running with the first event being a cable car up to the top of the mountain over looking the capital. Madeira is made from a volcano so its super super mountainous with dramatic cliffs and sharp bends. The cable car took us to Monte which looks over Funchal and also a jungle type thing to the right. Funchal is the capital city and its beautiful. Just think wild flowers in a cute European town and you've got it. Madeira is known for its amazing flowers and now I know why. Literally everywhere you turn you see vibrant hues and fragrant exotic plants in people's front yards. How does a place like this exist?! Then we joined the rest of the tourists at the top of Monte to participate in a typical "Madeiran toboggan ride" down the mountain through the windy streets of Monte to Funchal. Weirdest thing ever. So its a super touristy thing to do, but basically you sit in this big wicker basket and 2 Madeiran men kind of push/pull you/ ride in the basket themselves through the steep thin streets of town. Mind you passing through intersections and all. The basket doesnt have wheels or anything.. it just kind of slides down the mountain and it actually goes pretty fast. Random. The three of us couldn't stop laughing for the entire 20 minutes and we were quite pleased when they dropped us off in the center of this adorable Funchal neighborhood where we meandered for another few hours, went to the outdoor fruit/vegetable market, and got a drink on a terrace overlooking the town. Livin the dream.

Okay I am tired, but I want to post this so more more more will come soooooooon about Portugalllllll!!!!!

PS- the new picture was taken at Retiro!! Christian (el italiano) and Tevia are in the reflection!

Today I went running in a new park called Parque del Oeste (West Park). It was probably like half the size of Retiro, but with much more trees and hills and flowers and less people. It was soooo wonderful and the weather was great. Also in the park is an old Egyptian Temple called Templo de Debot. Egypt gifted it to Spain a long while ago because it would have been destroyed in a flood if it remained in Egypt. I found a pretty little botanical garden with fountains and flowers which was nice, then Chrissie met up with me and we walked around for a little bit more. Then I went straight to yogaaa at the squat (!!) with my friend Steven. Today was really nice and easy and slow and lasted two hours. Afterwards we headed to Palentino (my home away from home) for some bocadillos and now I am back home!! Successful Monday I would say :)

EL FINDE:

Lots of adventures- spent most of my time in Retiro hanging out in the hammock, or in Malasaña at the epic botellons outside in the plazas, Christian made me dinner again on Saturday (another wonderful Italian pasta), we met an Australian guy who was backpacking through Europe, went to an art exhibition, Tevs and I watched a soccer game, exploring Lavapies the immigrant district with Christian and Meli his El Salvadorian roommate, volunteering with little kids to make them an Easter Egg Hunt, went to a nightclub (Joy) and the most famous bar in Malasaña called Via Lactea (Milky Way). Overall it was quite a successs and beautiful weather!!!

ON FRIDAY WE LEAVE FOR PORTUGALLLLL!

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

I like that quote :)

Spent all day in Retiro yesterday- basically our version of the beach. People tan and eat picnics and its basically a huge party. Tomorrow I am volunteering with kids who are learning English!! Tevias host mom owns this business and they are having a special event tomorrow so I get to go help!! Wahhooo :)

HOLAAAA!!!

Okayyyyy, so lets see, my first weekend back in Madrid after a month of travel. Que pasoooo???

1. On Friday, I took a bus about an hour outside of Madrid to a town called Villanueva de la Cañada!! Two of my friends that took me to Galicia study there, so I went to go visit them for the day. I got off the bus welcomed by beautiful sunny skies and three Spanish boys. Success? We got some food and drinks from the supermarket and then proceeded to spend the entire day BBQing, drinking beer, listening to good music, playing with their dog Lucky, and hanging out with all of their friends from school and all of their neighbors in their big backyard. Reminded me of Boulder and it was awesomeeeeeeeeee. I have been missing that whole vibe, just being able to hang out with cool people. I spent the whole day speaking in Spanish and I met so many nice people!!! It really was a great day with great people!! I was planning on coming back that night, but I ended up staying in Villanueva to go out with all of them. I got home in the morning with my head dizzy with Spanish. So awesomeeee.

2. Saturday the program organized a mini excursion to the park outside of Madrid to go hiking. We hiked for two hours, took a cable car over Madrid, and spent a nice day outside. Would have been better though if I had time to change out of my clothes from the night before. I got straight off the bus from Villanueva to hiking in Madrid. Locuras!

3. On Sunday, Christian- my Italian friend, invited me to his new apartment so he could make me a nice Italian dinner!!! Even more life successes? He lives with 7 people in an apartment and each one of them is a different nationality: Italian, Mongolian, Filipino, El Salvadorian, Bangladesh(i?), and two people from China. Its literally crazy cause they all have so many strange customs and cultural differences that it really is such an interesting experience. The guy from China offered for me to try some of his food that he made and almost had a heart attack when I tried to take some with my hand. I literally think he could have passed out. In China its a super no- no to eat with your hands (my bad) and apparently he gets really disgusted by the Filipino girl cause one day he saw her eating with her hands (this was told to me in a whisper). Then I got talking to the Filipino girl and she worked for a year in a call center before she came to Europe. She told me 80% of the work in the Philippines is at call centers- handling the calls of the annoyed Americans with problems with their cell phones and Xboxes. The first question she asked me when I told her I was from the US was what cell phone company I used. She was telling me that the first few days of her job was like literally traumatizing cause everyone would cuss at her and say the meanest things and she just had to get over it. And they went through weeks of accent training so they could understand how different people in america talk, for instance the accent of a black person from Philadelphia vs a southern belle from Mississippi. I literally was entranced with her story and it was surprising when she told me that she actually loved her job. Now she works as a maid in Madrid, having previously worked as an AuPair in Sweden. She said she likes the people from Scandinavia better because they are more respectful and treated her as part of the family. Craziness. Anyways, the pasta that Christian made for me was delicious and afterwards we walked down to La Latina to meet up with Chrissie and her spanish friend for some cañitas :)

4. Last night was free yoga again at the local squat in Malasaña!!! Haha I convinced my friend from class to come with me (he was pretty sketched out when I first told him about it), and also Krystal and Christian came!! So the four of us got trekked over there with our yoga mats and spent a lovely 2 hours doing “athletic yoga”. Even the yoga is more relaxed here in Spain. It consisted mostly of breathing exercises, easy stretches, and a few sun salutations. I like this version of athletic yoga! Afterwards, we were all nice and relaxed and happy so we walked over to Palentino (my bar) and got some bocadillos and cañas. Success for life.

Right now I am on the train going to schooool. The sun is finally out and its getting warmer!! I’ll probably go running today in Retiro and look for the Togo man...

PORTUGAL trip is coming up in less than two weeks!!!!!! We just finished booking all of our hostels yesterday, so we are set to gooo :)

Also Jess and I are firming up plans for the summer. Due to very limited cash, we are going to do a work exchange at a hostel somewhere in Europe, depending where they accept us!! I applied to 12 yesterday and Jess is sending out more this week. One in Ireland already said yes and another in Scotland. But we are holding out to get one a little more south and with a beach!! After the hostel we want to go to Greece and hopefully stop in Austria/Hungary on the way there. We will seeeeeee :)

So yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, good stuff.

ADVENTURE OF THE DAY:

Yesterday Tevia and I found it pertinent to head to Retiro Park (think Central Park spain style) to go running. We started off with a nice jog and after about 20 minutes we ended up at the little work out park/ jungle gym area for people to do sit ups and push ups and such. There were about 30 guys there... and me and Tevia. All of these guys were obviously work out animals and we looked kind of silly trying to do crunches while they were literally doing pull-ups with one arm. Then comes along this dark African man with the body of a god, think Olympic runner status, probably has been in the Olympics kind of guy. He sees us laughing and then starts talking to us in very broken English and tells us that he will teach us how to do everything. Tevia and I once again amazed by our ability to meet the most random people went along with it and it turns out this guy is from Togo and was brought here to Spain to run for a regional team. He works out 4 hours a day, every day, and can run the hundred meter dash in 11 seconds. Beast. Anyways, for literally an hour we went around to all the different machines and he told us the best ways to do everything and then like spotted us as we did each exercise and counted for us and basically was like our trainer. Everyone else in the park was staring at us and one Spanish guy came up to us and was like Jeez you guys are so lucky to have a trainer like him!! Hahahahaha. So hilarious. He was probably the most fit person I have ever met. Then finally when Tevia and I could do no more we decided to say our goodbyes and he asked us if we would come back tomorrow. We told him that we would probably come on Friday and then he was like “Okay great! See you tomorrow!”. Tevia and I ran off laughing to ourselves and this morning I couldn’t even sit up out of bed. I literally am so sore that it was painful to eat today. Ohhh Spain haha......

And so ends March and my month of travel!!!! I really feel like I haven't been in Madrid for a month, or seen any of my new friends, so I am glad I can finally just be here and enjoy it!!! But Spain is wonderfulllllll. This month I saw north, south, east, west, islands, cities, villages... And everything was perfect. Each weekend trip was perfect. From crazy Galician adventures with Spaniards, to calm sightseeing in Andalucia, to adventuring through the mountains of Mallorca with the parents, and finally to being with my best of friends in Barcelona!! I am so lucky I saw what I did!!

So where did I leave off?

MALLORCA: We get to Palma de Mallorca last Thursday morning welcomed by bright, sunny skies and fresh ocean air and a calm little city that has yet to be hit by the throngs of tourists destined to come in just a few short months. The first day we meandered around the city, checking out the huge cathedral, and generally exploring through all the little streets lined with expensive boutiques and gelato stands. As the sun was setting we climbed up on top of this building and got a great view of the sun going down over the ocean. It was beautifullll :) But day two was even better!!!!!!!! We rented a car and set off early in the morning for the west of Mallorca to explore the mountains!!! There is an actual mountain range in Mallorca and I think it was one of the most beautiful days I have ever had here in Spain. My eyes couldn't even really grasp how amazing the mountains were and the cliffs dropping into the seaside and the little quaint villages nestled in between. There are truly no words to describe how gorgeous it was. I can honestly say the west coast of Mallorca is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Then there were the roads. Little, tiny, winding roads carved out of the cliffside. Terrifying. And Dad driving a stick shift. And little or no guard rail. I was silently freaking out most of the time. At one point we decided to turn off onto a side road to see this beautiful beach which we had seen the day before on a postcard. Turns out this little pit stop turned into one of the most adventurous things I have ever done in my life hahhaha... if not the craziest. We pull off onto an even smaller road to drive down the mountain cliffside to the beach. A drive that took an hour more than we had originally thought. Now imagine, looking to your left and right and seeing nothing but cliffs. Hundreds of insane German bikeriders flying past you for some idiotic reason or another attempting to scale the mountain with their bikes- defying death and all. Seriously we could have killed about 600 cyclists if we so pleased. Then comes this helicopter out of no where. Flying nearly on top of our car through the mountains. It gets so close I am literally ducking in the back seat. All of this while trying to pass another idiotic tour bus that is crawling up the mountain and hair pin turns and magically not falling to its death when we manage to squeeze by it. Also trying to dodge the psychotic drivers who are literally speeding on blind curves and we come 3 seconds from hitting one when me and my mom scream out of surprise and then the two of us start unintentionally crying just from the overwhelming adrenaline hahaha. It was insaneeeeee. I do not know how my dad did it. But in the end it was all worth it because we get down to this little cove tucked into the cliffside where we are able to park and walk through some cave tunnel things which open up to this secret beach with raging crystal blue water ominously crashing against the rocks. It was so powerful and amazing and crazy and I honestly can say I haven't felt that alive in a long while. It was so intense!!!! We then had a bit of lunch down by the other part of the beach and headed back up the road of death to FORMENTORRR which is the northernmost tip of Mallorca. Once again driving through cliffside roads, through forests and towns, when finally we get to the very tip top of Mallorca. So freaking beautiful. Plunging cliffs. Crystal water. Setting sun. Thats it- I can't even describe it. It was almost unbelievable. That night we headed back to Palma de Mallorca and went out with some of Christina's super nice guy friends from Mallorca!! I was translator all night between them and my parents and we ended up going to a night club and a bar full of Spaniards. Awesome :) We headed back to Madrid in the morning, exhausted, walked to Retiro, had a picnic lunch, went to my favorite Irish bar to watch some rugby with crazy irishmen, and then out for Paella with my parents and Tevia. All in all it was a wonderful weekend with mommm and dadddddd!! I wish they could have stayed longer, but I am pretty sure I/Spain wore them out for a while. It is nice having them so close and so great to share all the things I have seen/done with them :) I love you guysss!!!!!!!!!!!!

The week after they left the new STROKES cd came out (my fav band). Success.

Christian, my old friend from Italy from my first few weeks in Madrid, finally came back to Madrid after being in Milan for a bit of time. So we went out on Wednesday. Success.

I had a huge Spanish oral presentation due on Thursday and it went phenomenal. Success.

And we recorded a radio show in my regular class. I was interviewed in Spanish. Success.

And then I went to BARCELONA. Let me just say that Barcelona is freaking amazing!!!! DE PUTA MADREEEE. It is such a wonderful city with so much to see and so much to offer and with wide streets and lots of green and lots of sun and lots of trees that I am seriously trying to figure out how I can move there at some point in my life. Also, Jessica- my Greece travel partner and freshman/sophomore year roommate is studying abroad there as well as my other really good friend who lived in the dorms with me, Emma. They were able to give me the grandest, best tour of the city and I can't even tell you how much fun we had. We packed so much into each day that I don't even remember it all- Thursday night I checked into my hostel, we got delicious crepes, walked around, and I took my first shot of ABSINTHE!! It was disgusting, but you have to do it once I guess. Friday we walked around parks, went to the beach, I got a massage by a gypsy on the beach, went to a light show at these water fountains, saw a beautiful view of the city, met up with jessicas host brother, and then went out to this awesome international bar that reminded me of what oktoberfest could be like. Saturday we saw all of Gaudi's amazing architecture, the infamous Sagrada Familia, walking through different neighborhoods, played guitar on the beach, saw Parc Guell, ate patatas bravas, got double friendship bracelets, went to an open air market, back to the oktoberfest bar, and spent the rest of the night sharing a bottle of wine on the beach while listening to techno blast from the huge night clubs lining the shore. It was amazing. Amazing. Only complaints are that the city is full of Americans and I can see how it is really hard to learn Spanish there seeing as it is such an international city. I heard so many different languages and saw people from all over the world. Also the Catalan people are a bit cold and it is hard to make friends with the Spaniards there. And also Barcelona doesn't really resemble the rest of Spain at all. It looked like it belonged to its own country. Everyone looks so cool though and the whole city gives off this relaxed artsy, hippie vibe. It is for sure a much more impressive city than Madrid and I think there is much more to do and see. But in the end I still have a soft spot for Madrid and the people here are much more open and I do in fact have to speak Spanish 24/7. Madrid was the perfect choice for now, but if I ever move back to Spain- Barcelona is where I will be. No doubt. Everyone needs to go there. Also did I mention I love Jess and Emma for showing me a wonderful time :)

So that is where I leave you. Mallorca and Barcelona are beautiful. Spain is beautiful. and Madrid is beautiful.

Today I went to FREE YOGAAA at the local squat here in Malasaña hahahaha. It was hilarious. Its an abandoned building that people like now live in and they turned it into this like actually beautiful community center all hippied out and I went to Yoga there today. Awesomeeeeee!! I am sure I will go ever Monday now.

But for now I will go to bed :)

Que sueñes con los angelitos!!!

MALLORCA WEEKEND AND PARENTS!!!!! (PART ONE)

Soooo the parents came this week and I am pretty sure I wore them out. Or Spain did atleast. Mucha fiestaaaaaa is all I can say haha. On Monday I took them on a huge walking tour of Madrid, complete with chocolate and churros and a flamenco show at night. I felt like a badass because on the tables I had reserved for the flamenco show was a little card with my name on it and I felt all official. It was a successss! Tuesday we went bar hopping in my beloved Malasaña with my friend Chrissie and I took them to Palentino aka the best bar on earth and we got ham and cheese sandwiches for a euro. Yesssssss :)

Wednesday we went to the REAL MADRID GAMEEEEE versus Lyon in El Estadio de Santiago Bernabeuuu!!!!!! This was one of the coooolesttt things I have ever done seriouslyyy me and my mom were like freaking out! The energy there was sooo awesome and everyone was sooo in to it and excited and ahhh it was just great. We got up there a bit early, bought some Real Madrid scarves, and found a bar right outside the stadium. Spent two hours at the bar getting pumped up, talking to spaniards, watching lyon fans try to get in fights with real madrid fans, and everyone just cheering and singing and celebrating.. ahhh soo great! There were sooooo many guys there and for the FIRST time in my entire life when I went to the bathroom in the bar the line was out the door for the guys but no one was in the girls bathroom. Onlyyy at a Real Madrid game. It was hilarioussss. We then headed into the stadium to find our seats and it was basically a whole different worlddd. The stadium was SO loud and the seats were SO steep and everyone was SOOO intense and intent on watching the game. No vendors, no bathroom breaks, everyone was just fixed on watching the players. Madrid won 3-0!! It was an amazingggg game and watching the passing sequences from above was incredible!!! Real Madrid is going to be my teammmmmm :) We left completely worn out and headed to Palentino’s to get some food and drinks before we passed out. I suggest that everyone go see a soccer game in a foreign country- it was epic.

More to come!!!

PS. the girls in the picture above are my two best friends here in Madrid!! Chrissie is on the right and she is from New York, Tevia is in the middle and she is from New Jersey.. they are who I went to Galicia with and who I will be going to PORTUGAL with in April!!!!!!

SEVILLA AND CORDOBA WEEKEND!!!

Hellloooooooo!!!

So back again from many, many Spain adventures!!!

Lets begin:

Sevilla and Cordoba was last weekend with my study abroad program. They charted a private bus for the 20 of us and we drove down on Friday morning, six hours to Cordoba, greeted by the pouring rain... kind of a bummer, but whatever. We had a great lunch, checked into the hotel, and toured around the old city which used to be the capital of the western Moorish empire when the Muslims first got to Spain, later to be replaced by Sevilla, and then by Granada. Evidence of this was “La Mezquita”. A huge beautiful former Muslim mosque that was literally amazing inside and also really interesting because once the Christians reconcurred Spain, they decided to you know just build their grand cathedral INSIDE the mosque. So its basically this massive Muslim place of worship with a huge church inside of it. The strangest thing ever. Later that night our program set us up with some spanish students from Cordoba, so me and four other girls went out to a Hooka bar with them and then afterwards we went to another flamenco showwwwwww. another oneeeee. this one was actually pretty good seeing as Andalucia is the capital of all things flamenco so I enjoyed it!!

The next day was Sevilllaaaa maravillaaaaaa and we were sooo lucky to have SUN in the morning!!! The drive from Cordoba was only about an hour and we arrived to a thriving, lively, sunny city with everyone out and about. It was soooo pretty and I can see how Sevilla is the most popular place in Spain for students to study abroad. Its a small city, nothing compared to the enormity of Madrid, and seems small enough to feel like you could get to know the place really well. However wonderful it was though, I for sure got home-sick for Madrid!!! Anyways, we took a tour of the Alcazar and the surrounding gardens which was all beautiful and nice to see some green for once haha. Then our program director who is from Sevilla took us to this really authentic restaurant for lunch- so good. Some of the best food I have had since I got to Spain. I was full for atleast 3 days afterwards. Thennnnnnn we got back on the bus and they surprised us by taking us KAYACKINGGGG on the river in Sevilla!!!! Needless to say I was excited, yet the others not so much. I partnered up with Tevia, the diva that she is, and we had quite an eventful two hours fighting over who could paddle with the best rhythm and Tevia trying to avoid getting wet at all costs (impossible). The last 200 yards or so of our trip it starting POURING rain. The whole situation was hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing as we all got soaked while trying to furiously paddle back to the dock... which was some how sinking into the river... We all ran back to the bus in our wet clothes and headed back to the hotel to somehow dry off. Then for the night timeeeeeeee- SO, when we were walking around Sevilla all day I was looking at all the signs on the building walls and one caught my eye and I stopped in my tracks. Hernan Cattaneoooooooo, the famous Argentinean DJ who I saw my very first night after I landed in PERU exactly 3 years ago, was going to be playing in Sevilla that nighttt!!! Ever since that night in Peru I have been trying unsuccessfully to see him again but he is always touring abroad so I have never had the chance. Well there he was in SEVILLAAA- another sign of my life full circle. I convinced Tevia to go with me after much pleading. It would have been awful if I didn’t go. So after a bit of pre-gaming with a spanish bachelor party we stumbled upon, we took a taxi to some club in Sevilla at 3 in the morning to see Hernannnn Cattaneooooo. I was absolutely dying of excitement and seeing him brought back sooo many memories. Dancing in a beach side club an hour south of Lima with a Swedish guy that I met in the terminal in Houston.. and I was only 17. Succccessss for lifeeeee!!! Anyways, it was basically a full blown rave and we danced danced danced until 6:30 in the morning and got back to the hotel as they were setting up the continental breakfast. Luckily that next day it was pouring rain, so all our tours got cancelled and we were able to just get a bus tour and then drive back to Madrid. After one hour of sleep in the hotel, Tevia and I passsedddd out on the way home.

Anywayssss, I’d say it was a successful weekend on the whole. I learned a lot about Spanish history, saw some beautiful architecture, ate good food, went kayacking, and saw Hernan Cattaneo. wahoooooooooo!!! More to come soon about MALLORCAAA!

GALICIA WEEKEND PART THREE- make sure to read part 2!

Okay so La Arribada-

We get to this town and its FILLED with people, ALL of them dressed as if they are from when Christopher Colombus sailed the ocean blue. However, Tevia and I realized that this time period is open to interpretation seeing as we saw people dressed as pilgrims, pirates, medieval peasants, people from B.C., people from the 1800's, you know.. just anything that looked like it was from the past. It was hilarious. Vendors lined to streets with any kind of delicious food you could imagine and tons of little trinkets and jewelry and whatever. We walked around for several hours, got a beer, walked around a little more, ran into some of the boy's friends from school, and realized we were the only foreigners in this festival hahaha. As the night fell, eating turned to drinking and everyone started the party. We drank in the streets, in bars, went to a nightclub, ran into other friends from Galicia, danced, talked, met new friends who have invited us back to Galicia already and general had quite a few memorable adventures. Tevia, Chrissy, and I were mind blown to say the least. At 7 am we stumbled back to the Mercedes which Adolfo had conveniently parked in front of his ex-girlfriends house that overlooks the water in Bayona- amazing. Seeing as everyone had quite a bit to drink the plan was to sleep in the car for a while until we were ready to drive back to Vigo. So the five of us piled in to this car, mind you its freezing outside, and attempted to sleep. Didn't work. Pablo was snoring, Adolfo deemed it necessary to play a few techno songs before we went to bed, I was in the center seat aka the most uncomfortable, had the fidgets, and already was feeling hungover...

Somehow or another I fell asleep around 8 and awoke at 11 to a woman banging on the windows of the car and yelling at us in spanish hahaha. We are all so confused and disoriented and all of a sudden Adolfo realized it was his ex-girlfriends mom!! Great. So he jumped out of the car and left the door open so we could hear what she was saying... "There are beds in the house kids, get inside!! There are beds inside!!" hahahahha- turns out she wasn't mad at all but wanted us to sleep in the house rather than the driveway. Adolfo turned down the offer seeing as his ex had a new beau also in the house haha so the mom ends up bringing out about 15 blankets for us in the car and like 10 nice throw pillows. This moment was absolutely hilarioussssssss watching her come out to give us blankets and I don't think I have ever laughed so hard. The whole situation was sooo randommmmmmmmm I can't even explain it hahahah- this story will for sure go down in the books. Anyways, after another hour or so the boys thought it good to go back home now so we folded up the blankets and headed back to Vigo to pack up our stuff.

Pablo's sweetheart dad drove us to the train station through the beautiful Galician countryside. I really do love love love this part of Spain and the whole trip was suchhh an adventure. The train ride back was nice and smooth and I got to sleep and we passed through some amazing scenery on the way back to Madrid. Everything was incredible. GALICIA=SUCCESS. Not enough good things to say about it...

Anyway, back to my MADRID. Last week was relaxed. Lots of school and lots of meeting up with friends for drinks/coffee whatever. I did however find out this week that MANU CHAO, my favorite musician, filmed a music video in my FAVORITE bar in Malsaña called Palentino hhahahah. It really is like full circle my life.. I live in Malasaña because of Manu Chao and my favorite bar without knowing before is in his music video for "me llaman calle". Loco. Circles, circles, circles en mi vida...

here is a link to the video.. you can more or less see the bar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzZWXUfIyIs

This past weekend I was in Sevilla and Cordoba which was also absolutely full of adventures (of course) which will come in the next blog. Parents are also here right now!! WAHOOOOOO

ps- here is a link to all my pictures, just copy and paste it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097077&id=1016283261&l=a551a7939e

GALICIA WEEKEND PART TWO!!

okayyyyyy continuing on from where I left off!!

The boys then took us to the supermarket to get ingredients for dinner. They were so sweet and wanted to make sure we ate exactly what we wanted and when we got home they set the table and even put a table cloth down (these boys are so refined here in Spain!!). Our dinner was delicious- chicken, tortilla española, mmmmmmm yumm :)

That night the boys took us out with another one of their friends named Fandi out to the bars/ discotecas in Vigo. It was Carnaval so everyone had costumes and it was crazyyy. We went out till like 6 in the morning and I saw about twenty people dressed up as terrorists... for some reason this is not politically incorrect here in Spain. They had middle eastern robes on and were carrying around AK-47s.. I asked someone about it and without a second thought they said "Oh yea.. friends of Bin Laden!!".. okay..

I'm not sure what time we slept till on Saturday, but when we awoke we discovered that Adolfo's family had come and was also staying in the house too! His two older sisters were there, one of their boyfriends, and his mom and dad. We got dressed and were about to head down to Bayona, but then his parents invited us out to lunch with them!!!!!!!! Now I do not know exactly what these people do, but they are freaking rich- they took us in their beautiful cars to this beautiful restaurant where all the waiters knew them and had wine at the ready.. umm yes. So me, Chrissie, and Tevia, Pablo, Adolfo, and his family sat down at this elegant table, like nothing i have ever seen/done. I felt honestly like royalty or something and we were at first all nervous because we wanted to make a good impression on his family. The first few minutes I spent trying to remember all the table manners I have ever learned in my life so as not to seem like an idiot, but finally the ice was broken and we had the best afternoon EVER eating steaks and fish, drinking wine, speaking in Spanish, showing photos of our travels, eating Galician dessert, trying the dad's whisky, everything- I think they were really amazed by the three of us and we got excited invitations to come to Galicia whenever we wanted.... it was honestly an afternoon from a movie or something- wining and dining with high society in Galicia, Spain. I couldn't have asked for anything more...

But then we left the restaurant and of course who would we run into? None other then the president of Galicia (!!!!) who Adolfo's dad apparently knew (of course). We were introduced to him as "the americans" and he was quite intrigued with the three of us as well, especially after Tevia told him that she worked with Obama's campaign in 2008. Succccccessssss.

ANYWAY, after all of that excitement, the 5 of us finally got in route to Bayonaaaa- the town about 30 minutes away from Vigo right on the water where Christopher Colombus returned to in 1493 after finding the Americas. Every year since then, Bayona hosts a festival called La Arribada where everyone dresses up in period clothing and eats and drinks and is merry... its LOCOOO. Also- Bayona is extremely beautiful. Like I could live there- it almost almost looks like a mini Rio de Janeiro from above because its this adorable little town stuck in between crystal blue waters and tall green mountains. It's magical.

Okay I am tired again!!!!! PART 3 OF GALICIA WEEKEND WILL COME SOOOON!!!

LOVE YOUUU

PART ONE OF GALICIA WEEKEND:

GALICIA!!!! perfect. another wonderful, magical place in the world that I have been lucky enough to visit and lucky enough to have seen through the eyes of people who call it their home....... and another place that I must return to one day..

Galicia (btw) is the most north-west province in Spain right above Portugal and along with Spanish they also speak a language called Gallego which sounds like a mix of Portuguese and Spanish. They speak Gallego more than Spanish between each other and more with elders, but everyone is also completely fluent in Spanish and perfectly willing to speak it. During Franco years, it was prohibited to speak Gallego so once he lost power the people began speaking Gallego with pride as a way to demonstrate their new found freedom. This is also what happened on the other side of Spain with Catalán in Cataluña- however there it was a bit more extreme. Anyways, I really liked the accent of the people we met from Galicia, it is Spanish but with a kind of Portuguese accent and it just sounds great. Also, Galicia is very green and mountainous and with beaches everywhere... Maybe the best part of Spain?? I think so.

Continuing...

So the weekend began on Thursday night when Chrissy, Tevia, and I took the metro up to north Madrid to meet the boys, Manuel and Pablo, for some drinks before the long train ride. We all headed up to the train station together (Charmartin) and at 10:30 we boarded. The first hour we spent in the food cart just talking and laughing and such and then we all eventually meandered back to our seats to attempt to sleep on the 7 hour journey. Thank you to my severe case of the fidgets and constant restless leg syndrome I can’t say I slept too much despite my Enya playlist being on repeat for several hours. At 5 or so in the morning the train man (whatever he is called) woke us up and told us we would shortly be arriving at Ourense in Galicia!!! We gathered all our stuff together and said goodbye to Manuel who was continuing on the train a little bit farther.

Enter: Adolfo, Pablo’s best friend who we were to be staying with and who had come to pick us up from the train station. Six in the morning he comes rollin up in an S-Class Mercedes with a techno cd BLASTING through the windows. Success?? Tevia, Chrissie and I couldn’t help but laugh to ourselves as we sped through the galician night in the luxury vehicle with our two new spanish friends. sooo randommmmmmm hahaha. After an hour we show up at this huge, old house right on the outskirts of the city of Vigo, which is the largest city in Galicia. The house is Adolfo’s parents summer vacation home, but he just lives their permanently. Rough life. He had a whole bunch of delicious breakfast goodies ready for us, so we ate and then crashed for a few hours in our cute little room looking out to a backyard full of goats. love it. after our little nap, the boys decided to take us to Santiago de Compostela!!! about 45 minutes away, the capital of Galicia, and the final destination of the Camino de Santiago which is a very famous religious pilgrimage through the north of spain. akin to the appalachian trail, but less intense and historically religious. after a car ride of the same techno cd from before, we showed up in the adorable mountain town and got some food to eat, lots of wonderful seafood, it was definitely the best food ive had yet in spain. the waiters of the restaurant were bemused by our excitement and ended up giving us 3 big shells which are the mark of the camino de santiago.. success. The five of us then headed to the huge cathedral in the center of Santiago which is its defining sight and is literally amazing. I was blown away by how ornate and magical it was and inside were the remains of the saint santiago himself. After the cathedral we meandered around some more, my camera broke tragically (its okay i just bought another one) and then eventually we trekked back to Vigo to meet Pablo’s friend, who is also named Pablo for a drink. They took us up to this ancient fortress overlooking all of Vigo and it’s harbor and honestly it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, if not the most beautiful. The sun was setting and reflecting off the water and the mountains and ahhh, it was heaven literally. i really could live there.

OKAY THAT ENDS PART ONE- I REALLY MUST GET SOME SLEEP. MORE TO COME, MORE TO COME...

UPDATESSS FINALLY!!!!

ahh this week has been crazy, busy adventuring, busy with school, busy with planning for march and spring break, and busy with my acquisition of the spanish language! lets see...

sooo every weekend in march i will be gone traveling around spain- i am going to miss madrid for sure but excited to see what else is Spain!! And each trip is going to be very different, its going to be quite a whirlwind :)

Weekend One- Galicia with Spaniards!! Galicia is the most north-west province of Spain right above Portugal and it's supposed to be gorgeous and GREEN! A few weeks ago Chrissy and I met some spanish guys who are super cool and nice and are originally from Galicia but are now here in Madrid studying to become dentists! how random? Also, my Spanish girl friends from class know them through friends which is such a coincidence. Anyways, we have been talking to them a lot and they invited us up to Galicia because there is a huge festivals all over for Carnaval and also another festival called La Arribada that celebrates Christopher Colombus' return to Spain after discovering the Americas. Look it up- thats where I am going!! Christina told me the town where it is is supposed to be AMAZING and she got so excited when I told her the plan. Sooo successss.. me, tevia, chrissy, pablo, and manuel will be taking an overnight train there on Thursday night and we will arrive Friday morning!! Wahooo.

Weekend Two- Sevilla and Cordoba with my program!! Not really sure what the deal with this one is yet or what we are going to do, but it will be nice to have everyone together again and also have everything paid for!!! Successs- and Sevilla and Cordoba will be amazingly beautiful. One of our program heads is from Sevilla so hopefully we will get the local's tour.

Weekend Three- Mallorca with the parents!!!! Mom and Dad are coming for the week and our last weekend we will be flying to the island of Mallorcaaaaaa :) I'm sure it will be fabulous and gorgeous and relaxing and everything!! And good to be with the parents of course!!! Ill be getting us around with my spanish...

Weekend Four- Finale weekend!!! Going to BARCELONAAA to visit Jessica and Emmaaaa, my friends from Boulder who are studying there. All the adventures are up to them- I am SURE it will be hilarious and fun, I will be staying in a hostel while I am there too.. succcesss!!!!

Anyways, lots of adventures this month- but lets see- how did February wrap up?

-Radio class has been hilarious- Each class I am recording news broadcasts that I have to write myself and then we record them in the studio in front of the class- its hilarious and awesome. Getting to be good friends with two Spanish girls in my class and also this other chick who is from Germany but has lived in Brazil and Spain and Thailand and speaks like 15 languages and is generally a badass. Today, she gave me and Pablo a ride to the train station (greatest thing ever since everyday that train station gets farther and farther away) and I walk as slow as a turtle so its like a hike to get home. We have a test next week in my other regular class and I don't know what I am going to do- sooo hard to analyze texts and learn new material in Spanish. These are like intense readings we are doing and somehow I have to comprehend it all in Spanish- not easy at all.

-Tevia and I found a new Irish Bar to watch her beloved Manchester United!! We have quickly become regulars at the James Joyce Madrid and Tevia is turning me into a soccer aficionado whether I like it or not. Man U played Chelsea last night and I was torn who I should root for. Chelsea for obvious reasons or Man U because Tevia will literally have trouble breathing if they are losing. There are always great people there and we have managed to make friends with the bartender and on Saturday we met some hilarious Welch guys and spent the evening joking and cracking up while watching english rugby and drinking Heineken. Success??

-On Thursday night we went out with Borja and all his Spanish friends! Met some great people and bar hopped to all his favorite places with the best tapas. And the best mojitos. I tried to teach this spanish girl the Hokey Pokey song (didn't work) and I also got my Portuguese on with a Peruvian guy who was there. We came back to Malasaña and I had to make a pit stop to my favorite little hole in the wall burrito place where I have become friends with the hilarious Mexican guy who works there- luckily that night a kid my age was there who is also friends with the mexican guy and turns out he lives down the street from me AND has a moto hahaha. I made him promise to give me a ride one day which he agreed to!!! Today I ran into him again on the way home from school walking through Malasaña and he got my numberrr soo we can scooter it upppp. So good to be recognized and feel at home!! hahah

-Chrissy's parents were visiting this week so Tevia and I had quite a few day adventures together. Friday it was beautiful out so we headed to Retiro Park with snacks and a hammock and literally spent all day in the park laying in the hammock and chatting. Spaniards were like amazed by the hammock and I am pretty sure we got like 15 pictures taken of us throughout the day. It was sooo relaxing and I think everyone in Madrid was at Retiro enjoying the day:) Then on Saturday we took a little trip to El Escorial!!! It is this adorable little mountain town about an hour outside of Madrid and there is a HUGE monastery in the middle and the town is great. We proceeded to stand in line for an hour to get into the monastery but then decided to bail to go find crepes. We have our priorities straight haha. Good to be back in the mountains though- if only for a day!!!

Other than that I have been studying and hanging out with Christina who made a delicious squash/ potato/ onion soup thing last night to prepare us for Spring!! My spanish is improving ten-fold each day as well. Yesterday I bought Spain's equivalent of the New York Times or Washington Post and read it on the train to school- all about Libya and that situation in Spanish!! It was a success because I really could understand a fair amount of it. The differences I have noticed between Spanish and English is that english has a million different words to describe every single thing, but the verbs in spanish will be one word but mean a million different things. Also- it is really interesting because you sort of adopt the personality of the Spanish language when you speak all day. It is hard to explain but like your voice kind of changes when you speak spanish versus english, the rhythms, the attitude, etc. Crazyyy!!

Ahhhh okayyyyyyyy- this is all for now!!!!!!! Wish me luck this weekend in Galicia!!!!!! :)

Fun Fact: The Spanish version of "The Notebook" was renamed "El Diario de Noah" which translates directly to Noah's Diary. Also "Sound of Music" was called "Sonrisas y Lágrimas" which translates to Smiles and Tears. "Meet the Fockers" was called "Ahora los Padres son ellos" meaning Now they are the Parents. Hahahaha its funny.

PSSSS: feel free to comment on the blog people!!