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!