¡La Bella Barcelona!

Woooo!

I'm back from my first ever solo self-planned trip, and it was a big success!!! I was in Barcelona from Friday mid morning until noon today (Sunday). It was my first time flying completely alone, first time staying in a youth hostel, and first time being in Barcelona- I think I pulled it off pretty well. I learned a lot about dos and don'ts of traveling: what is cheap an what is not, which type of maps and transportation to use, and what types of attractions I prefer.

Barcelona is a beautiful city full of art and culture. The streets are lined by architecture in a wild conglomeration of Gothic, art nuvo, and modernist styles. There are so many more bright colors there than in Madrid. However, the subways seemed to be much more dirty and dark, and I think there was more air pollution because of the haze, but all in all it was really beautiful.

So, I flew to Barcelona on Friday, and met up with a few other girls from St. Louis U. to check in at our hostel. We then immediately headed for the beach! My first time on theMediterranean coast was great! The weather was perfect, the water was cool, and the surf was really strong. We sunned ourselves, swam out to one of the wave break points, and played in the waves. Then we walked down to olympic pier and took a look at the boats and fun architecture. My friend Yanan and I ended the day by going to the Picasso museum and the church of Santa Maria Del Mar where we were surprised to find a black tie wedding in process. We sat in for a while and I told Yanan (who is Chinese) about western wedding traditions. It was really fun. On our way back to the hostel we got caught up in a big parade of fire-breathing dragons and Samba drum corps jamming along the Rambla, it was pretty amazing.

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famous beach sculpture---------The Iglesia Santa Maria Del Mar

Saturday Yanan and I got up nice and early and began by exploring the Boqueria, the largest open air market in europe. It was full of fantastically fresh fruits, butcheries with every animal part possible, and seafood stands where lots of things were still attempting to crawl away. We then walked up the Rambla to the Paissage de Gracia where many of the famous architect Antoni Gaudi's works sit enthroned. We saw his Casa Batlló and Casa Míla (or La Pedera), going inside the latter to observe the ingenious attic and wacky rooftop. We then hiked out to Gaudí's cathedral La Sagrada Familia, wich I found eclectic, strange and cool. Next was the famous Parc Güell that Gaudí Designed to be an artists' colony and general haven of crazy art people, however only two buildings were ever completed on the grounds. The park is home to many grotto-like walkways, cool mosaic designs on everything, and the longest park bench in the world (a winding horseshoe shaped monstrosity). I then rounded out the Gaudí marathon with his Palau Güell, downtown on the Rambla, but this was sort of a dud as it was mostly under renovation and I could only go into the basement.

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The still-living at la Boqueria--- Me at the Casa Batlló de Gaudí

Most of my late afternoon and evening were spent wandering the galleries of the Palau Nacional de Arte Catalan, which houses a HUGE collection of Roman art along with Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern sections. I was especially fascinated by the modern sculptures and paintings(mostly from the 1800s to 1900s) that focused on women. It was intriguing to me to see how each artist interpreted the female figure and to imagine who the woman was and what she meant to the person sculpting or painting her. I spent about 4 hours here, so I really think I got my 5.5oE worth out of that.

I then met up with a few other girls to eat dinner and then to go thee the Font Magic, a huge fountain that does light and music shows all weekend long. It was really beautiful, and me and the girls had fun experimenting with taking pictures of it. (Jamie also had a nikon DSL camera so we compared notes on shutter speed and other dorky things.) We had a lot of fun posing as silhouettes against the background of the fountain. As we went back into the center of town the Mercé festival was still in full swing, and we saw many street performers and free concerts in progress. Why don't we have cool stuff like that in the U.S. of A.?

Me at the Font Mágic!

Here's the quote from Wikipedia about Mercé (I'm too lazy to write it out):

La Mercè is the "most important festival" of Barcelona(Catalonia, Spain). It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy. (In Catalan, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè -- The Merciful Mother of God; in Spanish, La Virgen de la Merced -- The Virgin of Mercy.) Although the actual date of the holiday is September 24th, the festivities begin a few days before.

Finally, on Sunday, I had a little extra time (since I didn't have to catch the bus to the airport until noon) so I went walking through the Barrí Gótic (Gothic area). I saw the main cathedral of Barcelona: Catedral de Santa Creu, which happened to have ducks in its courtyard, for some reason. It also had a little chapel dedicated to Santa Lucia, who happens to be the patron saint for the day I was born... Made a mental note to google her. I also took pictures of the Palau de Musica Catalan, a famous concert hall with great fun architecture. As a whirlwind way to end my trip I did a fast as I could search through Parc Montjuic, looking for the 1992 Olympic stadium. I found it just in time to snatch a picture or two and hurry back by metro to the Hostel to check out.

All in all, I got to see everything I wanted to and more. I spent money, but not inordinate amounts. And I count myself successful as a whole. I made a list of the top 10 things i learned in Barcelona while waiting for the plane to Madrid, here they are:

1. Hostels are places with more amenities than camping, but many many less than a dorm room.
2. Speaking your language in a place where you feel intelligent, articulate, and well-understood is a very big luxury.
3. During 120lb girl vs. Mediterranean sea- The Mediterranean always wins.
4. When you trip, stop and see why it was that you fell so that you don't do it 2 more times and skin your knees like a 5-year-old!
5. Ignoring your tired feet and keeping on going is always the right decision (when traveling)
6. Where (>) means better than, cleaner, nicer, and generally greater: Madrid Metro > Barcelona Metro
7. Fish sellers look at you funny if you take pictures of their still-wriggling wares.
8. My level of irritability is directly proportional to how hungry I am (more than any other factor)
9. Apparently, if you get married in a UNESCO world heritage site church, random tourists can sit in on your black-tie wedding. (I did.)
10. If you wait long enough people will always get out of your photo frame! :)

Well, That's All I have for now. Longest post yet I think. Check out the rest of the pictures on Facebook (when it decides to work and let me upload them)!

I Love and miss you all! I wish you all could have been there with me!

<3

A

Art and Fun

Hello!

If you read my earlier posts you probably know that I'm in a few art classes while here in Spain: one on drawing one on design. I've been doing some work that I'm actually sort of proud of, so I thought I might just post it up on here and let you guys see it!

In my drawing class we have weekly asignments on top of the projects we are working on in class (which are charcol and very messy), but for these we get to do them with a lot more freedom of medium and subject. Last weeks was to make a "comic" or graphic story, using different viewpoints in each frame. I did mine about a daydream I've often had when walking home at night in the winter, through a certain plaza at Butler. It's fantastical and sweet, and I'm rather enamored with it. It's two pages, and in Spainish, so here's a vocab key:

El Ensueño = the Daydream
*suspiro*= *sigh* (I coundn't find an ontomopia for this in Spanish)

Biblioteca = Library

¿MH?= small sound of suprise (hopefully translated)

Fin= the end

So here are the two pages, you may need to view them bigger to be able to read it...

1 and... 2

I hope you think the story makes sense!

I also have just had an asignment for Design that entailed designing a logo for yourself that defined who wou are and what you stood for. I decided to make mine an upside-down heart (which is an idea i've had before) because to me it symbolizes unselfish love, or "agape", which is something I try to live my life with. I also put olive branches, because I believe in nonviolence and cooperation (as well as for it's biblical association with God's hope and promises). And at the bottom an 'A', for obvious reasons, and because it begins the words that I want the logo to symbolize. Here's a Jpeg of the logo:

I can't get the color to be quite right, it should be a dark purple, but whatever, you get the idea.

Well, there you have it! I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow, so watch for a post about that Sunday or monday!!!

I love you all, Take care!

A

The Beautiful Sierra Madrid, Among other things

Hello, friends and family!

This has been a lovely weekend, full of new experiences and interesting stories!

I went out salsa dancing on Thursday and enjoyed myself, while also feeling a little bit inadequate for my feeble salsa skills, minimal meringue experience, and absolutely no bachata knowledge.

Friday my host sister threw a party and I got to meet a lot of her friends and hang out with them for the night! I also got to hear some jazz in a little bar downtown, so that was pretty cool, though I missed dancing Swing more than I can possibly say.

Saturday night was the "Noche en Blanco". A Madrid arts festival that happens out in downtown with all the museums staying open and the botanical gardens, and live concerts (more jazz)! I think about half of the full population was out there on the streets. It was pretty cool.

Today, I went on a trip to tour around the Sierra de Madrid, the mountain range north of Madrid proper. It's really beautiful, with very old, but not very tall mountains. I'd really like to go back there to hike the area. We also went to see a medieval castle near the mountains called the Piedrazos (lots of big rocks). It was great!

This is the Medieval Castle, Castillo de Manzanares El Real.

These are the tallest mountains in the area, so pretty!

The Monastery in the mountains that we visited- very pretty.

See the full album on Facebook! It'll be a busy week, and I go to Barcelona on Friday, but hopefully I'll be able to talk to some of you I haven't heard from yet!

Love to all of you!

A

Things I've Learned So Far While Living In Spain...

Here's a fun little list for your amusement: the things I've learned during the past 3 weeks about life, the universe, and studying abroad.

1. Taking a deep breath, a nap, and/or eating something always helps in a stressful situation.
2. When linguistically in doubt, mutter what you think you're trying to say and hope somebody makes out enough to understand you.
3. The weather in Madrid is apparently just about as bipolar/manic-depressive as the weather in Indiana.... oh well.
4. Finding people who want to do exactly what you want to do is a lot harder than it sounds.
5. Don't go to the park alone after 8pm, or anywhere near dusk, the creepers will descend.
6. Americans are generally idiots when it comes to going out at night, reading maps, and communicating in foreign languages. Making an effort at it sets you apart from the pack.
7. While having your meals served to you and your bed made for you are great, living with a host family means even less privacy than living in a dorm.
8. Money goes away fast. No, I mean like really fast, like Roadrunner with Wiley Coyote on his tail kinda fast.
9. Mom is always the one you end up having a freak-out in front of, even when she's thousands of miles away.
10. Booking flights online is akin to Napoleon's conquest of Russia: success is doomed to be marginal at best.
11. Comfort doesn't always come in the package you think it will.
12. Walking the tightrope of what you want versus what is good for you is the greatest challenge in life, especially when you're not exactly sure which is which.

I'm going to the Sierra De Madrid on Sunday, and Barcelona next weekend, so stay tuned for more updates!

Much love,

A

Reina Sofia y Parque del Buen Retiro

I have just returned from a few hours out in Madrid, at the Reina Sofia modern art museum and the Buen Retiro park in downtown Madrid.

I took my old camera so that I'd have a few pictures but, it's definetly not as good as my new one. At La Reina Sofia, there were walls and walls of Picassos, in fact a whole wing dedicated to the Guernica and his practicing and plans for it. For those that don't know, the Guernica is the huge black and white painting Picasso did in memorial of the Spanish civil war and its atrocities. Above is a drawing he did called "study of crying face", or something to that effect. There was a lot of art based around the civil war, and some very graphic photography in a nearby gallery. I never realized what a modern war it was, with photographers capturing the whole thing. It made me want to read about the civil war and learn more about what happened. The Guernica is a fascinating painting, but really the whole subject is worth exploration.

Also very cool at the Reina Sofia was a temporary exhibit by an artist called Matthew Buckingham called "Time Proxies", it was a series of audiovisual installments and was very interesting. One room was completely full of what looked like the contents of an estate sale piled to the ceiling and in the center of it all was a little niche where a video was playing and you could sit on the wrapped up couches and listen to the little piece. It was about portraits and what portraits do, that they represent us, affirm our existence, demand that people pay attention to us, and allow us a window into each other than is otherwise forbidden. It was fascinating.

After spending about two hours in the Reina Sofia, they closed and I resolved to return another sunday (when it's always free). I bought a bocadillo(sandwich) of Tortilla Española (a potato-omelet ish thing that is the best effing stuff in the world) and carried it into Madrid's largest and most intricate park: Parque del Buen Retiro. This is a lovely space filled with broad walks and shady lanes accompanied by man made brooks and ponds. Its the sort of place you need to have all your family or a bunch of friends with you to have a picnic and then go rowing on the big pond. There is also a glass palace "palacio de crystal" and many ponds full of fish and ducks to feed. I would have loved this place as a child.

Also, since I had my camera with me, I snapped a few pictures of the area where I live on my way home. So you can catch those on facebook! I have lots going on this coming week, so here's hoping it goes well!

Love you all!

A

¡Toledo!

I've just returned from the beautiful city of Toledo!

I had a great time today, although a little stressful because of learning my way around the train station, and then navigating the city without a good map. But the trip was fun and I enjoyed it very much!

We took the Renfe Avante train, which gets to Toledo much faster than a bus. I really liked it because the Train is bigger and more comfortable than any plane and much faster than a bus. I hope I get the chance to take it more. The trip to Toledo was very short and cheap: 15 euros for round trip, and only a half hour on the train. I ended up going with people after all, even though I was planning to go by myself. My housemate Rachel and her friends Mary and Ellen both came and our mutual friend Neil.

When we got there we walked into the city which was cool because we got to see the medieval city walls and the alcazar, which was originally a medieval muslim fort, and then was converted into a palace when the reconquista came through Toledo.

We first stopped at the art museum Santa Cruz, which was not showing its usual famous Greco paintings, in favor of a collection by a modern artist (I was a fan, El Greco and renaissance art never really appealed to me). The building was beautiful though, as all of them were in Toledo.

Toledo is one of Spain's really excellent examples of the mixing of the three cultures of medieval Spain: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The Cathedral is all Gothic splendor as in many Spanish cities, but the city walls sport keyhole arches and the synagogues are all heavily influenced by Moorish architecture. (above is a Photo of the inside of the synagogue santa Maria La Blanca, which was a synagog converted to a church during the unification and then restored but still owned by a church, thus the mix-match name)

Toledo was also host to one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish civil war, during which

Franco bombed it from the hills. There are still many places where you can see that reconstruction was done.

I think my favorite place was the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. It was where Isabella and Ferdinand were supposed to be buried, but when they conquered Granada back from the Moors, they decided to be buried there as a show of confidence in their intent to hold the south of Spain forever more. It's a really ornate place with a beautiful courtyard full of fruit trees and flowering bushes. Here's one of many pictures:

Toledo's high on a hill position also offers great panoramic views of the Spanish countryside. It was really beautiful. I found myself thinking on more than one occasion as I gazed out over miles and miles of serene vistas, "Maybe Spain just goes on forever... wouldn't that be nice?"

Well, If you want to see more of these places and all, go to my facebook! (There there are pictures that actually have me in them) They are actually really great. There is some great photography in Toledo.

Well, until next time, I'll try to stay low-stress and figure out more plans.-Traveling makes my head split sometimes!-

Love to all!

A

Itinerary! Who wants to help?

Hi Everyone!

I've been thinking a lot about my plans to travel in these last few days, and I thought I'd share my excitement for my plans with all of you and see if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or how to get there!

Here's my plans!

This Weekend:

A day trip to Toledo, home of Spanish sword making! Then a Sunday in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum (home to Picasso's Guernica). Should be very fun.

Next weekend:

A day trip to the Sierra de Madrid Mountain range with my school group. Looking forward to the outdoorsiness.

Barcelona:

September 25th-27th

I expect to stay in a hostel and would like to concentrate on the art scene aspect of the city while i'm there. I don't have as much time as I'd like there, so I need to streamline my sightseeing.

Prague:

October 9th-12th

I'm having trouble finding cheap flights for this trip so the more free and dirt cheap things I can do while there, the better. Again, art and architecture are my main points of interest here.

Paris:

November 6th-9th

I'm so stoked to finally see the most famous place in Europe (or that's the way it seems). I know that I MUST hit the Louvre and the "Tour Eiffel", besides that I might need some suggestions for fun: window-shopping, and cheap good eating sound really good.

Brussels/Brugge:

November 27th-29th

I'm hoping for crisp fall weather to be the perfect backdrop for this trip. I have no idea what to expect from Belgium except beautiful cities and great waffles, and i'm not sure if I should stay in Brussels and take a day trip to Brugge or the other way around. (I have to fly into Brussels regardless) I'd like to get a feel for the culture of the place on this trip. Suggestions?

Italy Tour!

December 4th-8th

This is my longest trip and the one I am most excited to plan. I'm thinking I'm going to fly to Rome and then get an Italy 3 day Euro-rail pass and go from Rome to Florence to Venice and then fly home from Venice. It'll be a great adventure, I just hope I have the planning capacity to do it!

Well, that's the current plan. It's gonna take a lot of money, and if I have any left i'll probably just travel some more with it. Oh, and One of my classes has a Trip attached to it... It may actually conflict with one of these I realize... I don't know how that's going to turn out. I'll keep you posted! For now, though, let me know what you think of all this!

Love you all,

A