get ready

I feel bad for not writing in so long. So now that it's Sunday and I have an exam tomorrow, another one Thursday, and an essay due Wednesday, I feel like writing in my blog.

I shall start with fall break (which was over a month ago)..

So the traveling to was pretty bad... local bus to the bus station, 5 hour bus to Madrid, metro from Madrid bus station to airport, get to the airport at 1 am and sleep until 6 or so to catch our morning flight. BUT... we got there!!

1st destination: Budapest

I can't name everything we did, partly because that'd be annoying but mainly because my brain feels like boiled eggs and I can't think of everything. Honestly, don't whole impressions matter more anyway?

Basically, this city made me nostalgic for something I can't even explain, because I don't know what it is. The decrepit buildings, the tiny streets, the Danube river splitting the city in half, the long bridges adorned with flags and statues stretching over water you can't see through, you can't swim in, you can only imagine what may be sunken to the bottom. We went to a museum called Terror Haza, a monument dedicated to the victims of the Communist regime in Hungary. It was located in the same building the party used to have it's headquarters, and in the basement still remained jail cells and torture chambers which were probably the hardest hitting rooms of the building. I honestly felt on the verge of tears walking through the exhibit. They did such an incredible job weaving together facts and images and videos and lighting and audio to just take you out of the modern world and into the weird phenomenon that is manipulation and death and extremes and complete loss of the laws and rights we take for granted. Needless to say.. it was one of my favorite things we did in Budapest.

Other things... wandering around aimlessly through Buda and Pest, adopting a Californian friend, seeing the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra perform at the Opera House, basking in the luck we had for getting legit our own apartment within our hostel due to booking miscalculations, markets and parks and gorgeous views day and night..

We went to a Hungarian bathhouse one day and had.... an experience. We entered excited for hot tubs and massages and steam rooms... were greeted with lukewarm tubs filled with green water, too much skin on too many old people, slimy floor tiles that made us ponder our stupidity (and personal health) for not bringing flip flops. Outside (it was cold and raining) was a pool with really strong current where all the Hungarians would just let the water shoot them around and around and around in a continuous circle. I walked into one of the crowded saunas to find an old man in a speedo in a headstand sucking air out of a tube that connected to a big blow up ball. I swear I didn't do shrooms before going into this bathhouse.

Regardless of the absurdity (probably partially due to it) we actually ended up having a great time. And sure enough, after drying off, my skin and hair never felt smoother. I guess Hungarians know what they're doing.

So, conclusion. I loved Budapest. Loved it. Loved it in a way beyond a pretty city where you do pretty things. I felt a weird infatuation with it, pity and sadness mixed with mystery and a desire to discover it. It almost felt like everything there happened underground. You see things through glass, you need to crack it to be let in. To feel part of the secret. I'm aware my explanations probably make no sense whatsoever and I sound like I'm on drugs, so I'm just going to say that I want to go back.

2nd destination: Vienna

Vienna is beautiful. The buildings are pretty and the streets are pretty and the plazas and statues and palaces are pretty. But I was disappointed. Probably for various reasons that are not the fault of Vienna, but still, I'm irrational, and so it was my least favorite.

Reasons I did not like Vienna:

1. The weather was awful. Cold, freezing, raining. Snow one day...not the pretty kind, the icy devilish kind. Obviously hindered my ability to take constant photos due to the freezing of the hands, and also made me somewhat depressed in general.

2. Hostel sucked. If you're a backpacker and you're reading this and you're going to Vienna (I'm aware only my parents read this, but I'm writing this anyway)--don't stay at Labyrinth hostel. Erratic heating, dirty beds, creepy showers, it smelled. It was cold. It wasn't homey. Blah blah. It was helpful in how it kept us out and about because we didn't want to go back there, but also sucked because that meant we were out and about in the freezing rain most likely spending money to see tourist sights unworthy of my time which brings me to #3...

3. I felt like they made a tourist site out of everything, therefore charging a lot to see something most likely not worth your time. We paid money to climb to the top of this tower in this cathedral to get a good view of the city, and we arrive at a souvenir shop. The rest of the stairs up are closed. The windows are small and hard to see through. Really Vienna?

I feel bad doing all this hating though. I mean it kind of feels good, but it feels bad too, because we did do some awesome things as well. For example.... The Hofburg Imperial Palace and Schonbrunn Palace (Summer Palace) were BEAUTIFUL. It was totally cool learning about the Habsburg dynasty and Empress Sisi and seeing their rooms and way of living. Also, we went to the Viennese Opera which was definitely a cool experience, and only 3 euro for the nosebleed section!

So in general, Vienna is probably much more wonderful in the summer. I didn't feel any connection at all to the city, but Matt Costa sings a song about it so there must be something worthwhile.

3rd destination: Prague

This city is not real. It is too gorgeous to ever be where real people live. It's like Disney land. (This is all neglecting New Town because we barely spent any time there and that might be where the real people live and do work).

Our hostel was our own apartment. Our location was incredible. Old town is one of the prettiest areas I've ever meandered around in. The river is beautiful. Charles Bridge is beautiful. Letna Park has the most incredible views of the city. What more can I say?? My only complaint, which was a bummer, is the amount of tourists. The city was packed with tourists... I mean, rightfully so, it was gorgeous. But it made me feel less like it was my city to run around and discover (like Budapest).

I don't know what specifically to talk about. I felt like we were slightly more lazy about seeing all the tourist spots, and instead just did a lot of walking and observing. We did a bar crawl one night which almost killed us, or me, but we had a good time. We made dinner, continued our trend of eating one Milka chocolate bar a day, did handstands in the living room of our hostel apartment because it was just that spacious.

SOOOOO...fall break..... was wonderful. The food! The food in Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic was all delicious. Such good food.

I would put up photos but they're all on my facebook and I can't imagine anyone random (who's not my friend on facebook) reading this blog. If you want photos, tell me!

I'll write about Barcelona soon enough.

Mucho amor,

Connie

CENTRAL EUROPE

AAHHHHh I have so much to talk about but I'm sooo toooo lazy to write

I will very soon

In summary, Budapest is one of the most weirdly captivating cities I've ever been to. Vienna is cold, expensive, and kind of overrated. Prague is probably the prettiest place I've ever seen. Like Disney land. Only a real city. (obviously)...

kisses

¡Madrid! y Toledo y Segovia

Woo so this weekend's excursion was overall a really good one. I'll do this as chronologically as possible...

Actually, first I have to start before the weekend, because we did stuff I haven't talked about yet (o fun)

The mountain biking. on Wednesday. Oh my god, it started with the steepest uphill riding I have ever done in my life...like I have never even done anything remotely like that...I was heaving and rocking my body forward after like the 2nd minute, terrified because I hadn't realized what I had gotten myself into when we insisted on "medium" difficulty instead of "easy". But it got better. our guide told us the beginning was the hardest and he was right. Riding uphill on rocky terrain was pretty difficult..I realized I had never legitimately gone mountain biking before. But it made the paved sections that much sweeter, and the downhill absolute heaven (minus some close calls with large rock encounters). The views were gorgeous, as to be expected. Our guide was awesome and took pictures of us sweating and spitting the whole way, sweet guy. He even took one of himself, hahaha, hilarious. We got ice cream afterwards as pats on the back.

Then....Madrid! Thursday we rode to Toledo, which was the former capital of Spain. On the way we stopped on the route of Don Quijote for a lookout point.

In Toledo, we visited the richest cathedral in the country (insane) and wandered through the streets. It was a very calm, very cute city...what I picture when I think of old Spain. It is also known for its swords. Saturday we went to Segovia, and it was of a similar breed...older, calmer, beautiful little stone streets and plazas. Segovia has one of the best maintained aqueducts in the world, and it was cool to see it so huge and ancient and intact. We also went to the Alcazar (castle) of Segovia and climbed to the top. Segovia sort of looks like a fairytale.

la catedral de Toledo

Alcazar de Segovia

from the top of Alcazar

Segovia's aqueduct

catedral en Segovia

aqueduct
catedral from a distance
outdoor almuerzo

This is a long entry. Pictures & descriptions together! Geez. Anyway, obviously, we spent the majority of our weekend in MADRID.

To be honest, I loved all of the monuments we saw, but everything felt somewhat rushed. Our free time was a bit limited, the night life was a bit confusing, and I didn't really love the city until Sarah and I took a random walk Sunday morning.

We visited the museo Reina Sofia (saw Picasso's "Guernica", lots of Dali), El Prado (saw Goya, Velazquez, and Rob Schneider which was weird. He's very small in person), el Palacio Real (where the royal family lived until Franco, absolutely gorgeous), Valle de los Caidos (the monument Franco built for his own burial), etc. All of that good stuff, and really, it is incredible stuff. My mind was sufficiently blown.

Franco's grave. Built into the side of a mountain. We couldn't take any photos inside, but it was like walking into an enormous harrypotter-esque religious cave tunnel, with dim lighting, huge black statues peering down at you, enormous tapestries lining the walls, and hallways to small chapels, all surrounding a gated, bloody Jesus Christ. And Spain's dictator buried underground.

Taking in fresh air

do I even have to label this?

For my birthday we all went out and it was fun overall, but we were all so surprised by how early this HUGE city seemed to shut down. Cafes seemed closed by 1, bars empty by 2, clubs costing 20 euro to enter were bumping but my brain wouldn't even let me consider paying up that amount. The streets were pretty at night, minus the uncomfortably high amount of prostitutes meandering about. We ended up at a dance club and I had fun, but we encountered the same problem the rest of our nights. Where does everybody go?! Why is everything closed so early?? Madrid?

Jorge (our director) did surprise us with an incredible treat on Saturday night--tickets to the theater. We saw El Ballet Nacional de Espana..... it was incredible. Absolutely fantastic show, and I never use the word fantastic simply because I think it's weird. But it was like a mixture of classic ballet and flamenco dance, almost more so flamenco. The first act was a dance representation of Garcia Lorca's "Bodas de Sangre"...really inventive and I felt strangely proud that I knew what was going on without ever reading the play. The rest was just a series of differently stylized dances. It was just a really great show.

Phew I'm exhausted. I wrote this entry forever ago and realized I never finished it so now it's Sunday oct 4 and I have to finish it. Sunday morning Sarah and I woke up semi early and wandered around the city. We found the big park (Parque del Buen Retiro) and it was BEAUTIFUL!! Comparable to Central Park....maybe better....I loved it. It totally enhanced my overall perception of Madrid and living in a city that size.

I think that's everything I'm too tired to think about it. Adios!!!

Photos from our hike & more

rainy day, but beautiful lighting

festival of flowers on the day of Saint Augustin, the saint of Granada. there are massive lines of people with flowers waiting to have theirs put up onto the cathedral

wandering lost around the river before our hike (we missed the bus)

mm beautiful

missing gymnastics

hehe sarah

ah!

our new friends/tour guides

gardens of Alhambra

my birthday's tomorrow

My birthday is tomorrow, but that's not what this entry is going to be about. I've missed a lot of stuff on here because I'm too lazy to write about it online so I'm going to do my best to recap all of it/most of it/what I feel like.

So, life in Granada has not slowed down at all. Sarah and I are still running at least every other day, which has done its job of making me feel less like a sea lion. One day we did a hiking trail past the Alhambra and saw the most beautiful views of all of Granada. It was honestly one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had thus far. Nobody else made it out (late night the night before), but I could not be happier that we forced our tired bodies out of bed and outside for 5 hours of movement. Something is so peaceful and rejuvenating about being sweaty and standing on a rocky trail staring at houses upon houses upon mountains upon snow, cool breeze and a bocadillo made of cheese sandwiches and fruit provided by Mami. We met an old man (80 years old) and his son-in-law hiking the trail (we got lost, no surprise, and they pointed us in the right direction). We kept running into them so we decided to just walk with them. Great Spanish practice, and our old friend kept picking up different ferns and leaves and telling us to smell them, placing them in our hands as little gifts. 80 years old and hiking the mountains of Granada, that's what I want to be like.

What else has been going on? Last Sunday morning we went to an open air market they have every Sunday. It was insane. Selling things ranging from pants and shoes and sunglasses to olives and herbs, people yelling everywhere words I assume mean "sale" and just...way too many bodies. An hour after we got there, it was so packed you couldn't walk at your own pace, just let the mass carry you past each store. We decided it was time to go. It was a successful trip though, bought some goodies then immediately felt guilty about it because I have no funds and am now (as always) dependent on my parents. Sad life of college student.

One night we went to this small cave bar type place in Albayzin. It was snug but neat because the walls were like white rock and even neater because they were having live flamenco music...twas awesome, to say the least. Two men on guitar, who never played the same chord but their tunes just flowed together seamlessly. One enormous man in a cowboy hat with a dangly earring who did most of the singing. Quite the performance. His voice was as big as his belly, but so good to listen to, and he'd snap his fingers and stomp his feet and turn his head back and forth to our clapping. And if someone was talking he'd silencio them. I kept thinking he'd knock over a table, but I guess he's a veteran at this kind of thing. I told my friend Matty I wanted to fall asleep on this man's stomach. I still hold true to it. Like a round pillow.

Anyway, the performance was incredible and one of the most SPANISH things I've experienced. They even brought some of us girls up to do some dancing, which was sufficiently awkward because we all move like white girls. But anyway, speaking of performances (leeway), Sarah and I got our own personal performance the other night (not like that). We all went to this bar that was having a Quiz bowl type thing (trivia with prizes), and it was actually really fun. Our team got third place, though I use the word "our" very loosely because all I helped with was confirming right answers by nodding my head. Anyway, these guys with traditional funny looking black jackets walked in and were carrying instrument cases, so Sarah and I asked what they were doing. They said they were part of a group La Tuna, which apparently is a huge musical group that spreads across different universities (almost like frats, but Spanish music). We asked if they could perform for us. They said yes. So we sat on a bench outside and they literally serenaded us...two on guitar, one on mandolin, all singing coordinated like an acapella group. Totally not what we were expecting; they were so good! The next day in class we asked our culture professor about La Tuna, and she said it's a bit like a frat, because los tunos (members) are known to never go to class and drink a lot. They instead spend their time with music. And they are very romantic. If they like a girl they'll rally up the group and serenade her at her window. She winked at us when she said that. Too bad none of the tunos we met were very attractive. Maybe I'll meet another.

So those are the main things...we talked to Mami about feeding us smaller portions. I don't know if the portions got any smaller or if my stomach just grew. Either way, I guess I'm more comfortable.

Today we are going mountain biking. I have a hunch they will be the same trails Sarah and I hiked on, because they were meant to be biking trails. But oh well, I don't mind!

I stubbed my toe on the way to school today and it started bleeding.

Tomorrow we leave for Madrid for the weekend!! We'll be visiting Toledo and Segovia too. I'm excited, because hopefully the fact that it will be my birthday means I won't have to pay for anything. What? I know, I'm desperate.

Adios!

what´s up

Sarah and I went searching for nearby yoga studios and got caught in the rain (it rained this week, what the hell Granada?). We wandered to the closest awning only to find a sign for yoga on the building! What luck! We buzzed in and were greeted by a sweet, peaceful looking old woman who seemed to run yoga classes out of her apartment. How adorable! She told us the first class was free and excited, we signed up for the next day. The next day we entered and found we were the only two taking this class. She led a session of something I honestly can´t even let myself call yoga. Exercise after exercise of seriously, just bending and straightening my arm. 10 minutes explaining how to do leg bicycles. Only breathing through my nose. Ending with a 25 minute relaxation session. I´m sure I would have gotten more exercise sleeping.

Unsatisfied and confused, Sarah and I hurried out of there and into the closest candy store. Bought 5 dollars worth of stale candy (unfortunately nobody warned us how candy stores in Spain work), felt empty and lost and went on a really long run.

Weirdest afternoon in Spain so far. We have not lost hope and will continue our yoga search.

I have to go to class!

Excursions and running

I´m really proud of myself for keeping up with this so well. Though I´m having a lot of trouble with entry titles.

This past weekend we had our first group excursion to Las Alpujarras, Almuñecar, and Nerja. It was really, really nice. Like we had it made. A beachfront hotel with a pool, a balcony in every room, access to the roof. Unfortunately, I don´t think I spoke one word of Spanish beyond "no gracias" to the immigrants selling bracelets on the beach. I felt guilty which is why I´m super stoked that I´m having an intercambio with a Spanish girl named Mariana! Yay. Got the e-mail today.

Last night Sarah and I went on an incredible run. I think I have a lot of problems exercising until I have one incredible exercise, and then I´m good to go. For example, I never enjoyed yoga until Suz led a standing session for Mon, Rina, and I on a wooden plank outlooking a lake in the middle of the Gamboa rainforest in Panama. Now I just always think about that experience and love yoga. I think that´s what last night´s run was. Maybe I´ll like running now.

Basically, Sarah tried to lead me to the San Nicolas outlook point but we got lost, which was great, because we ended up weaving through all these little streets we didn´t know. We finally made it to the outlook point at the perfect time, with the sky streaked in pink, a glow on the entire city, clear enough to see snow sprinkled on the top of La Sierra Nevada. The weather was cool and fresh and perfect and when we ran back it was getting dark, meaning that people were coming out, so we could dodge walkers to the beat of whatever song was on our ipods while constantly having another café or cute shop or group of strangely dressed tweenies to ogle. It was just awesome. And it definitely felt great after our 4 hour siesta, which came after our hour long bus ride nap, which came after our day of sleeping on the beach. You get the point.

At one of the bars in Almuñecar, a cover band was playing a huge variety of classic songs like Beatles, Pink Floyd, whatever, but the singer had NO discernable accent while singing. It was fascinating. That didn´t have to do with anything.

I feel like I have a lot of cultural commentary I´ve been thinking about as of late but I can´t think of it right now. Maybe I´ll update later.

Abrazos