Lost and Without Words

Most of Tuesday was spent lost on Valencia’s bus system. It was the first official day of classes (not just orientation) and our lovely host mom (Lorenza) took us to school via the bus. After “dos besos,” which means two kisses, we were on our own with only her long spiel in 100 mph Spanish about what route goes home, what stop we need to get off at, and a million other questionable words that I just replied “sÍ” to.

Me and my loaded bus pass! Heading to school...

So, after class Katie and I took the route she suggested, and panicked and got off crazy early. Once again we were the girls holding the giant map on the residential streets of Valencia, which by the way is a gigantic city. Later today, we rushed behind Lorenza again to a bus stop in a completely different part of the city to board yet another route leading to the beach. On the way home from the MEDITERRANEAN SEA (you read correctly), we boarded our bus on the wrong side of the street and spent 20 extra minutes watching kids in their school uniforms hop on and off the bus.

The beautiful Mediterranean! 

Have I mentioned that I made it to Valencia? As an update, I am all settled in with Katie in our host family’s home on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Valencia. Our room has two twin beds, a balcony with a table and two little chairs, a rack for all our cosmetics (YES), a wardrobe, and space for our two giant suitcases. The only thing we’re lacking is Wifi, which I’m too frazzled to discuss at this moment. 

Our beds! Mine is obviously the un-cluttered one...

Our host mom, Lorenza, is from Columbia and speaks not a word of English. She also has a lot of trouble not speaking overwhelmingly fast and loud. It’s actually entertaining to listen to, but I can understand only about 3% of what she says. Our host dad, Miguel, is hilarious and knows a very small amount of English, but loves to learn new little words. To better communicate and help us, he tends to dance around acting out what he is saying, which makes learning WAY more fun. He also has claimed the rolls of both our chef (which he prounouces “jeff”) and our teacher. Miguel says Katie and I have 10 days and if we can’t communicate with him by then, we will only get water for lunch.  :) Well, at least that’s what we think he said….

Our wardrobe! (Right side is mine)

Life is getting crazy over here on the coast of the Mediterranean, friends. I wake up every morning knowing I have to actively try to understand and respond to only Spanish words. What a wake up call!  

Our completely full cosmetic rack... #Impressive

The BEAUTIFUL Cities Near Madrid

Maddy and I resting during our visit
to Segovia, Spain.

I've been through handfuls of cathedrals, monasteries, ancient cities, and even places where Spanish royalty once lived, but that's all not that exciting unless you are here soaking in the history. Check out these beautiful places we toured while we stayed in Madrid this weekend!

Miss Brynn and I eating lunch in front of
Segovia's infamous aqueduct!

Castle that Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand used to vacation at in Segovia. 

The famous aqueduct in Segovia!

Best Part of Saturday: Getting to visit El Escorial (no pictures allowed inside), which was massive and impeccably crafted including gorgeous ornate ceilings, beautiful handcrafted tiles in all different shades/patterns, graves and coffins made of fine metals and stones, and my favorite part, a statue of Jesus Christ hanging from the cross carved completely out of one giant slab of marble. It was given to Spain by Italy and was even made with white marble with swirls of muted blue to look like the veins under a dying Jesus’s pale skin.

Picture of my favorite Jesus Christ so far at El Escorial! Pulled from the internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benvenuto_Cellini

Funniest Part of Saturday: Katie, being the rebel that she is, touched the most beautiful coffin in El Escorial, so naturally I poked it to be as cool as her. The security guard saw us, laughed, muttered something in Spanish, and ruffled the sculpted hair of the tomb showing us it didn’t matter…. LOL.

Where some of the most elite Spanish royalty are taken after their passing.
Stunning! Pulled from the internet:
 http://perroviajante.com/2011/07/12/patrimonio-iberico-monasterio-y-sitio-de-el-escorial/

Worst Part of Saturday: Waiting on the buses for 45 minutes, which were steaming hot, for a girl who dropped her precious iPhone. That’s over 90 people who had nothing nice to say about her holding us all up before our journey back to Madrid.

Church on the main square in Segovia. 

Katie and I on the streets of Toledo, Spain. 

Best Part of Sunday:  Getting to see the gorgeous and immense cathedral in Toledo, Spain. We were able to see crowns from Spanish royalty, a handcrafted bible printed on lamb skin (a gift from the King of France back in the day), stained glass windows all done in sections, and the window opening in the ceiling that lets light shine upon a wall of carved marble figures during sunrise to show that “God is light.”

A very confusing picture of the unbelievable cathedral in Toledo. 

Fancy crowns presented in the cathedral. 

Funniest Part of Sunday: As we entered a room full of portraits of all of the cardinals and with walls painted with enormous biblical scenes, the security guard quickly grabbed his Spanish trash magazine (tabloid?) and shoved it inside his little security desk. BUSTED.

Worst Part of Sunday: Trying to sleep on the bus… There are only so many ways you can contort a body. If you have any questions about those ways, my sore self will happily fill you in. 

The outside of the sky high cathedral. 

Places Visited:

El Escorial - a monastery, chapel, school, burial site, and home

Segovia, Spain - home of the famous aqueduct built by the Romans and of a castle formerly used by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand

Toledo, Spain - built to mimic Italian cities and was formerly a border city when Spain was split, also home to many different religious structures because long ago that city was home to Muslims, Jews, and Protestants all living happily together

Day 2 in Madrid!

Yesterday evening was as wonderful as the first night in a city can get. Katie and I found that we actually recognized much of mainstream Madrid and wandered down checking out statues and beautiful buildings. We stumbled upon the entrance of a park called El Parque del Retiro, which we soon decided must be the equivalent of the Spanish Central Park. It was extensive, had multiple ornate fountains, a lake with an old structure overlooking it, street music, and an incredible playground that I had a blast trying to understand. In my defense, there were a lot of confusing pieces of equipment….

Trying to work the park equipment.

When we finally found an exit, we walked miles lost in the city (so much fun) and eventually did right as we were tired enough to sit down. We stumbled upon a café and sat down around 6:00PM to eat, but ended up finishing a bottle of white wine and making friends with a Canadian woman who encouraged us to try the olive oil drenched olives and a spirited couple in their 70s that shared all of their Europe travel stories with us in the two hours we spent sitting outside chatting about life. After a nap, we ate dinner at an unknown café.

Our first bottle of wine in Spain!

During the night, I slept with earplugs to try to block out the noise of the Spaniards having a grand ole time until about 4:30AM in the bar five floors below us… When I awoke this morning, I was sad to hear that poor Katie had food poisoning from the sketchy café we ate at the night before. After an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., some Wheat Thins, a shower, and some fresh fruit, she was ready for another day of adventures.

Katie was excited about the fancy bathroom and our bidet
before she knew she'd spend most of the morning sick in there. :(

We took a taxi to the hotel we were to meet our ISU group at in the Salamanca area of Madrid (for those worried, it’s called Hotel Zenit Abeba). We ditched our things and enjoyed trying to communicate with a waitress at a café where I had an interesting version of chicken caesar salad.  When we arrived in our room, we were pleased to find a big open window and two beds…however, the two beds may as well be one kind size bed because they are pushed together in front of a giant headboard (interesting).

Hanging out of our hotel's window that overlooks the area. 

Tonight, Katie and I went to find red wine and found it at simple outdoor restaurant only blocks away from our hotel. When the waiter approached us I said, “Vino por favor” (Wine, please) and proved that I know as much Spanish as I need to know. ;) We sat on the sidewalk sipping and people watching for almost two hours and were shocked when we asked for la cuenta to see that five glasses of wine cost us only €4.50.

One of my delicious pastries. Half chocolate filled and half cream filled!

After wine we found a great pastelería and I picked up some pastries for snacks (I honestly just love pastries). After searching the area for credible ATMs and finding a cheap bottle of wine, Katie and I headed back to the hotel for the program’s dinner. It got us very excited for the weeks to come with ISU on the Mediterranean! :) 

And so begins the trip of a lifetime...

I write to you from the comfort of our very first hostal of our European adventure. Our private room has marble floors, a renovated bathroom, a TV, a balcony that looks over Plaza del Carmen, and best of all, the main door to the hostal can’t be opened unless the door is answered by someone, which makes me feel MUCH better about staying in a hostal. (For those keeping track, it’s called Hostal Acapulco.)

Our balcony and view. 

If you’re wondering why I am in Europe, I’ll fill you in. The next two months I will be all over Europe traveling with one of my very best friends, Katie Kruse. We will be attending the Universidad de Valencia through the ISU on the Mediterranean program and are taking Beginner’s Spanish and Spanish Film (taught in English) courses for the next six weeks. Together we will live with a host family, whom we will meet on Sunday.

Today's people watching location. AMAZING.

Tomorrow, we will meet up with the rest of the group from Iowa State and begin our first excursion weekend around Madrid. Today/tonight, Katie and I are on our own. We’ve spent three hours wandering around the windy streets of Madrid, drinking delicious coffee with steamed milk and chocolate, and people watching (SO MUCH FUN). The last 24 hours has been spent in airports and on planes, but we’re thankful we made it and our luggage did too!

My yummy coffee!

Katie and I about to check our bags in Kansas City. 

Best Part of Today: I am one of those people that everyone hates that enjoys chatting on planes. (HOWEVER, my airplane seat buddy for eight hours started a conversation with me, so I am not at fault this time…) I sat by the greatest guy ever. Some cool things about him are: He is in his third year of residency and had just gotten off a 25 hour call, he was at Harvard when Zuckerberg was and was on Facebook the day after he created it, he was in a FINALS CLUB there (watch “The Social Network”), he laughed at my stupid jokes, and he was headed to three night wedding in Seville for a college buddy…. Even though he was 30 and huge compared to me, I think I might marry that man.

RIP dear sunhat... #SunhatSelfie

Worst Part of Today: I carried the adorable wide-brimmed sunhat my mom and I got at Target with me through all the airports and when we made it to Madrid I went to the bathroom and hung it on a hook in the stall…. I left the stall without the hat and now it’s gone forever. :( My jetlagged alter ego was nearly in tears (seriously though…).

During the next couple months, I plan to keep anyone who cares informed of all the ridiculous things I’m doing, embarrassing moments because of my lack of communication skills, and any fun travel stories. I promise it won’t be historically based and boring, so stick with me and I’ll take you all over Europe, too. :)