Finding Time
Cerdo y Relajacion
Wednesday, February 6th and Thursday, February 7th
I had the opportunity to rest and enjoy not being busy. I usually struggle to find time for myself with my course load, jobs and organizations back home, but here I am trying to embrace being present and mindful of my mental and physical state. Nothing too eventful happened through the day until my Culture of Wine and Food course when we discussed and got to try different traditional meats such as Jamon, Chorizo, Salchichon, Lomo Ibérico y Morcilla de Burgos (blood sausage) (photos are in order below). I surprisingly wasn't thrown off by the strong flavor of the blood sausage that other students seemed to avoid. I loved not only getting try the different meats but also learn how they are processed and their origins. That evening after class I went to my local church to attend daily mass with the intention for my grandpa being that it was the first anniversary of his passing. After dinner, I must have talked to Teresa for ages as we discussed family, cultural differences and our own perspectives about connecting with others. Wednesday seemed to wiz by without stress and set in for embracing the rest of the week. Thursday was likewise a normal and easy day. I only had my morning class where we discussed presenting yourself with confidence. I was able to analyze how I portray myself onto others and the characteristics I try to improve or ignore. We were assigned to research and present an assigned country to speak about the cultural differences and things one should expect to find different from visiting from the United States. My randomly chosen country was China. The rest of the day I tried to take time to rest and pack for my trip to Madrid; that evening, however, I went out with several of my friends to welcome the weekend.
EUSA y Madrid
Friday, February 8th
Starting my Friday, I finally had my orientation and welcome at EUSA. The CEA students studying there met together at 9:30 AM to walk over together and see some of the routes that we can take from the CEA center to EUSA. The orientation session was super short but gave us an overview of expectations, a tour of the building and extra opportunities that the university provides its international students. After orientation, I returned to mi casa to grab my bag and the bocadillo that Teresa made me for the train ride to Madrid. Honestly, I can not say it enough but mi casa is in the perfect location. It is only a 20-minute maximum walk to the station and makes for really easy walks by myself. The train was a breeze and my bocadillo was super delicious. Pulling up to Madrid, I was filled with so much excitement to see both Brie and Nate who were both meeting me at the station. It took a bit to find them as Madrid's train station is 10x larger that Sevilla's but with there being an actual garden in the station, it didn't take too long to figure out where I was and to find them. We proceeded to take the metro to Puerta del Sol which is right around where Nate's apartment is located. I dropped off my things and then my two best friends got to show me around the city they have been living in for a month. We first stopped for coffee to chat and prepare for all the sightseeing. Madrid is night and day to Sevilla; from the cultural differences in restaurants to the architecture, Madrid is so similar to the United States urban cities than Sevilla is. You can take Madrid and put it in the US and it might not seem all that different; however, if you did that with Sevilla it would be a pretty price to see the city that seems to be frozen in time. They both introduced me to both the blessing and the curse, Primark. What a whirlwind of a clothing store. It had EVERYTHING you could possibly want to wear and for SUPER cheap. Brie had to depart for the tour but would return back when we went out for dinner. Nate and I went to Plaza Mayor; I was astounded by the rich red color buildings and detailings of art along one of the faces of the plaza. Nate then took me to Mercado de San Martin; it reminded me of the market in Cadiz. However, this market was indoors and seemed to have more commercialized and pastry type foods. Since I saw so many Museos de Jamon, I was getting a little hungry. Nate and I then went to 100 Montaditos and ordered three little sandwiches and two tintos de Verano (my favorite of course) to last us until dinner. Afterward we walked around to build back up an appetite for dinner. We went to see the Royal Palace, the Madrid Cathedral (Almudena Cathedral) and walk Gran Via. The Cathedral was beautiful with various and different tile partners all across the ceiling. I was amazed at the monstrosity of the political and historical buildings and their security. There was a mini Benet reunion over dinner at Espana Cani. I got to see Rebecca as we ate some tapas and caught up on our traveling and study abroad experiences. She was leaving for Ibiza the next morning so she left afterward to rest. Brie, Nate and I got to taste the famous churros con chocolate at San Gines. What rich flavors and sweet aromas. After that, we went to bed to wake up early to explore the rest of the sights to see in Madrid.
Retiro y Prado
Saturday, February 9th
Nate made breakfast to start our morning of sightseeing his favorite spots in Madrid. We walked over past la Puerta de Alcala (a monument in the Plaza de la Independencia) to the entrance of El Retiro (THE park of Madrid) which is one of largest parks I have ever been in. He took me to the Palacio de Velazquez and Palacio de Cristal which are both used as exhibition halls to art. The Palacio de Cristal is this beautiful pavilion and is situated next to a cute pond; it contains an art piece that is hard to see what it truly is in pictures but when you see it in person it is blatantly ahead with their hand in the motion of a "shush". It is constructed of solid glass panes and overlooks various areas of Retiro. We went to some modern art museums in the park until we got to the lake. Nate surprised me with renting a rowboat to take around the man-made lake in the park. It was situated right next to the Monument of Alfonso XII and was a sight to see. Afterward, we walked by the Art Museum of Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza. We walked to Taberna de Papelon where we ordered mejilla de cerdo (pork cheek) and a platter of various cheeses. I taught Nate the way of the Spanish siesta; then to continue on our day, we met up with Brie to go to El Prado, one of the most famous art museums in Europe. It has art dating back to the 12th century and is so large that Nate has been there five times and still hasn't seen even close to half of the art pieces there. I specifically saw A Rembrandt and several Spanish artists. That evening Nate and I went grocery shopping to make dinner at the apartment and to rest for our travels for Segovia on Sunday.
Segovia
Sunday, February 10th
Our bus left Madrid at 9:15 AM. We immediately saw the Aqueducts in Segovia and proceeded to reach their arches. Without realizing until later that you could reach the top and see from one side to the other of the aqueducts, we walked from one end to the other to calculate its length and end points. These aqueducts are known to be one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts in the world (built in the first century) and are used to symbolize Segovia. It is almost a kilometer in length and is 30 meters in height at its tallest point. We then walked up a steep hill to overlook the vast skyline of the city. We were able to map out where we wanted to go from up so high and visualize a path to take. However, we ended up needing to take several small and winding streets to get to our desired destination. This was because Segovia was having a 2 mile run through almost all the direct and main streets. We were able to get to the Postigo steps to see one of the best views of the Aqueduct. We arrived in El Plaza Mayor where we found a coffee shop to drink a cup before going to mass in the Cathedral. The Cathedral was stunning and covered with gold detailing. Mass was celebrated in a removed chapel from the center of the Cathedral to not be obstructed by tourists (like us, haha). We attempted to go up the tower but didn't realize we had to pre-purchase tickets until right before the tour so just walked around the courtyard and through the art museum in the basement of the Cathedral. Afterward, we wandered around to find an open and cheap place to eat (most places on Sundays were expensive as not many were open). For lunch, we found a restaurant called Meson de Maria with a decently priced Menu del Dia where Nate and I split our two selections to get to try 6 different plates. After we ate, we walked to the famous fortress of Segovia. Alcazar is a beautiful castle that was once the residence of the father of Queen Isabella (who was Queen of Castile in 1474), is where Isabella and Ferdinand met and is where Columbus received his money for his venturing. It became a military school but still showcases the royal thrones. We toured the various rooms that displayed the history of the building and the education process for their military. We walked through La Juderia (the Jewish quarter) which had stunning detailing on the building walls. Overall Segovia was soaked in beauty and history. It is a city surrounded by various mountains and greenery in every turn. There is so much natural light as the roads and streets are built on angles and slopes that allow the sun to peer through and make its way on the steps up and down. Returning to Madrid Nate had a few more places he wanted me to see. We walked to El Templo de Debod and Madrid's Plaza de Espana. The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in Madrid as a gift. At its back end, there is a gorgeous view of the skyline of Madrid. In La Plaza de España, there is a gorgeous fountain and monument in honor of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. We ended the evening going to Taverna de Papelon and splitting the deal for 6 sandwiches, two drinks and croquetas. We went back to Nate's apartment to head to bed as I had an early train the next day and just the overall exhaustion of traveling and walking everywhere all weekend.
EUSA Begins
Monday, February 11th
Waking up early to take the 6:20 AM train back to Sevilla was rough after a pretty packed weekend. Luckily I was able to take a nap on the train to prepare myself for a fast-moving day. I made it back in order to shower and get ready for my first day of classes at EUSA. On Mondays I start at 11:10 AM with my Tourism Marketing class. The class consists of 5 other students, 2 from the US (not with CEA), 2 from Germany and 1 from Spain. I had a bit of trouble adapting to the Spanish keyboard in the computer lab; however, I think I will really enjoy this class as it reminds me of my Principles of Tourism class from Stout. Afterward, I walked back to mi casa for lunch. Teresa sent Kate and me to pick up lunch from the local grab and go place next to our casa. We had our next class together so we went back to EUSA to eat there and wait for our Advertising and Commercial Promotion of Tourism Class. I love my professor and the breakdown of the class. The class is made up of 6 US and 4 German students. Afterward, I dashed on over to my Culture of Food and Wine class at CEA where we began to learn about the three religions who dominated Spain and their differing eating habits. After class, I went to Filo to eat a pastry and drink a coffee to plan my Airbnb in Vienna and finish researching my information about China for my Communications class. That evening Teresa made croquetas and tortilla de patatas. Then I finalized my booking for Vienna and got a restful night of sleep.
Crossing the River
Tuesday, February 12th
I started my day with my one class at 9:15 AM. Afterward, in the CEA lounge, there is breakfast and discussion with professors and CEA staff to get to know the CEA community. Once that finished I began to type and reflect upon my last week and research about some of the places I saw but didn't get to know that much about. The courtyard at CEA is a beautiful and tranquil spot to get work done. I returned to mi casa for lunch and then packed up to take a Sevici bike throughout Sevilla. I finally was able to have time to see the other side of the river of Sevilla. I visited Triana and saw up close el Torre Sevilla (a building that everyone calls the lipstick building, as that is what it looks like). I am now finishing up my blog over a delicious coffee concoction and slice of carrot cake at Filo. Until next time!
