Semana Santa y La Feria

 First night of Semana Santa

Three weeks ago (four weeks now because I still haven’t submitted this until now) was Semana Santa AKA Holy Week here in Sevilla. Basically the population of the city doubles to celebrate the week prior to Easter. Every Church, or the majority of them, have processions through the city to show their dedication to Christ. During the processions those involved dress up in outfits similar to what the KKK wears. The Klan actually got their design from these costumes. The point is to be anonymous so the only ones knowing your penance are you and God. During the processions churches show off pasos, which are floats showing off the possessions of the church. Most of these pasos are made from new world gold and silver. They represent different stages of Christ’s life, the Virgin Mary, and other symbols of Christianity. The pasos, which can weigh up to a couple thousand pounds, are carried by a group of men. 

 It's hard to see but this is a paso of Christ carrying the cross

This is an especially important week to Sevilla because the only cities that celebrate this event on such a grand scale are medieval  cities. For example, Madrid does not have processions during Semana Santa because it was not a city of importance during medieval times.

 The Virgin Marry made of mostly new world silver

The school is on the route of one of the opening processions so we all met up there on Sunday and watched it go by on the roof. The procession starts out with a group of Nazarenos, one of which is carrying the holy cross. A marching band and the Paso follow them. 

 Rooftop view of the procession

The rest of the week was supposed to be spent traveling around the beaches of Andalucía. However, due to rain we were unable to beach hop and soak up mother nature. This also led to a sub-par semana santa for Spaniards. If there is even the slightest chance of rain the processions will not march because rain will ruin their ancient wooden possessions.

Since we couldn’t do our beach trip 9 of us headed off to Morocco on Tuesday. After getting home from a night on the town at 8am, I immediately woke my roommate up and we headed off to the bus station to meet up with the rest of our group. I know what you’re thinking, what good possibly could have come from staying out till 8 in the morning? Let me assure you this is a normal thing for Spaniards. Most people here don’t even start their night until 12 or 1. It’s just a different lifestyle. I’ll attribute the lack of nighttime sleep to the siesta, which is imperative to the mission here.

 One of the main plazas in Tanger

I digress, after getting some much-needed sleep on the bus ride to Tarifa we arrived at the most southern tip of Spain. We then headed to the ferry and took the boat across the Straight of Gibraltar to Tanger. We lucked out and were picked up by a Government sponsored tour guide as soon as we landed. For a reasonable price of 7E he showed us around town for the day. The one thing I’ll say about Morocco is that it is somewhat sketchy. After walking around and seeing the town for a couple hours the gypsying started. Our tour guide, “no lines” Larry, brought us to a Moroccan rug shop. Believe me, you don’t ever want to find yourself in a Moroccan rug shop. They are the definition of a trap. We spent an hour there as at least ten Moroccans tried to sell a bunch of college students with no money over-priced rugs. The plus side was we got some delicious Moroccan mint tea out of it for free.

 Chillin with Larry

After a trip to a Moroccan medicine shop and restaurant, both of which were sketchy, we gladly headed back to the port for our departure. Unfortunately when we got back to Tarifa the last bus to Sevilla had already left so we had to spend the night there. What I learned, don’t ever venture to Africa, or anywhere for that matter, without doing your research first. Todo y todo tenía buenos momentos in Morocco.

The rest of the week was spent just chillaxin in Sevilla preparing myself for the busy week ahead. The five days following Easter were filled with school and little else. With a quiz, oral exam, listening exam, video project, and final it was quite the busy week. However, the hard work paid off and I ended my semester here with a 4.0, which was a first for me. #Feelsgoodman

 Words can't explain how much time we spent up there

The Tuesday of finals week we had our last organized group event at the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza. We went to the bullring to watch a corrida, or “running of the bulls”, which was quite the experience to say the least. Throughout the course of the night there were six bullfights with three matadors. The bullfight has three stages to it. First, the bull is taunted around the ring to see how he acts. Then two men on horses stab it once, or are only supposed to stab it once, during it’s charge at them. Second, the matador and two banderilleros stab the bull’s shoulders with two banderillas, or barbed sticks. The point of all this pre-death stabbing is to weaken the bull’s neck muscles allowing the matador to kill it during the final stage. In the last segment it is only the matador and bull in the ring. The matador is given a sword to kill the bull with. The object is to stand a few meters away from the bull and have the bull charge into the sword, which will impale it’s heart. If done correctly this will only take one try, however, in the fight I saw only one matador who was able to do this.

 Towards the end of one of the fights

It was amazing to see how serious of an event this was. Spaniards were dressed up in suits and ties to watch this highly ritualized spectacle. It is also interesting to note that something like this would NEVER fly in the United States. PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) would protest this more heavily than eating chicken eggs…

 The crew after la corrida

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the fight. My favorite part was during the fourth fight when the matador managed to kill the bull with just one thrust of his sword. After struggling to stay on it’s feet for a solid thirty seconds while crying in agony the bull fell to its death. While it may sound morbid, the entire stadium went completely quite to watch this intense moment.

The week following finals, I guess that would make it this past week, was Feria de Abril. Just like during Semana Santa, the population of Sevilla roughly doubles. I would sum Feria up as a weeklong party. The fair grounds have two separate parts; one has the casetas while the other has your generic carnival with expensive rides, greasy food, and trash everywhere. Casetas are “little houses” that people rent out and then invite their friends to. As like any other event in Spain, people dress to a T. Men were in suits while women wore Sevillana dresses, which I must say look very sexy. 

 Just inside the entrance to la feria

While there are a few public casetas anyone can venture into the vast majority are invite only. Lucky for me Juandi, one of the tutors from our program whom I became friends with, had a friend with a caseta. He was able to get us in on the first night; I proceeded to befriend the owner and guard so I had a permanent invite for the rest of Feria. I went spent three of four nights total their before I got burned out on it. As always, it was fun talking with the locals while practicing my Spanish. Going into La Feria I had absolutely no idea how to dance the local Sevillana dance, which was a little frustrating. However, a group of girls did attempt to teach me one night.  This turned out to be a complete failure, well; some good did come of it.  All in all, like everything else this semester, La Feria was a great cultural experience.

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As I sit on the plane typing the final parts of this blog I cannot help but think how my view on the states has changed. I guess I’ll know for sure in a couple hours when I land but these are some of the main things I’ve noticed about the states since living abroad. Television, and the media for that matter, is EXTREMELY censored in the land of the free. During my time in Spain I witnessed a live birth, protestors getting shot in Egypt, and titties all on the news. By no means am I saying all censorship is bad it’s just interesting to see how different countries do things. For example, no one wants to see a live birth while they’re eating lentils. Or at least I didn’t.

 Plaza de España on my last day in Sevilla

Spaniards are also much more lax on non-violent “crimes” if you can even call them that. While botellon, drinking in the streets, is illegal no one really cared if people did it. As long as people kept to themselves and didn’t start trouble everyone had the attitude of no pasa nada. Maybe, just maybe, if the United States had a similar mindset our overcrowded prisons wouldn’t be half full of non-violent drug offenders.  By no means am I saying lets legalize heroin today, I’m simply saying there might be a better system than the one we currently have.

I’ve been home for a week now and have been having a great time seeing family and friends. However, if I could I would be on a plane back to Sevilla right now. There’s just something about living over there that I can't explain. While I definitely missed the luxuries of America, the culture and convenience of things in Spain outweighs that. While I love having my car again, I would much rather walk 3 miles than drive 30 to get where I’m going. I also found that there are, generally speaking, more things to do outside in Spain than here. I can’t even begin to tell you how many days I spent walking around the back streets of Spain, chilling at the river, or walking through parks. You can’t exactly do any of that in Dallas, or it’s not within walking / close driving distance.

 Typical day at the river

Anywho I’m done with my rant. Don’t get me wrong I love America and I’m glad to back in the greatest country on this speck of dust suspended in space. I hope you all have enjoyed this blog. I did my best to give an accurate description of my time abroad.

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Hasta luego y buen viajes 

Crêpes and Climbing

Here we go, it’s blog time again, time to write about the last couple weeks of the adventure we call life. This week’s chapter: Crêpes and Climbing. If you hadn’t guessed from the title, these were the two reasons I made the trip up to Paris. It wasn’t to see countless museums, walk around the city of love, or see old friends; it was to eat as many delicious crêpes as possible in five days and climb at the crag where bouldering originated. Besides, you can google the Mona Lisa nowadays, which is basically the same as seeing it in person right? Speaking of which, I was not impressed by her but more on that later. I like to keep things in a chronological order when possible, however, this might be difficult considering the whirlwind of a weekend I had.

The whole trip to Paris was a spur of the moment idea that happened, more or less, by chance. Originally, Matt and I were supposed to go climbing in El Chorro for our five-day weekend but due to a rainy forecast we opted out of this. As luck would have it, our friend Louise e-mailed us that day inviting us up to Paris to stay with her whenever we wanted. After about five minutes of deliberation it was decided that our new destination for the week would be Paris. ¿Porque no? Louise is a French girl we met through the Tech Climbing Club who moved back to Paris this semester after obtaining her MBA. She had only been in her new apartment for a week prior to our arrival so her willingness to let us stay on such short notice was much appreciated.

Upon arriving at Paris-Beauvais airport, which is in the absolute middle of nowhere France, we had to take a hour-long bus ride into town. We got into town around three and had some time to kill before Louise got off work at 6:30. With no idea where we were or how to communicate with the locals we chose a random direction and started walking. Luckily for us, after finding a map, we realized we were walking towards the Arc de Triomphe. The arc is in the middle of a giant roundabout located on the famous Champs-Elysées. It was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories and ironically wasn’t finished until 1836 when he was out of power. When I got close to the landmark I was shocked to see a few French soldiers patrolling the area with FAMASES. For the few of you who haven’t played Call of Duty, this is an assault rifle that will mess your world up.

Once we were done with Napoleon’s arc we headed down the Champs-Elysées, which is a famous street for shopping in Paris. From there we walked over to what is possibly one of the most famous landmarks in the world, the Eifel Tower. This too was being patrolled by French soldiers equipped with their assault rifles. Apparently France has been receiving terrorist threats because of its involvement in Libya so the Government has stepped up security on its monuments. After walking around parks near the eifel tower we headed over to the metro stop near Louise’s work to meet up with her. The rest of my night was spent chilling out at her apartment, eating dinner, and getting to know her roommates.

 Crêpes: They're imperative to the misson

Thursday morning started out with a trip to the Île de la Cité, which is a natural island where the medieval city of Paris was founded. After grabbing a bite to eat outside the giant city hall building, we headed over to the island to see the Notre Dame. Along the way we saw our first crêpe vendor and were forced to make a pit stop. During my stroll through the famous church there was a mass going on, which made for quite the experience. It was interesting to see the church being used for its intended purpose rather than just tourism. 

Once we were done touring we made our way over to the Louvre, which is pronounced with the “R” in French. I’m fairly certain I walked a couple miles while in Paris’ most well known museum. While I’m not going to say I saw everything worth seeing in the Louvre, I feel like I saw the majority of the famous works plus some. Earlier in this blog I mentioned the Mona Lisa and how unimpressed I was. This is not to say it’s a bad painting or Leonardo de Vinci isn’t a great artist. I simply think the painting is slightly overrated and the presentation of it is somewhat hectic. You walk into a room, there are a ton of people crowded around a tiny picture on the wall, and by the time you get close enough to realize what you’re looking at a flash goes off in your face and then it’s someone else’s turn to get close. I realize that was a run-on sentence but sometimes they’re necessary. 

 Outside view of the Louvre. The entrance is in the glass pyramid and both side buildings are a part of the massive museum.

All right, I’m done with my negative rant, time for the positive aspects of the Louvre. Some of the other memorable works I saw were The Code of Hammurabi (the first written law), Winged Victory, The Venus de Milo, and some crazy Egyptian mummies. My two personal favorites were John Martin’s Le Pandemonium and a Mo’ai from Easter Island. Both of these were accidently stumbled upon but were some of the coolest things I saw there. The epicness of Martin’s painting is what caught my eye originally. I mean, what is there not to like about a one-man wolf pack staring across a pool of liquid hot magma at an unconquerable fortress?

 Venus de Milo

 Code of Hammurabi

 Le Pandemonium by John Martin

While trying to find an exit out of the African artifacts maze in the basement, I turned a corner and saw a Mo’ai staring me back in the face. I had always wanted to see one of these statues and had no earthly idea the Louvre housed one. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to see one up close. These giant religious artifacts are what eventually sent the inhabitants of Easter Island six feet under; or in this case, to the stomach of another tribesman. After deforesting the entire island to make their Mo’ai, the Rapu Nui ran out of food and were unable to build boats to leave the island.  These minor problems eventually lead to widespread cannibalism. Easter Island is considered to be a small scale example of what could happen to planet earth if we as humans are not wise with our limited resources. 

 Mo'ai from Easter Island

Enough with the science experiment; it’s on to the next section of the adventure. After walking for what seemed like, and quite possibly was, miles in the massive Louvre our feet were killing us. We chilled out for a while in a coffee shop and then caught a metro up to Montmarte to see the Basilica of the Sacré Coeur.  Upon getting off the metro we got a little lost and ended up walking around what seemed to be the poorer section Paris. After ten or fifteen minutes of aimless walking we had circled back around to the metro stop. While trying to decide which direction the cathedral was in an elderly French man got our attention and pointed to a sign for Sacré Coeur. He then rattled off directions in French that were, for the most part, not understood. How he knew what we were looking for, or how we missed a giant sign when we got off the metro, I will never know. Regardless, we were now on the right path. After climbing several stairs I was standing at the foot of a giant white cathedral looking out over all of Paris. The Eifel tower, Notre Dame, and Panthéon, along with several other landmarks, were all in clear view.

 Basilica of the Sacré Coeur

 The View overlooking Paris

When we were done taking in the spectacular view of the city we headed back into town to meet up with Louise for dinner. This was the only night we ate out for dinner and it was absolutely tremendous. The French may not know how to win a war but they sure can cook. For my meal I chose duck smothered in a delicious French sauce with mashed potatoes. I can honestly say it was one of the most unique tasting foods I have ever eaten. After dinner we went out and saw two live bands at a famous music venue for up and coming artists. Unfortunately I can’t recall the name of the venue and google is being of no help in my search. The show left a little to be desired but was an interesting experience nonetheless.

Friday began much like the day before with a trip to the Île de la Cité for lunch, crêpes, and to see the Sainte-Chapelle, which supposedly houses the crown of thorns worn by Jesus. This was a quick trip as we only saw the outside and did not go in for a tour. Our next stop was the Château de Vincennes, a 14^th and 17^th century complex that served the French royalty. Equipped with a mote, castle, and chapel, this was the place to be back in the day. After spending some time walking around inside the walls of this fortress, we aimlessly walked around Vincennes and its park. Vincennes is now a suburb of Paris so it was interesting to see the similarities and difference between it and the suburbs of the States. All in all I’d say they are pretty much the same. The main differences are the sizes of everything, as expected in Europe the cars, houses and businesses are all much smaller and cramped together. The other main difference is the fact that there is a giant castle chilling in people’s backyards. Figuratively of course, most Europeans don’t have backyards.

 View of the Vincennes Castle from inside the fortress.

 Stain glass in the quaint Vincennes Church

Once again, we decided to take a crêpe break after our tiring walk around suburbia. Soon after we headed back to Louise’s apartment for dinner. Two of her roommate’s friends came over for dinner as well, which was quite enjoyable. The conversation I had that night was one of the most interesting ones I have had in some time. We discussed all sorts of topics from the works of Jack London to American and French politics.  It was very interesting to see the point of view French have on our politics and their own.

Apparently, the French still think they’re better than everyone else even though they haven’t been a global power for quite some time. Along with this, I found out the French Government heavily taxes it’s citizens, which is how it pays for its massive social programs. On the flip side, I was told that all Americans are superficial; a statement that definitely has some truth behind it. I was a little surprised to see how simple it was to talk about politics with complete strangers. Just like religion, this is one of those topics you are “not supposed” to bring up in conversation back in the United States because of how controversial it can be. However, there was absolutely not problem with it in Europe.

Saturday was spent bouldering at the famous crag Fontainebleau. We took a 45minute train ride out there and then walked for another good half hour before reaching our destination. The best way to describe Font is a near endless boulder field in the middle of a forest. A real forest that is, with trees that have been around since before the U.S. was discovered and lizards crawling all over the place. The style was much different than anything I had ever climbed and completely kicked my ass, which was a little frustrating to say the least.  I thoroughly enjoyed it though and hope to go back some time in the near future for more than a day. 

The first Sunday of every month Paris gives free entry to all its public museums. Although we were mentally and physically exhausted, this was an opportunity that could not be passed up. Seeing as how it was Sunday and Louise did not have work, she decided to play tour guide for us. As usual our first stop was a crêpe stand for breakfast. I can honestly say there are few things in this world better than a Nutella and banana crêpe. After buying the delicacy we walked along the Seine River towards the Museé d’Orsay while eating breakfast.

After waiting in a decent sized line, accompanied by our friends with FAMASES, we were inside the converted train station. We wondered around for about an hour looking at the works of Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and other impressionists. Along with the paintings there were several sculptures in the main hall of the museum. Since being in Europe and touring several museums I have gained a much higher appreciation of sculptures than I previously had. I can’t even imagine the amount of skill it took to carve some of the statues I have seen.

When we were done with Orsay we headed over to the Centre Georges Pompidou, which is a modern art center. The building has a unique look as it has large colored vents on the outside. The exhibition we saw was one of the best collections of art I have seen since being here. While the Prado and Louvre are world renowned for their classic art the Pompidou has quite the collection of modern art. Several works form Picasso, “The Fountain”, and other revolutionary modern artists were all present. While some modern art is a little ridiculous most of it is very well done.

 "The Fountain" AKA a urinal labeled as art

Our last stop of the trip was the Panthéon in Paris. As usual, we had to stop for our final crêpe on the way. Unfortunately it was closed to prepare for an upcoming ceremony but it was cool to see it and the part of town it is in. There were several universities, libraries, and nightlife attractions near by. Apparently the neighborhood surrounding it is primarily college students.

The next weekend Matt and I went climbing at Desplomilandia with one of our friends from La Madriguera. The crag is located about an hour north west of Malaga and was in some beautiful Spanish countryside. There was a cliffband overlooking a lake with rolling green mountain / hill things in the background. I’m definitely going to miss the weekend trips I’ve been able to make to premier destinations while here.

Semana Santa starts next week so I’m going to spend Sunday and Monday here in Sevilla. The rest of the week will be spent beach hoping around Andalucía, Portugal and Morocco.

           

Carnaval and Spring Break

Here is the rundown of the last few weeks here in Spain. This is definitely the longest chapter in my stay here so please bear with me on the length. Like previously said, I can’t bring myself to leave out any detail of my stay here.  It’s fairly common knowledge that after spring break the semester and school year is practically over. This statement could not be truer, especially while studying abroad. It seems like just yesterday I was on the train home from Madrid and it has already been a full week.

  Following the trip to Portugal I spent the next weekend doing a whole lot of nothing. The next week consisted of projects and finals, which ended the first half my semester here and Spanish 1607. March 11^th marked the start of Spring break and we started it off with a bang here in Spain. After class on Friday I hit up La Madriguera, or The Burrow, for some climbing followed by a trip to el río.

Saturday night was an interesting one to say the least. Every year Cádiz, a coastal city south of Sevilla; hosts Carnaval, which is the Spanish version of Mardi Gras. Basically all of Spain puts on costumes, heads to Cádiz, and celebrates in its many squares. The whole trip was kind of thrown together on a whim the day of. Several of us had been told the train ride there was free if one was wearing a costume. To our shock, halfway there we were asked for our tickets and when we could not produce them were promptly asked to get off the train. In a pueblos name I will never know, we bought tickets, waited on the next train for an hour and a half, then continued our journey to Carnaval.  Although it was dark and crowded upon arriving, one of the first things I did notice about Cádiz was the interesting architecture. This is definitely a city I plan on heading back to for a weekend as it starts to warm up. Perhaps I will get a better idea of what this famous town is all about when I see it in the light. From what I’ve been told the beaches and scenery are particularly good in Cádiz.

 Brant and I practicing Spanish with the cheerleaders

After arriving back to the comfort of my bed at 10:20 Sunday morning I had ample siesta time prior to meeting my mom and her friend Joanne at their hotel. The rest of the day was spent playing tour guide in the pouring rain. Upon arriving in Spain I was told, “Sevilla is in a drought” so it never rains here, this statement could not be more false. While the vast majority of days are sunny, southern Spain definitely receives its fair share of precipitation. After two days of showing my visitors around my new home, it was time to truly begin spring break and head off for Toledo, Segovia, and Madrid.

I would like to take this moment to throw in some commentary about Spain and my family here. Hollywood style cliffhanger to stall the spring break info I know, try to contain your excitement. For those of you who didn’t read of my first blog, or have simply forgotten, part of the reason I’m writing this blog is for three hours of upper level Honors credit. My assignment was to read Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past by Giles Tremlett and then write a paper relating it to my own experiences abroad upon returning to Tech.  I actually found the book to be quite interesting as it talks about everything from blood spilt during the Spanish Civil War to current day corruption in politics, a topic I find fascinating regardless of the country involved

Our homework assignment for the day in History of Spain was to ask our host family about 23-F. On February 23^rd 1981 a group of Spanish Guardia Civil led by Antonio Tejero attempted Golpe de Estado, a coup or famous 9b climbing route in Siurana, by entering Congress and explaining the military was taking over the government in the king’s name. For the first forty-five minutes of the affair a live video feed in congress gave Spaniards some idea of what was happening. However, it was cut before the one-hour mark and news of the country’s fate did not come until 1am when the king made an official statement. Juan Carlos I ordered the military to stand down and made it clear to the people that it was his intent to carry on democracy for the betterment of a united Spain. Manuel, my host dad, used to be a cop and was actually at the congressional building on that infamous day in Spanish history. He said it was a crazy day but, of course, he was not nervous.

This topic led us into another conversation, all spoken in Spanish, regarding nationalists in the Cataluña and Basque regions of Spain. Giles Tremlett spends a great deal of time in his book on the question of whether Spain is one country or several different ones shoved together. There is a small group, twenty percent or less, of Cataluña and Basque that seek separation from Spain. The Basques go about it mainly through the violent ETA terrorist group while Castilians have a more peaceful approach. Regardless of methods, both peoples believe their unique languages and cultures are enough to warrant independent countries. Upon asking Manuel if he believed they should have independence, he passionately responded by saying this was against the constitution and therefore unacceptable. From what I have experienced and read; it is my opinion that after being under Franco’s reign for so long, most Spaniards want a free, united, country to call home.

Enough about politics, let’s get back to Tuesday morning of spring break at 6am. The tour busses for our trip were set to leave from the Santa Justa train station at 6:30am and they are notorious for leaving stragglers behind. At 6:15am I was just leaving the house and Manuel, being the boss that he is, offered to give me a ride. He was also nice enough to grab my friend Cameron, whom I said I would split a cab with, on the way. 

 Calatrava La Nueva

In typical fashion, I was awake on the bus ride long enough to see glimpses of the Spanish countryside in between stellar views of my eyelids. Our first stop was Calatrava la Nueva. A Medivil castle built in the 13^th century, it is one of the largest castles in Spain and was truly spectacular. After exploring the castle for about an hour we were onto our next stop. 

 A cathedral commissioned by Isabella II for the knights of the order of Calatrava

Almagro, a small pueblo whose main attraction is a theatre from the Spanish golden age gave a unique view into country life, or the touristy side of country life in Spain. During the Spanish Golden Age Almagro’s theater was the center of entertainment for miles around. Plays were held there on a regular basis and would generally last five to six hours. After hearing about the theatre’s history and eating lunch we were off to Toledo.

 The theater was roughly twice this size back in the day and would not have had chairs. It was standing room only for commoners on ground level.

That evening was a free night, which was spent exploring the winding streets of Toledo while looking at countless swords. Toledo is well known for its steel work so there are touristy sword shops all over town. I started Wednesday morning off with an optional tour of ancient roman baths. While they looked comfortable for the most part I prefer 21^st century hot tubs. The groups next stop was “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz” considered El Greco’s masterpiece, which is housed in the church of Santo Tomé. Needless to say, it was quite impressive to see such a massive painting with so many unique themes in it. Greco even included himself and son in the painting as the only two people looking at the audience. After seeing “The Greek’s” painting, we were off to a quick synagogue tour before leaving town.

 Greco's masterpiece is split into two segments. The lower half represents earth while the upper half depicts the heavens.

Texas Tech left its mark in Toledo

Our next destination was Segovia, which is home to the largest aqueduct in Spain, the “Disney Castle” and world famous suckling pig. As usual I was taking a mobile siesta during our two-hour drive. To my surprise, I woke up to snow-covered hills when we were about an hour out of town. Falling asleep to blue skies and waking up to snow was a rather strange sensation. It was funny to see the confusion on people’s faces as they woke to this unexpected storm. While Segovia was a great city to see, the dreary weather kind of put a damper on our visit there. We started our tour at the Roman aqueduct, which was the city’s source of fresh water from the 2nd century AD until 1980. When we were done admiring the advanced Roman architecture it was time to grab some lunch. Just about every restaurant I walked passed offered their own suckling pig so this was an obvious choice for lunch. The entire pig can be eaten including the brain and tongue. I stuck with the leg, which was beyond delicious. 

 This massive aqueduct runs for 17km

Once we were done experiencing the local delicacy it was time to head off to the castle. The Alcazar, or fortress in Arabic, was used as the model for the iconic Walt Disney castle. While the Alcazar was interesting and fun to see I enjoyed Calatrava la Nueva more. This is because it was out in the country and had less of a museum feel to it. All in all though I’m glad we stopped to see Segovia regardless of the weather.

 "Disney Castle"

Another couple hours in the autobus got us to the hotels Madrid. Much like Toledo, our first night in Madrid was spent exploring the town and eating dinner. The capital of Spain can be summed up as New York City with more of a 17^th and 18^th century feel to it. In 1561 King Philip II made Madrid the permanent home of his court and its influence grew over night. Present day Madrid is a bustling metropolis home to several renaissance plazas, palaces, museums, and skyscrapers. 

 Plaza Mayor is a renaissance square right off El Calle Gran Via

On Wednesday we took a group excursion to El Escorial. This palace / monastery was commissioned by King Philip II to be a residence for royals and to hold the pantheon for all future kings of Spain. This palace was overwhelmingly large, containing countless rooms, world-renowned paintings, a cathedral, and the graves of long dead kings and queens. Philip II wanted to halt the protestant reformation overtaking Spain and decided building a massive complex would be the best way to achieve this; thus proving Catholics could do Christianity better than the Protestants. 

 The massive El Escorial

After viewing a few of El Greco’s famous painting and wandering through several hallways and rooms we arrived at El Escorial’s center point, the pantheon of kings. The final resting place of twenty-three previous kings and queens, the room let off a strange and magnificent vibe. There is only room for three more coffins whose future inhabitants are already rotting in the decomposing room. This has presented an interesting decision for the current king of Spain. He must decide where to be buried, a choice few kings have made since the 17^th century.

 The pantheon of kings

Once we were done taking in the pantheon it was off to the cathedral. To be completely honest, I was far from impressed. The entire altar, including the saints and jesus were made of pure gold. In my opinion this is a little ridiculous. Was it necessary to spend who knows how much money making a gold Jesus while Spanish citizens were starving to death?  This blog is already getting long so I’ll withhold my rant on this subject; however, I find the whole idea ludicrous. What’s next, a gold plated cow on the altar?

 Gold, gold, and more gold. This obviously proves Catholics are better Christians than Protestants. Please note I am not hating on present day Catholics in anyway.

Seeing as how it was St. Patty’s day, in Madrid, we decided to check out the nightlife of Madrid. It was a fun night filled with all sorts of lighthearted shenanigans amongst friends. The next day, Friday, was a “free” day that was spent seeing the museums and parks of Madrid. We started off by going to the church where the famous golden age painter Francisco de Goya is buried. Credited as one of the first anti-war paintings, “The Third of May” depicts citizens of Madrid being executed by French soldiers. This painting, along with several of his other paintings are hanging in El Prado museum, which was my next destination. 

 "Tres de Mayo" - Fransisco de Goya

One could easily spend a few days in El Prado and not see everything it has to offer. The sheer size of the museum made it a little overwhelming.  However, I had a list of masterpieces thanks to Dr. Ingles and a Prado information packet. I spent a solid two or three hours exploring the endless rooms and paintings El Prado had to offer. While I’m not a huge art buff, I do appreciate art that can inspire or make one thing, something El Prado was far from lacking.

Saturday morning we all parted ways with our families and headed back to Sevilla on the AVE high speed train. After a particularly safe and enjoyable ride home we all immediately went to the river to soak up some mother nature and enjoy the warm weather. After spending a week in the snow and colder temperatures of Madrid the sunshine of Andalusia was a nice change.

I took advantage of the warm weather by going climbing outside on Sunday. On Friday afternoon I got a call from a member of La Madriguera inviting Matt and I to climb with him on Sunday. Without hesitation I accepted his offer. After roughly an hour drive we arrived at Cerro del Hierro. Unfortunately I was unable to get pictures of us climbing but it was a great day nonetheless.

 This gives a general idea of our climbing destination. The cliffs were more or less jagged pillars sticking out of the ground.

If you’re still reading thank you for sticking with this till the end. I realize it was a long entry and I’ll try not to go so long without posting again to avoid this problem. A spur of the moment trip was booked to Paris for Wednesday so I’ll have news on that trip up sometime next week.

Lisboa y Parque Natural da Serra da Arrábida

Last weekend we took a group excursion to Lisbon, Portugal for a relaxing weekend after Finals. It’s hard to believe that my time here is roughly halfway done. Needless to say I have been enjoying it greatly but am starting to miss the amenities of The States a little bit. America truly is the land of luxury, which can be hard to see until you don't have it anymore

After a week full of tests I started the weekend out right by climbing Friday afternoon then going to the river to chill with friends.  Our bus to Lisbon departed at 7am Saturday morning; so myself, a few friends, and one of our Spanish tutors decided to bypass the whole sleep thing.  After adventuring around Seville and its discotectas all night with some Spanish girls we met I was exhausted to say the least. Lucky for me I had a six-hour bus ride ahead of me, which was perfect for catching up on sleep. While I wasn’t preparing myself for the eventful day ahead I couldn’t help but notice the amazing Portugal countryside.  Thick fog around lush green mountains made for a great view between naps.

 Group picture in front of the Jeronomo Monastery

Once we had checked into the hotel and taken an hour to relax we set off to see Lisbon. Our first stop was the Jeronomo Monastery, equipped with a massive library, this was the wikipedia of the time from the late16th century to early 19th century. Once a monk entered into this house of God he was never again aloud to leave. Therefore, these monks were often asked to find the answers to difficult questions regardless of the subject matter.  In the center was a massive courtyard complete with a fountain in the middle. Although it was quite relaxing, I could not imagine spending all my days there. 

 Courtyard

After wandering around the Monastery we made our way to the Belém Watchtower. Constructed in the early 16^th century, this tower proved key in the defense of Lisbon. Wielding several cannons capable of firing up to a mile away it was a deterrent to any fleet entering from the Atlantic. The tower was also used as a dungeon for political prisoners. These prisoners were put in cells in the floor that would fill up with water and ocean life as the tide came in. Crabs need to eat too right?

 The watchtower in all it's glory

That night we went to a very reasonably priced all you can eat Brazilian steakhouse. It was delicious to say the least. After digesting at least five pounds of food da itus kicked in and I proceeded to crash. This probably had nothing to do with the lack of sleep from the night before.

 El Cristo-Rei standing 82m high

Sunday morning we started our day at El Cristo-Rei, which is a giant statue of an open-armed Jesus over looking the bay. Although I did not pay the 4E to ride an elevator to the top I still got a great view. Once we were done taking in the sights we took a short drive to the Lisbon Aquarium. While the aquarium was nothing out of the ordinary, it was still very entertaining. The rest of the day and night was spent relaxing around the city. 

 View from El Cristo-Rei.

I can easily list Monday as one of the top three days, if not the best, I’ve had so far this semester. The day started out with 9 of us taking a bus to the airport in order to rent cars. After much confusion and almost not being able to get our second car we we’re zipping around Lisbon. Prior to leaving for Lisbon we had been warned not to rent cars because the Portuguese drivers are “notoriously” bad. Like that was going to stop us. On the contrary, drivers in Seville are for more reckless than those in Lisbon.

 View near the top of the mountain.

Our destination for the day was the Parque Natural da Serra da Arrábida. About an hour away from Lisbon, it is situated between the cities of Setubal and Sesimbra. The plan was for Matt and I to climb at Fenda, a cliff band above the beach, while everyone else soaked up some mother nature. The drive through the park before reaching the beaches will stay with me until the day I die. We ended up on top of a mountain looking out on the Atlantic and tropical beaches of Portugal, which was absolutely breathtaking. 

 Fenda, where we climbed, is the closest cliffband to the beach.

Paradise

After winding back down the mountain we arrived at the beaches. Myself, Matt, and Hunter split from the group and went in search of rocks. After spending two frustrating hours trying to figure out how to get to the cliff, which was never more than two or three kilometers away from us, we finally arrived. Because it was so late in the day by this point I was only able to climb two routes. While I would have liked much more time, it didn’t have a negative affect on my day at all. Regardless of how much time we had at the crag; I was able to climb outside, in a tropical paradise, while looking out on the vast Atlantic Ocean, an experience that will not soon be forgot.

 Fin