A Day In Salamanca

7:30- Wake up

7:45- Actually get out of bed

8:15- Eat breakfast (orange juice, coffee with cocoa, and a weird pointy muffin)

8:30- Leave for class

9:00-2:15- Classes (Eat my snack at 11! Spanish candy bars from the vending machine or an empanada from the bakery down the street)

2:30- Home for lunch with Senora- hopefully not some weird egg concoction.

3:00-5:00- SIESTA!!

5:00-8:30- Wander the city. Shop, get tapas, go to museums, study, find free wi-fi. Walk at least 5 miles. Usually get helado somewhere in this interval.

9:00- Home for dinner with Senora

10:00-???- Sit in the plaza, go to bars or discotecas, find attractive locals who can help us practice our Spanish. Collapse into bed. Repeat.

Leavin' on a midnight train to San Sebastian....

This weekend, everybody scattered and went different places. One group went to Sevilla and Granada, one group went to London, one group went to San Sebastian, and another took off to Barcelona. Since the trip to Portugal last weekend ended up using half my budget for this weekend, I found myself looking at a quiet weekend in Salamanca, along with a handful of other people who also stayed behind. We tried to arrange a day trip to a winery, but they were all way too expensive. We tried to go on a day trip to Santender with the travel agency, but it was a 6 hour bus ride that left at 5 am. Finally, on Friday, a girl named Neena and I decided to see if there were any trains to San Sebastian. 

After class we made the 3 mile trek to the train station and sure enough, there was an overnight train leaving at 12:30 that night, with a return trip at 10:30 the next night. We booked the tickets at around 4:30, did some shopping for last-minute travel supplies, then headed home to prepare for our spontaneous trip. I met up with Neena at 11:00 and we shared a cab to the train station. The train was interesting from the start. We boarded our car with a large group of very drunk Eastern European college students who kept singing in what sounded like German, and a few stumbling drunk men, whom the train bartender was instructed to give nothing but water. We finally settled in for the 6 hour ride in what was supposed to be a “sleeper car”, but it was impossible to get more than an hour or two of sleep. To make matters worse, the train made multiple stops, and there was no announcement or sign or anything to let you know what stop it was. Finally, after about 5 ½ hours, Neena asked the bartender and he said San Sebastian was the next stop. So the next time the train stopped we disembarked, hoping that we really were in San Sebastian and not some other random Spanish town- there really was no way to tell from the train.

Thankfully, we were indeed in San Sebastian. We went to the bathroom to freshen up but it was quite disgusting. As we were standing at the sinks washing our faces a large male janitor with a cigarette ambled in and grunted at us- apparently they keep the supply closet in an out-of-order stall in the women’s bathroom. Strange. The one attendant in the train station didn’t have a map and couldn’t tell us how to get anywhere, so we finally asked a group of American students who were waiting for their train, and they pointed us in the direction of the city center. We stumbled out into the misty, cloudy, city lit by only a few brave rays of sun that broke through the gloom. 

We headed in the direction that the students had told us, but we soon encountered two young, shady looking Spanish men standing outside of a closed bar. They called out to us in Spanish, saying something to the effect of “Hey beautiful girls, what are you doing out here? Don’t you want to come with us?” We didn’t make eye contact and changed our route so we wouldn’t pass them, but they changed directions and began to follow us. We quickened our pace and made it to a bike path that was slightly more populated (with only maybe 2 bike riders, but better than nothing), but they still followed us. None of the places we passed were open, but finally we came to a coffee place that was just opening its doors. We ducked in there, got some coffee, and took refuge from the cold mist and the scary Spanish guys. They lingered outside the door for a while, looking in the windows at us, but thankfully the coffee shop owner was a rather large guy and they left after a few minutes.

By the time we finished our coffee and freshened up a little, the drizzly mist had stopped and other stores were opening, so we decided it was safe to venture back out. We made it to the main city and found a newspaper stand vendor who sold us a great map and pointed us in the direction of the coast and other major landmarks. Finally things were looking up! We wandered around for a while, taking pictures of the city and the coast in the dreary morning light. Along the way, we stopped in pastelerias for pastries and tapas bars for little snacks. Once stores opened around 11:00, we did a little window shopping.

 Around noon, we headed back into the historical center of the city to search for a museum marked on our map. We never could find the museum, but along the way we saw a path leading up a hill to an old church and fort, so we decided to follow it and see if there were any good views of the city and coast. When we got up to the fort, there were more and more stairs and trails, so we decided to follow them and see where they went. After about an hour hike with beautiful views, we arrived at the top of the mountain with the huge Jesus statue we had seen from the shore earlier. Who knew? It turned out there was a little museum at the top, and the best views of the town and coast you could get from anywhere in the city. I am convinced that San Sebastian is the most perfect place on earth- beautiful old buildings, ancient churches, shopping, hiking, and gorgeous beaches all in one place.

 After admiring the view and taking plenty of photos, we headed back down the mountain. We found a little gypsy market by the marina with lots of cute jewelry and handmade crafts, but one gypsy named Marcello kept asking me if I had a husband in America and saying if I wanted to stay in Spain he would “keep me like a pretty little flower”, so we made up excuses to leave and got out of there fast. We got some helado and booked a boat tour of the coast, which had some more great views. By that time the sun had come out, so after the boat tour we went back to the shore and stuck our toes in the water, which was surprisingly warm. 

After that we got some dinner at McDonalds so we could use their free wifi to contact the guys from Auburn who were also in San Sebastian for the weekend. We arranged to meet them in a few hours, then headed to Jazz Fest.

There just happened to be a Jazz festival called Jazzaldia in San Sebastian this weekend. Apparently it is the oldest continuous annual jazz festival in Europe. B.B. King had given a free performance there a few nights earlier. I wish we had known, I would have gladly missed class to see that! As it was, we got to see a few good bands play before we met up with the guys for a second dinner at a Greek place. It started raining again after that, so Neena and I killed time in another little café until our train left. Luckily, the guys were on our same train back to Salamanca and it was a lot quieter this time around, so we got a few hours of sleep in before arriving back in Salamanca at 4 am (at least we hoped it was Salamanca- once again there was no way to know where we were). We caught a cab back to the dorm where Neena lives, and I just slept there rather than trying to get back to my apartment by myself. 

I slept most of the next day (Sunday), and gave my poor feet a chance to recuperate from the massive amounts of walking and hiking. 

Monday (today) was a holiday and there were no classes, so I met up with some of the other people who had stayed in Salamanca for the weekend and we went down to the river bank to study for exams. I can't believe it is exam time already! This month has flown by. I will be back among the English-speakers before I know it!

Sweet Home Salamanca

This past weekend, our group traveled to Portugal for a weekend at the beach. After a 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in the town of Figuiera da Foz. It was… quaint. In a paint peeling off the crumbling buildings kind of way.

Also, it was cold- around 50 degrees that night. Thank goodness I brought a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt! That first night a group just brought a bottle of wine down to the shore and we hung out by the water for a few hours. The next day started out foggy and cold, so Taylor and I walked around the town and found a little flea market place with cheap beach towels and souvenirs. Later that afternoon it cleared up for a little while, so we got a few good hours of beach time in. Our hotel was relatively nice, but the walls were very thin and there was a very loud Portuguese family in the room next to us. Also, on the first night we heard rumors from other people in the hotel that there were bedbugs in their rooms. Luckily we found out that they were only on the 5^th floor, and we were on the third. Still, I feel like I need to disinfect everything I own! The best thing about the hotel was that all the meals were included, and they were all 3 course gourmet meals- butternut squash soup, roasted hen, pasta, rice, broccoli, crème brulee, etc. They even packed us a picnic lunch for the day we left! We ate so much that weekend; the food was way better than the funky ham and eggs everybody eats all the time in Salamanca.

Sunday we headed out to another town called Aveiro. It was MUCH prettier than the first place. Apparently it is known as the Venice of Portugal for its great canal, so we took a gondola ride through the city! By far my favorite part of the weekend.

 After the gondola ride we found a little craft market. I bought a handmade silver ring with a pink and green stone and a little handmade silver hedgehog. Stuff is SO cheap in Portugal- the ring and hedgehog together were only 15 euros. Over the course of the weekend we learned one Portuguese word- “Obligada”. It means “thank you.” Apparently the Portuguese and Spanish hate each other, so if you make an effort to use Portuguese instead of Spanish they are much nicer!

We tried to go to the beach in Aveiro, but the wind literally could have knocked us over. On the bright side, I guess we got free microderm abrasion from all the sandblasting. The group only lasted about 5 minutes at the beach, then we found a grassy area and took naps in the sunshine.

Overall the weekend was fun, but I was glad to get back to Salamanca where the winds are less than hurricane strength. Sweet home Salamanca!

Holy Toledo!

This past weekend we went to Toledo and Madrid. Both were gorgeous, but I preferred Toledo.

We all met at the bus at 7 am Saturday morning. As you can imagine, nobody was really thrilled about that. After about a 4 hour bus ride, we arrived in the beautiful city of Toledo.

Toledo is known as one of the only cities where Catholics, Jews, and Moors all lived peacefully. As a result, it was a center of learning and commerce, and there are tons of churches (maybe this is why we say “Holy Toledo”??) We toured several cathedrals. They were all beautiful, but they all blend together after a while. Apparently the artist El Greco spent some time in Toledo, so I got to see several of his paintings in the cathedrals.

Toledo is also known as the city of gold because gold is so common and cheap there. I went in a little shop where an old man had his work station set up and bought a little gold hand engraved bird necklace for 7 euros, which is about 10 American dollars. Gold is so cheap in Toledo! If I had brought more cash I would have bought more.

After Toledo, we headed to Madrid. Madrid is HUGE. Think New York with prettier and older buildings. We got there around 7:30 at night, so the first thing we did was find somewhere to eat. We ended up at a place called Nebraska, which apparently is a chain of restaurants in Madrid where they speak English. Lucky us! It gets tiring to try to speak in Spanish all the time. Plus, we got our hamburger and French fry fix! After that we tried to get into a local discoteca (which is what they call clubs), but they wouldn’t let us in because we were wearing sandals. When all you can pack is what you can fit in your backpack, your fashion options are rather limited.

The next day, we went to the Reina Sophia and the Prado. The Reina Sophia is a museum that has more contemporary artists like Salvador Dali and Picasso. The Prado has older paintings by artists like Velazquez, Goya, Botticelli, etc. They were great! We spent most of the Reina Sophia trying to figure out what kind of drugs Dali and Picasso were on, and most of the Prado getting lost in their maze of rooms.

There is always tons of stuff going on in Madrid’s streets. We saw musicians, living statues, a Syrian protest, street artists, and vendors galore. I bought an enamel painting for 5 euros from a little old man in a park across from the Prado. He was so cute, and his work was beautiful!

The bus broke down on the way back to Salamanca, but we finally made it and my bed has never felt so good.  I didn’t even mind the lack of air conditioning.

It would take too long to write about everything that has happened this week, so I’ll just give you the highlights. Monday we made the 5 mile hike to the Corte Ingles, which is the Spanish version of Walmart, except it is 8 stories tall and way way better. We got snacks for class- mini brownies, Spanish brand Special K bars, and juice boxes. That night we went to the Irish Rover, met some Spanish guys, had actual conversations in Spanish, and hung out with friends in the Plaza. We stayed out way too late- class is not fun when you’re functioning on 4 hours of sleep. Tuesday it poured and we were caught outside in a hailstorm, after which it got very freezing so Taylor and I just stayed in and played Scrabble. Wednesday the weather was beautiful- I went to class, took a siesta, then met a friend from class to study in the park (he happens to be very attractive, if anybody reading this cares about those kinds of details). Then I wandered around, got some helado (which is super delicious Spanish ice cream- we get it every day!), found a nice sunny bench, and sketched a pretty building. An old local man sat down beside me, and we had a 30 minute conversation about drawing, school, and books. In Spanish! I will be a pro by the time I leave.


We are going to Portugal this weekend, so look for details about that in my next blog!

El Primer Dia

So, I have arrived in Spain! After a grueling 10 hour wait in the Madrid airport because one girl’s flight was late, we finally arrived in Salamanca around 10 pm. The view coming into the city was beautiful!

First view of Salamanca

I am staying with a little old Spanish lady who seems to speak no English. My roommate Taylor speaks even less Spanish than I do, and between the two of us we can barely piece together a whole sentence. Luckily, Senora Marcos is very patient and does her best to explain things. But usually we just end up nodding our heads and smiling without having a clue what she’s talking about.

My room

Her apartment is very cute and cozy, but boy is it hot! It doesn’t seem to have any AC. We may have to invest in a little fan to keep from sweating to death at night. It also doesn’t have Wi-Fi, so the only time I can get online is if I bring my laptop to the plaza or to the university.


When we first got in, Senora served us some soup and grilled ham and cheese with reallllly good local white cheese. For breakfast we had muffins, wafer crackers, and juice. She set out mugs of warm milk and powdered coffee and chocolate so I made myself a mocha!

Breakfast

We took our class placement exams this morning, then had a few hours to explore the city. We walked to the plaza, ate at a little café, and took lots of pictures. Around noon the university hosted a mix and mingle gathering with free wine and tapas, and after that we returned to our host homes for lunch. It seems like people eat constantly here!

 The Cathedral

 Me in front of the cathedral

 Some of the girls in our group

The free tapas hour at the University

Now it is siesta time, and since everything will be closed for a few hours Taylor and I are sitting in the plaza taking advantage of the free wi-fi. Later tonight we have to go back to the university to find out what classes we are taking, and then we are going to a place in the plaza that is having a 4th of July celebration for the American students.

So far everybody is very friendly, the weather is great, and the food is delicious. I think I will survive. :)