Portugal Paradise

Albufeira – Our home base for the Portugal trip. A strange mix of elderly British snowbirds and bachelor parties, we called this place home for a few days. In a swanky apartments complete with our own kitchen we enjoyed cooking our own dinner Friday night. Friday during the day we set off for the beach – a 3 minute walk down hill.  Portugal is gorgeous. Cliffs drop straight into the water and create little island rocks a hundred meters out from the beach. The sand was soft and warm and all my cares melted away as I watched a group of guys playing soccer on the beach (unfortunately one was wearing a man thong – note to all men: no one wants to see that). 

Rocky cliffs with striations of alternating orange, yellow, and white created a half moon sheltered beach where we enjoyed the warm sun and the sound of the ocean all Friday afternoon. Grumbling bellies and a setting sun signaled it was time to head back to the apartment and hit the grocery. We were so happy to be able to cook our own dinner -burgers, corn, green grapes and spaghetti with pesto. Can you tell we have American stomachs that are lacking some of our basic US food groups? 

Saturday we headed half an hour westward to Lagos. Lagos is quite possibly on of the most beautiful areas I have ever been. Rocky cliffs drop into a churning ocean. Nature-made arcs channel the heaving ocean into smaller bays. Bright blue in color and spraying white foam at your feet, the ocean is the loudest sound around here. Large rock formations are a hundred meters away standing formidably, like silent soldiers vigilantly protecting Portuguese shoreline. Sea birds nest on the top of these wind-ridden rocks and I have to think that if I was a bird this would totally be where I would have a nest. We climbed all over the cliffs and sat for a while just looking out into the mesmerizing blue ocean from our cliff-top perch. 

After Lagos we continued further west – to the END OF THE WORLD. Literally. We went to the most western point of the European continent where up until Columbus was considered considered the end of the world. Sheer cliff faces drop off hundreds of feet into a swirling, churning, angry looking Atlantic Ocean. Giant white sprays erupted up from the waves as they crashed into the cliffs. It was a truly amazing sight. I can understand how one could believe that was the end of the world. All of a sudden, Europe ends and all you can see forever is a deep blue horizon. We watched the sun set at the end of the world. Breath-taking. 

All weekend I got to joke around with Brittany, Kelsey, and Maggie. What fun we had. Everything we did we incorporated my favorite phrase of the weekend – Portugal Promise. You can Portugal Promise anything. For example: Maggie and I Portugal Promised each other that we would swim. Therefore Sunday morning after breakfast (when it was freezing outside) we donned our suits and cannonballed into the deep end of the hotel pool. BRRRR  “Refreshing!” as my dad would say. But we had to do it – we Portugal Promised! 

 

Sunday was the worst weather day but we didn’t let that get us down. After the dip in the pool we packed up and headed out for a few hours in Albufeira before heading back to Sevilla. Too chilly for the beach, we talked and window shopped to our hearts content. I got a Portugal patch to add to my growing collection. I am trying to collect a patch from every country I visit. By the end of my trip I hope to have them as a fun way to remember my trip to places. So far I have: Seville University, Paris, Portugal, and a European Union patch. I’ll keep you posted as the collection grows! 

I love and miss you all –At

I hope you enjoy the photos. I had so much fun taking them!  

Lagos -the most beautiful place we went on our trip. We got to hike around on these cliffs and take pictures. It was a great stop on our journey through southern Portugal.

Our lookout point.

I'm Queen of the World!

Our tootsies  :)

One of my favorite pictures. I thought this rope was a beautiful color in contrast with the rock and the ocean.

There were wild flowers abloom everywhere. Even if the ocean wasn't there this place would still be beautiful because of the carpet of yellow, pink, and white wild flowers.

The End of the World!

"I can see America!"  

Beach day #1 - Albufeira

Beach day #2 - Lagos

An outdoor escalator that takes townspeople and tourists down a hill. Ugh this age of technology should be dubbed the age of Obesity. Honestly, this is ridiculous.

Loving Life

It has been a beautiful few days in Sevilla. Tomorrow I head for Portugal to enjoy a few days on the beach. And what does every beach vacation need? Junk books, of course!  I went to the English bookstore today and grabbed 2, I haven’t read a book in English in 2 months so I am even more excited to read than normal (hard to believe right?).

Yesterday I met up with a new friend I made on St. Patricks day. His name is Pablo and studied at the British Institute here and learned his English there. We met at Starbucks of all places and chatted for 2 hours, I only spoke in Spanish and he only spoke in English. It must have been a funny conversation to overhear as every question’s response was in a different language from the one in which it was asked. Pablo told me all about hermandads which are Holy Week clubs/fraternities/brotherhoods that parade around Sevilla during Semana Santa. They wear robes reminiscent of the KKK except in colors (Pablo’s hermandad wears black robes and hats). His parades at 2 am Thursday night of Semana Santa. I guess I will be heading there right after I drop off my luggage from my Prague/Berlin trip.

I got some great news this week. Evan Schmidt, a friend of mine on the Purdue Waterski team, is coming to visit me next week! He gets here Monday night and is staying through Friday. Evan is studying and working in Germany this semester and through the summer and he is coming to visit me on his week off. I plan to visit him while I travel after my program.  It will be so nice to see a face from home and it’s always fun to show people around my city. I am looking forward to his visit immensely. 

Tonight right after our novels class Lauren, Britt and I are headed up to Nervion (Lauren’s neck of the woods) to grab tapas and then head to the mega movie theater to see Gnomio y Julieta – Spanish Romeo and Juliet: garden gnome version.  It will be my first spanish non-dubed movie and I am very excited for it. The previews look absolutely hilarious! 

Earlier tonight I felt like reading a bit so I headed to parquet Maria Luisa and got to sit in the shade under a natural canopy of the most fragrant purple flowers. Sheer paradise.  I wish I had taken my camera with me. I need to remember to take it with me at all times. There is so much I see every day and I want to be able to look back at the pictures of it all years from now and remember this once in a lifetime experience. 

I am living the life here. No doubt about it – everything is amazing. Spain, sun, school, and soooo much traveling… it doesn’t get any better. I am blessed to have been given this chance to be here. Thank you to my parents (I can’t wait for you to come)!

 I love and miss you all  <3  At

Madrid - 2 girls, a map, and a city

Madrid: a big city with a small town feel. Lauren and I arrived Friday afternoon to Madrid and lost no time in setting out to explore. Destination: el parquet de buen retiro. Translation: Madrid’s version of Central Park. Part of the old royal grounds, Retiro was a beautiful, though slightly too manicured for my liking, park. Madrid in general reminds me a little of NYC. It is comprised of distinct barrios (neighborhoods/boroughs). For example a few of my favorites included Latina (Greenwich Village), el Parque de Retiro (Central Park), el Prado (the Met), Puerta del Sol (a much chiller version of Times Square), SoHo (Plaza Mayor) and Cibeles (Wallstreet). 

My favorite area was around Plaza Mayor. Picture this – a giant square plaza surrounded on all four sides by a continuous 5 story red brick building. You enter through on of 6 arches placed haphazardly throughout the various walls. Lit from within by 4 lamp posts with handy benches beneath you can sit here as the sun sinks behind the western wall and watch as the plaza comes alive with street performers, gypsies, and Madrileños.

Just outside Plaza Mayor there is a narrow street, Calle San Miguel, which snakes down a hill and is only for pedestrian use. This was my favorite street in Madrid and one Lauren and I found ourselves coming back to at least 5 times in one weekend. Weaving people toting their calamari sandwiches (yumm! they were delicious) waltz down this street towards el Mercado de San Miguel – a huge glass enclosure housing at least 20 different stands inside. What can you get there? Well let’s see… there are stands for: fresh fish, fruit and veggies, tapas, ice cream, traditional tapas, smoothies, wine, desserts and pastries, cheese and bread. Lauren habited the ice cream counter while I opted for bread, a strawberry pineapple raspberry smoothie and a weird piece of fried cheese. 

Across from the market begins a series of Mesones –nicknamed cave bars, thusly called because they are built right into the foundation of Playa Mayor’s exterior and are long and narrow with stone walls. We got paella one day and calamari sandwiches the next. You had to love this street!

Friday night was a great night. My intercambio (native Spanish speaker with whom I practice Spanish and they practice English) just moved to Madrid last week for a new job –I am very proud of him!- and he came to eat dinner with us in a Meson. Javi is my best Spanish friend and it was great to get to see him. I hope to see him again by the end of my stay in Spain. 

After dinner Lauren and I went back to the hostel to get cleaned up and then we headed out again. This time to a 7 story club we had been told was a must-see in Madrid. Wow. Neither Lauren nor I was prepared for any of the first 3 crazier floors so we headed farther up to the chill floors 6 and 7. Our first stop was on floor 6 were we happened to meet the two most drop-dead gorgeous British guys – pilots for British Airways- with the best accents ever. Needless to say we spent the rest of our time at the club with them and together we made our way up to floor 7 where we met a group of Swedish girls. Leaving early by Spanish standard we got back to our hostel by 3:30am and hit the bed. It was a great night but meant the next night we were happy to grab food at the grocery store around the corner (cheese tortellini, an apple, and strawberry yogurt for me) and stay in and hit the sack by 10:30 – dinner time for Madrileños.

Saturday was a whir of walking through the streets or Madrid. We visited the 2 most famous museums, el Prado and the Reina Sofia, and saw Dali and Picasso galore. Guernica was a surprise because I pictured it in color and much smaller. But in truth it takes up a giant wall and is all done in black and white. I came to the realization that I will never be a great art aficionado. I can appreciate art, but to me it just looks like Picasso didn’t understand where a nose is placed on a face in many of his pictures.   

Sunday we had the morning to explore a giant flea market held in la Latina neighborhood. I got giant backpacking backpack, a felt necklace (I know, it’s a weird fashion choice…) and a ring all for 13 euro. You can’t beat prices like that!  We opted to spend our last hour in Madrid wandering aimlessly without looking at our map and came across a hilltop where all of the greater Madrid was spread out at our feet. We headed back to the hostel to grab our bags and were off to catch our bus which we made by a mere 3 minutes due to a bad choice of metro connections. The weekend was a great one. All in all, Madrid is a beautiful and vibrant city filled with welcoming people and packed with gorgeous views. 

Sorry it was so long, there was just too much to tell!  I miss and love you all  - At

from left to right - Javier (friend of my Javi), Lauren, Me, my Javi!!!

Calle San Miguel - our favorite street in Madrid

The Glass Palace in Retiro Park

El Mercado de San Miguel

The communications offices of Spain - pretty swanky building for communications.

My favorite Picasso - obviously this is called 'Women with handkerchief'

Retiro Park

Our lookout point/hilltop we found on our last day

Plaza Mayor - there is one section that is painted with this beautiful mural.

Atocha train station - I love the architecture in train stations - good thing too because I will see a lot of them starting in a month and a half!

The English gents we met - best looking pilots I've ever seen... and with the best accents too!

Our farewell to Plaza Mayor - heading back to Sevilla. I always am happy to come back to Sevilla. It's such an endearing city and feels like my European home now.

My favorite picture - I love all the colorful buildings. They remind me of the houses you see in Gulf Shores.

The Most...

The 5 things I miss the most:

My sisters and my dog - my best friends

My parents - they are the best <3

My team - IU Waterski & Wakeboard

Driving

My dad's fluffy pancakes that he still cuts for me even though I'm 20 and the real maple syrup that accompanies them.

The 5 things I have come to love the most: 

New friends

Seeing the world through traveling

The fun, new, and random adventures

The Spanish people- from the professional old lady bench-sitters in the park to the pesky teenagers on mopeds

The beauty that surrounds me here. Architecture, parks, and plazas- you cannot beat the views you see in Sevilla.

I thought I would be more homesick. But when I think about what I miss it isn't in a sad way. I find I am not homesick per se, it's more that I wish I could share this experience with everyone I know and love. I am having a great time here and wouldn't know when I could find the time to be sad. The time is flying by and I am trying to soak up every last second of this unbelievable experience. I am looking forward to seeing my parents in April (the best birthday present ever!). I get to meet Emma and Reuben in Paris in late May and then Hannah is coming with my Aunt Marj and Jerri in June to travel with me through Belgium and Holland. Now if only Jack could come... although he could learn something from the dogs here. They are all extremely well behaved.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I am off to Madrid on Friday and will be back Sunday. I'll let you know about it soon, I promise. I love and miss you all  <3  At

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM

Happy birthday to the best big sister in the world. I have always looked up to you and always will even though I have you by a solid 2 inches these days...

You and I will always be a team. Without you who would have been my best friend? Who would have played haircut (twice!) and who would I have slept next to when I had a bad dream? You are the best and I hope today is amazing for you. Enjoy your second spring break next week. I can't wait to see you in Paris! I miss you more than you can know.  Love you. -At

Sister's Forever  <3

The best pair of the whole bunch!   -With love, At

Hiking in Huelva

Went hiking today and it was the perfect topper to an already great weekend. From the beach to the mountains- I enjoyed it all this weekend. Today’s hike was in the Sierra in the northern part of Huevla, the neighboring providence to the West. 14 kilometers of unbelievable beauty and a shining sun with a balmy 73 degrees made this hike the perfect Sunday activity. Throw in my friend Nick and my new friend Brenna and Jose -the world’s best guide- and the hike had a fun commentary which never let you be bored (as if that could possible with views like today’s!). 

My friends and I wanted to be right up in the front and our guide Jose, with the longest legs of the bunch, set off at a striking pace. By the end of the hike he made it a game that whatever big hill we had to crest he would look back at us and say “andamos rapidio?” –let’s walk faster!- and off we would go, practically running up the hill. I was happy to get the exercise. One of my favorite parts of the hike was when we had to cross a 4 foot wide stream. Jose (with a taunting smile) told me to go first so naturally I stepped up to the challenge and jumped across, barely clearing the creek. He then followed with the rest of the group on some steeping stones I hadn’t seen that were about 4 feet to my left. He didn’t let me live that one down for quite a while…  We got to see our fill of sheep, goats, horses and cows. Near the middle of the hike we came across a giant quarry and copper mine. The countryside was abloom with wildflowers. Small happy daisies, yellow wildflowers, and heather created a carpet of color that begged to be napped upon. Alas, we had to keep hiking. 

After we arrived back to Sevilla, covered in mud and slightly sun burnt, Nick, Brenna, and I headed towards the river with the ultimate destination being a cluster of tents that sell world food. I got tacos from the Mexican tent but will be going back very soon for German bratwursts, Argentinian bbq, and Greek gyros. It was the perfect end to a perfect day spent in the sun with good friends and great views. 

Now it’s time for the finale of one of my favorite Spanish dramas. Ana and I are very excited for it - who wouldn’t be? The main characters (2 GORGEOUS brothers both with magical powers) have the final fight for the heart of their mutual love. Who will she choose?? We shall see. If it was me, I’d go with the brown haired brother – he doesn’t have the bad-boy attitude but he definitely got the book smarts!    - I now understand the plots of 4 tv dramas which Ana watches religiously

I miss and love you all  <3 At

Brenna, Jose, Me, & Nick  - leaders of the group - Jose was the best guide ever!

The carpet of wildflowers - don't you just want to take a nap here and enjoy the sun on your face?

After a huge hill (at Jose's crazy fast pace) we made it to the top to overlook the copper mine

The still-functioning copper mine and quarry - beautiful. There were goats grazing about 10 yards the the left too

what lucky horses to live here

The "twins"  Jose the tall guide and Dani the short one. They are great and makes the hikes so much fun.

Day trip to Cadiz

Today I went to Cadiz (sound familiar from the Carnival post?) The city was much quainter without the extra million people packing every street, plaza and sidewalk. We had a walking tour around the city and after a short ice cream break (Ben & Jerry's! who knew they had them in Spain?!) we climbed the spiral -extremely steep- ramp up to the tower of the cathedral. What a view! You could see all of Cadiz which is surrounded by water on 3 sides. We finished the day with free time – aka BEACH TIME!!!

There is nothing better than the feeling of sand between your toes and the sun in your hair, the smell of the salt air and sound of the ocean as you drift off, warmed by the sun into an afternoon cat nap. Well, I take that back. What’s better? All of that PLUS JESTSKIS! Yes that’s right, jetskis. We made friends with 2 guys who had been making the Atlantic Ocean their own personal playground for an hour so we asked if we could grab a ride too. Antonio (different than the Cadiz Carnival Antonios 1&2) and his friend gave us rides. I told him I had one at our lake and I got to drive. And this was no wimpy jetski; this puppy was fast!!  We are talking turbo speed jetski. What fun! We got to see all of Cadiz while floating hundreds of meters offshore. No one else from our program can say that! 

After a couple hours at the beach we hopped the bus home and now post-shower and dinner I am going to curl up with my book and hit bed early so that I can wake up early again and go on a 9 mile hike tomorrow! I can’t wait! I’ll let you know all about it once I get back from that too! 

I miss and love you all  <3  At

You have to love jetskis combined with the amazing spanish hospitality!

This is what I think of when I think of Greece. I have never been there but anyone who has, does this look like it?

The girls 

A gnarly tree 
 haha get it? I made a pun!  (gnarly as in graneled lumpy and as in rad - if you needed it explained)

These bushes grow like this normally  ;)

So many mopeds zoom all around Spain - I want one, especially when it looks so cute under a rosebud tree!