Saturday, March 23, 2013

Preggo!

I'm getting a little slack with my posts, and I have so much to catch up on!

This past Sunday I got back into town from my trip to Italy! 6 of us girls went together. We flew in Wednesday night, got a hostel in Rome for 4 nights, and took a day trip one day to Florence. There is so, so much that I want to write about, but I will try to keep it to a minimum, so that I don't ramble on.
Wednesday, we flew out of Santander at 3:35 in the afternoon, and got into the center of rome around 7:30ish, we made it to our hostel by luck- literally just stumbled across it. So we got our things settled in, and found out that the new pope had been named about 30 minutes before we got into Rome! I feel like thats an interesting little fact I can share with everyone when I go back home. So after getting our things settled in at the hostel, we were starving; we asked the receptionist at the hostel for some recommendations on places to eat, and decided to walk around our side of town and find some delicious, authentic italian food. My first italian meal was nothing short of delicious, I started the meal with some pesto bread, and although I regretfully don't remember the name of the main dish, it was a type of penne with tomato sauce that had little pieces of bacon (ham) in it. Afterward, we had our mouths watered up for some gelato, and happened to stumble across a place that had homemade gelato (we later found out from some girls from the hostel, who study in Florence, that the "real" homemade gelato is the kind that is "flat," if it is large, and fluffy looking, it's not homemade). I got strawberry and chocolate mixed. After our delicious gelato, we headed back to the hostel and passed out.


Thursday, we woke up early, ready to explore Rome! Our hostel had a complementary breakfast, so we ate and then left the hostel around 8:30 that morning. Rome is definitely a walkable city, but getting from neighborhood to neighborhood can take a while- therefore, we took the metro to the colosseum area of town. As soon as we walked out of the metro station the colosseum was right in front of us! It was breathtaking; I've never seen something so old, huge, and beautiful all at once. Before going into the colosseum we decided to explore the Foro Romano and the Arco of Constantino. The Foro Romano is basically the old city of Rome, and holds a countless amount of ruins, from small capitals of columns to huge buildings.

After walking around the Foro, finally went to see the colosseum! Like I said before, the view from the outside was breathtaking, so naturally, walking inside was just the same. There were people EVERYWHERE, and taking a decent picture without someone in the foreground was a challenge. 

Afterward, we visited the Palatino, right up the street from the colosseum, which is more roman ruins. It felt so crazy being in the presence of some of the oldest buildings/structures in the world. 
My favorite part about Rome was that we basically walked everywhere. Rome is such a large city, but the only way to learn the surroundings is to get out and walk the city. On that note, after viewing the colosseum, we walked toward the center of the city to see the Trevi Fountain. Before making it there we happened to stumble across a pizzeria- the smell of the freshly baked pizza was pouring out of the restaurant, and tempted us to try a slice. I order a slice with ham and mushrooms, and a creamy sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce. This pizza was baked on a cookie sheet, and was basically a large square pizza (like school pizza), and when we got it the cashier folded it in two where the crust was on the outside of the "slice." We got our pizza, walked around the corner and there it was- the Trevi Fountain. It is on the back of this building, in the intersection of 3 streets. Also, we learned that the Trevi Fountain is the most famous in Italy because it is the largest baroque style fountain in Rome (possibly Italy). 

We just sat around the fountain and ate our pizza, and enjoyed the beautiful weather that we were given. Of course, we made our wishes in the fountain before we left. You're supposed to throw 2 coins into the fountain, one is your wish and the other is so that you will return to Rome another time. After making our wishes, we stumbled across the Panteon, which was breathtaking, and then walked toward Piazza Navona, where we went into one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. Pictures weren't allowed, but I had to sneak one because it was so gorgeous!

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking to Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish steps, and then getting lost finding our way back to the hostel. Once we finally got back we walked to a restaurant basically next door to the hostel and had dinner. I ate a delicious plate of gnocchi and clams.

Friday we had a very early morning. Our train to Florence left Termini (the main station in Rome) at 7:05! The train was running a little behind, so we didn't make it into Florence until around 9:15ish. Once we got into Florence we stumbled upon the Duomo, which was absolutely breathtaking; one of the most unique buildings that I've ever seen. One of the highlights of my day in Florence was going to the Gucci Museum. It was so refreshing to learn about something different than the history of a city, and fashion is something that will always interest me. The best part of the museum was being able to stand next to (and touch...) the gowns designed for some famous celebrities, from Blake Lively to Selma Hayek to Cameron Diaz. Another highlight, and very important part of our day was our lunch. We were standing on Ponte Vecchio taking pictures and enjoying the scenery when I saw a lady who was eating the most amazing sandwich I had ever seen, so I said to my friends, in English,"I wonder where she got her sandwich." And as soon as I said that the lady immediately turned around, and said, in the most American accent, "you wanna know where I got my sandwich?!" Long story short- this lady is from South Dakota, moved to Florence 4 years ago and now runs a bed & breakfast in Florence. After our initial meeting on the bridge, she took us to this famous sandwich shop where we stood in line for about 10/15 minutes, and then got the best sandwich I've ever eaten. For only 5 euro I had a sandwich with turkey, sweet pepper sauce, fresh mozzarella, arugula, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and hot oil...all on freshly baked focaccia bread! The last great thing we did in Florence was visit the Piazza Michelangelo. It's a plaza at the very top of the city, with a view that is indescribable. We went at the perfect time too, because the sun was setting and the sky was orange and purple- it was gorgeous. We ate McDonald's and then caught the 10:05 train back to Rome. 







Saturday was spent exploring the rest of Rome that we had not seen. We made our way over to the Vatican, and went through the museum where we saw things from mummies from egyptian times, to old roman tombs. Unfortunately, the Sistine Chapel was not open on Saturday so we weren't able to go in and see that. The weather was absolutely beautiful so we walked around the side of town that we hadn't been to. We listened to some great live music for a little while, and then left to go find food. We stumbled across this famous pizza place in the back of this narrow street. It was called La Montecarlo, and it was so delicious. We got 3 pizzas and a calzone for lunch- best calzone I've ever eaten in my life! For our last supper in Rome we ate at this family owned restaurant called La Capitele. I had lasagna for my dinner, and the noodles actually were melting in my mouth. Also had the best tiramisu ever for desert. Needless to say it was a great meal, and a great way to end our amazing adventure to Italy. 

I had been wanting to go to Italy since I was a little girl, and actually being there was very surreal. Honestly I liked Florence better than Rome, mainly because the people were much more laid back and there were less people getting in your face to buy this or that. When I got back to Santander on Sunday afternoon, a peaceful feeling came over me- like "ahh, finally! I'm home!" I'm surprised by how quickly Santander has become more like a home to me. I'm going to be so extremely sad when it's time to go back to the US. Spain has become home to me. 

Our group is currently in Barcelona for an excursion, so I will post updates about how fabulous Barcelona is very soon.








Sunday, March 10, 2013

updates

It's been a while since my last post, so naturally there is a lot to catch up on. Going to start by explaining just how wonderful my host mom is. Every other Thursday I go to a local school here to tutoring 4th and 6th graders in english, and we have to be there at 3 in the afternoon, which means that I don't have time to eat lunch with my madre (we usually don't start eating until 2:30ish). So this past Thursday I told her that I wouldn't be able to eat with her, and she told me that she would have some lentils made for me when I got home, and I could eat them before going to the school. But, when I got home she had the whole table set and ready for me to eat- salad, oil&vinegar, water, coffee and desert. All I had to do was put my lentils in the bowl.


Tutoring this week went really well. I love spending time with the students and learning more about the school day/system here in spain. The students that I tutor have at least 5 other classes besides the one they do with us- and this includes another English class. Some of the take french as well. It amazes me how early they start learning foreign languages. I wish that the public schools in the states understood this concept as well; the earlier a student learns a language, the easier it is. Also, the need to know at least one other language is so crucial in today's society. But anyway, back to the students...two of the girls taught Carly and I a little chant (kind of like Miss Mary Mack). It's so cute, and I hope I can remember it to teach people back home! We play a lot of hang man in our classes- the students love it and they learn new english words this way. Regardless of what the activity is I just really enjoy spending time with them. 





Lastly, this past Saturday we had a group trip to Bilbao and a bodega in the Rioja region. In Bilbao we visited the Guggenheim art museum. Definitely one of the most interesting buildings that I've been to, and the art was pretty interesting as well. We were given little telephone like things to listen to the stories behind the art in each exhibit, which definitely made the art come to life more. You couldn't take pictures of the artwork it's self, but I did get some of the building and sculptures outside. 


After the Guggenheim, we had an hour-ish drive to Rioja where we toured the oldest bodega (winery) in Spain. It was definitely one of the most interesting things I've done in Spain, and some of the oldest buildings I've ever been in. The hotel at the bodega was designed by the same architect who designed the Guggenheim museum, Frank Gehry. We got to tour each building at the bodega and see how many steps it takes in making their wine. The wine that is made at this bodega is distributed all over the world- US, France, Austria and all over Spain as well. 








After the tour, we had one of the best meals that I've had since I've been here. 3 full courses of deliciousness. The pictures don't do it justice- a salad with some sort of shell fish, cod with grilled vegetables, and then a chocolate lava cake, and coffee to finish it off!


Needless to say, my weekend was pretty phenomenal. I took a long run this morning, and explored a new area of the town. There is a lighthouse about 20-30 minutes away (jogging) so I decided to go explore that area today- it's absolutely gorgeous, just like the rest of this city, and the best part about it is you can see almost all of Santander because it is at a higher point than where I live. 



Rome is coming up this Wednesday!!!!!!!! Can't wait to finally see Italy. 





Sunday, March 3, 2013

1 month in Spain

Wow. I can't believe that I have been here for a month already- 1/3 of the way finished with what has been an amazing experience so far. I'm really excited that March is already here, because I have trips planned for every single weekend this month. This coming weekend we have a day trip to Bilbao and San Sebastian (i think..), then the next weekend March 13th-17th (long weekend) I will be in Rome with some friends. The next weekend, we will take a group trip to Barcelona, and then finally the last weekend of March my parents, Karin, and Taylor will be here! It is a busy month, but I'm so excited to travel around Spain!

This weekend has been great! I decided not to travel anywhere because it will be my last full weekend in Santander for a while. Today was the perfect weather- sunny, no rain, and a little breeze. So needless to say I spent most of my day outside. This morning I attended my first Spanish-catholic mass. I really enjoyed it, but mainly for the scenery. It was the most beautiful church I've ever been in- and I think it's a pretty typical church for here- nothing fancy to people who actually live here. But to me, everything was so gorgeous- the art and sculptures that were all over the church were so beautiful. I was pretty proud of myself because I was able to understand a lot of what was going on during the service. After church, Carly, Megan, Maggie and myself got some ice cream and snacks and sat along the edge of the sidewalk that runs parallel to the bay, and just enjoyed the beautiful day.

Later on this afternoon we all went to la playa de la Magdalena, which is also where the palace and penguins are. It's a really small beach, but it's our favorite because it has the best view. You can sit on the beach, and look across the bay to snow capped mountains. It's breath-taking.





With all this beautiful scenery, I'm kind of ashamed to admit that the highlight of my day was when my madre made me a grilled cheese. It was absolutely delicious! I told her that usually, at home, I eat them with tomato soup and she told me that she would make it for me for dinner tomorrow night! Yet another reason why I love her.

Friday, March 1, 2013

baby octopus

Finally went to the famous "El Corte Ingles" which is one of their shopping malls here, today with my madre and Jordan. It was pretty awesome. They have everything you could want- clothing, home decor, food, jewelry, shoes, book stores, electronics....the list goes on. Afterwards, my madre and I went to a cafe and enjoyed the BEST calamari I've ever eaten....so delicious. It was a good little outing. I love having bonding moments with my madre and abuela, I feel so lucky to have gotten such a great host family.

So last night, I was introduced to probably the best asian restaurant that I've ever been to. It was a buffet style, but they 2 buffets- one with food that was already prepared and cooked, and the other with raw vegetables and meat that you gave to the chef to cook for you. It's all you can eat for only 10 euro...Not to mention they had a chocolate fountain! <3 They had some really interesting things to try, and one of them was baby octopus. Not the worst thing I've ever eaten, but one of the most chewy things ever.


As if life wasn't already amazing here, I am absolutely loving my 3 day weekends. This is the first time since I've been in college that I don't have class every Friday.