Salamanca

This past weekend ISA took us to El Escorial, Salamanca, and Ávila. It was really great to get to see more of Spain!

Friday we headed out for El Escorial to see where all the Kings and mothers of Kings tombs are housed, along with other royal family members. Walking through the Pantheon within El Escorial and being surrounded by dead royals was a super creepy feeling, yet at the same time pretty cool. The cathedral there was also beautiful, and apparently the wait to get married in it is around 5 years long! At the end of the tour, we stopped in a room that was designed for telling secrets. One person stands in a corner with another person in the opposite corner, and the two can speak into the corners to tell secrets without the rest of the room hearing! Super cool.

El Escorial

The grounds around El Escorial were beautiful and the view was as well. After wandering around the gardens for awhile, we got back on the bus to Salamanca.

When we got to Salamanca we wandered around the city for a little, with Casey's friend that is studying abroad there for the semester as our tour guide. After resting a little bit that evening, we went out to tapas for dinner at a muy barrato place. Since Salamanca is a small town, everything was much cheaper there, which was a very nice change. That night just about everyone from our program went out together to see the nightlife of the University town.

Salamanca!

The next morning we had a tour of the city for 4 hours, but only half of the program made it out of bed. We saw all of the great sights of Salamanca, including one of my favorite Cathedrals and a great view from the top of it of the city.

Tyler, me and Carly

When we first got to Salamanca I noticed that there were frogs everywhere in all the giftshops. On our tour, we found out that there is a frog hidden within a wall, and if you find it you have good luck in your studies! I have always loved frogs so it made me love the city even more.

La rana is on the skull to the left!

Salamanca has the oldest university in Spain, and one of the oldest in Europe. It was cool to see such an old university still very popular and in use! There are around 60,000 students that go there.

An original classroom

While we were touring the upper part of the cathedral, we saw una boda taking place! It was gorgeous, but we all felt kind of weird creeping on it from the top.

La boda!

That afternoon, a few of us went to the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum. The "art" was mainly an odd collection of dolls, and some were actually really creepy! We were pretty speedy getting through the collections, but the museum itself was a beautiful building! The front was made out of stained glass and we were there at sunset, so it was an absolutely gorgeous view.

Stained glass sunset

For dinner pretty much all the girls went for pizza, and we ate in the street to people watch. Later in the evening we all went out again for our last night in Salamanca.

Plaza Mayor

Sunday morning we headed out to Ávila, which is famous for being surrounded by a giant wall. Everyone was very tired and sick of guided tours, so most of us just wandered around while the Spanish tour guide spouted off random facts about the grand wall. Ávila wasn't my favorite place, but the wall was cool!

Ávila wall

The trip overall was very fun and it was nice to get away from the big city feel of Madrid, but it also made me appreciate all Madrid has to offer.

Gypsies

This past weekend had its ups and downs, but I saw a lot of cool sites in Madrid so it was great!

Classes for the semester started last Wednesday, so all the new people in ISA are in town and there are so many more students roaming the halls of Nebrija than the intensive month! Wednesday I tried out a new bar with a couple friends called Gabana. The cool thing there is that Wednesdays are free and throughout the night they have Flamenco performances! I haven't seen any Flamenco up close and personal yet in Spain so I was very excited for this, and the crowd was really into it to.

Thursday afternoon I wandered around Madrid with some fellow ISA-ers and went to a temporary market in Plaza de España. The market had tons of knick knacks and a couple snack stands, so it was easy to spend a good chunk of time there. Later we went to one of my favorite spots, Cien Montaditos, and had some 1€ beers and snacks. I was having a great day and night, even with my post Italian depression, and was ready to go out with friends for the night. Bad idea.

Carnaval is Europe's Mardi Gras, and this past weekend it was happening in Madrid, too. There were tons of people out all weekend, and, therefore, tons of gypsies out, too. Within minutes of dancing at Joy, a discoteca, I reached to slide my purse back in front of me and noticed it was open. And that my iPhone was gone. The next few hours were spent talking to the bouncers at the club, searching for the phone, and filing a report with the police.

While Casey and I were talking to the bouncers, they asked for descriptions of people around us. Apparently, about 10 people had things stolen from them in the same 5 minute time frame that my phone was stolen, and each person described the same 3 eastern european girls that were near them. GYPSIES. I am now fully aware of my surroundings at all times and will never bring valuables out to crowded places again!

Despite the chaos on Thursday, we were still able to make Friday a great day. We went and checked out this really cool site in Madrid, the Templo de Debod. It's a site with Egyptian ruins, and we went at sunset. It was gorgeous! Afterward we went to Mercado de San Anton, a food market were vendors have really nice stands. I got cod on bread, sushi, and chocolate cake for just around 5€ - deal!

Templo de Debod

Mercado de San Anton

Saturday we got up early and started the day at a museum, Matadero Madrid. This museum is a converted slaughterhouse, and totally still looks and smells like one to an extent (ew). The first exhibit we saw was full of weirdly cool inventions. It was free and off-the-wall so it was really interesting! Next we went into a room that looked as if it was one of the main slaughterhouse rooms in the past. Everything had been cleared out and the exhibit inside was just flames all over the walls, super creepy. Casey, Becca, and I all got major chills.

Matadero Madrid

The next couple exhibits we saw were really random, and we realized that the museum was also some sort of art community. I definitely want to go back here when the exhibits have been changed up!

Matadero Madrid empties out right by a park. Since it was Saturday morning, tons of families and little kids were out and about. We listened as a group of toddlers practiced their numbers...and practiced with them...ha. It was a really pretty day at the park!

Super cool slides!

Later in the day Casey, Maya, and I were walking to Sol to watch Madrid's parade for Carnaval, when we looked down to find 50€ on the street! After looking around to make sure no one was searching for their money...we snatched it up and called it our dinner fund! I like to think this was how the world was apologizing for my stolen phone.

The parade was HUGE and very elaborate. There were tons of "floats" and all of the costumes were amazing. My favorite part was when men on stilts walked down the street breathing fire. And when one of the performers saw me in the crowd and came straight up to me to shake my hand! True love at first sight. Then when he walked away he smacked his rear...classy.

Carnaval

My love

Fire breather!

Finally we put our lucky money to good use and went to a nice tapas restaurant. It was our first dinner in Madrid on our own and it was delicious! Fries with a huevo frito on top, fried shrimp andalucia style, and pork chops with an apple onion sauce. Oh, and of course a bottle of house wine too :) We managed to only have to pay about 2,50€ each for the delicious meal! Score!

Casey, me, and Maya

After some more wine at home with our host dad, we topped the night off at a local club, Star Studio. It was the first club in Madrid I've been to that I really got to see the local scene instead of just spending more time with international students, so it was lots of fun!

The weekend was very eventful, and it reminded me that I need to make sure not to travel outside of Madrid every weekend this semester...!

¡Italia! Bologna

Getting to Bologna was definitely not the easiest task of our trip in Italy. We thought it would be - sit on a train for a few hours, then get off at the Bologna stop, right? WRONG.

View from the train of the Italian country side

We took a long distance Italian train from Rome to Bologna, passing through the Tuscany area and Florence. It was gorgeous and very relaxing after the past few busy days in Rome, or so we thought. The train first stopped in Florence, about 2 hours into the trip, for 10 minutes. More people got on so we ended up having to move a couple cars down, not a big deal. Again, wrong. It ended up being a VERY big deal. 30 minutes later, at the stop in Bologna, we got up when everyone else did and headed back to the car with our luggage, then noticed the doors close. We tried to get the conductor to stop the train, but instead he told us to sit down and just get off at the next stop, it was our only option. Four of us sat down, defeated, and realized that one girl managed to get off the train with her luggage within the 2 minute stop, without us.

40 minutes later, we got off at some random small town in Italy and ran to the train that would take us to Bologna. It turns out that this train was a short distance train, and instead of just another 40 minutes back to Bologna, it would take 2 hours. Total nightmare. To top it all off, when the train came there weren't any seats and people were literally squeezing into the doorway, shoving everyone so they could fit. My luggage almost didn't make it, so I shoved my friends (woops), managed to get everything on, and the train took off. The first hour or so we barely had room to stand with two feet on the floor, and the last 30 minutes we finally got seats. Side note, the weekend we were in Italy was the start of Carnaval, which is basically Europe's Mardi Gras. There were random people on the short distance train that were dressed up or had face paint, and all had been drinking. So at least the train was entertaining! There was one guy dressed up as a bloody cat...

When we FINALLY made it to Bologna, our 5th friend had time to shower, nap, and find a good place to eat, so we spent the evening at this whole in the wall Pizzeria that had the best wine and amazing pasta. The staff felt bad for us and didn't speak a word of English so they ended up bringing us lots of free food and drinks. It was a hectic day but a great night, so all was well in Bologna. We tried to find a place that was showing the Super Bowl that night, but the best we could come up with was our hotel room. Sadly for me, all the advertisements were Italian and I didn't get to live up my advertising life :(

Tiny TV for the Super Bowl :(

Bologna is where Tortellini, Lasagna, and Bolognese sauce were invented, so that is what everyone got at all the meals. The tortellini alla bolognese was to die for!

Tortellini alla Bolognese

The next day, our last day in Italy, was very relaxed. We started the day with lunch, wandered around the University, which is the oldest University in Italy, and did a little shopping. Bologna is a fairly small town, so we got a great feel for the authentic Italian life. Later we had crepes filled with gelato and topped with nutella (cardiac arrest, but NOMZ), and stopped by the hotel to get suggestions for dinner. Clearly, our priorities were straight in Bologna.

University of Bologna

For dinner we went to a restaurant called Bolognese - how original. It was underground and probably one of the fancier places we ate at in Italy. The food was superb and the perfect last dinner to have in the trip. We finished off the night at an Erasmus party to check out the University bar scene. Much different than Madrid or Rome due to the small town, but everyone in the bar was having a great time jamming to American classics.

Bologna is definitely the place to go if you want really good food and a relaxing environment. I can't wait to go back to Italy some day!

¡Italia! Roma

This past weekend was the break between my intensive month course and the start of the official semester at Nebrija, so we had a 5 day weekend for traveling. I went with four friends to Italy, flying into Rome and out of Bologna!

Thursday after our finals for the intensive course we all headed to the airport to start our lives as jet setters. A few hours later we arrived in Rome without knowing a single Italian phrase to help us get around. Right away private car drivers approached us to take us to our apartment that we rented for the weekend, and after some ineffective haggling my friends convinced me to go for it. The driver that was taking us could see I was on the fence so he snatched up my bag to "help me" and we were on our way.

Apartment!

So cute

Our apartment was fairly close to the heart of Rome, situated right on a major shopping street. It was late when we got there so right after check in we went on the search for some authentic Italian pasta. The place we found was absolutely delicious, as were all the meals of the trip. Our waiter kind of tricked us into buying an 18€ mozzarella dish, but it was amazing so we didn't really mind. After our pasta, bread, cheese, and wine, we turned into the apartment.

18€ Mozarella

Friday was by far my favorite day in Italy. We started the day early and ended late. First, we walked over to Piazza Navona, a well-known plaza in Rome where tons of artists sell their paintings of the sites of Italy. A couple of my friends bought oil paintings and I had a great time looking at them all. Later in the day I gave in and bought a set of 3 watercolor paintings.

Piazza Navona

The next stop was the Trevi fountain, but we got lost on the way as we didn't speak the language or have a very good map. We didn't mind, though, because we stumbled upon the cutest little gelato shop. I got mint and tiramisu, sooo good, and it basically served as my breakfast for the day. Soon after we were searching for the Trevi fountain again and knew we were close when we heard the water and saw huge crowds of people. We rounded a corner and there it was - this giant, beautiful, famous, yet serene fountain by Michel Angelo. This was my favorite site of the trip because of how we found it and the stories that go with it. It is a wishing fountain, so we all stood in a line and counted to three after making our wishes and throwing euro coins behind our backs into the fountain. Off to the side there is a spot where you can drink the clean water from the fountain and it is supposed to promote good health.

Trevi

Drinking fountain at Trevi

Next we had lunch at a cute little outdoor cafe near the Trevi, where we got wine, bruschetta, and more pasta. I've decided bruschetta is one of my new favorite foods, and that Italians drink wine more than water! The water in Italy was not free by any means, each meal we had to buy it by the bottle (hence all the wine instead). After some more desserts (tiramisu and coffee this time, NOMZ) we ventured over to the Pantheon. Another huge site spotted just after rounding the corner, the Pantheon was full of history. We stood outside taking pictures and within seconds were pounced on by some club promoters inviting us to a pub crawl that night. Typical, because we are clearly American and all Europeans assume that we are down to party. So we went that night :P

Pantheon

Saturday we had a late start to the day, and it was very dreary and rainy outside. My allergies were acting up so it was not the most comfortable day outdoors for me, but it was exciting to go eat more nommy Italian food and gelato. We went over to Vatican city and saw a small museum nearby. After lots of timing confusion, we realized that we missed our chance to go to the more famous Vatican Museum, which was a major bummer. However throughout our confusion we saw tons and tons of catholic nuns headed to mass in St. Peter's Basilica. A very cool, very traditional Italian site to see.

For dinner, we finally had some Pizza! I ordered Diavolo, and it was the spiciest pizza I have ever had. I practically ate the whole thing anyway, it was phenomenal! On the way to dinner we passed by this curious little wall that had random quirky artwork all along it, and we figured out that it was a place artists posted their work for people to buy. It was a very cool, authentic Italian thing to stumble onto!

Art

After dinner we walked around (slowly, and full with pizza) to the Spanish Steps. The street leading up to the site, Via Condotti, was filled with high dollar designers and it was a lot of fun peeking in the windows in such a posh area. When we reached the steps, we were all in awe. The view of the steps was great, but I personally fell in love with the view from the top of the steps, overlooking Rome with the lights of Via Condotti adding a beautiful effect. With the cool breeze in the air and the serenity of the site, I imagined myself moving to Italy and living it Rome, taking this spot as my place to reflect on life and daydream. Basically, this is where I officially fell in love with Rome.

Favorite view

We went to the Trevi Fountain one last time from here, making one last wish and seeing it in all its lit up glory at night. Breathtaking. I wished and threw in a 1€ coin, making sure it would come true :) Our last stop of the night was to get some dessert (duh). On the way, we passed a man roasting chestnuts. This is apparently a fairly popular snack in Italy, because there were street vendors all over selling chestnuts. I've never had a chestnut, so I really wanted to buy just one! The man wouldn't accept my 40 cents so we moved on and had nutella filled crepes instead.

Trevi a la noche

Our final morning in Roma, we headed out to a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. I loved the Colosseum, our guide told us the history of it for an hour and a half! Apparently in the dungeons of the Colosseum they kept "beasts" - lions, tigers, alligators - and would starve them to anger them so they would put on a great show when the beast would eat a servant in front of a packed Colosseum. After the show, Emperors would eat the beast. So barbaric to think about, but interesting all the same. The tour of the Roman Forum was great as well, but I didn't know much about the site before so I kind of had an information overload. But it was still so cool!

Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

Roman Forum 

Finally we went back to our apartment and packed up to head to Bologna by train. An amazing few days! So so so much history is held in Rome, I am very glad I got to spend time there falling in love with it. And the story is, if you make a wish in the Trevi fountain, you are sure to return! Fine with me :)