Lisboa, Portugal

     This weekend was my first time venturing out of Spain.  On Thursday night my friends Natalie, Mary, Catherine, and I took the midnight bus to the capital of Portugal, Lisbon.  Another first for me this weekend was staying in a hostel, I loved it!  The hostel was a convenient location, clean, had other fun visitors, and a friendly staff who helped us make an itinerary of must-see sites.  We decided to embrace the Lisbon way of life by doing our tourist activities in a relaxed manner in order to enjoy what we were doing versus rush to see a hundred different things.  On the first day we took a trolley ride through the central part of the city that passes by some of its key sites like the Sé Catedral.  We accidentally rode the trolley until the last stop (way beyond where we intended), but we wanted to walk back...it ended up being a good mistake because we were able to explore more freely and stop to get some coffee.  I was shocked at how different Portuguese was from Spanish because there are a ton of words that are practically the same, and a ton that are no where near the same.  When we ordered coffee with milk, I'm pretty sure we just got warm milk.  Lisbon is not flat terrain...at one point we were feeling the burn of walking up an 8 block long incline.  On our walk home we also figured out where we would eat dinner that night, an Indian-Italian restaurant.  Strange combination, I know, but we were all very impressed by how delicious our meals were.

      After getting a good nights sleep, enjoying a free delicious breakfast at the hostel, and drinking some much needed coffee, we set out to see the Lisbon neighborhood named Belém.  On the tram ride there I was amazed by a bridge that looked VERY similar to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Even though I've never been to San Franscisco, the scenery - water front, bridge, and rolling green hills - is exactly how I picture San Fran.  At the end of the bridge there was a gigantic statue of Jesus with his arms open, almost embracing the city.  After arriving in Belém, we walked on a path running alongside the river (the river that meets with the Atlantic ocean at the outskirts of Lisbon) that led us to two important monuments.  One was a huge structure of the stern of a ship jutting into the water with famous Portuguese mariners such as Vasco de Gama and Ferdinand Magellan.  It was built in 1960 to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator (famous for his European exploration and trade routes).  A little farther was the tower of Belém.  It's purpose was to defend the Lisbon harbor against foreign attack.  Going into the city more we saw yet another Unesco World Heritage site here, the Monastery of Jerónimo.  I saw a picture of this building on a postcard the day before and really wanted to find it, so I was excited it was also in this neighborhood.  Portugal constructed this monument to honor Vasco de Gama's discovery of India in 1498.  Now, by this time we had gotten pretty hungry, so we stopped at the famous Pastéis de Belém.  This pastry store is praised by the locals and we also were strongly advised to visit it by several people who had been to Lisbon before.  I cam in with high expectations for these pastries and was not disappointed.  Their specialty is pastéis de nata (custard tarts).  According to the guide book, the store turns out about 15,000 tarts on a slow day and their recipe is top-secret, of course.  This small pastry had a perfectly flaky crust and was filled with delicious custard.  I also ordered the best spinach quiche I have ever tasted.  After a satisfying lunch we wandered over to one of the parks to take in some sun.  The weather was incredible, so we just sat in the grass and enjoyed the February sun of Portugal...although I tried to avoid getting a farmer's tan, I have some pretty hilarious tan lines right now but am so happy to be getting color in the "winter"!  While relaxing, we discussed what to venture to next.  The golden gate-ish bridge was so eye-catching that we were dead set on walking across it and see the stature of Jesus.  It didn't tak us long after we started walking towards it to realize this was an outrageous idea, so we just trekked back to the hostel and laughed pretty hard about wanting to cross the river.  For dinner on Saturday we signed up to eat a home-made meal at the hostel, another great choice.  We had a traditional Portuguese dish called Bacalhau (cod fish bake).  It was a great way to experience part of the culture and meet people staying in the hostel.  We sat by 2 Australians living in London, a German, and other Americans staying in Madrid.

  
   The next day we were walking around the center of town trying to figure out what to do for the day because our bus wasn't leaving until 9pm.  We came up with the most brilliant/hilarious idea to tour the center and a neighborhood called Alfama by one of those tourist bus companies.  I laughed so hard when we got on the bus because that is by far the most touristy thing I have ever done in my life.  It was nice though because all of the stops were places I wanted to see anyways and would have taken us a long time by foot and cost more for public transportation each way.  A lot of things we saw on Sunday had historical relevance to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that was one of the most deadliest earthquakes because it was not only powerful, but was followed by a tsunami and fires that destroyed almost all of the capital city.  One monument marks how far the waters reached when the flooded the city (about a 20 minute drive from the shore) and remembers the leader that united that rebuilt Lisbon after such a disaster.  Another monument was the Santa Justa elevator that when lit up at night is very pretty.  Our last stop that we got out and explored was Alfama.  This neighborhood is elevated and has awesome views overlooking the city, water, and castle.  Another neat thing about this neighborhood is that a lot of the buildings are covered in beautiful tiles (azulejos), which I really liked.  

Granada 10

I was so excited for the CIEE trip to Granada that I could barely sleep on Friday night.  Granada, España is located about 3 hours east of Sevilla in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  This was an overnight trip and we were all pretty pumped about getting to stay in a hotel…it reminded me of being in the dorms and was really fun because usually we all split up for meals and can’t walk home or get ready together.  After settling into our rooms and having a buffet lunch (the hotel had custard that was out of this world…or maybe I was just really hungry, haha) we began our guided exploration of the city.  Granada has an incredibly important role in Spanish history, which I will attempt to explain as I go.  First stop, el barrio del Albaicín.  Although this area is now considered a neighborhood, it was once it’s own city during Muslim rule and was able to survive as the Muslim quarter for several decades after the Christian conquest (although there is now only 1 remaining mosque).  The highlight of this area was the incredible view – Mirador de San Nicolás – where you had a view of the white washed city, the Alhambra, and huge snow covered mountains in the background.  We were on a mountain, but it wasn’t tall enough to be snow covered.  While walking to the next destination we stopped at a convent because our guide wanted to show us how the nuns there sell deserts and sweets - something I didn't know before Granada but it very common.  What happens is you knock on this small door that is kind of like a milk chute and on of the sisters will come talk to you, although you can never see her.  You tell her was desert you would like to buy and put the money in the cubby thing that she then rotates and on the other side comes your sweet purchase.  What I was most fascinated by was there was a family that ordered the following (hopefully you can understand the description): when the church cuts the hosts for communion, they have a sheet of the bread that the circles are cut out of...so apparently the remaining part of the this bread sheet is unblessed and also for sale, haha.  

Next we visited the Real Capilla de Granada (royal chapel).  This chapel was commissioned by the Reyes Católicos, Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand, to be their burial site.  Today it houses the remains of Queen Isabel, King Ferdinand, Queen Jauna, King Felipe.  Queen Isabel chose to be buried here because Granada was the last Spanish city they conquered during the Reconquista.  If you look at the marble monument you will notice that Isabel’s head lies deeper into the pillow than Ferdinand’s.  This is meant to symbolize that Isabel had more power in her reign than Ferdninand.  This is definitely a true fact because the queen was the one who was most proactive and made the important decisions.  It was her idea to begin the Reconquista and unite all of the Spanish kingdoms under one religion.  

Queen Isabel on the left, King Ferdinand on the right

Granada took 10 years to conquer and on January 2^nd of 1492, the Muslim ruler handed over the keys to the city (a historical moment that is portrayed in a lot of Spanish art).  It was crazy to imagine how much history had taken place in the city and that we were standing before the remains of the most famous king and queen of Spain.

We finished off our tour of Albaicin by stopping at an authentic Muslim tea shop for some tea and dulces árabes (sweets).  The shop had really neat decorations and our drinks came in individual tea-pots!   

At night we walked down the mountain to the center of the city where there is a large plaza.  One fun thing about the Granada nightlife is you get free tapas when you order a drink.

Sunday we only had one thing on the itinerary, La Alhambra….but that was a big thing to do.  The entire complex was massive; we were there for about 3.5 hours.  La Alhambra is the Muslim palace built during their 700-year rule of Granada and is Spain’s most significant and well-known example of Islamic Architecture.  Obviously, when the Reyes Católicos conquered the city, this became their palace as well.  While touring Alhambra I kept in mind that this was more than just a royal palace, but it was also a city with streets and residential housing.  The first part we visited were the gardens named Generalife – we spent a lot of time taking pictures here.  The gardens were full of fountains, water channels (water is one of the focuses of Islamic religion) and tall shrubs that were perfectly trimmed like walls.  Next we passed through the area were the soldier’s and their families lived.  This area was close to the largest tower of the complex that we were able to go to the top of.  From there we got the best view of Alhambra yet.   After that we saw the most obvious change to the original grounds.  Carlos V, the grandson of the Reyes Católicos, wanted to make his permanent residence at Granada’s Alhambra.  Therefore, he constructed a two story square palace with the center plaza being a perfect circle.  Although the king didn’t spend a lot of time here, he did enjoy a lot of theatrical and musical performances that were held in the circular plaza.  The importance of the fact that it is a perfect circle has to do with the acoustics.  When you stand in the center, your voice is amplified…I tested out the theory by saying something at a normal volume and was shocked at how loud it ended up being.  Finally we visited the Palacio Nazaríes, which is the true palace, and it was gorgeous.  I love how all of the architecture here includes big open-air plazas and incorporates nature as well.  The Muslim plazas especially put an emphasis on water and fountains.  In the main plaza the sun reflected off the water and made the palace sparkle, one of its intentions (it also functions as a way to naturally provide light to the surrounding rooms).  Again, to put history into context, one of the rooms were in was the very same one where Christopher Columbus proposed his idea to Queen Isabel (everyone else said he was crazy) that the world was not flat and he could sail to Indies…and thus began the expansion of Isabel’s Spanish empire.  

Overall I had a blast at the Granada trip.  It was fun going with CIEE and I met a bunch of new people who are in my program ( I could probably meet someone new everyday and still not know everyone…there are about 250 kids in our specific Liberal Arts program).  

23rd Birthday

After my classes on Thursday I took a tour of the Museo de Bellas Artes.  The Museum of Fine Arts is considered the second most important art gallery in Spain because it houses a significant amount of religious themed paintings that were hidden and preserved throughout the Muslim rule.  One of the reasons why religion is such a common and important theme here is that many people who were illiterate learned about the story of the religion and faith through these paintings.  The building of this museum actually used to be a convent so the architecture was very different than a standard building.  There were 3 main patios and also a part that used to be the actual church.  The church was incredible because the ceiling was art itself – it had paintings of biblical scenes as well as designs related to the kings and queens of Spain.  My favorite paintings were the more contemporary ones because the reflected the culture of Sevilla.  There were several that depicted scenes from the processions of Semana Santa or the festivities of Feria.  Others showed toreros (bullfighters) in their traditional outfits.  I will briefly explain the historical significance of 2 other paintings.  First is a picture of the Tabacalera (tobacco plant).  The fábrica de tabaco was once a main source of income for Seville and it’s supplies came from America.  Many women worked here by either grinding up the tobacco or rolling it into cigars.  Today, this famous building is actually the Universidad de Sevilla!  So the university building where I have one of my classes has a very different function in the history of the city.  The other painting I want to explain is of the barrio (neighborhood) known as Triana.  Seville is a city with a population of 800,000.  The city is divided into a variety of these neighborhoods and smaller towns surrounding the outskirts of the city.  A majority of the students live in Triana, los Remedios, Puerto Osario, or el Centro (where I live).  Originally, Triana was the neighborhood where all of the gypsies in the city lived, so the painting shows their houses along the Guadalquivir River.  

Fábrica de Tabaco

Triana

Thursday night, my friends here helped my celebrate my 23^rd birthday!  Although my birthday wasn’t actually until Friday, we needed to wake up really early on Saturday to visit Granada so we decided to celebrate if Sevilla a day early.  As I mentioned before, homestay students are scattered throughout the different neighborhoods, so we generally like to meet up at one our favorite landmarks – Torre de Oro (where the gold brought back from America was supposedly stored) – before going out.

My program offers us the opportunity to be in an interest group, where we meet and do activities as a group related to our theme and also take a trip together.  Naturally, I signed up for the sports interest group.  We had our first activity on Friday morning, biking!  There are about 25 of us and we all got to ride bikes around Sevilla with a guide, it was an absolute blast!  The route was one of the most interesting rides I have ever been on...we going so slow and stopping so often that I definitely would not have considered it exercise though.  We started out near the river and then crossed the bride into Triana.  From there we took over the street named Calle Betis in Triana (it was fun but hectic with all of us biking through main areas of the city).  This street is well known because it has many bars and restaurants right along the Guadalquivir River.  We then made our way Maria Luisa park, home of Plaza de España and Plaza de America (where the museum of archeology and customs are).  The park is massive and each turn reveals something beautiful.  I have been there a few times already, but we took a route with fountains and gazebos that were new to me.  At one point when we were stopped to learn about one of the sights, everyone sang happy birthday to me!  Everyone in my interest group is nice and I had so much fun snapping pictures and laughing while riding cruising through the city.  After “exercising” almost all of us decided we needed to enjoy a treat, so we got ice cream cones from McDonalds and ate them sitting by the river.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I loved being able to soak up the sun for a while before heading home for lunch. 

Friday night I went to birthday dinner with a couple of my friends at a rooftop restaurant!  There was rumor about this restaurant and we made plans instantly when saw it on our bike-ride .  The restaurant is right on the corner of Calle Betis and one of the Triana bridges, so it overlooked the river.  The view was incredible.  You could see the Cathedral, La Giralda, and Torre de Oro all light up - pictures could not do it justice.  Remember that the Spaniards primarily eat/share tapas (smaller servings of food and you are supposed to get several different types) instead of dinner plates like in the US.  We chose some of our favorites: croquetas, a pork dish, asparagus revuelto (asparagus with a bit of scrambled eggs), and a glass of wine.  For desert we stopped at the most famous chocolate churros stand in Sevilla.  Churros = fried pastry dough, similar to funnel cakes, that you dip into a cup of thick chocolate, needless to say they are delicious.

Córdoba

On Friday night my friends and I decided to go to a bar called La Carbonería to see some live flamenco in a fun environment.  Before going we all went to a restaurant near our school to get tapas for dinner.  The tapas I had were delicious:  tortilla de patata (made of egg and potatoes - a dish typical of Sevilla and one I eat in my homestay as well) and spinach croquetas (hard to explain, but kind of like spinach and cheese in a ball with a fried breading on the outside).  We were very excited to go to the Carbonería and the place was crowded with local Sevillanos.  The flamenco show was traditional with a dancer, singer, and guitar player, but was a very different type of dance than I had seen during orientation...remember that flamenco is not just the dance, but either of the 3 parts by themselves, in a pair, or all together.  Since the environment here is more casual, some of the flamenco is improve and less strictly bound by traditional flamenco.  I had a blast here!

Natalie, Andrea, Dominique

Alison, Courtney, and I 

On Saturday I got up bright and early to go on a day trip with our program to Córdoba, a city in Andalusia about an hour and a half northeast of Sevilla.  When we stepped off the bus I was instantly impressed by the Puente Romano bridge crossing over the Guadalquivir River.  The river is just as important to this city as it is to Sevilla - in the past it has been essential for transportation, trade, and as a water supply.  After crossing the bridge we began our tour of the city.  The first stop was the Jewish barrio to see one of the only remaining synagogues.  The importance of this synagogue is the fact that it remained with the original architecture and decoration throughout the Christian rule (where no religion besides Christianity was tolerated).  We then passed through some narrow streets to the Zoco - a market where lots of leather and silver pieces are sold, which are both typical products of the city.  Our guide explained that Córdoba also is known for its beautiful patios.  In fact, there is a festival where everyone opens up their doors so neighbors and community members can walk in and see their patio and then vote on who has the best patio in the city.  People here still take a lot of pride in grooming beautiful patios and decorating them with geraniums and fountains.  Next was the Alcázar of Córdoba.  Like in Sevilla, this is the royal palace where the king and queen would stay...although we were all biased and think that the Alcázar of Sevilla is better, this was definitely very beautiful and had large gardens with towers that you could climb up to get a better view of the area.  The palace was built over the same land that was once a Roman building because they had one part of the floor opened up so you could see the Roman pillars beneath (the palace was constructed about 30 feet above the floor of the building before it).  Then, lunch time!  My friends and I went to sit outside at a restaurant and ordered a delicious four cheese pizza.  We soaked up the sun and relaxed before meeting with our group to tour the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba.

You really can't go anywhere in Spain without seeing the Muslim - Christian mix of influences and construction.  The site was originally a Visigoth Christian Church turned mosque turned cathedral.  It was a little surreal when I first walked in because there are a copious amount of distinct arches that I vaguely remember learning about either in a Spanish class or an art/humanities class.  The building had also been expanded several times and there were vary obvious changes that signified the end of one era and the beginning of another.

As of late

Since my last post I have been busy with the start of my regular class schedule.  I am taking 3 classes at CIEE (the name of my program) – Spanish for Health Professions, Contemporary Lit, and a Flamenco culture class.  My 4^th class, Spanish Cinema, is at the actual University of Sevilla!  …but it is with other study abroad students. The University building used to be a tobacco factory in the 1700s and is HUGE with multiple patios and marble staircases.  It even has a mote around the perimeter of the building (I’m not sure why).  We all got maps of the layout, but I still got a little turned around on the first day.  I am excited to be in a class at the University because I like being in the environment where actual Spanish kids our age are studying as well.  Also, for the first time ever I don’t have Friday classes!!! and it is amaaazing. 

Thursday night my friends and I went to a place where there was a live band playing!  That was really fun even though we didn’t know any of the words, haha.

Since I didn’t have class Friday, I decided to venture out and see some of the sites around Sevilla.  First I went to the Seville Archaeological Museum.  As you can imagine, there were lots of artifacts from archeological discoveries…sometimes those types of displays can get boring, but this museum definitely was not.  That is because there were also several rooms dedicated to Roman antiquities found near Itálica!  In have learned a lot in the past about Roman sculptures, architecture, and tablets, so it was great to be able to see these things in person.  I was most impressed by the size of the sculptures; most were way bigger than a normal human – for example, one statue’s leg was almost as tall as me.  It also takes a lot of talent to be able to carve marble so perfectly and smooth the surface without modern day tools.  

Next I made my way across the street to the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs.  This was interesting because it had a lot of cultural artifacts – instruments, pottery, posters, coins - from the past and explained their importance to Sevillanos (people from Seville).  Another great thing about both of these museums was the buildings they were in.  I walked up and was in shock at how beautiful the area was.

Also right near there is an area of the park dedicated to las palomas (doves).  There were SO many doves with kids chasing after them and feeding them…it was neat to see, but I kept my distance because they’ll just go right up to people and practically sit on their shoulder. 

This week I finally got to play some fútbol!  I’ve been anxiously waiting to be able to play in the country where they are so dedicated to soccer.  The fields were….interesting…because it was pretty much sand/dirt and absolutely no grass, but we were able to play full field.  I am still sore 4 days later. 

Finally, I started learning the art of Flamenco dancing!  Flamenco is an essential part of Sevilla’s culture, and is much more than just dancing (which is what I am learning about it my culture class).  It represents southern Spain’s history and people through the combination of dance, song, guitar, and clapping.  My host mom is actually a Flamenco teacher so she is letting me come to her classes twice a week for free.  This style of dancing is nothing like ballet or any other sort of dance I have taken in the US, but luckily some of the steps and concepts are similar to the salsa dancing I learned in Oaxaca otherwise I would be totally lost.  We are rehearsing a particular combination that is specific to Sevilla and it’s spring festival known as Feria.  I’m hoping I will be able to catch on enough to at least know partly what I am doing by the time Feria begins. 

That’s all that I’m going to put in this post…but I’ll be writing another one shortly because I have to tell you about my weekend!

Jerez y Senderismo

Another successful weekend in Spain!  On Friday I took my grammar final to finish up the intensive grammar course...it's a great feeling to already have 3 credits done!  To celebrate I went with a couple friends on Saturday to visit the González Byass - Tio Pepe Bodega (bodega = vineyard) for a wine tasting and tour.  The bodega is located in Jerez, which is about an hour and a half south of Sevilla.  We opted for the tour in English.  First we walked around the grounds.  One of the building was designed by the same architect that thought of the Eiffel Tower and past kings and queens of Spain have visited there!  We also saw where they store the wine and brandy in huge stacks of barrels...there is a complicated process ensuring that it is properly cared for to make the best products that I can't even begin to describe.  Next we got to ride on a little train (SO fun) around to another part of the grounds.  The González Byass company makes many different types of wines, but specializes in sherry and a brandy that is made specifically from the sherry wine...they export their products to over 100 different countries.  Jerez is famous for these bodegas because they have the perfect combination of climate and soil to grow the grapes.  One funny thing we saw was a wine glass with a tiny ladder leaned against eat...apparently they encourage the mice to drink the wine as well, although we didn't see any.  After learning about the process of harvesting the grapes and processing/storing the wine, we got to try the world famous Tio Pepe sherry.  First impression = strong!  You could only sip a little bit at a time...it was a fun experience, but I don't think I would order it otherwise.  We also got tapas of jamón serrano (the iberian ham that they love) on bread, cheese, and chips.  Our guide then let us try a different wine that was definitely more of a desert wine because it was extremely sweet.  After visiting the bodega we walked around the town of Jerez and decided to soak up some sun in the central plaza of the city....the weather was amazing!  You could really feel the difference of being further south, but Sevilla is supposed to be that warm pretty soon : )

On to Sunday: in addition to mentally preparing for the Superbowl - GO Packers - I spent the day hiking in the Sierra Norte.  The hiking excursion was a trip planned by my program, so there were about 40 other kids and a couple guides.  Again, the weather was amazing and I was overdressed.  It was an all day excursion, 9am - 7pm, and was surprisingly intense.  The views were incredible and it hardly felt like we were in Spain...the landscape was a lot of green rolling hills, sheep grazing, and small farming houses scattered throughout.

There was also a river that we hiked along.  When we needed to cross the river to get to the second half of our hike, we literally crossed through river!!  The bridge that we were supposed to use was broken (hopefully not just a joke played on us by the guides) so we rolled up our jeans, took off our shoes and got in the water.  It was SO icy cold that when my feet were in the water I could feel my heart pounding.  The "shallow" part we were crossing was also up to my knees so my jeans were soaked.  like I said, intense, but a great story.  After our moment of extreme hiking, we stopped to take a break and eat our bocadillos (sandwiches).  We spent a good amount of time relaxing in the sun and one of the guides told us that we should take advantage of Spain's best invention, the siesta, haha.  After resting up and drying out, we began the climb back.  It was a circular route so the path was entirely different, and entirely up hill.  On the bus ride home I took a much needed nap because I am about to eat dinner soon and then go to the bar Tex Mex to watch the Packers.  It was 15 euro to reserve a seat there!  pretty pricey, but worth it considering there's no way I would be able to see the game otherwise...it also starts at 12:30 our time, so luckily I don't start classes until 11 tomorrow.

Chao,
Elizabeth

Reales Alcázares de Sevilla

Alcázar is the name of the palace where Spanish kings and queens of the past and present stay while they are in Sevilla.  Originally constructed during Muslim rule, the royal houses were converted into a Christian palace after the Conquista.  The overall architecture is considered a mix of Christian and Arabic influences including lots of shapes, lions, and castles incorporated into the details of the mosaics and stucco wall designs.

In addition to the beautiful palace, the royal gardens were a sight to see.  I was not expecting the gardens to be so extensive, especially because they are protected and kind of hidden behind the palace.  There were water fountains, the royal baths, statues of Greek gods, different walkways, flowers, orange trees and even a maze!  As I learn more about Sevilla and visit the historical sights, I am continually surprised by how incredible everything is...I never know what to expect and always love the results.  Also, it is interesting to see the different effects of Spain's history on the city - the mix of Muslim and Christian architectural influences both here and at the Catedral is one example.