Priego & Baena...woop woop

Currently I am traveling in Barcelona but before I even get into that I'm gonna go ahead and update you on LAST weekend...

Since I've committed (to myself) to try to travel all the rest of my weekends here in Spain last weekend I headed to some towns close to mine. I just have too much to see and not enough time! I wanted to check out these small towns nearby partly to see some new sites but also to visit some friends that I've made along the way (here in Spain).

I did stay in Lucena that Friday night (the first in a while) and went out with some friends but only until the early hour of 4am. That next morning I had to catch a bus to the first town- Baena. It took about an hour + to get there by bus but it really isn't that far away in car...but since i dont have a car here, well buses have become my very good friend. When I eventually arrived to this pueblo I met up with my friend and her roommate. We headed back to her place to chat for a while and it was great because I was actually able to use big and complicated words again haha. I mean when I teach english its not like it makes any sense to use any complicated lingo so I dial it down to be able to communicate but it was just nice to be around some girls that I could have some really intelligent convos with...minus the few blonde moments I had.

That day we just walked around the town but amazingly enough ended up headed to all 4 major grocery stores in the town- and ALL by foot- that IS an accomplishment. We did run into some people that my friend knew and even had a tag along, haha well a friend we ran into, after leaving the 3rd grocery store and she stayed with us the rest of the night. These girls were great and what was also really cool to me was that they were from all over, Texas, Kansas and Germany...oh plus me from Washington!!! The day was really just spent chatting and laughing our butts off at random stuff and by the end of the day my face was hurting from smiling so much. A very good sign. We had some great quotes but one of my favorites was from Claire, "you know, its like they say, its like a blueberry in red soup...or something like that" (comparing Austin to the rest of TX). Appetizing no?

That night we also went to a nearby bar to watch a soccer game and have some tapas. That was then, of course, followed by more going out...like always. It was amazing to me but this small town had more night life than Lucena but I was glad cuz it made for a great night out. I got to practice some of my latin dance steps and meet some more new people. I think I ended up going home around 3am since I had to get up around 10 to catch a bus to my next destination. Normally I would have stayed out later despite my travels the next day but since I had gone out the past 2 night until early hours and had got about 11 hrs of sleep between the 2, well I thought it was best to get some rest so I could at least function.

My next adventure was Priego. I also met up with a friend there, from Oregon actually, and then I also had some spanish friends (from Lucena) meet me there too. Priego is known to be a very pretty town so I got some great pictures from there. They have a lot of the traditional white houses with the flower pots hanging along the walls...I've been having numerous internet problems but now they're fixed so I will get the pics up in no time (fingers crossed!).

We also got a chance to check out the castle they have there. Its not very big but I mean castles are always cool and I never refuse a chance to check one out. I have to mention that while we were walking through and checking things out my friend turned around and told me "you've got castle on you" haha...I had been taking a picture and leaned up against the wall...getting castle on my jacket. Another great quote from the weekend. One other thing to mention- in the castle they actually had old canons lying around...made of stone. Super cool.

Another main attraction in Priego is this fountain. In the middle of the fountain is Zeus or Neptune or something like that...I'm guessing Neptune because it was in the middle of the fountain/water. Then around the insides of the fountain were different faces. I am told that there are supposed to be 360 faces and they're ALL different. Its really quite pretty and the town in general is worth checking out if you're anywhere nearby.

After a few hours in Priego, we had pretty much seen everything and headed home. I got a ride from my friends that met me there so it was MUCH easier and way less time than taking the bus...I think it only took us about 30 min to get back. So my advice is take a car if you have one. After we got back I stayed at my friends for a little bit and then met up with my Spanish mom, Elena, and THEN eventually got back home.

Other than the norm of working and not going to my pilates classes (ugg I'm getting lazy!) I had to prep for my parents arrival. They got here this week on Wednesday so I had to make sure the house was ready for them and just to make sure they'd get to my place safely. Luckily everything worked out great and they got here with no problems. Not even any run ins with gypies haha. That night we went out with my friends Teresa and her husband Rafa for a WONDERFUL dinner at Tres Culturas (a great restaurant in Lucena). They got a chance to try all sorts of typical spanish food and they loved it.

After arriving they basically had minimal time to rest because we just had too much to do. The next day we were to go on a field trip so we had to get up early...they've been coping well with all the traveling...thus far ;) We actually went on a field trip with some of the older students to a research facility in Cordoba and then to a brewery! We went to the Alhambra factory and learned a little bit about how the beer is made, saw a tour of the factory and even got some gift bags from them in the end. Always fun to visit a brewery. We got back and only had a few hours before we had to catch a bus to Malaga, why? We were going to catch a plane early the next morning to BARCELONA! Which brings us to now. We are currently in the lively city of Barcelona and its wonderful! I will post more about this trip in another post after we've seen a few more things but I just have to say this city is fun. I can see why everyone loves it. So keep you eyes open for the next post!

I love castles

Suppose you are wondering where I've been hiding since I keep lacking on the posts...we'll see if I'm able to keep up because I'm going to be traveling and MIA for about the next month as well...

Just to get us all on the right track...this weekend I did end up traveling and had a crazy, fun-filled weekend with some really great people. First off, I finished work on Thursday but was running around like a crazy person because i still had a class in the evening, needed to take a shower, pack my bags and get to the bus station. Luckily I made it on time to the THAT bus, no problem, and made my way up to Cordoba. Why? I had to go catch the train to Madrid- I loved that train! Only about 1hr 45min later I was in Madrid! It was already late and my friend just came to pick me up, we went to her place, hung out, slept (well only a few hrs, we didn't go to bed until like 3am!) and at 7am the next morning to go catch a bus to Salamanca.

SALAMANCA


I'm not sure if you've ever head of Salamanca but its famous for the University there. The town itself is relatively small but full of college students so it has a great atmosphere. I ended up meeting with a friend in Salamanca and together we explored the town. We checked out the cathedral, the convent, the university, the big plaza they have and a lot of the rest of the town. We even went to the wall of the university and I found the frog! Let me quickly tell you the story behind that... There is this wall of the university and all the new students, on their first day, are supposed to find  this little frog that is somewhere on the wall (will about a million other little sculptures). If you find it, its good luck and you'll graduate...or something like that. I was told that the frog was added to the wall by some students a long time ago and now its just turned into a tradition that when you go you HAVE TO find the frog. Therefore if you visit you will see an overabundance of frog related souvenirs. Its actually pretty hard to find especially because its now old and so the sculpture has been worn down. With all of that tho I still managed to find the frog! go me!

wall w/ the frog...

in front of the "wall of shells"

The town is pretty cute but its more a town to see at night because that's when all the students come out and when things really get busy. I ended up staying the night there so I was able to see some of the nightlife there and also meet some great people. I stayed at this great hostel, Revolutum Hostel, and staying in the same room as me were 2 girls from northern Spain and an Italian man. After chatting in the room for a little bit we all went out for tapas.



Now originally I wasn't going to go out that night since I had an 8:30am bus to catch, but now with my Spanish mentality i figured, what the heck, why not? We hopped around to a few different tapas bars and ended up at this bar next to the Plaza Mayor. It was  actually really fun because when you get in it seems like a normal bar but if you walk to the back you can see there are these two big doors that open into something. What the bar does is they wait until the bar starts to get really full, then they open the doors into this dance floor type area. The night we were there they had these 2 girls and guys basically dressed in underwear and dancing on this small stage. They were dressed in red and white for Valentine's day and even before they went up on stage they gave out red carnations to everyone. It was great! Also, not only were there people basically in their underwear dancing around, there was a guy there dressed in a chicken suit. Yep- i'm serious. He was there with a group of guys for his bachelor party so I suppose the chicken costume was appropriate lol












So after some dancing and meeting new people I decided to head back to the hostel- it was already 3am...and i had to get up in less than 5 hours. Not to mention I did the same thing the night before-LUCKILY my bus rides between the towns I visited were all over an hour so I had some time to nap :)

SEGOVIA
I got up the next morning, ended up having to run half the way to my bus and made it just in time. This next part of the journey was to Segovia. Let me just start off saying- just go to Segovia! It was amazing and I absolutely loved it. To educate you a little bit on what all is in Segovia, they have:

-Alcázar (a big, real castle; its said to be the inspiration of Walt Disney's Cinderella castle)
-el Acueducto (the long wall type structure made SOLEY of stones- no cement or anything; it was used to transport water from the mountains into the town...pretty amazing I have to say)
-the hostel where Antonio Machado lived for about 6 years (he's a famous poet, writer from Spain)
-a huge synagogue, cathedral and convent
-and did I mention a CASTLE?!?!? i just had to mention it again because its awesome

This town was just TOO cute and I loved every minute of it. I ended up going on a tour of the castle (well worth it but if you only speak English then just get the audio tour guide) so I learned lots about the castle, how it worked, what certain rooms were used for, etc. Interestingly enough, the royal people who had castles tended not to live in them or they only lived in a small section of them. Why? Because the castle is HUGE and cold, its much easier just to live in a different area (or sometimes completely different, smaller castles) and just use the majority of the castle when entertaining guests. The castle really was freezing though so I completely understand. I also had the opportunity to go up to the top of Juan's tower. I think I would compare climbing those stairs to climbing a small mountain, my legs were sore for DAYS after that (oh i need to work out my poor calves more!). I mean each stair was about 2 feet tall so it just killed my legs...and everyone else's too. *Below is a video from the top of the tower*

Besides the castle and the amazing Aqueduct they have my two other favorite things there were the pension where Antonio Machado stayed AND the restaurant where I ate. To start, I went on this tour of the pension (its only in Spanish but I recommend it if you understand some spanish) and it was just great. Everything was left as it was, including newspaper clippings from the 1930's. We learned about the history of his life including the people he knew (Picasso and other famous artists/writers/etc), his love life (he married a woman who was 18, he was 34ish, she died 3 years later, a while after he had a "love affair" with a married woman but only through letters and it lasted 7 years!), and about his death (he moved to France when the war started in Spain, died there no too much after that and 3 days after he died his 80 year old mother passed away; he is buried in the South of France with his mother). So we learned a lot of interesting bits about his life and it was absolutely great.

Now to tell you about the restaurant I ate at. I love food, this is obvious, but this place was EXQUISITE. I was just looking for somewhere to eat and typically I dont like to eat in the center of the town where there are large groups of tourists, so I walked around to find a place "off the beaten path." I saw this restaurant next to the convent in Segovia (on the street to the left of the front of the convent) called "la Panera." The place wasn't very big but it was completely full inside. I just hungry so I decided to stay instead of wandering around to look for somewhere else. I ended up just eating at the bar since I was there by myself and didn't want to wait for a table. *Just as a side note, I was told by EVERYONE that in Segovia you HAVE TO try cochinillo (pig) because its just THE food of Segovia, so that was my mission there* I decided to order the "menu" (which in spain is a 3 course meal- if you get it I swear you will leave 5lbs heavier) because I wanted to try the cochinillo but also something else in addition. In all I order "Judiones de la Granja," "cochinillo asado" and "manzana la panera." Here are some pics to give you an idea of what they all are:

Judiones de la Granja (large beand w/ morcilla, chorizo, and other meat)

Cochinillo asado (small pig w/ fried skin, potatoes)

Manzana la Panera (pastry dough wrapped around an apple and then baked)

I'm telling you- my first bite out of EVERY dish was heavenly. I fell in love with the food there and would go back just to eat there! Now just as a warning, any place you go to get cochinillo will be pricey because they're famous for. My meal was 24euro (about average in Segovia) but WELL worth it! My mouth is watering just thinking about it...

BACK TO MADRID

Moving on from yummy food, I stayed pretty busy all day and walked all over the town (I'm hoping I worked off maybe 1/4 of the calories from that meal! haha). That evening I headed back to Madrid to meet up with my friend and go out. I got back around 9pm and from there we had some dinner (even though I was still stuffed from lunch!), got ready and met up with her friends...around 2am. From there we headed out to a club where we stayed at until about 6am. There are some more crazy stories that go along with that night but you'll just have to ask me directly to hear about those ;)

Needless to say, we got home late (around 7am) and just passed out. The next day we woke up...around 4pm. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem except that day I had a train that left at 2pm. Oopps! Well, hmm, then I had to figure out how I was going to get back to Lucena because I had work the next day. Fun. LUCKILY I had remembered that there's a bus that goes back (directly) to Lucena and would leave later that night...much later- midnight. So I had the rest of the day to nap and hang out with my friend-yay! So that night about a quarter after 11 I headed out to go catch the bus. Little did I know that it would take me almost exactly 45min to get to the bus station...wouldn't have been a problem except my bus was to leave AT midnight! So I got to the ticket counter with 2 minutes to spare until my bus left. I bought my ticket, RAN to the bus and got on literally JUST in time. I think the bus driver was a little irritated with me bus I was just happy to have made the bus.
Well to end the weekend, I got back to my apt at 6am…only to have work 4 hours later. I was wide awake though so I talked with my mom and Mike a bit on Skype and then took a nap before having to wake up and go to work (I had slept on the bus so it wasn’t a big deal). So to finish, the weekend was crazy and busy and I’ll pretty much be doing the same every weekend from here on out until June… fortunately for my I don’t have too crazy of a work schedule so I should be able to manage all this traveling without going to nuts.

This weekend I’m headed to some towns nearby to see some friends and then next weekend…my parents will be here and we’re traveling almost every minute of every day. We’ll see when you hear from me next haha.

Alright doctor, whatever you say

I've seriously been lacking on posts for the last two weeks! This last week I was stricken down by sickness and have been spending the last 4 days in my house, sleeping and drinking tea, oh yea and watching some tv. Not only have I been barricaded in my house, alone and sick, I've also been having numerous internet problems. Great timing when all I could do was sit inside my house and do nothing.

Anyhow I'm feeling a little better now, I went to the doctors yesterday AND Thursday to get some meds (thursday for a cough and monday for a HORRIBLE head cold). Now that I have a own small pharmacy in my house I should be back to normal in no time. And well, I have to get better because I need to get back to my travels. This weekend I'm headed to Salamanca and Segovia! There are two towns just Northwest of Madrid. In Segovia they have a castle, which as I'm told, was the inspiration of Cinderella's castle. And who doesn't love castles anyways? So I'm excited and hopefully all these drugs from the doctor will give me enough energy to be able to sight see for a few days.

Let´s take it back to the good ol´ days

Well I’ve been, yet again, internet problems so this post is coming a little late. I wanted to tell you about the weekend and what I was up to! It was actually a pretty mellow weekend since my previous plans were changed (I completely messed up the dates!). I did manage to hear about a medieval market/festival going on in Cordoba, the biggest city in the province of Cordoba and only about an hour away by bus. Before going I didn’t really know what to expect because I’d never been to a medieval anything and all I knew was what I had seen on TV. So I basically thought everyone would be dressed up and pretending like they were living in the middle ages…but my friends were kind enough to give me a heads up that there would actually be “normal” people there so I wasn’t to worry. 

My friend and I got there late afternoon and just started exploring. I actually was starving and did what I KNOW I should never do- eat the first thing I find. I saw some Spanish empanadas (thick pastry dough with different fillings) and thought- I WANT ONE. Well the lady ended up giving me a ½ kilo (1 pound) because that was the “minimum” or something…Although I’m usually able to eat whatever is in front of my face, I’m trying this new thing now where I just eat until I get full and then…just guess…I stop eating. I know it sounds crazy and very un-American but since I’m not in America I figure it’s worth a try. Anyhow it also means my stomach has shrunk so I was only able to eat about a fourth of the empanada (plus I wasn’t in love with the one I bought and started to get sick of it) and just tossed the rest. Yes- sad I know. 

So we continued to walk around, taking pictures of all the medieval style stands and disguised workers. We even made it over a “magic” hut where a guy was selling hot white wine and “magic” sangria. Both delicious. The magic sangria, I have to say, was my favorite. The magic man put some dry ice in the drink so it was bubbling and smoking- very cool effect!

We also made our way over to some medieval music, or what I assumed to replicate medieval music. The best part of it was this little kid on his dad’s shoulders and nodding his head to the music…too cute!

 

 

Next stop in the event- getting a picture with the swordsmen! They just seemed to be hanging out and they looked like they had real swords so why not, right? A little awkward when there became a line of children to also get pics with them but that didn’t stop us :) 

So at that point we had almost made it about half way around the market but we still had a ton of stuff to look at. We checked out a lot of the stands, selling jewelry, candles, hats, house decorations, etc. And of course as we were searching around the market, it started to rain. Everyone ran for cover because most people hadn’t brought an umbrella, which I find was a good thing considering 

Spanish people + crowded spaces + umbrellas= disaster and tall people (like us) getting poked in the eye

After the rain stopped and we saw no more umbrellas out to harm us, we headed back out in search for some goodies. While walking we saw a man dressed in medieval clothes with a hawk on his arm. He would let it fly onto the roof of a stand nearby and then have it fly back. This worked well until this hawk flew over and on top of a hanging tv (of a bar) and couldn’t seem to get down…this caused a little bit of commotion but after a few minutes he got the bird down- YAY! I later talked with my friends and they said they always have those guys at all the medieval festivals (there are medieval festivals in many towns all over but at different times of the year). We kept looking around at the shops of gifts and gadgets, one guy was even doing glass blowing. We eventually headed back to one shop where we bought some candles and other items- I can’t tell you more because they’re a present for my boyfriend ;)

Before we left we headed back to our favorite “magic” man for some hot white wine and before we made it over, we were stopped by a small parade of people heavily dressed up in costumes similar to what you would think would be in a medieval fairy tale. The costumes were actually really impressive and can’t wait to get the photos from my friend (my camera had started spazzing out earlier). We eventually made it to the stand and then had to head out to catch the last bus. We only spent about 4 hours there but I was very tired by the end.

just look at this girl's hair...

Of course my night didn’t end there because it’s Spain, and despite how tired you may be, there are places to go and people to see! I just went out for some tapas and then met up with my other friends for a midnight movie. And my FIRST Spanish movie! Well actually I’ve seen movies in Spanish but only for Spanish classes and all had subtitles (usually in Spanish). I went to see “mas alla de la vida”…translated to “Hereafter”. The movie was really good and I was very proud of myself for going to see it. I understood most everything although it was confusing at times because some parts of the movie were in French and with Spanish subtitles… this just added to the challenge. 

The rest of the weekend was relaxing as it will be one of my few relaxing weekend left in Spain. I now have about 4 months left in Spain and of that I only have 4 “free” weekends. The rest all have plans for traveling! So I will be busy, busy, busy! We’ll see how much I update my blog when that starts. Like always I’ll keep you updated on my travels with pics and some postings!