Madrid y Salamanca

Wow, time really does fly when you’re having fun. It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in Spain for a month and a half and that I have less than 3 months left. These last two weeks, I was able to travel with friends (and classmates) to Madrid and Salamanca.

For those who don’t know, Madrid is the capital of Spain and while there, I was able to visit the Royal Palace (El Palacio Real) as well as two of the most renowned art museums in the world, El Prado y La Reina Sofia.

The Royal Palace

It was amazing to walk through the same building where countless royals have grown-up. Although we weren’t allowed to take pictures, I’ll forever remember walking through the royal halls. Nearly every room had magnificent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and gorgeous paintings were everywhere. However, I think the best part was seeing the scepter and crown the Spanish kings hold/wear at their coronations.  

La Reina Sofia and El Prado:

El Museo de la Reina Sofia is filled with thousands of works including some by famous Spanish artists including by Miró, Goya, Picasso, and many more. I think my favorite was seeing Guernica by Picasso and his other works that were there. After visiting La Reina Sofia, we then went to El Museo del Prado. I have never seen so many amazing works of art in my life! And they were all at the same place. At the Prado, there are works by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Rembrandt, and even “the other Mona Lisa” that was probably painted by DaVinci. Wow, they were all so incredible and I can barely draw flowers!

The second city: Salamanca. Home to beautiful cathedrals, one of the oldest Universities in Europe, a gorgeous Plaza Mayor, a bridge that dates back to the Romans, and places/things important in Spanish literature.  

The first stops were the Cathedrals and the Plaza Mayor. After listening to the bells ring at the monastery, then we went to the two conjoined cathedrals in Salamanca. These cathedrals are both completely different but are actually connected and share a wall. After exploring these cathedrals, we visited the Plaza Mayor, which was absolutely gorgeous, and saw one of the University buildings (the most famous one). Within the architecture of the building, there is a hidden frog and if you are able to find it, it’s said that you will have good luck with your academics and will be able to pass your exams. Hopefully that means I did well on my Geography and Literature quizzes this week! After these buildings, we went to explore the Garden of Melibea (from the story la Celestina which we read in Literature Class), and found the statue from the book Lanzarillo de Tormes (another book read in class).

In general, it was just an excellent day to explore the beautiful sun in such a fantastic city! I even got a little sun-burned! And although seeing all of the architecture was amazing, I think my favorite part was finding a park and going on a teeter-totter with some friends! All-in-all, a fabulous day!

Próxima parada: Toledo

La semana de mi cumpleaños!

Qué increíble que yo celebrara mi cumpleaños en España!



 

 Este miércoles, he celebrado mi cumple en el país más bonito del mundo y he tenido un día perfecta!

Ayer, mi familia de España me cocinó una tarta con fresas y kiwi y me canto una canción que nunca he oido! Además, caminé por la ciudad con unas amigas y celebré con tapas y helado :) Finalmente, yo recibí muchas mensajes fantásticas de mis amigas y familia!

 

It's incredible that I could celebrate my birthday in Spain!

This Wednesday, I celebrated by birthday in the most beautiful country in the world and had a perfect day! Yesterday, my Spanish family made me a birthday tart with strawberries and kiwi and they sang me a song I'd never heard before! I also celebrated with having Tapas and ice cream with friends who truly made my day special :) Finally, I received lots of wonderful messages from all of my family and friends!

This is the amazing dessert that I my host family made me! I wasn't expecting anything for them so I was extremely excited when they pulled this out of the fridge :) It even had candles!!!!!

It was truly a wonderful day and I am so grateful to all who wished me a Happy Birthday and helped to make my day special.

 

Next post: Madrid (last weekend) and Salamanca (this weekend)

 



Prague and Vienna

 

 

Wow, this week has been a whirlwind! This week (Monday and Tuesday) was the celebration of Carnival over here in Spain (and other parts of the world as well). For those who don’t know, Carnival is basically the same as Marti Gras, and takes place the days leading up to Ash Wednesday. Because of this holiday, classes on Monday and Tuesday were canceled and all of us students took this opportunity to travel around Europe. For me that means, Prague and Vienna!

First stop: Prague

After traveling for most of the day on Friday, and finding free coffee machines in the airport in Germany (one of the best parts of the day, free hot chocolate for me!), we made it to Prague that afternoon. During our stay in Prague, we walked up to the Castle where we had the most amazing view of the city, we took pictures down by the river, we walked along Charles Bridge, saw the astronomical clock, and had a walking tour of the city. Prague was absolutely beautiful! There were hardly any modern buildings so stepping out of the metro station felt like being transported to a different time! It was absolutely amazing to stay in a city that takes so much pride in their history and that dates back hundreds of years. After exploring ourselves, my friends and I went on a walking tour with someone who was born and raised in Prague. She was extremely sweet and acted like a mother to all of us, making sure we were warm and understanding everything while on the walk! On the tour, we learned about the Jewish Quarter, the Astronomical Clock, the various cathedrals, and much more! It was really fun exploring the city with someone who had lived there their entire life.

Second stop: Vienna

The hills are alive, with the sound of …. Us singing … haha, the first thing we did after arriving at our hostel in Vienna was listen to the Sound of Music soundtrack. Although most of the scenes from the movie weren’t filmed in Vienna, they weren’t far away, so we decided (or at least I did), we needed to embrace our inner Von Trapps and sing while we were there. While in Vienna, we visited an art/history museum, went to some amazing palaces, took our own self-guided walking tour, and, the best part, went to the ballet at the Vienna State Opera House!!!!!! Although it was a little difficult coming from Prague, where everything is clean and all the buildings are well-kept, to Vienna where there were a lot of more modern and less well-kept areas, the old part of Vienna was incredible! Our walking tour took us to places such as Castle Park, the Anti-War and Fascism Monument, the Capuchin Imperial Crypt, St. Stephen’s Church, and Michael’s square. These parts of the city were absolutely fantastic and, although we didn’t get a chance to see the National Library, we had a great time exploring! After our tour, we went back to the Opera House where we saw the ballet, Onegin, which was an unforgettable experience! I never thought I would have the opportunity to be able to go to the ballet at the Vienna State Opera House! It’s something I will never forget.

 

 

Here are 2 pictures of Prague at night. The first is of Charles Bridge which was named for King Charles who was also the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for a time. The second picture was taken when standing by the Castle in Prague. It doesn't fully capture how beautiful the city was at night.  

 



Here is the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. The pictures don't do it justice because this palace is enormous! If you look at the smaller buildings on the sides, most of them connect and also form an even bigger perimeter around the palace.

 Final info:

Although traveling throughout these cities was extremely fun, it aws also really exciting to return back home to Spain. While away for the weekend, it was really difficult to be in places where we did not speak the language. Although we were able to get around using English, the main languages in Prague and Vienna are Czech and German. It was extremely strange not using Spanish when we had a question for someone, and we had no idea how to pronounce what the signs said, but we managed!     

 Also, because Prague is in the Czech Republic and not a part of the Euro Zone, we had to figure out how to use their currency. The conversion rate is extremely difficult to get used to because 1 dollar is equal to 23 Czech crowns. Paying about 100 for a dessert was extremely difficult to grasp, but I think we figured it out!

 

That is all for today, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip and that you maybe learned a little. I'll be sticking to Spain for awhile now.  

Next stop on the list: Madrid!

Conquering Barcelona

"Harry, I've reached the top" (Home Alone quote) Here is the view from the top of the peak in Parc Guell. From this viewpoint, it is possible to see almost all of the city including both the Sagrada Familia and the Caribbean Sea. After walking up and down (literally) the streets of Barcelona, we finally reached this beautiful spot where we could enjoy the beautiful sunshine and gorgeous city we were in.

Here is a picture of some of the beautiful buildings designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi. It felt like being in a fairytale or walking in a town made of gingerbread houses. It was absolutely beautiful and it's incredible that it was build one hundred years ago.

 

And here is a part of Gaudi's most incredible masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. This is just the western side of the magnificent basilica designed by the architect. It is truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. The amount of detail put into every single square inch of the building is amazing. One side of the basilica depicts the nativity, the opposite depicts the crucifixion, and the final, front side will be dedicated to the ascension. The inside also reflects this idea as each side represents the beginning and ending of life and is a reflection of nature. The Sagrada Familia has had three main architects, the leading one, Gaudi died June 1926. Currently, there are plans to finish construction June 2026, 100 years after the death of Gaudi.

I cannot believe that I had the opportunity to see the magnificence that is this building. It was truly amazing to see the what people are capable of when they use the gifts God gave to them and put them towards glorifying Him.

And here is a close-up picture of the opposite side. The detail is incredible.

 

In addition to La Sagrada Familia, I also had the opportunity to visit the Picasso Museum and see hundreds of works done by such an amazing artist. We also passed by the beautiful Catedral de Barcelona and the Barcelona Football Stadium (soccer for us) where a game was played and won against Madrid on Saturday night.

Overall, the trip was absolutely incredible and it's hard to believe that all of that beauty can be found in one city. This trip is something I will never be able to forget and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to see all of these things that I had only dreamed about seeing.

That is all for today, as this week is full of quizzes and exams, because yes I still do have classes while here. However, this upcoming week is Carnival which means two days off of school and traveling to places farther away. The next stop on the agenda: Prague and Vienna.

Hasta Luego....