¡When in Spain!

Postcards from Abroad I’m back! As I was unpacking all my...

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:21:11 -0400

Madrid, Spain

Lisbon, Portugal

London, England

Segovia, Spain

Córdoba, Spain

Granada, Spain

Paris, France

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Copenhagen, Denmark

Madrid, Spain

Postcards from Abroad

I’m back! As I was unpacking all my luggage I came across the postcards I bought around Europe throughout my semester abroad. Here’s a few of them. Enjoy!

Things I'll Miss and Things I Won't

Sat, 28 May 2011 11:33:31 -0400

The countdown has steadily been ticking away and I can’t believe that in just a few days I’ll be boarding a plane and heading back home after four and a half months in Spain. For the most part, the time really does seem to have flown by, but I guess it always seems that way at the end of a semester. This semester has certainly been different though: I’ve been surrounded by a new language, I’ve learned how people in Madrid live their lives every day, and I’ve been lucky enough to have traveled around six different countries.

We recently attended a “Reverse Culture Shock” workshop to learn about how the process of adjusting to life back at home is just as difficult as getting used to life abroad. While I don’t know if I 100% buy the idea of feeling like a foreigner again in your home country, the workshop got me thinking about the differences between living here in Spain and living back in the States. At the workshop, they also told us that in order to get the most out of your study abroad experience, you’ve to got do a little reflecting. So here goes my first attempt at this whole “reflecting” business. I thought it would be interesting to discuss a couple things that I’ll miss about living in Spain, along with a healthy dose of things that I’ll be happy to leave behind. Got to be balanced, right? Let’s get started on a negative note so I can end on a positive one highlight some of my favorite things about Madrid.

My School

Yeah, I know it’s called “study abroad.” And I definitely cannot complain about the workload here. I have to think that if a Spanish student from La Universidad Complutense de Madrid came to Boston for a semester at BC, they would be so overwhelmed by the workload they’d turn right around and fly back home. So while the lighter workload was a nice change of pace, my school here itself, well, wasn’t. I enjoyed my classes overall (save for Spanish Cinema and the fact they started at 8:30am), so the actual learning part was mostly great. Where the learning happened on the other hand … Maybe it’s the combination of dark, frigid, and uncomfortable classrooms, the entryways constantly filled with smokers, or the walls and signs covered in Communist/Socialist/Fascist/Let’s-Rebel-Against-Something-ist graffiti. Whatever it is, Complu doesn’t exactly have the same atmosphere as The Heights. I’m just looking forward to being back on BC’s beautiful campus in the fall, that’s all. Let’s compare.

The sign in front of our building at Complu.

The sign at BC’s main gate.

The Food

Another thing that I can’t really say I’ll miss about Spain is the food. If I had to describe typical Spanish food in a single word, I’d probably choose “plain.” They seem to be afraid of anything remotely spicy or seasoned in any way. Spanish cooking uses very few spices and is really heavy on rice, potatoes, pork, ham, and unidentifiable vegetable mush. That being said, I would say that my host mother here is actually a really good cook - it’s not her fault that Spanish food is really awesome at being mediocre. It’s also not her fault that I’m a little put off that Spanish people hardly refrigerate anything. Meat, cheese, eggs, fish, drinks, and even ice cream (ok, not ice cream) are just kept on the counter all day. When eating out, it seems like Spain doesn’t have much of a taste for Mexican food, Chinese food, or BBQ-style food. The rarity of Mexican food here (probably due to its spiciness) is the worst. I want a burrito. And finally, I can’t say I’ll miss the now familiar site of patas de jamón (pigs’ legs) hanging in shop windows.

One little food-related thing I definitely will miss is our tradition of grabbing lunch at 100 Montaditos every Wednesday, when you can choose from their 100 different mini bocadillos (sandwiches), and they all cost just 1€ each. 100 Montaditos, you will be missed!

Madrid

Since BC is basically in the suburbs of Boston, my semester in Madrid has been the first time I’ve really lived in the city. Madrid really is a beautiful and amazing city and I’ll miss being right in the middle of it all. It has everything - an overload of famous museums, a bunch of distinct barrios, a ridiculous nightlife (They say “Madrid nunca duerme,” or “Madrid never sleeps”), a humungous central park, and of course a rich and interesting history. It’s got traditional bullfights, busy plazas, leaning skyscrapers, and a pretty epic royal palace too. And of course, the most convenient way to easily get around to see all that Madrid has to offer is by hopping on the amazing Metro. Back in Boston we don’t have the luxury of riding a subway that does crazy things like, you know, operate on a reliable schedule. Madrid has a little bit of everything and being the country’s capital, it’s about as Spanish as Spain gets. When I finally leave my homestay on Avenida de América to fly back home to actual America, I’ll miss walking around Madrid, getting lost, and always finding something new in this giant city.

Traveling

While it’s great to be in Madrid, one of the things I will probably miss most about studying abroad is the opportunity to easily travel all around Europe. When else do you get the chance to decide just days beforehand that you’re going to spend the weekend in Lisbon? And how often do you find yourself climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris, checking out a carnival for Queen’s Day in Amsterdam, and having Easter dinner at a restaurant in Copenhagen all in the same week? Although I didn’t do as much traveling as some people in my program, I think I traveled just enough for me, and I feel pretty lucky to have had the chance to see all the places I did visit. Getting to see the classic European destinations like London and Paris was great, but I’m really glad I traveled to some cities (like Lisbon or Copenhagen) that are a little off the beaten path too. I love getting to see new places, and I’ll definitely miss how convenient it is to travel not only around Spain, but also around all of Europe.

So there you have it, some things I’m excited to leave behind and some I wish I didn’t have to. There are, of course, more on both sides of the fence, but that’s enough for now. I fly back home on Wednesday, and I’m not sure if I’ll write another post before then, but who knows? Blogging is more fun than studying for two finals though, so you’ll probably be hearing from me again soon. Until then, ¡hasta luego!

Check out this video of clips from the bullfight I went to....

Thu, 12 May 2011 21:07:00 -0400

Check out this video of clips from the bullfight I went to. Most of it’s not too bad, but it is a bullfight after all, so don’t watch it if you’re extra squeamish. Enjoy!

Here are a few photos I took at the bullfight I recently saw...

Thu, 12 May 2011 21:05:00 -0400

Bullfighting stadium in Madrid

Statue of a torero

Opening procession

Face off

So close!

Poised to kill

Down he goes

Red Bull umbrella. Ha.

Here are a few photos I took at the bullfight I recently saw here in Madrid. If you want to see the whole album in all it’s gory glory, just click here.

And if you want to see a pretty horrific photo of what happened at this same stadium one year ago, click here. Warning: This time the bull almost won.

La Corrida de Toros

Thu, 12 May 2011 21:04:10 -0400

Some people think it’s a worthy cultural tradition and a form of fine art. Others think it’s a cruel, barbaric practice and something that should have been abolished long ago. What could spark such polar opposite opinions in Spain? Bullfighting.

While public opinion is definitely leaning towards the eventual demise of the bullfight, the centuries old tradition still lives on today. In my Spanish Cultural Studies class a while ago, we had an interesting debate on the subject in which half of us were protaurino and half were antitaurino. There were plenty of good points: Bullfighting is an integral part of Spanish cultural tradition, the bulls are very well cared for their entire lives, and the corrida really is more of an art than a sport since no competition or betting is involved. On the other hand the bulls obviously have no say in the matter, they usually die somewhat slow and torturous deaths, and the “fight” is never a fair one.

Having learned the facts of bullfighting, I understood the logic on both sides, so I was excited to see one for myself to make my own judgment. Luckily I got the chance to see a live corrida de toros in Madrid’s bullring. My verdict: bullfighting is kind of awesome.

The bullfight consists of three stages which are repeated by three different toreros (bullfighters) with a total of six bulls. The event began with some fanfare and a procession of toreros and horses, and before long the first bull ran out of the gate into the ring. The torero and a small team of other bullfighters go through a series of moves using a pink and gold capote (cape) to start tiring the bull out.

After a few minutes, a picador comes riding out on a horse. The picador carries a long spear a tries to weaken the bull by stabbing it in the back of the neck. The horses are blindfolded and protected by heavy armor since the bulls always charge at them. The first time the picador stabbed the bull was a little bit unsettling to watch, I’ll admit. We collectively cringed since it was the first instance of bloodshed, but after that I really started to like the spectacle.

Once the bull is slightly weakened by the picador, the first stage of the fight is complete. Next, three men called banderilleros come out, each armed with two short barbed spears called banderillas. One by one, each bullfighter attempts to stab the banderillas into the bull’s shoulders. At this point, there’s a lot of blood and the bull is understandably extremely pissed off. Here you can see the red and yellow spears stuck into the bull’s back.

When the banderilleros have done their job, the final stage of the bullfight begins. The matador is left alone in the ring with the bull. He’s given a red cape and a sword. He then attracts the bull using the cape and performs a series of close-range passes. This is where you can really see the art of the whole bullfight. It’s clear that these guys are professionals and they definitely put on an impressive show as they come within inches of the half-ton bulls. The matador keeps making passes at the bull until he’s ready to end the fight. He works the bull into position and attempts to stab the sword through the back of its neck, killing it instantly. Since this isn’t exactly easy, it usually takes more than one try to kill the bull. When the bull finally hits the ground, the crowd always goes wild. The last of the six bulls was definitely the best one to watch. The torero did the best job, had the sweetest moves, and executed a clean kill at the end.

I’m really glad I got to experience a Spanish bullfight because I don’t think you can really have an opinion on the subject unless you’ve seen it for yourself. Now I can definitely see the cultural significance and value of the bullfights, but I have to think that the days of the corridas are numbered. The biggest supporters of bullfights are from older generations, and I think the antitaurino movement is only going to grow in the coming years. The whole experience really is like an artform and I feel pretty lucky to have seen it performed firsthand. When in Spain, right?

Stay tuned for some more photos and a video of la corrida!

"¡Cómo vuela el tiempo! Time flies!"

Tue, 10 May 2011 05:50:00 -0400

“

¡Cómo vuela el tiempo!

Time flies!

”

- - Bely

My host mom said this last night at dinner and it made me realize that I’ll be home before I know it! I definitely feel like the time is right to be heading back to the States soon, but I really want to try to enjoy my last few weeks in Spain. Yes, they’ll be filled with some papers and a few finals, but also with exciting things like bull fights. That’s where I’m headed tomorrow night, so stay tuned for details and photos of the gruesome Spanish “cultural experience.” Can’t wait!

Wow. Obviously the death of Osama bin Laden is a hugely...

Mon, 02 May 2011 12:42:14 -0400

Wow. Obviously the death of Osama bin Laden is a hugely historic event for the United States and for the world, and I really wish I could have been back at BC for the celebration last night. Instead, I’m experiencing the crazy patriotism by living vicariously through tweets, Facebook videos, and this epic article in The Heights. Libraries became rallying sites and fountains became swimming pools. Great stuff back at BC, and I’m sad I wasn’t there to see it. But anyway, go USA!

Here are a few photos from my trip to Copenhagen! As always,...

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:24:00 -0400

Nyhavn (New Harbor)

Hot air balloons over Copenhagen!

Ally and me by the Royal Palace

Copenhagen City Hall

Obligatory photo at Nyhavn

Gateway to Tivoli

A beautiful day at Tivoli

Will we fit?

On the canal cruise

Copenhagen Opera House

Here are a few photos from my trip to Copenhagen! As always, you can see the entire album here.

And as an added bonus, here’s a video of a truly disturbing street performance we witnessed in front of City Hall. WARNING: This video cannot be unseen. Enjoy!

Easter in Copenhagen

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:00:00 -0400

With Paris and Amsterdam checked off the list, my final stop on Easter break was the city of Copenhagen, Denmark. You may be thinking, “What on earth is there to see in Copenhagen?” Before my trip I honestly had no idea how to answer that question, besides of course that my friend Ally from home was there. I made the trip from Amsterdam to Copenhagen to visit her (she’s been studying abroad there since September) and to check out a city I would probably never have another reason to go to. So why go to Copenhagen? Why not?

The flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen was a short one, and before I knew it I was on the train with Ally heading towards her kollegium, or dorm, just outside the city. My friends Nick and Justin, and Nick’s British friend Becca were also in Copenhagen visiting Ally, so we all headed into the city to enjoy the beautiful weather. We grabbed some sandwiches, bought some traditional Danish beers (fun fact: drinking in public is completely legal and very common in Denmark), and sat down in a big plaza to relax. My first thoughts on the city were that it looked a lot like Amsterdam - comparable architecture, some canals, and a similar overall atmosphere. Another much appreciated similarity was that, as in Amsterdam, all Copenhageners speak English along with their native Danish. While they did speak a familiar language, they certainly did not use a familiar currency. For the first time since exchanging euros for British pounds in London, I had to give up my euros again and replace them with Danish kroner. Even though I learned that $1 is the equivalent to slightly over 5kr, it was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that a sandwich could cost 30 of anything.

We decided to head to Copenhagen’s aptly named Rundetårn (Round Tower), which is, well, a round tower. This 17th century tower was built as an observatory, and it was constructed featuring a giant spiraling ramp (not stairs) so the king could be pulled up in his carriage without having to walk. And they say Americans are lazy. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at this point, but here’s a great photo of the view from the top (be sure to click through for the original). Way in the back on the left side, you can even see the bridge to Sweden.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, checking out the Royal Palace, and relaxing in a park before heading back on the Metro for the night. Another fun fact for you: Copenhagen’s Metro has sleek, driverless trains. Hey MBTA, you seriously need to come to Europe to see how terrible you really are. You have lots to learn.

Nick and Becca left the next morning to fly to England, so Justin, Ally, Ally’s Danish boyfriend Jesper, and I did some more exploring in the city. Thanks to the fact that Jesper’s an actual Dane, I was even able to master a useful Danish phrase.

After walking around Copenhagen seeing some more of the sights, Jesper took us to see one of the city’s more interesting areas, called Fristaden Christiania (Freetown Christiania). Christiania, which occupies the site of former military barracks, is a self-proclaimed autonomous community of around 850 people right in the middle of Copenhagen. It operates largely outside of Danish law and governs itself under a set of community rules. Christiania is well known for its semi-legal soft drug businesses and its tolerant and, umm, free spirited residents. It’s a safe area and a popular destination for curious tourists, so it was cool to walk through the fully developed make-shift compound and see this one of a kind “freetown” in action.

The next day, which was Easter Sunday, Justin flew back home to the States and Ally, Jesper, and I went on a canal tour of Copenhagen. The tour began at one of the city’s most picturesque and most visited sites, Nyhavn, or New Harbor.

The canal tour took us along the shoreline and through some canals, all while our trilingual Italian tour guide Giuseppe repeatedly told us how “very beautiful” everything was and how any old building in the city always seems to be converted into apartments. We saw the ultramodern Copenhagen Opera House, the Royal Palace, the Royal “Black Diamond” Library, and the famous Little Mermaid statue, which recently returned from a trip to the Danish Pavilion at an expo in Shanghai. Fun fact: This little statue commemorates the famous children’s classic written by Denmark’s number one boy Hans Christian Anderson, but it’s seen its share of troubles. Apparently she gets decapitated, has her arms sawn off, or gets covered in paint by vandals on a semi-regular basis. Poor Little Mermaid.

On my last day in Copenhagen Ally and I went to Tivoli, an amusement park located right in the middle of the city. It was so strange to have a mini Six Flags actually in the city, but it turned out to be a really fun little park. Some of the rides are actually among the highest points in Copenhagen, so when you’re at the top you get a great view of the city - that is, until you suddenly free fall back toward the ground. And seeing as the day before was Easter, Tivoli was all decked out for the holiday, complete with creepy moving påskkeharen inside a giant egg.

While Copenhagen may not have as many famous sights as Paris or London, I’m really glad I made the trip there for the weekend. As always, it was great seeing Ally, Nick, and Justin again and meeting Jesper and Becca too. I can’t say that I’m likely to ever have seen Copenhagen otherwise, so this was the perfect chance to catch up with friends and soak in some Danish culture. I had tons of fun and left with a much bigger list of reasons why everyone should see Copenhagen at least once.

Copenhagen rounded out my Easter break Euro trip, and now I’m back in Madrid for my last month abroad. It’s sure to fly by, but I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated! But that’s all for now … hasta luego!

Check out these photos of my trip to Amsterdam. For even more,...

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:22:00 -0400

Classic Amsterdam

Westerkerk

Anne Frank statue

Carnival in Dam Square

Some famous Dutch tulips

So many canals!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, & The EU

At The Heineken Experience

Iamsterdam

The buildings lean!

Check out these photos of my trip to Amsterdam. For even more, click here to see the whole album.

Bikes, Coffeeshops, and Red Lights: Welcome to Amsterdam

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:53:43 -0400

After a short stay back in Madrid, my next destination on spring break was Amsterdam, the capital city of The Netherlands. My expectations for Amsterdam were likely the same as anyone’s would be having never traveled to Holland before. Everything I had heard about the city centered around only two things: sex and drugs. With these untraditional stereotypes in mind and with the thought that there’s got to be more to Amsterdam than that, I hopped on a plane heading north to meet up with my friend Peter. Peter has been studying abroad there since January, so I was looking forward to seeing him again and having a true Amsterdammer to show me around.

Upon landing and making my way to Amsterdam Central Station, I discovered that my Spanish “fresh turq” phone decided it didn’t like being so far from España so it just wasn’t going to work for me. Luckily, it wasn’t long before I ran into Peter by chance. And from there, we were off!

As we made our way to drop my bag at the hostel, I was immediately struck by just how different Amsterdam looks than Madrid. Amsterdam has over 100 km of canals; Madrid has zero. Amsterdam is quiet, with one bicycle for near every resident; Madrileños love to drive their cars. Amsterdam is full of tall blond people; a tall blond person in Madrid is a rare spectacle. You get the point - I wasn’t in España anymore. Here’s a look at a typical Amsterdam scene.

Peter showed me around the city, including Dam Square (the city center and home to a temporary carnival in celebration of Queen’s Day), the Royal Palace (which was undergoing renovations), the Westerkerk (the Western Church), and the infamous Red Light District (more on that to come).

Seeing as Peter had to go to class for a couple hours, I decided to hit up the Anne Frank House, the site of the famous Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam during WWII. The “house,” which was actually the offices of Otto Frank’s business, has since been restored and turned into a museum commemorating Anne Frank’s family and the overall tragedy of the Holocaust. It was really interesting to see the Secret Annex and walk through the hidden bookshelf door leading to the hiding place. The entire living area of the Secret Annex was unfurnished, following the wishes of Anne Frank’s father after the war. When the Nazis raided the Secret Annex and shipped the family off to concentration camps, they cleared everything out, and Otto Frank wished that the place remained like that. Having read the Diary of Anne Frank a long time ago in school and having studied the Holocaust many times, it was a really interesting experience to walk around the infamous hiding place of such a tragic and iconic figure as Anne Frank. Here’s a photo (unfortunately not mine - click through for the original) of the unassuming Anne Frank House.

Moving on to happier thoughts, the next day we decided to do a “free” walking tour of Amsterdam, from the same company we got our great Paris tour from. While our tour guide wasn’t as good as in Paris (shout out to Linda!), the three-hour city walk was still fun, entertaining, and informative. We checked out the Royal Palace, the Old Church, the Jordaan District, and the Red Light District, all while learning about Amsterdam’s love of bikes, art museums, houseboats, beer, and soft drugs.

Speaking of drugs, Amsterdam is known for its “coffeeshops.” If you go into one with the intention of ordering up a medium decaf with cream and two sugars, you’ll be a little disappointed. In the words of our trusty guide Rick Steves, these coffeeshops have “menus that look like the inventory of a drug bust.” Amsterdam, like much of the EU, has a pretty liberal policy on soft drugs like marijuana. Coffeeshops are licensed to sell small quantities of drugs to anyone over 18 for personal, legal use.

Besides drugs, Amsterdam is also known for its infamous (and completely legal) Red Light District. Turns out, the Red Light District is in one of the nicest areas of towns. It’s not the least bit sketchy, and there are churches and kindergartens just a hundred feet or so from the windows. Prostitution is fully allowed by law in The Netherlands, and it’s regulated by the government to the extent that any other business is. Walking through the Red Light District was an interesting experience because it defied my expectations completely - first off, nothing is hidden in any way. There are restaurants, museums, and apartments interspersed between the windows, which are open for business at all hours. Second, you could find any type of person - young, old, male, female, Amsterdammer, or tourist - walking through the area. The Red Light District is just a normal part of the culture, and it’s far more of a spectacle for foreign tourists than it is for the locals.

After spending a few hours on our tour, Peter and I decided to head towards the old Heineken beer brewery, now home to The Heineken Experience. Similar to any big factory tour, the whole thing was basically a giant immersive commercial for Heineken, but it was cool to see the history of the brand, find out how the beer is made, and try some samples at the end. It was an extremely touristy thing to do, but it was fun nevertheless. Here’s a shot of one of the massive brewing rooms.

We weren’t content to let The Heineken Experience be the most touristy thing we did, so we then headed straight for the “Iamsterdam” sign. This giant 3D sign/sculpture is a pretty ingenius creation of the Amsterdam tourism agency, and it’s smartly placed right in the middle of the Museumplein, home to the city’s most famous museums. How can you not take a photo on the sign if you’re in Amsterdam? Here’s the sign itself, and you can click through to see if I managed to climb it.

Our tour guide had said that his goal was to leave us with an impression of Amsterdam that was more than just the city of drugs and sex. I can honestly say that I definitely have a more well-rounded view of the Amsterdam now (See? I included the word “bikes” in the title of this post!). While Amsterdam may be world famous as a city of vices, there really is more to it than that. Once the wealthiest city in the world, it has a rich history of business, art, and culture that definitely goes beyond the red lights and coffeeshops. The city is home to great food (Dutch pancakes for the win), a huge number of museums, and friendly people with a “live and let live” attitude.

After a great couple of days in Amsterdam with Peter, I was off to catch a plane to Copenhagen, my last destination on Easter break. More on that to come!

Check out some photos from my recent trip to Paris. If you want...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:08:00 -0400

Sunset in Paris

View from the Arc de Triomphe

The Louvre at dusk

The Palace of Versailles

The Arc de Triomphe

The Luxor Obelisk

The Louvre all illuminated at night

The Eiffel Tower

Crossing the Seine

Les Invalides

Check out some photos from my recent trip to Paris. If you want to see the entire album (you know you do), then just click here.

Le Week-End à Paris

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:43:32 -0400

Bonjour! Over the past two weeks you could say I’ve been pretty busy. I spent four days in Paris, two days in Amsterdam, and five days in Copenhagen. Three cities, five flights, and three different languages later, I’m finally back in Madrid and I’m ready to share my experiences with all two of you that read my blog. First stop: Paris.

Early last Friday morning (so early people back at home were probably just finishing dinner), I got up and headed to the airport for my uneventful flight to Paris, France: The City of Light/Love/Croissants/Rude People. After meeting up with my friend Peter, who is “studying” abroad in Amsterdam, we settled into our hostel and hit the Parisian ground running.

We had no real plan for the rest of the day, so we decided to explore on our own. With tourist maps shamelessly in hand, we jumped right into navigating the subway system and butchering the names of famous Parisian landmarks. Miraculously, we found ourselves at the Louvre, Paris’ most famous museum.

The Louvre is, in a word, gargantuan. It’s the world largest art museum and home to 35,000 pieces from around the world. Much of the collection is there thanks to Napoleon’s annoying little habit of conquering countries and shipping all their priceless artistic relics back to Paris. The Louvre has so many pieces of ancient Egyptian art that many people ask if there’s anything left for Egypt itself. According to our tour guide, Napoleon left one or two things there as a gesture of good faith. Nice guy.

We decided not to go inside the museum right then, so we just walked around in awe at the scale of the place. As we walked through the plaza, we watched as hundreds of people posed awkwardly for the classic finger-on-the-tip-of-the-pyramid photo. What pyramid, you ask? This one. It’s the entrance to the museum itself. Cool, right?

After making our way through the Tuileries Gardens, we saw the Luxor Obelisk (a gift from Egypt - pretty nice after France stole all their stuff), and we caught our first glimpse of the iconic Eiffel Tower in the distance. We also spotted the famous Arc de Triomphe all the way at the end of the Champs Élysées and decided that then was as good a time as any to make the trek and climb up it. After a deceivingly long walk down the shopping Mecca that is Champs Élysées, we finally arrived at the Arc, which lies in the center of an unmarked 10-lane wide traffic circle, a model of semi-controlled chaos. A word of advice: Just because there’s no apparent way to cross this circle of insanity does not mean you should run across 10 lanes of speeding traffic like a stupid American tourist. There’s a tunnel under the traffic circle. Use it or die.

When we reached the top of the Arc de Triomphe’s 284 steps, we were treated to an amazing view of the city. You can see the 12 major boulevards that radiate out from the Arc, and of course you can see Paris’ most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower. More on that later. Here’s a photo I took from the top (click through for the full-size version).

Having been traveling and walking all day, we thought the Louvre, the Champ Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe were enough excitement for one day. But the next morning, we got up and went on a “free” walking tour of the city. The tour was a great way to see Paris, and I would highly recommend it. The guides only work for tips, so they try extra hard to give you a fun experience, which is exactly what we got. The three hour tour hit all the major sites and was full of fun facts. Did you know that Napoleon’s tomb, which lies in the old veterans hospital Les Invalides, is made up of seven different coffins made of seven different materials? People really didn’t want him rising from the dead. Or did you know that if you photograph the Eiffel Tower (which Parisians originally hated due to its resemblance to a certain anatomical feature) at night you cannot legally publish your photo due to copyright restrictions? Take a photo during the day and you’re fine.

Our tour gave us a great overview of Paris’ highlights, and after a quick look around Les Invalides we decided to head straight for the number one highlight: the Eiffel Tower. I’m not sure why I expected otherwise, but the Eiffel Tower is BIG, much bigger than I had imagined.

After taking it all in from a distance and making our way through a sea of street vendors hawking Eiffel Tower key chains (yes I got one), we finally got in line under the tower itself. Fast forward over an hour later and we made it to the first level. Already the views were impressive. After climbing up the stairs to the second level and discovering another hour wait for the elevator to the top (no stairs option this time), I figured that it wasn’t worth the time. The views were already amazing, and I’m told they’re actually worse from the top due to the pollution in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is probably one of the top things to see in all of Europe, and it was awesome to finally get to go up the tower in person and enjoy the views of Paris. Here’s a little taste of what you missed. Click through for a full panorama of the view.

Here’s another fun fact. See that out of place skyscraper in the background? That’s the Tour Montparnasse and it’s the tallest building in France. Immediately after it was finished in 1972, Parisians suddenly realized that it was a terrible idea. Why? Because it’s hideous and dominates the skyline view from the Eiffel Tower. With cries of “But now ze view iz so ugly!” they made a law right away that banned any more skyscrapers in the city center. However, one good thing about the 689-foot tall office building is that the top is open to the public, providing an unparalleled 360-degree view of the city, and one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. So while that’s an upside, I still don’t understand how people didn’t realize that this would ruin the view. Just look at it.

On our last full day in Paris, we decided to take a train ride to visit the Palace of Versailles, which is the incredibly huge and extremely extravagant palace that served as the seat of power when King Luis XIV ruled France. This guy had some luxurious tastes and a seemingly insatiable desire for the world’s biggest, baddest backyard. The palace itself was as impressive and ornate as it was crowded with tourists from all over the world. It was basically too crowded to move, and the mob of people listening to their audio guides in every language imaginable definitely took the focus off the palace itself and put it on finding a way out. Nevertheless, the famous Hall of Mirrors and the Grand Apartments gave a good sense of the ridiculous level of power and wealth held by the French monarchy. What I liked much more than the palace itself was the gardens and the enormous palace grounds. The entire Versailles site is larger than the island of Manhattan, and only a tiny part of it is made up of the sprawling palace. The rest is a web of endless paths, ponds, and gardens that we spent the entire day walking through. You could walk for hours on end and never see the same pert of the palace grounds twice. Here’s just one little part of Versailles, including the corner of the palace. Click through for a panorama of the grounds.

Following a long day of walking around Versailles and an attempt at being French by trying escargot at dinner (verdict: meh), we made our way back to Paris with two goals in mind. First we went to see Notre Dame Cathedral and its famous gargoyles and second we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see its night light show for ourselves. The Eiffel Tower is always lit up at night, but since the new millennium celebration in 2000, you can see the tower’s sparkling light show every night on the hour. We raced to catch the 9:00 show and just made it to see the last minute or so - very cool. Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night was a great way to end an awesome weekend in Paris. And at the risk of upsetting the French government, here’s a photo of the iconic landmark all lit up. Ooohh ahhh.

So that is Paris. It’s by far the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen, and if I knew a word of French, it would absolutely be a great (but very expensive) place to live. I feel like we were there just the right amount of time for a whirlwind tour of the city, but there’s plenty more I would have done had we stayed another day. Actually go all the way up the Eiffel Tower no matter the wait, spend a few hours inside The Louvre and see the Mona Lisa (although everyone says she’s tiny and disappointing in real life), and maybe try some more real French food. Despite not doing those things, my trip to Paris far exceeded my expectations. The people are not as openly rude as I thought, the sites are all truly impressive, and the

city is world class. Overall, Paris was awesome.

With Paris checked off the list, I headed back to Madrid for two days (poor travel planning, I know) before jetting off to visit Peter on his home turf in Amsterdam. Look for a shorter, smokier, and more red-lit blog post on Amsterdam soon!

"Kommer påskeharen i weekenden? Is the Easter bunny coming this weekend?"

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:01:00 -0400

“

Kommer påskeharen i weekenden?

Is the Easter bunny coming this weekend?

”

- - Danish people

Happy Easter! I learned how to say this completely useless sentence in Danish because I’m currently in Copenhagen visiting my friend Ally. Since my last post I’ve been having fun visiting Paris and Amsterdam as well, so stay tuned for lots of updates and photos once I get back to Madrid on Tuesday.

Even though I’m not in Spain for Easter, here’s a little info on how they celebrate it español style. Spain, and especially the city of Sevilla, is famous for its Easter processions and celebrations throughout semana santa (Holy Week). Everyone says the processions are a truly impressive thing to see. They involve intense floats with religious-themed statues, and participants dressed in KKK-style robes and hoods (which I’m told is purely coincidental), as you can see in the picture.

It’s all supposedly a very intense and very religious experience, despite the fact that Spain is the most un-Catholic Catholic country there is. I wish I had the chance to see one of Spain’s famous Easter processions, but I can’t complain about getting to travel around Europe visiting friends instead!

That’s all for now, but once I get back to Spain I’ll be sure to share my adventures in Paris, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. Until then, happy Easter and hasta luego!

"En España, hemos sustituido el catolicismo por el fútbol. In Spain, we’ve replaced..."

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:06:43 -0400

“

En España, hemos sustituido el catolicismo por el fútbol.

In Spain, we’ve replaced Catholicism with soccer.

”

- - My Spanish cinema professor

I generally dislike this guy, but he did have these amusing words of wisdom the other day in class. It’s really true though: 73% of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholic, but 75% of them never go to church or only go once or twice per year. In Spain today, soccer is far more of a religion than, well, any religion. It’s not like at home where some people love football and others are huge basketball fans. Here everyone worships soccer. Even just watching my host mom watch a soccer game on TV is like seeing someone in some sort of insane religious trance. So when in Spain, ¡viva el fútbol!

Tortugas & Torres: Recent Discoveries in Madrid

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 12:55:00 -0400

Despite the fact that I’ve been living in Madrid now for around 3 months, I’m still finding out new things about the city all the time. Here are just a few random things I’ve discovered recently. Oddly, two are animal related and two are building related.

Peacocks in Retiro

The pavorreales in Retiro were a cool surprise the other day, but apparently I need to learn how to provoke a peacock, since none of them opened up their tail feathers to show off. Maybe some day! Until then, this photo (not mine, but click through for the original) shows pretty much all I saw, minus the little ginger child. Unfortunate.

Turtles in Atocha

More surprise random animal sightings came when I went to check out Madrid’s Atocha train station, where I remember going when I came to Spain in high school. The train station is home to a gigantic botanical garden, which is pretty impressive to see. Here’s a photo I took of the inside.

While I knew the garden was there, I didn’t know about the garden’s residents: turtles. There were what looked like hundreds of tortugas chilling out in a little pond, just living the life. You wouldn’t think turtles would be that interesting to watch, but there was a constant crowd around the edge of the pond watching these creatures do their thing.

The Leaning Towers of Madrid

I had seen them on Madrid postcards before: two giant towers that actually leaned towards each other, like they were defying gravity. However, I had absolutely no idea where these things were until the other day I noticed that I could see the corner of one of the towers from my window. Time to investigate. I went to check out the Torres Kio (Kio Towers) to see for myself. I can now report that yes, they are actually leaning together at what seems like an unsafe degree. Very cool looking though. How’d you like to work at the very top, so when you looked down there was nothing below you? Here are two photos I took of the Kio Towers, sometimes called La Puerta de Europa (The Gateway of Europe).

From the other side, and farther away:

Cuatro Torres

Again, I’ve seen these four skyscrapers, which apparently make up Madrid’s skyline, on postcards. Yet I had never seen them and had absolutely no clue where they were. Turns out, the cuatro torres (four towers) are right near the Kio Towers. Finished in 2008, these towers are really modern looking and very big. So big that I couldn’t get them in one photo, so what you see below is four pictures mushed together through the magic of Photoshop. The four towers are officially the tallest buildings in Spain. They are (in order) Torre Caja Madrid (Caja Madrid is a major Spanish bank), Torre Sacyr-Vallehermoso (no clue what that is), Torre de Cristal (Crystal Tower), and Torre Espacio (Space Tower). Seeing all these skyscrapers definitely showed me a different side of Madrid, and one that’s much more modern than all the museums and historical sites we typically visit.

So there you have it: whether it’s turtles or towers, you learn something new every day. I’ll be sure to post my next round of discoveries when they happen!

It's About Time: Updates from Abroad

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:12:56 -0400

Hey look! I have a blog, don’t I? I should probably update it every once in a while, so here goes nothing.

Since my last real post, I’ve been busy with classes, midterms, summer internship things, writing for BostInnovation, and best of all booking everything for my spring break, which starts next Friday. First things first:

La Universidad

Classes have been going well I suppose. I’ve had one midterm so far (in my Spanish cinema class), and we have a final coming up next week for the class taught by our program director, which is Spanish Cultural Studies. I’ve been spending two hours per week at El Museo del Prado (Prado Museum) for my art class, so if anyone is going to be in Madrid in the next month and needs a Prado tour guide, give me a call. I’ve never spent so much time looking at paintings in my life. It’s interesting, but it’ll also be interesting when it comes time to remember all those cuadros for the midterm. To give you a taste of what we’ve been doing, here’s one of the most hilarious (I think) paintings we’ve studied. As you can see, 16th century Spanish royalty tended to use tables/chairs/little people as hand rests. And check out those monkeys.

Well, hola Isabel Clara Eugenia and Magdalena Ruiz!

Easter Break

Easter break, or as they call it here Semana santa (Holy Week) is coming up, and I have April 15th to April 26th off from classes. I’m really excited because I’m going to be traveling to Paris for 4 days, Amsterdam for 2 days, and then Copenhagen for 5 days. I’m meeting up with my friend Peter in Paris and then going to check out Amsterdam, where he’s studying abroad for the semester. From Amsterdam I’m flying to Copenhagen to visit Ally, my friend from home who’s been studying there all year. Can’t wait! I probably would never otherwise go to Amsterdam or Copenhagen, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to check these cities out. And just for kicks, here’s the first image that comes up when you Google “Amsterdam.” Ha.

Spring in Spain

Spring has arrived! It seems like the temperatures here went from in the 50s one week to nearly 80 the next. And I don’t want to jinx it, but I think it’s safe to say the warm weather is here to stay! People say summers here are brutal, so the springtime has some of the nicest weather. Here’s a photo I took of La Puerta de Alcalá, and you can clearly see that spring has sprung!

I took advantage of a beautiful day the other day and went to Retiro Park with a few friends. Retiro is even nicer now than it was in the winter when we first got to Madrid. I finally got a chance to rent one of the boats they have on el estanque, which is the man-made pond in the middle of Retiro. It was really fun, despite our complete lack of coordination when it came to rowing. Here’s a photo of all the Madrileños enjoying themselves out on el estanque.

I also learned that Retiro has peacocks! There’s an entire garden area where they just chill all day long, doing what peacocks do (which apparently isn’t much). And here’s a fun fact: the word for peacock in Spanish is pavo real. Direct translation? ”Royal turkey.”

Getting Some Culture

For my Spanish Cultural Studies class, we have class trips and outings to learn about, well, Spanish culture. Last week we were scheduled to see what our professor thought was a classic Spanish theater show. However, when she discovered (only days before the show) that it was actually an extremely vulgar and not-classic-at-all theater production, she decided it wouldn’t be the culturally educational show she had hoped. So plans changed. Instead we went to a flamenco show, which ended up being very cool. Flamenco is a style of music and dance that Spain’s famous for. It’s really intense and involves moving and tapping your feet at superhuman speeds, and seeing the two flamenco dancers do their thing was pretty impressive. Rachel managed to sneak a great video of part of the show - check it out!

Earlier today we had another cultural excursion with our program director, this time to the Madrid museum/exhibition hall known as Caixa Forum. I had seen this building many times before, but didn’t really know anything about it. I just thought it looked weird. Well, the main attraction of the place is the building itself … it floats. At least it looks like it floats. The museum is in an old factory and when it was being converted, the architects decided to knock out the entire bottom of the structure. The result is very weird, but very cool. The bottom floor is nothing but open air and three cleverly hidden support columns, creating the allusion that the entire brick and rusted metal building is resting on a foundation of empty space. So artsy. The museum also features a massive vertical garden, which our tourguide proudly explained is the largest in Spain. I doubt there are many others anywhere, but it’s cool nonetheless. There were workers actually adding plants to when we were there today - definitely not your average landscapers. The whole effect of the place is hard to explain, and unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera. But thanks to the magic of the Internet, here’s a photo anyway. Click it for a bigger version. To enter the museum, you walk under the building, where the illuminated “Caixa Forum” sign is. Kind of cool, right?

So that’s an update on life in Madrid! I promise I’ll get back to updating this blog more often. The BC group from Granada is visiting Madrid this weekend, so I’m sure that’ll result in some blog-worthy material. But until then, hasta luego!

Can’t complain about that forecast! Spring (more like...

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:06:00 -0400

Can’t complain about that forecast! Spring (more like summer in Boston, really) has definitely sprung in Madrid.

Also, I apologize for the tragic lack of any updates on this blog recently. Have no fear though, because I’m back and ready to blog. Look for a new post soon! Hopefully tomorrow … and in the meantime, try not to be too jealous of the beautiful weather here in Spain.

Here are some photos from Las Fallas this weekend in Valencia....

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:09:00 -0400

First falla sighting!

Crazy mad scientist falla

A beautiful day in Valencia

Making delicious churros

Crazy crowds in the streets

First prize falla

Fireworks in the parade

A burned falla infantil

Fireworks announcing La Crema!

Eve just can't take the heat

Here are some photos from Las Fallas this weekend in Valencia. Do you like fire? Do you want to see more? Click here, pyro.

Video of a one of the many fallas burning on Saturday night in...

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:38:51 -0400

Video of a one of the many fallas burning on Saturday night in Valencia! EPIC.