Quick Check In!

Some highlights from my week in Madrid

• Got to finally see a Flamenco Show!! Due to the graciousness of Mike’s mom and grandma, the four of us enjoyed a delicious dinner in Plaza Mayor. We then went around the corner into a small Flamenco showing. I had no idea what to expect but it was amazing. It seems like intense tap dancing but a lot more intricate and louder. It was one of the most interesting shows I have seen and I am glad I was able to take in such a big part of the Madrid culture. Some friends and I also got to go out for drinks and Tapas with Mike and his family at El Tigre which was a blast. Always a fun time showing the parents of friends where we like to go and eat here in Madrid!

• A bunch of friends got together and did a classic touristy activity, a Beer Bicycle. An hour of beer, on a bike, through Madrid. It was insanely fun. The whole time we didn’t get over about 5 mph but that didn’t stop us. There was music blasting and a spot in the middle to dance even when you were taking a break from pedaling. Throughout the ride the people on the streets around us kept taking photos. I think that will be the closest I will ever get to experiencing a paparazzi and being famous.

• We spent a night out doing Karaoke!! One random night our whole apartment, all 7 girls, decided to head out and try some crazy singing. I can’t say we were very good but it was a great time. All 7 of us hadn’t gone out together since the beginning of the semester so it was great to catch up and have some fun, attempting to sing some of our classic favorite songs.

I LOVE IRELAND

Now you’re speaking my language!

~A whole weekend of English in an accent with friends, cliffs, potatoes and COWS!!!

This is my "Oh My goodness it's windy!" face

Ireland was one great trip that I will never forget. There was a lot of anticipation about this trip as so many of my friends have studied abroad here before and said this is one of their favorite places on the planet; I cannot disagree with them. Right of the plane we experienced the partly cloudy, windy, yet beautiful weather of Ireland. The people in Ireland are honestly some of the friendliest people I have ever met. Even the customs workers were chipper and asking questions and smiling (have you ever seen a happy customs worker before??) We took a bus ride across the country to spend 2 days in Galway first. Even from just looking out of the window I saw the most grass I had in months, not to mention blue skies and hills.

Galway was a small town full of small streets. We settled into our hostel and went out for the night. The group of Tallis, Babb, Greta, Sarah and I started the night with dinner of fish and chips and chicken. Then off to the pubs to converse with the locals and hear some classic Irish music. Wow are these people talented because I could have stayed in these pubs for hours just enjoying the music and talking to the Irish locals about anything and everything. We met up with our other friends as well, Emma, Alex, Shelby and Betty. Emma is an avid Irish dancer and got the crowd quite excited when she started dancing to the pub music! This was also the first time I got to experience the coveted Guinness Brew. Dark yet creamy and delicious.                       After a long travel day we turned it into the                       hostel to get some sleep.

The next day we got up early to get to the small farmers markets in town. We got homemade bagels for the first time since being in Europe. There were shops with jewelry, mittens, jams and jellies, anything! I spoiled myself and got a small ring there to remember Ireland. After we meandered the shops we got on another quick bus to the Cliffs of Moher. Literally an entire mile of incredibly high cliffs that looked out over the ocean. We lucked out and had

beautiful sunny weather. There were definitely times when I got a bit freaked out and needed to step back because it was a bit daunting and high at times. (Don’t worry, we never got close to falling off!) We walked along for a very long time and took lots of great pictures of the beautiful backdrop. At one point next to the cliffs there were a bunch of cows and being my Wisconsinite self, I got extremely excited. Who knew I would get so excited to see my favorite farm animal again. That night back in Galway, we headed out for another night of pubs and fun dancing.

Another bus ride and we were back in Dublin. We started off our day at the Guinness factory. I never knew there could be such an elaborate 7 storied floor building all about one beer. I soon figured out why. The first floor was all about the ingredients and how they go about making the beer. Then there was their advertising floor full of old advertisements and a huge mega screen of tv commercials. Next up was the tasting room right out of Willy Wonka. All blank white with only four cylinders that puffed out mist. The mist each had different smells of the four main ingredients of the Guinness Beer. We then got to smell them all and learn how to properly taste a Guinness.

The next floor was The Guinness Academy where they taught us how to pour our very own pint and we even got a certificate of passing!

Then we headed up to the top floor, the Gravity Bar where it was a 360 glass window overlooking the entire city. What a way to drink a Guinness. We were a bit hungry at this point so we headed down a floor to their restaurant level and got ourselves some famous Guinness Beef Stew with mashed potatoes on top. Boy was that a hardy meal.

Then it was time to say goodbye and head out to the Dublin castle and gardens. We didn’t last long in the chilly wind so we ventured over to the National Leprechaun Museum. We all took a journey back to our childhood and pretended we were leprechauns as we heard stories, myths and legends of the leprechauns of old. We traveled through forests, giants rooms and even over a rainbow. It was a great break in the day.

All the friends decided to nap up in the hostel while I met up with one of my camp friends from Ireland, Josh! We went out to a place to eat dinner and get drinks to catch up on life. Much to our surprise, time caught up to us and he almost missed his train back home. We had to run through streets back to the station which was quite difficult on a full stomach. After that I was surprised by another Irish camp friend, James, who met us all out for drinks in the famous Temple Bar area!! He took us to his favorite pub Sweetman’s and told us all the tasty beers to get. There was live music and lots and lots of laughs throughout the night.

         

Unfortunately that was where our amazing trip in Ireland ended. I wish we could have spent weeks there I loved every second. Until next time!

An Evening in Roma

Roma Italiana~

The weekend in Rome, Italy was one I was looking forward to all semester. It definitely did not fall short of an amazing time. A city full of pizza, pasta and gelato is right up my alley! We started off the trip with pasta of course and I ordered spinach and cheese ravioli in the most delicious sauce ever. Right from the start, I knew this was going to be a great few days. From there was started our sightseeing at Circus Maximus. It seems as though all I have learned in my history classes did not stick very well, so it was nice to have Mike with me to tell me all the Roman history and to translate all of the Latin. Circus Maximus was a huge stadium used for the infamous chariot races. Now all in ruins, it hardly compares to the great Colosseum; this was our next stop. 

                                                                  

It was crazy to see the inside of the Colosseum where they have opened up the floor to see where they held the prisoners and wild animals like lions and bears. One thing I learned was that there were certain times when they filled the stadium with water and had naval battles inside for the crowd to watch!

Then we headed to the Roman Forum which used to be the main hub of the city where there was a market and many important buildings. On the top of the Roman Forum was Palatine Hill where all of the elite would relax and enjoy walks through gardens. The top of this hill also gave an amazing view of the whole city. 

 

We ended the sights of the day with the Trevi Fountain. It was under construction so there  wasn´t any water flowing, but it was beautiful as always and I still tossed a coin and made a wish.

That night we headed over to a place called Fluid for dinner. There was huge drinks there and also an unlimited buffet of food. Needless to say we took full advantage and stuffed ourselves silly of bread, salad, dips, pasta and cake all night,

Day two was spent in the Vatican City. First stop was pizza for lunch were I tried two different kinds. Delicious; I doubt there is a bad place to eat in the entire city. The Vatican Museum was a maze of endless museums and rooms filled with ancient and unbelievable artwork and relics. The big event was the Sistine Chapel, where unfortunately there is no photography but boy was it beautiful. 

      

                     

After this we took a stop in St. Peter´s Basilica. This is an unbelievable building and church. It is ginormous and filled with intricate architecture, paintings and adornments around every corner. We got pretty lucky at one point as we were suddenly stopped to make way for something while we there. All of a sudden a procession started of all of the altar boys, priests and clergymen of the Basilica processed out for mass that day. At the end of the line was a cardinal who was leading the mass, what a sight and experience!

That night was Halloween so we went out to celebrate, even though we didn´t have any costumes. It was very eventful as every bar was decked out in spider webs and skeletons. Ended the night with a HUGE cone of Gelato, filled with three flavors, dipped in chocolate and a cookie to top it all off. One of the best desserts I have experienced.

   

 

The last day was spent seeing everything we had missed the other days. We stopped at the Pantheon and saw the inside where they had hallowed out the top dome to allow for a skylight in the olden days. Another plate of spaghetti and meatballs and we were off to Saint Angelo´s Castle.

 This was an actual castle with cannons and medieval hallways full of stone (also very confusing because there ARE secret passage ways). The top of the castle had another beautiful view of the city that was breathtaking. Another cup of Gelato and then it was time to head off to the airport. Jam-packed weekend full of wonderful sights, food and fun. I will certainly be back to Italy again.

 

Taking it Easy

For Once...

Looking back I´d like to say I took it easy and gave myself a break, but I´m thinking about this blog post I'm about to write and I'm realizing a lot actually happened during my two weeks ¨off¨. No trips, just in Madrid, but trying some new things and having some fun as always.

                     

During my first lazy weekend after spending a whole day in my pjs watching movies with the roommates, we put on real clothes and actually went out of the house. Sarah (one of my roommates) has a couple Spanish friends from high school living in Madrid and one just so happens to be a DJ that was performing. Not only was the music amazing but it was on the roof of a beautiful hotel with amazing lights and quite a view of the bustling city at night. We spent the whole night dancing away and also trying to fit in because we were THE ONLY non-Spainards in the whole place. Great night making friends with the natives.

During the next week, we finally convinced Maria and Luis to have some friends over to see our place and have dinner! After school we all made the trip back to our place and we got to show all of our friends where we live and they got to meet our wonderful host parents. The night was amazing, such good food and lots of laughs. One of the funniest parts of the night was when Luis interviewed Mike to make sure he was a suitable boyfriend for me (he approved!). All our friends agreed that the far distance from the city was well worth it. Post dinner, the crew headed out to the infamous SLU bar, Maloney’s. The bar is only famous in the eyes of the SLU students who have studied abroad in Madrid, mostly because you can sign your names on the walls. As the night went on we all took our turn in the beer pong tournament (The Ladies of the house won), and signed our names on the wall to leave our mark for years to come. I also took the opportunity to cross off the 49ers sticker on the wall and write “GO PACK GO”; once a cheesehead always a cheesehead.

There was a small crew home in Madrid this next weekend and Greta and I were the only girls. We took the opportunity to try some new things and took a chance on a Salsa Bar one night. We aren’t talking chopped up tomatoes and chips, we’re talking dancing! Greta and the three guys that joined us there have been in dance class through school so here I am, the only one who doesn’t have a clue what to do, fumbling around trying to figure out how to “Salsa.” In the end it was a great night attempting to dance and watching all the experts perform.

Last fun activity of the lazy weekends was a trip to the mountains and La Pedriza. It was amazing to get away from the city noises, cement and buildings. All around Greta and I were trees, leaves, rocks and a flowing river. We spent 2 hours hiking around and taking in the views. We both agreed we needed some time to romp around in nature once again.