What an adventure this past week has been! It started with an ISA trip to Lisbon, Portugal last weekend, and ended with a brief visit to Sevilla. Here's what I saw along the way:
LISBOA (Lisbon): I absolutely loved this city. Located in the south west part of Portugal, it was a 6-ish hour long bus ride across the countryside. Aside from the occasional towns and small farms, the Spanish/Porgutese landscape was very rural. As our bus weaved its way through the rocky hills and mountains, I was reminded of the landscape from the movie “The Princes Bride.” Covered with small trees and yellow grasses, I understand why the word “Espana” in Latin means the land of rabbits. It reminded me a lot of the Colorado landscape, like the drive from I-70 into Steamboat. Beautiful in its own way, just not very lush.
View of the countryside from the bus:
Back to Lisboa. I had a blast. The first afternoon, we toured an old fortress that overlooks the city and ocean, and has beautiful views. This is where I bumped into a couple DU friends, who were also touring Lisboa with their ISA group from Sevilla.
That night, I met up with a small group of friends. We got sushi in the bar district (Barrio Alto) and ended up staying out until 4 am. Had fun getting drinks and socializing in the streets of Lisbon. Like cities in Spain, the city comes alive as the sun goes down and young people come out to party. Needless the say, the next morning was rough as we all got a 9am wake up call. By 10:30 am, all the ISA students were put onto buses and dragged around the city. We saw a couple huge churches, an old dungeon on the river, and a monastery. All very interesting and full of history, since Lisbon is such an old city. By 2pm, we were dropped off at the hotel and given free reign to go off and explore.
Inside one of the churches:
Inside one of the churches:
My priority? Beach. I love the beach, and I love to swim, so I found a group of kids that also wanted to explore. There were 7 or 8 of us that took the train half an hour outside the city and wound up in a small neighborhood. Before leaving, we grabbed a couple towels from the hotel, bought few bottles of wine and food to make sandwiches, then took off, not really knowing where we would end up.
This is what we found:
We spend the afternoon building sandcastles, swimming, and napping in the warm sand. We also met a couple German guys on the train who decided to tag along and spend the day with some crazy Americans. Aside from a very large and very naked Portuguese woman stretched out in the sun, and some old, weathered fisherman drinking beers in the boathouse, there weren’t really any other people at the beach. It was a nice break from all the walking we had been doing, and lord knows I love sunbathing. By 7:30pm the sun was low in the sky, and we watched the sun set behind the bridge. The bridge was designed by the same architect who built the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco; very beautiful. By that point, we were out of food and drinks, and ready to head back to the hotel.
Fun times at a la playa:
That night, me and a few girl friends got Italian food (we were all craving pasta!) and hit the streets of Lisboa. Again, I met up with my DU friends, Gabe and Kim, and had a lovely evening meeting their friends from Sevilla. Made it back to the hotel around 3am, where I proceeded to pass out in the very comfy hotel bed, surrounded with thick, squishy pillows. A welcomed change from the thin mattress and worn, single pillow that I have at my home-stay!
Made it back to Salamanca the next day, after a long, boring bus ride that seemed to take twice as long as it did going there! I was sad to say goodbye to Lisbon. The buildings and streets were so colorful full of people. Well known for their colorful, tiled buildings, the city, with its rolling hills and ocean views, entranced me with its strange language and rich culture. The fun and vibrant nightlife was a plus, too.
My roommate and I, Gail, inside one of the churches:
The trolly's made the city feel much different than Spain:
Me at the top of one of the castles:
CÁDIZ: How did I end up here? Funny story. So we get back from Lisboa Sunday evening, tired and hungry. I was very happy to be home, and had no intention of traveling again anytime soon. The next day, though, after my classes, a couple guy friends suggested taking a bus to the south of Spain for the rest of the week, since we weren’t going to have classes on Wednesday, because of a religious holiday.
Why not? Classes here are fairly easy and I can miss up to 3 classes; plus, we don’t get days off during the week very often. As I was debating it with a a couple girl friends, one girl pointed out that you will never regret going somewhere new; you’ll only regret deciding not to go. So I bought a one-way bus ticket to Cadiz, ran home to tell my host mom my plans, quickly stuffed my bag with a couple outfits, sleeping bag, my iPod and camera, and took off that very night!
Woke up the next morning (after another rough busride) in Cádiz! One of the oldest cities in all of Europe, this small, coastal town is the very city that Christopher Columbus sailed from. It didn’t feel very old with newer buildings, but my friend Maury pointed out that it’s because the salt water wears down the buildings, so they need to be replaced over time.
What did I do in Cádiz? Beached it. We swam in the ocean and slept in the sun, I read my book and simply enjoyed watching the people and listening to the waves. When we weren’t at the beach, we were hanging out at the hostel we stayed at, cooking food or meeting other travelers on the rooftop terrace. For 15 euro a night, it wasn’t a bad deal. We got a free (very minimal) breakfast, and were given access to a kitchen and bathroom. Standard, as far as hostels go. (And let me tell you, it was much cleaner and felt much safer than the couple hostels I experienced in Eucador!)
I traveled to Cádiz with two other girls, and three guys. The six of us made a pretty good team, if you ask me.
Here’s a view of the beach hung out at:
A beautiful sunset over the old fortress:
One of my favorite pictures from the week:
The group at the beach:
Sevilla: After two nights in Cádiz, the group spilt up and three of us decided to stick around and take an hour-long bus ride to Sevilla. Despite being extremely hot and unbearably sunny durning the day, I absolutely loved this city. A little bit bigger and more modern feeling than Salamanca, Sevilla was a colorful, vibrant, and friendly city. Honestly, it felt just like it should have; after reading about Spain for years and years in Spanish classes throughout middle school, high school and college, and after watching video clips and seeing pictures of this classic Spanish city, it lived up to all the hype.
Two days wasn’t enough! I can’t wait to go back and see another Flamenco show, tour the church (it’s the 3rd largest in the world!) and take a rowboat out on the river. However, I did get to experience the city from the perspective of a student. Once again, I met up with my DU friend, Gabe, who’s living in Sevilla. He showed us around, and took us out on Thursday and Friday night. I had fun meeting his friends and seeing how things are done in Sevilla versus Salamanca.
Three DU students in Sevilla:
First of all, the city’s much bigger, so we had a lot more walking to do. However, because it’s so much further south, it stays warmer at night, so more people were hanging out in the streets. In fact, one of my biggest surprises was seeing on of the plazas around 4am, after everybody had left; it was absolutely trashed, with empty bottles and garbage everywhere. However, by the next morning, any evidence of partying had been clean up by the street workers.
Crowded streets of Sevilla, around 2am:
Highlights from Sevilla:
-Spent an evening socializing at the Torre de Oro, an old 13th century tower built next to the river. Another big surprise? I met about 10 other DU students here. I thought there were a lot of us in Salamanca (there’s 10), but there’s close to 30 DU students studying abroad in Sevilla! So while it was nice seeing some familiar faces, I’m glad I’m in a city where there aren’t quite as many DU students. Part of why I did chose Salamanca was to meet new people and get away from DU.
-Friday afternoon, Gabe took Emma and I to the Plaza de España (which, other than Asian tourists, was virtually empty since it was SO HOT in the middle of the afternoon). Very beautiful and ornate.
My friend Emma and I in the Plaza:
-Watched the sunset over the river. Unlike Salamanca, I saw a lot more people running and biking here, and exercising in general. During the day, the city was dead, but by 6pm, the city came alive. Infact, we were out at a plaza later that night, and it was at least 2:30 in the morning---and this family had their little girl out! Life here is just so much different.
Sunset over the river:
My favorite part of Sevilla? The flamenco show!!! Being the city where this traditional Spanish dance was created, I wasn't sure if we were going to have time/money to make it to one. However, our last night in Sevilla one of Amos's DU friends led us to a small, hole-in-the-wall tapas bar, where we squeezed in and caught the last 15 minutes. The woman was very emotional and seemingly angry; I think that was the point, though.
In conclusion: I CAN'T WAIT TO COME BACK!!!
So here I am, a week after coming back home from Porgutal. It's been a whirlwind. I came home last night and just slept. My host parents couldn't believe that I wasn't going out, and they teased me about it, but hey! Viva la vida, baby. Mom and Dad, no need to worry; after this I'm going on a run then finishing up my economics homework, having dinner around 9 then going to bed.
I can't wait to have more adventures in Spain and beyond, but now I want to focus on getting to know Salamanca a little better. Next goal: make some Spanish friends and get involved in the community here!
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