Toledo

Hola a Todos!

Ayer, mis amigas y yo fuimos a TOLEDO. Yesterday, my friends and I went to TOLEDO. We got up super early and took the bus to Madrid, and then a train to Toledo, the walled in city filled with swords and really confusing streets.
Once we were there, we wandered for a bit to find el Museo de Santa Cruz (Museo = Museum) which we saw lots of art, and many El Greco originals. After that, we ate lucnh and visited La Catedral, which si claimed to be the second largest Catedral in the World...to that of St. Peter's Basillica in Roma.


After viewing the inside..sorry no pictures were allowed. :(, I snapped one picture of myself being dwarfed by the outside...(I am the one with the white bag)



After the Cathedral..we basically got lost for about 4 hours..but that's okay because there really wasn't much more to see except the local shops, streets...oh yeah, and marzapan. The almond paste candy is extremely popular here (unfortunatly all wheat-ridden and such) but there is one place where nuns produce it, and have been producing it for the past few hundred years...so they make cool window displays like in NYC...here's a castle made out of Mazapan (or Marzapan)...


Well, we basically spent some time in Madrid, and then took a train home and I passed out. super tired. Anyways, today I have una montana de tarea (a mountian of homework) that I have to do, seeing as I have basically not been doing it and going traveling instead..so I am going to spend this sunday doing homework in my shoe-box-of-a room. I will do a classes update sometime this week seeing as we have MIDTERMS the week after next week. ugh. I actually have to do work here? ;)
Abrazos desde Salamanca!
Ashley

(One-side-view of Toledo)

Carnaval y Flamenco

So, this past weekend (Thursday to Sunday) I ventured to Seville and Cadiz. My friend Christina and I left on Thursday after class (no school on Fridays!) and we got on a bus and went to Seville. 7 hours and 30 minutes on a bus. Okay, with that being said, we got off at 12:30 am and had to find our Hostal. Well, after asking 3 people for directions and getting an old couple to walk with us halfway there, so finally made it in at 1:30am. Just to put this into time perspective, everyone is awake at 1:30 am. It would be the US equivalent to 10:00pm our time. So we get in, get our room, and, well, we'll just say it was a confusing mess. We slept, got up, met with the people who took the overnight bus, and went to see Seville in the cold/wet/windy/rain.
The first thing we did was go to the Cathedral:

There was an art gallery inside the church where I met my BFF, John the Baptist. Unfortunatly, he was in no shape to talk:


From there we went inside and saw a MASSIVE Notre Dame sized cathedral..with many of the same characteristsics, except for the golden altar...


From inside the Cathedral, we climbed up the Torre de Giralda and saw a beautiful view of Sevilla,


After eating lunch, we wanted to go to the Royal Palace, however 15 minutes earlier the royal family showed up for a visit, so they closed the whole city down. After some shopping and cooking, we went to see a Flamenco show. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of that seeing I didn't bring my camera, but it was AMAZING.

The next day, we went to Cadiz, a costal city in the southern tip of spain, and we got there right in the time to see the Carnaval Kids Parade with little girls riding in really expensive old cars, throwing confetti...


From there, we basically walked around and explored the city.
Here's a picture of the group in the Plaza de Espana:


From there we oo-ed and awe-ed at the beautiful ocean which was different colors depending on where we were:




At night, we all got ready and joined in the festivities of Carnaval:





The next day, we caught the train back to Sevilla to go see the Palacio de Alcazar with stunning gardens:




After that we took the bus home! Now, I am getting ready to go BACK to class, but might just have to take a seista first! Love you all!
Ashley

El Tiempo

The weather in Salamanca never ceases to amaze me. Today it was cold, there was hail twice, followed by rain, followed by sunshine, followed by wind, followed by more hail, and then nighttime darkness. This week is FLYING by fast. I am trying to get alot out fo the way that way I can go to SEVILLE and CADIZ on Thursday/Friday/Sat/Sunday. Extended weekend. Might as well since it's a 7 hour bus ride and a 2 hour train ride away. Any advice on a trip for next weekend would be greatly appreciated!
Real update later! Last week as a 20 year old!

BILBAO-WOW

Welcome to Bilbao! The home of old men wearing berets, the gugenheim, and Euskara.
So, on Friday Liz and I took a train from Salamanca to Bilbao, a large city in the Pais Vasco (or Basque Country) in Northern Spain. Bilbao is situated along a lovely river and is a very active city, lots of runners, parks, rowers, jai-ali-ers...etc. It is also home to the famous Guggenheim Modern Art Museum, which we ventured to on our first day..

The Guggenheim was full of a bunch of modern art, which was pretty cool. Unfortunatly no pictures were allowed, but there were GIANT Venus de Milo replicas, the shadow of which you can see as a reflection on the outside of the building...

Day 2, we went to Guernika..or Guernica. It is a 55minute train ride outside of Bilbao. Even though we got off at the wrong stop, we were only a 5 minute walk away from the town of the city known for it's Picasso painting and it's history of being bombed by Hitler in support of Franco. The town is situated in the cutest little mountian valley surrounded by shepards and sheep and green hills for miles. Our first stop was the Basque House and Tree of life which is the area where the Prime minister of the Basque Country and the Basque Country Parliment meet each year to have their meetings.


After spending some time at Basque Parliment, we hopped over to the Museo de Paz, or the Peace Museum showcasing the history of the bombing, and promoting peace in the world and even in your daily life.


During our time in Guernika we went to a few more museums, one for Euskara History, walked through a park, and saw a Cathedral. It was a super cute little town. :)

Oh yes, and before we left for Gernika that day, we went to the Mercado Rivera..suppose to be the biggest market in Spain. What did I find there?
Pig. Bravo Spain, Bravo


Day 3
So today we checked out of our lovely hostal, which actually was lovely, and got breakfast. We stumbled upon a flea market or "rastro" in the Plaza Mayor where they were selling anything from chickens to futbol cards to guitars.


So, after a bit more exploring and a 6.5 hour train ride home, I am going to say, Chao to everyone! I will update sometime this week telling you how my classes are going. Right now my schedule is still up in the air for finals and UPSA classes, so we will see! Exciting news; I am going to Carnaval in Cadiz for my Birthday, so that should be a great night in of itself. :) If you don't know what Carnaval is it is the third largest Mardi Gras celebration in the world behind Rio in Brazil and one other one, but greater than Venice in Italy. Should be a fun one. :)

Amor for now!
Ashley
(and an old Basque-looking man)