Thanksgiving in Paris

The cool thing about studying in Madrid is that we get Spanish 'festivos' off, as well as American holidays that aren't even celebrated here, like Thanksgiving! We had a 5-day weekend this Thanksgiving weekend, and I decided to travel to Paris with my friends Delia and Brittany. I will write a separate blog about the whole trip, but I wanted to 'give thanks' through this one. I am especially thankful this year for having the opportunity to visit all of these cool places, and spend this semester abroad in the wonderful city of Madrid. This has been an incredible experience for so many reasons and I have loved every minute of it. I love my host family, my roommates, my friends (new and old), and staff at the school here. I am very thankful for my family at home as well. I want to thank them and extended family because they have afforded me this opportunity. My parents have always supported me and trusted me in this decision to come here, which I know is hard for some parents to do. I really appreciate their love and support. Also, a large portion of the money I had to spend on travelling and other expenses came from the savings account I have built up from birthday & Christmas gifts from the time I was a little girl. So, extended family, you have contributed to my experience as well. :) Thank you so much! This was my first Thanksgiving away from home, but my experiences throughout my time away have opened up my eyes and have really made me realize how truly blessed and thankful I am.

Ali visits Madrid

Ali and I were reunited again; this time in my study abroad location! We had a really fun weekend and were going going going day and night. I showed her the major sights during the day and she obviously had to experience the Madrid nightlife conmigo.

Here is what we packed in:

Friday, November 20th:

café con leche, Palacio Real, Cien Montaditos, riding the boats & walking around at Retiro Park, the Prado during the free evening hours, dinner with my host family :), and Kapital (this awesome 7-story nightclub).

Saturday, November 21st:

Starbucks in Sol, Cathedral next to Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel, Gran Via, boot shopping, quick dinner at Vitamini on Gran Via, Dubliner's Irish pub in Sol with Cris & her friends where we met up with/ran into lots of USD kids.

Sunday, November 22nd:

earlier start for shopping at El Rastro, café con leche, Templo de Debod and surrounding park, Plaza de España.

Naturally, we were able to compare some of our different ways of life and experiences in our different abroad cities (Oxford vs. Madrid). For example, when we got breakfast the first morning, Ali asked if she could just get a piece of toast in one of the cafes/bars. I simply answered "No, they don't do that here." (Breakfast is not big here.. you usually just get coffee with a pastry or croissant.. some places have eggs and sandwiches but it's not typical). She also wasn't used to the crazy hours of Madrid nightlife (nightclub gets going at 2:30am/3 and most people stay out until the metro opens back up at 6am, bars close at about 3). Overall she was a champ and I think everything worked out pretty much perfectly! I'm glad we each had the opportunity to visit each other in Europe and get a little taste of each other's experience. Can't wait to be roomies again in the spring!

getting to know my way around

I went out with Laura today to get lunch and get to know my way walking from Tirso de Molina, to Sol, to Gran Via, and back. Ali is coming to visit this weekend and I wanted to make sure I know the area where her hostel is. I don't want to leave Madrid and regret that I never really knew how to get around walking. I am terrible with directions, but Madrid seems like a really small city when you walk from one place to another and see how it all comes together. The metro system is easy, but obviously you are underground and don't get the whole concept of streets, intersections, landmarks, etc. I had a nice afternoon with Laura and feel a lot more confident now! Also, we ate dessert at this cool Haagan Dazs that's in a tall theatre building. Tonight we're going out to dinner at the Hard Rock Madrid with Erinn's dad who is in town.

best Madrid weekend ever! (November 11-15)

• Wednesday night: Orange Cafe with Delia, Brittany and others
  
• Thursday night: Dubliner's and Joy with roomie Michelle, Devin, and others


• Friday: school visit to El Congreso building, Starbucks and El Museo Thyssen with Michelle Toomey!
  
• Friday night: Dubliner's and El Torero bar hopping with Michelle T and Laura


• Saturday: Principe Pio, Cien Montaditos, Templo de Debod, teleferico (cable cars), and Starbucks with Devin, Michelle, and Tyler


• Sunday: homework allll day while drinking coffee and listening to John Legend with Cris. :)

Roma, Italia

The roomates and I + Delia took a trip to Rome November 5th-9th. It was incredible.

We flew in on Thursday morning, and then had 4 full days of sightseeing.

I was nervous about flying RyanAir, because they are really strict about the size of your carry-on and other things, but it worked out fine. Instead of using my duffel bag, I packed everything into my huge backpack (and was very proud of myself)! I only wore one pair of shoes the entire weekend- my black Ugg-imitation boots that I bought at Sears for $25 right before I left! Side note: Being from Las Vegas, I've never in my life worn/owned boots. And have maybe worn a scarf a few times for practical purposes (not a fashion statement). But I am quickly getting into both because they are practical here and part of the cool European fashion! I'm still on a hunt for new cute boots here, but I was so thankful I picked those ones up at Sears. They came in handy on this trip since it rained a lot. So Thursday... we got in to the city around noonish, and our hostel was really close to where the bus from the airport dropped us off. I booked it only like a week prior for us, and we got a 5-person private for a good deal. It was actually really cool- more like a "Bed and Breakfast." It was called Termini B&B. The lady who owns it spoke very little English.. but we were able to understand each other. Something I noticed about Italians during this trip was that they just keep speaking Italian at you even if you clearly don't understand what they're saying. Our room was like a two-story studio room. When you walk in the door there are two beds, and then a few stairs on a windy staircase that takes you up to the other three beds and bathroom. We felt really safe because it was only the 5 of us in that room, and there were also two other doors you had to use a key to enter, before coming to our individual room. And every morning she brought us breakfast- coffee or tea, and a pastry. We decided to have our breakfast at 8am every morning (which I was also proud of) to get an early start on sightseeing. So after checking in, we just went exploring. We walked by the Santa Maria Maggiore building, the Colosseum, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, etc. Then we decided to try our first gelato in Italy at this place called Dartigiano del Gelato. They had an amazing presentation of gelato and cones! Obviously the food in Italy was very important to me, so I will give you details and include some pictures. My first combination of Italian gelato flavors was vanilla and chocolate. It was pretty good... but there will be better later on in the trip.

After gelato we went through some souvenir shops (the first few of probably at least 20 that we went to throughout the weekend. There are a billion touristy/souvenir shops in Rome!! But they're not all exactly the same or anything...). We walked back toward the area of our hostel and passed lots of shopping stores/boutiques. (It was really easy to walk everywhere in Rome.. and it seemed like they had good shopping! I just stuck to souvenir shopping since I had to fit everything back in that single backpack, and wanted to spend my money on food moreso than other things.) We ate dinner at a cute restaurant near our hostel. We all got bruschetta to start, I had amazing lasagna, and the girls all got spaghetti bolognese. The first real Italian food experience was a success. We all went to bed pretty early that night so we could be up and ready by 8am to go tour the Vatican!

Friday, November 6th, we left early like we wanted to and had a very intense metro ride. There were sooo many people trying to get on at our stop; it was crazy. In Rome they have guards that stand between the people and the metro to avoid fighting/stampeding. When we got to the Vatican area, we bought a tour with Centurion Tours, which turned out to be amazing. We went from Bernini's Square to the Picture Gallery, to the Vatican Museums, to the Sistine Chapel, and then St. Peter's Basilica. The tour guide was very nice and even though it turned into a big group of about 30 people, it was fine because we used these high-tech ear phones and the tour guide had a connected mike. He gave us a lot of interesting background about the significance of certain paintings and sculptures in the Vatican Museum. The first big room we walked into was unbelievable. One side of the wall had tapestries hanging in a class case. There was a huge one of the Last Supper scene. The wall across from it held 3 paintings by Raphael; the middle one was the Transfiguration. Between these two huge works, I started tearing up. Seeing all of the amazing artwork depicting Jesus' life story, Biblical references, saints, etc. that I've heard about all my life was overwhelming. I also thought about how blessed I was to be able to see all of this. I couldn't believe how grand everything was and I walked quietly in awe through the next through rooms of the museum. Another piece that really touched me was the copy of "The Pity" sculpture by MichaelAngelo on the way out of a section of the museum. After our tour ended we were free to go into the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica for as long as we wanted. The Sistine Chapel was incredible as well! No pictures are allowed inside, and there was a certain peaceful quietness among the people who were inside observing it. I could have sat there for a half an hour just looking at all the different scenes. St. Peter's Basilica was also incredible!! I spent a lot of time looking at each little section/chapel inside. It is huge. Our tour guide told us about how we can pay to go to the top of the dome and see how huge it really is. It was built in a way to make the person inside not feel so inferior, so you can only get a true idea if you go to the top and look down. We decided to do that on Saturday. We had lunch at a restaurant nearby the Vatican area which was pretty good and cheap. I got four-cheese pizza and wine. Then we went into a lot more shops and did more walking. Later at night we saw the famous Trevi Fountain (so pretty!) and the Spanish Steps. We got gelato at a place nearby. I got strawberry and banana. It was pretty good, but the customer service was not. They kept getting mad that we were asking to sample to different flavors (I guess they don't really do that there?). Delia and I were going to go out later that night, but we couldn't really find a cool bar/club. (I guess no one can really beat Madrid on nightlife). We decided to just go have dinner and wine together.

Saturday, November 7th: I didn't think anything would really top how amazing the previous day was for me, but it got even better. We paid the 7 Euro to get an elevator halfway up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and walk the rest of the way, and it was the best 7 Euro I have ever spent. It was great to be inside the Basilica at the top like that beacuse it was true; you really do get to perceive how big it really is from up there. We were right next to the mosaics on top that have a pattern of an angels, keys, dolls, etc. After leaving that area, we still had a ways to climb to get to the top outside. The view from up here was the most beautiful view I have seen in my life. I am not exaggerating. You could see the whole city of Rome, and walk all around the outside of the dome if you wanted to, to get every view. We were above the main Vatican square!

I met these two American girls up there who are studying abroad in Rome. They gave us some recommendations for food and gelato near the Pantheon that we followed; and I am so thankful! We had lunch at Miscellanea, this cheap place that is known for hosting international students. I got a ham and mozerella panini (sandwich), Rachel and I shared this really good cheesy-bread appetizer thing, and they gave us all a free glass of "sexy wine" (strawberry wine). On the way to the Pantheon, we saw the Castle Saint Angelo, the Bridge of Angels, and the Plaza Navona. I didn't even know about these sites before, but the bridge ended up being one of my favorite places in all of Rome! I loved the atmosphere of this whole area in general.

After lunch, we went inside the Pantheon, and then got the most delicious gelato at "Giolitti," another place the girls recommended. It only cost like 2.20 Euro for a cone, and you get to choose 3 different flavors! So my third gelato mixture consisted of chocolate, white chocolate, and 'crema.' mmmm! Later we went to the Spanish Steps/Trevi fountain area at night again, and went back to the hostel, had pizza at a cafeteria nearby, and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Sunday, November 8th was a great day as well. Erinn, Delia, and I went to St. Peter's Basilica for 10am mass. We went in and were looking for available seats when a guard/usher told us to come sit in the front row pew! I couldn't believe it! I felt so blessed and this was also a very moving experience for me. Mass was really cool; it was a traditional Latin mass, but they provided guides with the English, Spanish, and Italian words so you can follow along. The procession was so long because there had to have been about 50 priests, 15 cardinals, and 7 altar servers!! There was also a tradional choir off to the left. It was great. After Mass, we waited for the Pope, who does a blessing every Sunday at noon, but he didn't come out. Instead they played an old service of his on the big screens out in Vatican Square. I think a lot of people were disappointed. I noticed how there were so many people waiting; some were holding signs and flags. I was a little disappointed, but happy that we got to go to Mass at the Vatican.

After this we met up with Rachel and Lexi for lunch & gelato in the same area near the Pantheon. We ate at a place the girls recommended called "Maccheroni." Lexi and I were brave and tried the pasta alla carbanara, which we were not crazy about. The ravioli Delia and Erinn got was way better. We got gelato at Giolitti again, and this time I got chocolate, white chocolate, and stracciatella. After this, we were all pretty worn out. We walked back to the hostel and relaxed. We got food at the same little cafeteria for dinner (I got a ham & cheese calzone), and gelato again! I think I got chocolate and mint chocolate chip. The best gelato hands down was Giolitti, though. Delia and I went to do some last minute shopping in the metro station and then we had to go to bed early because on Monday, November 9th, we had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a bus to take to the airport, to make our 6:25am flight. Everything went very smoothly and we got home to Madrid on time!

In conclusion, this trip to Rome was one of the best trips I have ever had. There is so much to see there and so much history. I thought the city (and many of the Italian guards) was beautiful. The food overall (other than the gelato) was honestly nothing to write home about, but we thought that maybe this was because we are on a college-student budget. I had an amazing experience and am so thankful. I want to take my family back someday!! :)

I took over 300 pictures that you can find here.

Portugal

My USD roommates and I took a short trip to Lisboa, Portugal over Halloween weekend.

The first day, Friday, October 30th, was a success. Everything worked out fine with transportation and our hotel room at the Holiday Inn was great! After relaxing in the hotel for a little bit and enjoying watching American TV, we went to the Belem area to see the famous Monastery (Monasteiro Dos Jeronimos) and the cross (Padrao Dos Descobrimentos). We ate pitas at this really good restaurant nearby called Pao Pao Queijo, and got delicious custard-filled pastries at the famous Pasteis de Belem (both food suggestions came from the book "Let's Go Spain & Portugal" and advice from friends who travelled there before us). We had a very friendly waiter named Robert at Pasteis de Belem, who spoke English among many other languages. We sat in there for a while just talking to him and it was really interesting to hear his story.

On Saturday, October 31st, we took a day trip to the beach town called Caiscais. It was so pretty, and the weather was nice and warm. We only paid a few Euro for the 45-minute train ride into the town. We stayed there for a few hours, walking around, eating lunch, and taking pictures at the beach.

Then we took a bus to the town called Sintra in attempt to see the Palacio de Pena, but it didn't exactly work out. When we got to Sintra at about 5:30ish after a long and windy bus ride, we paid for a cab up to the top of the mountain where the palace is. The cab ride was really intense because the roads were narrow and windy. When we finally got up to the palace, the guard told us that it just closed and we couldn't come in so we might as well take the cab back down! So that whole attempt to see the palace costed us a little money, but more importantly, time. We were all a little bummed, but still positive and glad that we got to spend time at Caiscais that day.

Later that night, Lexi, Rachel, and I went to Bairro Alto to walk around and get something to eat for dinner. The following story is what we retell most about the trip because it is so interesting and somewhat funny: We check out the menus at many of the different restaurants in the area and most of them seem a little more pricey than we are willing to pay. We see a more reasonable one that isn't packed inside, so we go in. The waitress, a middle-aged woman who speaks perfect English, greets us and brings us bread. We check out the menu and Rachel and I decide to split two appetizers. We are not super hungry and don't want to spend a lot of money, and Lexi's not feeling well, so she's just going to munch on the bread. We place our order to the waitress and she looks shocked & insulted. She says "only appetizers? No! You can't just order appetizers; the cook won't let you. You can get an entree and a few appetizers, like a steak, but not just appetizers." She says she will go ask the cooks what they think. Rachel and I talk about what to do. We don't want to pay that much for a steak, but we feel like we can't just leave now. The waitress comes back and says that we can't only order appetizers. I try to use the argument that it doesn't state that on the menu anywhere, and that we are not that hungry. Very rudely, she responds with (and I quote): "This is a restaurant, it isn't snacks!" So basically we lose the argument and say that we will just leave. Then she says "it's 1.40 for the bread." We leave 2 on the table and get the hell out.

What a humiliating, enlightening, and funny experience! Compare this to eating at many restaurants in the United States. Usually you can order whatever you want and expect to receive good, if at least decent, customer service. I already knew that customer service in Europe isn't a top priority, but I thought it was odd that they wouldn't at least take what business we were willing to give them. If you go to a restaurant, say Applebee's for example, you can go in and order 2 cokes and sit there for a while, you can go in and just get appetizers or dessert, or all of the above, and they will most likely appreciate your business. I guess maybe you just can't do that there (or in Europe in general?), or that they want to make more money. I thought it was strange that they would rather refuse to serve us appetizers and lose out on around 15 Euro that they would have earned. We felt kind of embarrassed because we were basically kicked out of a restaurant! We didn't know if it was like that in all the restaurants there, but we didn't want that to happen again so we went back to the hotel shortly afterwards.

Sunday, November 1st was more successful. We spent a lot of time exploring the Castella de Jorge- this really cool castle! It was only 2.50 E with our student discount, so that made us happy! We saw beautiful views of Lisboa from there and had a great time. After a quick lunch at McDonald's (in which a little boy came up to our table and ate one of Rachel's fries...?), we went back to the hotel to get our stuff and go to the airport.

This weekend was really relaxing and it was fun to experience a new country with my roommates. Here are the pictures from the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/NicoleDeFelice.usdtv/PortugalTrip#