Since I've been studying literature and taking a creative writing course, I decided to post some of my work to prove that I am actually studying and learning here in Madrid, haha! So here is a poem I wrote for my creative writing class.

Enamored

The piano starts playing,
My heart goes weak.
I watch with lustrous eyes
A masterpiece of nature
Whose hands caress ivory keys

Appassionato, the notes embrace me.
Like red wine, they flowed
Leaving my soul weak
Taking me from reality.

Like an innocent brush of his hand
On my bare arms.
With flushed cheeks
My heart melts.

My heart beats with the crescendo.
I dream of being his muse.
For the music that he plays
Leaves me wordlessly enamored.

Andalucia Weekend

This past weekend I went to three cities in Andalucia; Cordoba, Seville, and Granada. All three cities were amazing and gorgeous. It was a nice change of scenery and weather from Madrid. There was palm trees and flower boxes hanging off of every balcony, and orange trees everywhere and Andalucia has a heavy Arabic influence, being so close to the Moroccan border. Especially Granada. I absolutely loved it. I've decided I have to go to Morocco before I leave Madrid.

We had just a couple hours in Cordoba, enough time to get lunch, I had a chickpea soup, and visit the Mosque of Cordoba which was incredible. You just get lost looking at all the red and white arches inside and the intricate details on the ceilings. I have been getting quite sick of looking at cathedrals, until I saw this one. I was just in awe of it. Then we were off to Seville.

We had the night free to explore Seville and we spent it wine and tapa tasting! They have excellent tapas in Seville. Salmon bocadillos, spinach, walnuts, and raisin dish, and lots more. I just can't say it enough, I love the concept of tapas! haha. While we were in Seville, the Feria de Abril (April Fair) was going on. After visiting the cathedral, climbing up the Giralda tower to see an amazing view of Seville, and a enjoying a pricey but well worth it, traditional Andalucian dinner of lamb in honey sauce stuffed with spinach and pine nuts (how I'm not 300 pounds I have no idea), we headed to the feria. It was so much fun! During the day they had horse parades and carriages. The streets were lined with casetas, which are beautifully decorated marquee tents, and women were dressed in gorgeous flamenco dresses and men were all in suits. All the women were dancing flamenco, everyone was drinking, music was playing everywhere. Most of the houses were private family parties but we were able to go to a couple of public casetas! We drank lots of Manzanilla wine and attempted dancing flamenco, on stage (haha), it was great. There was also a fair ground with rides and of course chocolate con churro stands. It was like the orange county fair. The best ride ever, completely worth the 3 euros, was the totem pole. It was basically like riding a bull but on a log that fit 10 people. I have a hilarious video of it. Good times! The streets were crowded with people and the casetas played music well into the next morning. We didn't leave the feria until 5am and it was still a party! The next morning it was off to Granada.

Oh how I loved Granada. It was breath taking. I was enamored with Granada. I had a crazy adventure and experienced an amazing culture. We went to an Arabic tea house and just relaxed with our apple hookah and tea. Had the most amazing lunch at an Arabic restaurant. I love how all these places were decorated, they all had lavish decor, throw pillows on the couches, soothing scents, dark intimate lighting, gorgeous tapestries. I had the most amazing tea, Pakistani tea with milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. oh I was in love. I also had chicken couscous with walnuts and raisins. I'm going to Casablanca, end of story. The best part of Granada was seeing the Flamenco show. We went to the Albaicin quarter to see the flamenco show in a cave in the hills. First of all, this area is so picturesque, we had an amazing view of the Alhambra lit up at night. I just kept thinking, how could you not fall in love in Granada. It was ridiculously romantic. I am getting butterflies just thinking about it, I can't even describe how this place looks. The flamenco show was incredible. The women had such emotion and intensity in their faces, the spanish guitar was beautiful, the rhythmic feet stomping, hand clapping and singing, I was just in an indescribable state watching the flamenco. The cave was so cool, there were bronze pots hanging from the ceiling and fantastic photography on the walls. I'll never forget the experience.

Granada has the best tapa culture in Spain, it blows Madrid out of the water! We spent the rest of our evening in Granada bar hopping, drinking lots of Tinto de Verano (red wine and lemonade), getting massive portions of FREE tapas, ended up at a pub inspired by London where we had an incredible honey flavored rum, then ended up at a reggae bar, gazed and pondered at an erotic statue of a naked man pulling the horns of a goat (don't ask, I don't know) and climbed up a rather high gate to explore an abandoned church (I'm going to hell). I still have bruises and scrapes. The church was beautiful though, it had no roof, stairs that led to nowhere and there was a complete forest growing inside. It was incredible.

The next day we went to the Alhambra. Oh man, it was so fascinating and gorgeous. I could picture all the lavish rugs, pillows, curtains covering the palace, the walls were just incredible with intricate designs and Arabic writing, and the garden was an Eden. Again, no words can describe. There was this tree, I think it was the cyprus tree, that had a great story behind it. If a guy liked a girl, he would take the leaves from the tree and throw them at the girl he loved or admired. I thought it was cute, like something you would do in grade school.

So, Andalucia is amazing. You can really see the difference in culture from other parts of Spain. As an ending note, I would just like to mention one more time how much I love Madrid in the spring. I have the window open and all these little white flowers are blowing into my room from the trees outside my window. I will be sad to leave in two weeks. Well can't think about that now! Time to go to Retiro park and bask in the sun in a paddle boat on the lake, and then to the Prado to see some art.

Icelandic Volcano

I barely missed the volcanic eruption, otherwise I would have been stuck in Ireland, spending way to much money on beer, fish and chips, and a bed to sleep in. So maybe it's for the better that I came home when I did. I'm starting to miss my study abroad group! I love Madrid but it's more fun when you have someone to walk around with and enjoy it with. Or someone to share my 2 Euro bottle of wine with!!!! I hope everyone makes it home safely and SOON!

Why is it raining so much!! It was raining cats and dogs when I went out walking today, and of course as soon as I make it back to my apartment it's sunny. With my luck if I go back out, it will start pouring again, just like yesterday. I have less then a month left in Madrid weather man, please make it stop!

Spring in Madrid has my heart.

Felicidades, lots of Happiness! Happylations!

Yesterday I went exploring Madrid. I've been in Madrid for a month now and I saw it in a whole new light. Went walking around the Prado and Botanical Gardens and was very pleased to find that tulips were blooming everywhere! Tulips! Incredibly beautiful. All the trees along the streets are beginning to bloom pinks and purples, the trees are showing their leaves in arrays of brilliant greens that contrast perfectly with the buildings and the fountains. I took a peak inside the Botanical Garden gates and there were rows upon rows of tulips in every color you can imagine. I bought a painting of Don Quixote from a street artist, love it. It's kind of small, I might find a larger canvas one, I saw some great pieces at Plaza Mayor as well, gorgeous flamenco paintings, might have to invest in one!

I discovered a part of Madrid I've never seen before, and it was only a couple blocks away from my apartment; The Temple of Debod. It is so beautiful. I learned that it is an Egyptian sanctuary that was sent from Egypt over two thousand years ago and it's one of the few monuments that can be seen outside of Egypt. It sits on top of a hill over looking the entire city. The monument sits in a small pool of water and is surrounded by a park. I think I found my new reading and homework spot! I ended the night at the Metal Bar. I really like this place. It plays great spanish rock and punk music, kind of sounds like classic rock. It was my kind of place. There were places to sit and just listen, or rock out, to the music and drink a Leche de Pantera (Panther's Milk- milk, gin, triple sec, grenadine, and cinnamon) or Calimocho (red wine and Coca Cola). There was absolutely no Lady Gaga, Keane, Keisha, or whatever pop, R&B music is popular in America right now. I loved it!!

Salud!

Salud - Health, to drink to someone's health. I'm very healthy :)

Also, another toast I learned that I like is "Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa'dentro!" (raise your glass, lower your glass, bring glass to the center, inside!)

Bullfight and Botin

So, since I haven't been keeping up so well with my blog, I haven't wrote about some amazing things I've been doing in Madrid. I had a chance to go to a Bullfight! We got the cheaper seats in the sun, and of course, after weeks of cloudy skies and rain, the sun chooses to be scorching hot on this day! We went to the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid. I was a bit nervous to see the bullfight, I was told it was gory, bloody, and offensive. So I was surprised to find that I loved it. I found it artistic, a dance between the bull and the matador. The way the matador moved was incredible and elegant. The colors of the matador's costume, traje de luces (suit of lights), was gorgeous, lined with gold, and the contrast between the suit, the red cape, and the black bull was beautiful. I don't know if it's bad or horrible of me to think that it was artistic, because a lot of people I went with were offended by it. I was looking around the bull ring and the spanish people were extremely into it. I think that's another reason I loved it, I was being emersed in Spanish culture. The crowd was chanting "Ole!" and cheering when the Matador succeeded in the bullfight. It was amazing. The banderilleros, the flagmen who tired out the bull, were artistic to me as well. Their costumes were not as magnificent as the matadores but nonetheless beautiful with a pink cape. The bullfight was such a great experience that I totally forgot that the were killing the bull.

For mine and another girls birthday, a couple of people from the program all met at Botin. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Botin is the oldest restaurant in the entire world! It was founded in 1725 and is a benchmark of traditional cuisine in Madrid. I had lamb, one of their specialties, accompanied by a refreshing pitcher of Sangria and it was delicious! That was a great evening. Afterwards we were treated to the best chocolate con churros ever! It was at a place that specializes in them, Chocolateria San Gines. The churros were fresh, the chocolate was thick, rich, and piping hot, the best dark chocolate. And it's open 24 hours. It is also the best place to go for breakfast after a night of bar hopping. Just another reason why I love Madrid. Churros and chocolate for breakfast, in a city that never sleeps.

Ireland

So so much to say about my excursion to Ireland. I don't even know where to begin. One thing is for sure, my favorite word to say in Ireland is "Slainte", meaning "cheers". I love learning new ways to to say cheers! and I definitely over used this Irish word!! 30 pints of beer, Guinness, Smithwicks, Murphys, and Carlsberg, and only paid for 5 pints. Amazing. I also tried a pint of oyster beer, it was delicious. So, what is the best thing to do in Dublin, Ireland? Go to the Guinness Storehouse of course! It is a wonderful and magical place that ends with a delicious pint of the best brewed Guinness you'll ever have at the Gravity bar that has the best 360 view of the city in Dublin. And no visit to Dublin is complete without fish and chips at a pub that plays live music. It was the best fish and chips I have ever had. Since it is impossible to give full detail of my amazing time in Ireland, I will give a small run down of the things I did.

This trip was important to me actually. I went completely on my own, and it was a great experience for me. I saw what I wanted to see, I wasn't afraid to walk into a pub and listen to some great music, drink a pint of beer, I wasn't afraid to travel and see things. It was liberating. I met some great people and some not so great people, haha, and had the time of my life.

First things first, the weather was incredible. Bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, not a single drop of rain or fog. The night I arrived it was too late to eat a traditional irish dinner so I settled for a kaabab place where 6 guys from Paris who where just coming back from a Rugby match, where air surfing and singing the beach boys too me! haha, my favorite souvenir is the ticket for the rugby match that they gave me, good times. The next day I went on a walking tour of Dublin. It is such a gorgeous city. The river Liffey is beautiful. Learned a lot of cool facts, funny facts, about Ireland, the Dublin Castle, Trinity College, U2. St Stephen's green park is absolutely breath-taking, I wish I could have spent more time there, but I was off to the Guinness Storehouse! Had my first Irish meal at the Auld Dubliner, Fish and Chips heard some great Irish music. I heard the song "Cockels and Mussels" about Molly Malone in just about every pub I went to. They really like that song... so I took a picture with The bronze statue of her. After the Storehouse I was taken out for another traditional Irish meal, some kind of hearty stew with a bit of guinness in it. It was good, it was really hearty, haha. Then I was shown the how to correctly pour and care for Guinness. Guinness is a delicacy, it is taken very seriously in Ireland. It is greatly treasured and cherished. After all, It's good for your health, doctors prescribe it to their patients, it's good for strength, and it's always a good day for a Guinness! I learned the type of glass, temperature, how to inspect the glass to make sure it is clean, and I learned the proper way to pour a glass of Guinness, which is a two step process, and I learned the proper etiquette in taking the first sip of Guinness. I had a very educational day. It was at this point where "Slainte" became my new favorite word.

Day two in Ireland, I took a day trip to County Wicklow, Glendalough, and Kilkenny. Absolutely stunning. And boys, eat your heart out, I was standing on the grounds where many scenes from Braveheart where filmed. The lakes, waterfalls, and the coast were so breath-taking. I had to keep pinching myself. I also saw Bono's residence! Lucky guy to have such a beautiful view of the ocean in Ireland. Later that night, back in Dublin, I went to the famous Temple Bar, listened to some more great live music, had a conversation with the musician, then went to the Brazen Head for dinner and some live traditional Irish Music. The Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Ireland, it was a very cool pub. and I loved the music. Then I went to the porterhouse for a second time for some more live music and more pints of beer! The band was playing more popular music, I knew all of them and was singing loudly with the bartenders. I love Ireland.

Day three in Ireland, took another day trip to the cliffs of Moher. I couldn't believe how beautiful the cliffs where. I just sat there for an hour in complete tranquility. We started the tour in Limerick to see King John's Castle, then through County Clare to the magnificent cliffs of Moher. Then we went to Doolin City, the landscapes and the coast of Doolin is unlike anything I've ever seen. The stone walls, sheep, which dominate in population over people, and the rocks on the coast that are unique to Doolin. We had lunch there and they had the best seafood chowder I've ever had. Went to The Burren, then we traveled back home through Galway Bay. Beautiful day, listened to peaceful irish music along the way, and U2.

What's not to love about Ireland? And my hostel was fantastic. Very attractive Irish men working there, they played the "Pirate Radio" soundtrack and some other great music the entire time.

Cheers!

Alcala de Henares

I was taken on a drive to this beautiful little city just outside of Madrid. This is where Miguel de Cervantes was born, the writer of the infamous Don Quixote. My personal tour guide, Andres, taught me a lot about Don Quiote, Cervantes, and the city itself. I was amazed so much by this city. The university, which was founded in 1496 by Cardinal Cisneros, is still standing. On the entrance, or what is left of it, there were storks nests, it was beautiful. I absolutely loved the Plaza de Cervantes. And it was such a gorgeous day, there were tulips of pink and yellow in the small gardens, a beautiful gazebo, it was so nice to relax and have a cerveza in the middle of the square. I was told about the story of Don Quixote and how it is the 2nd most translated book in the world. The first is the Bible, how amazing is that! and I got to see every single translation of it, including the cryptological and the brail versions! I actually started reading Don Quixote, and so far, it's great. It's hilarious, sort of whimsical, I love it. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant named after Quixote's horse, Rocinante, which was amazing. I was taken to the Palace where Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand met Christopher Columbus and gave him the finances to discover the Americas.

It's amazing how much more you enjoy and appreciate places and monuments when you know the history and why these are places of historical importance. I learned so much that day. It was a perfect day. I couldn't believe how beautiful the weather was.

Now that I've been traveling around Spain, Portugal, and Ireland, I've really grown to appreciate Madrid and the culture here. I actually prefer spanish culture, I don't think I'll adjust going back to American culture. I feel like people here take the time to appreciate things, learn things. I think Alcala was a turning point for me on his journey so far. I cant even put in to words how I feel right now, I'm adjusting much to well here now. And someone in my apartment building is playing Joplin on the piano, beautiful, I love it. I miss my piano. Now I want to go to the piano bar for a 5 euro pitcher of sangria!

I am officially adopting the spanish culture. Sorry California.

Portugal

Starting out in Porto, Portugal, a beautiful city. The best thing to do in Porto, Portugal is wine tasting, that's how I spent most of my time. Port wine is not my favorite wine, it's much too sweet, but how amazing is it to say that my first experience in wine tasting was in Porto, Portugal! The wineries are beautiful. They are all up on the hills of Porto, over looking the port, which is breath-taking. I learned a lot about port wine in it's home city! My favorite winery is Taylor's, its the oldest port winery. It had a beautiful view of the port, a garden complete with peacocks and a great tour of the cellar with a chocolate and port wine pairing. It was a wonderful experience. Also did a tour at Croft Port winery which was very nice. So since traveling is all about trying new things, I ate sardines, a popular traditional dish in Porto. It was still on the bone, freshly caught and cooked, and it was delicious! I thought they were little fish but they were quite big. OUr hostel was incredible in Porto. It was a cinema based one. Our room was the Pedro Aldomovar room. The hostel hosted a dinner and wine for us of Quiche, which was delicious, all homemade. A bus took us to the coast to see the beach and some of the landmarks. Some of the houses were so beautiful, it was actually a lot like beverly hills. The central city had some damaged buildings, a lot of the windows were shattered, but it was beautiful. The cathedrals in Porto are gorgeous, most of them were decorated with blue and white tile with great design, reminded me of the tile in Holland and the porcelain windmill and wooden shoe I have. It was beautiful.

Our next stop was Lisboa. Even more beautiful. It was a lot like San Francisco. Al the trolley cars on cables, the hills and alleys. We were able to get some incredible views of the hills and the houses on them. Every single building and house was unique with intricate designs and beautiful window shapes. The people are so humble and nice in Portugal. Everyone speaks beautiful english, they are so proper with their english and they have a delicate accent. The river is beautiful, Lisboa even has it's own version of the Golden Gate bridge, the St Thomas bridge. and oh, the pastries, amazing. I ate way too many pastries. Portugal is well known for their pastries, many having custards, almonds, and marzipan. Also known for cod fish, or Bacalhau, which is delicious. and of course, my favorite part of Lisboa, the fado. Fado is a beautiful, mournful style of music that is often just a singer accompanied by a portuguese guitar. The fado I saw was a woman and a man guitarist. This woman had the voice of an angel. It was so beautiful. Fado houses are seen all over Lisboa and they have the Fado Mueseum which was great, I learned everything about fado. not many people know about fado, its really only specific to Portugal and I'm happy and lucky to have experienced this type of music.

Oh the night live in Barrio Alto was intense! haha. A full on party in the streets! There are three streets in the Barrio Alto neighborhood that are lined with bars and clubs and people. You simply walk into a bar, get your sangria, beer, wine, or mojito in a plastic cup and walk the streets. I found that the party wasn't in the bar, it was outside of the bar! and everything was so cheap, usually a euro for sangria and beer.

I took a day trip to Sintra, an enchanted, fairy tale city. All throughout the green hills there were castles and palaces. I went up to the Pena National Palace and the Moorish Castle, they were magnificent. My favorite place in Sintra is the Regaleria Palace and Gardens, this was a true fairy tale garden complete with a labyrinth, grotto, waterfalls, wells, lakes, ponds, lots of greenery, towers , and of couse, the palace. Much to beautiful for words.

I simply just fell in love with Portugal. It was a humble, picturesque city, so many spectacular views. You can go up on any rooftop and see the city, all the houses stacked on each other, al in various colors, pinks, blues, corrals, yellows, it was too beautiful. And a popular symbol in Portugal is the rooster! It symbolizes the winning of justice when you fight for it. The legend is that a man kept insisting he didn't commit a crime and there was no evidence that he did or didn't commit it so he swore to the Virgin Mary and the Holy John that he was innocent. He said that if he was lying, the roasted rooster on the tray that was served to him would stay where it was and if he was telling the truth, the rooster would rise and crow. In that same instant, the rooster got up in it's earlier feathers and began crowing so all of the city could hear it and the man was immediately released! The rooster became a sign of good luck.