Short and sweet

Well hey there!

Yay for two posts in two days!  I told you I’d be better.  :)

I don’t have much to say about today… took a quiz in Spanish, got some work done in between classes, and discussed Socrates in philosophy = pretty normal day.  Soon I will leave to meet up with Mom, Emma, and M for dinner.  They spent the day in Toledo, so I’m very excited to hear how much they enjoyed it.

To make this a somewhat interesting post, I am going to share two things with you.

1.     This is the list of songs I listened to on my walk to campus this morning courtesy of my iPhone on shuffle:

a.     Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”

b.     Collective Soul’s “Heaven’s Already Here”

c.     Steve Earle’s “The Galway Girl” – a personal favorite, but then again, I like all my music

d.     Kanye West’s “Stronger”

e.     Poison’s “Rock and Roll All Nite”

f.      The Ike Reilly Assassination’s “You’re So Plain” – if anyone reading my blog doesn’t know of this band, you should… So, look them up.

I chose to share this list because I found it random and eclectic (shuffle…duh!).  But it made me smile that I listened to a wide variety of music all during my walk to school.

The second thing I’m sharing is a picture. 

This cat randomly appeared in the courtyard of the apartment building today.  Maria told me that her name is Cleopatra and she belongs to the new neighbors who live downstairs.  I had a short conversation with Cleopatra warning her to stay away from my food (which I store outside on the windowsill).  Hopefully she listens.

That’s all for now folks.  Keep checking the blog to see when I’ll post next! :)

All my love,

Elizabeth

Barcelona and some other stuff

Hi friends.

Again, I feel I must apologize for the lengthy delay in updating my blog.  You might think my life would have been more hectic at the beginning of the semester here, and I might have skipped a day or two, but apparently, these past few weeks have been the craziest.  But I’m back now!

Last week was a bit nuts because I had a lot of schoolwork to do—philosophy midterm on Monday (which went well!), Spanish essay due Wednesday, and my second big positive psychology essay due Thursday.  So, I was pretty stressed last week and didn’t have a lot of spare time to write a new post.  But most of my work is done now, so I’m feeling much more relaxed.  I also registered for my classes back at Creighton for the fall, and with that done, the extra burden is off my shoulders!

Mom, Emma, and M got here Friday morning and went straight from the airport to my apartment.  They rearranged their suitcases (to pack smaller bags for the weekend in Barcelona) and rested a little bit before we headed to the station for our high-speed train ride to Barcelona.  We had upgraded seats on the train, which was spacious and comfortable, and included a light meal.  Emma and I really enjoyed the meal—ravioli, fruit salad, consommé, and bread with olive oil—pretty good for a train!

On the train!

When we got to Barcelona, we took a taxi to our hotel—Hotel Casa Fuster.  It was a beautiful building with lovely rooms—very comfortable for the four of us.  We decided to walk around for about half an hour to get the lay of the land a bit and then relax before dinner.  The street near the hotel was quite nice; there were several upscale stores and nice-looking restaurants.  After our walk, we took a siesta and then got ready for our dinner at Botafumeiro.  Emma and I split the lobster paella, but it wasn’t really that good (in my opinion).  I had paella with Katie here in Madrid, and liked it a lot more than this paella…oh well.  But the restaurant was lovely and the waiters were nice.  When we got back to the hotel, we played a quick game of cards (Kings in the Corner—hadn’t played that game in years!), and then went to bed because we were so tired.

staircase in the hotel

front of Casa Fuster

Mom and my hotel room

On Saturday, we had a half-day walking tour of Barcelona.  Our tour guide, Norbert, is a Barcelona native and is very knowledgeable.  He met us at the hotel at 10 AM (after our great breakfast at the hotel—so much food to choose).  We walked through a lot of Barcelona and my favorite site was the huge market with all kinds of foods—fish, ham, meat, fruits, vegetables, olives, candies, etc.  It was awesome to see all of the options, the vendors, and the people shopping.  Everything looked delicious as well, and it was all super fresh.  Norbert told us that the chefs from the best restaurants in Barcelona do their shopping at the market every week, so we were obviously in good company!  Much of what we saw on the tour was buildings and interesting places, but not a lot of history of Barcelona.  To me, it seemed that Barcelona is more of a “current” city; obviously, it has history, but its current state is more important, especially with all of the commerce there (Norbert told us that Madrid is the government, and Barcelona is the money—sort of like Washington, D.C. and NYC). 

Gaudi building in Barcelona

view of La Sagrada Familia from our hotel

Hotel Casa Fuster at Night

Rooftop pool

Barcelona at night

At the end of the tour, Norbert left us at a great little restaurant where we got some tapas for lunch.  Delicious!  Everything was so good and tapas are definitely the right size—we got to try a little bit of everything and didn’t get too full.  After that, we did some “shopping” at El Corte Ingles, which is the huge department store in Spain (sort of like Macy’s but with even more stuff).  Then we stopped at Hard Rock Café to get shirts—keeping up with my collection—and some dessert.  We also had some good conversations about what we (my siblings and I) should be thinking about/doing for the future.  Very interesting and good things to think about.

At Hard Rock Café

Although we had reservations at a restaurant down by the harbor, we decided to skip that because the place was really expensive, and there’s no reason we need to spend 50 Euros per person on dinner—none of us appreciate “good food” that much!  We ended up walking around for a long time with no luck finding a place.  That was very frustrating for all of us, but I tried to be optimistic and have a positive attitude.  Finally, we just decided to go in this little Lebanese place called Luna de Istanbul.  The menu was all in Spanish and Catalan (the language they speak in Barcelona) so we randomly ordered some things that sounded decent.  When the food came, it was all SO GOOD.  We definitely ordered way too much since we didn’t know what it would be like, but it was all delicious and flavorful.  It was also much less expensive than the restaurant from Friday night, so it was a win all around.

Spain’s daylight savings time change was two weeks later than the U.S.’s, so we sprung forward on Sunday morning.  Because of the change, we started our tour on Sunday at 11 AM instead of 10.  This tour was a driving tour (yay!) all based on the work of Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect in Barcelona.  We first saw Park Güell.  This was supposed to be an area of lots of homes for the wealthy of Barcelona to get out of the city (it was started in the early 1900s).  The concept was great, but the timing was off because families weren’t willing to make the hour long carriage ride to the park (it’s now a 10 minute drive from the city).  Although the project failed, there were a few buildings there and then a giant public park.  The buildings are really cool, albeit not functional at all.  The rooms all have curved walls and weird shapes, making it difficult to put furniture in them—all the furniture had to be built in the rooms and designed in weird ways to accommodate the strange architecture.  I thought it was fascinating but would not want to live in a Gaudi house!

Gingerbread-like Gaudi house

Park Güell

Public park--so green!

mosaic ceilings

House that Gaudi lived in

Next, we drove down by the harbor to see the sea and the beach.  It was great to finally see the water and imagine what the beach would be like in the summer—literally packed with people.  The weather was decent while we were there, but definitely not nice enough to sit outside and sunbathe.  Oh well.

After that, we went to La Sagrada Familia, which is a huge church in Barcelona.  It was designed by Gaudi, and is absolutely incredible.  It was started in ­­­1883 and is still unfinished.  The pope just consecrated it as a church last November, which I thought was very interesting.  The outside is unique and quite unusual, but I was struck most by the inside.  I thought it was so amazing—light, airy, beautiful, bright, and modern looking.  If I had a church like that near me, I would definitely be there as often as possible!  I suppose some people might find the church a bit cold or intimidating, but I like it much more than most of the cathedrals that I’ve seen throughout Europe.  I like the simplicity much more than the ornate design of many of the old cathedrals.

Model of La Sagrada Familia

Real life Sagrada Familia

Ceiling

Kiss of Judas

Following the visit to the church, we said goodbye to Norbert, and he left us at the restaurant where we had reservations for lunch at 3.  I had roasted chicken, which was great.  In Barcelona, seafood is popular because the city is right on the sea.  But I’m not much of a seafood/fish person; I’ll have it once in awhile, and I like most of it, but it’s definitely not my favorite, and I rarely crave it.  After lunch, we were all pretty tired, so we went back to the hotel for a little siesta.  On Sunday night, we went to a great tapas place for dinner and got to try many small dishes.  We again ordered way too much and couldn’t possibly finish it all.  I hate to waste food, but when you’re full, you’re full, no matter how good the food is!

Sunday was our last night in Barcelona, and we left Monday morning.  We had another high-speed train and got back to Madrid around 2.  It’s funny how Madrid feels like home, especially after I’ve been traveling.  I remember distinctly how relieved and happy I was to return to Madrid after Paris, Sevilla, Granada, and Barcelona.  The only place that I wanted to stay longer was Ireland!  :)

In order to give us a little more time in Barcelona, I skipped my Spanish class Monday morning, but I did go to Philosophy at 4.  After class, I stopped back at the apartment, said hi to Maria, and then went to the Madrid hotel around 7.  We had a tapas tour starting at 8.  Carlos, our guide, took us to 4 different tapas bars and then to San Gines Chocoleteria for churros and chocolate.  I can’t remember the names of all the places we went, but it was all fun and really good food.  I love going on guided tapas tours because everything is taken care of and I can sit back and try what I want!  It’s wonderful.  But now that I’ve been to some of the places, I might try to find them again with my friends and do our own kind of tapas night.

Today (Tuesday) was another busy day.  Mom, Emma, and M had the day free (until the evening) so they did a little shopping and relaxing.  I went to class and spent all of my free time in between classes working on this blog post and still didn’t finish!  Anyway, classes were decent.  After art history, I rushed to get to the metro and make it to the hotel because we had a Hidden Madrid tour at 6.  I made it with 15 minutes to spare.  Mark, our guide and the author of a book called Hidden Madrid, met us in the lobby at 6, and off we went.  The tour was awesome because it was more than just the major monuments and tourist destinations that you can see on any old tour.  We heard the lesser-known stories of Madrid, which I really enjoyed.  I actually had heard some of the stories that Mark shared with us before; way to go Sandeman’s New Europe free walking tour—you really did your research!

Palacio Real

Entrance to Plaza Mayor with a cool sky in the background :)

After the tour, we found a little Mexican restaurant and had dinner.  I finally got home at 11:25 and am now putting the finishing touches on this post.  Wow, long day, and long post.  Okay, that might be it for a few days.  Hopefully not though.  I’m going to try to keep up with the blog… we’ll see how it goes.

Love you all,

Elizabeth

Busy busy busy

Hello friends!

I apologize for the long delay in updating my blog.  It’s been a crazy week, and I haven’t had much down time.  I don’t think these next two weeks are going to be any slower, but that’s okay—I’m trying to live in the moment!

The rest of the week with Steve was a lot of fun.  He enjoyed his birthday dinner at Botin on Tuesday, and then he did a little exploring on his own on Wednesday and Thursday.  He visited the Prado and walked around Madrid on Wednesday, and then we had dinner at the apartment again—Maria was so sweet to make dinner twice for us.  She said that she wanted Steve to know that people take care of each other well in Spain.  :)  On Thursday, Steve enjoyed the nice weather (finally!) at Retiro Park, and then we went to Hard Rock Café for dinner.  I also got my Hard Rock Madrid shirt!

Friday morning, my friend Katie, who is studying in Rome this semester, flew into Madrid with one of her friends from school.  We met up at 11 AM at Sol, and then the three of us Carmel grads (Steve, Katie, and I) took the speed train to Toledo for the day.  The weather was awesome—in the 70s with gorgeous sunshine!  We explored the city leisurely, and I told them what I remembered from my tour of Toledo back in January.  Mostly we just enjoyed the landscape, the winding roads, and each other’s company.  Victoria and her parents were also in Toledo for the day, so we met up with them for a few minutes to say hi.

beautiful Toledo!

Katie and Steve

Steve and me--note the Hard Rock Café Madrid t-shirt! :)

Las chicas

When we got back to Madrid, we went to Mercado de San Miguel, which is the indoor market with all sorts of foods and drinks.  We had some wine and croquettas, and then went to a tapas bar that I’ve been to several times called Cien Montaditos.  The deal with this place is that they have 100 (cien) types of little sandwiches (montaditos) that you can order.  We figured out what we wanted to eat, each got 4-5 sandwiches, and a pint of sangria.  It was really good and a perfect way to try different kinds of Spanish foods without filling up too quickly.

Saturday morning, Steve flew back home.  I spent the day with Katie being tourists in Madrid.  First, we got breakfast and chatted for a while, then walked to Prado and saw everything in the museum.  The weather was beautiful again, so we wandered around and got lunch at James Joyce’s Irish pub.  We sat outside, had a lovely meal, and enjoyed people watching.  Then we continued wandering around (it was a common theme of the day—“let’s just wander!”) and explored.  My sense of direction is actually pretty good here, at least when I’m walking around.  When I first step out of the metro exits, I have no clue what direction I’m facing, but when I’m actually walking everywhere, I can usually figure out the directions!

The receptionist at Katie’s hostel recommended a good place for us to get paella, so we went there for dinner.  It was my first time having paella here, and I really liked it!  After dinner, we went on a pub-crawl that was arranged by the hostel.  Not necessarily my scene, but it was fun and great to hang out with Katie.

Today is my “catch-up” (or ketchup, haha) day.  I have A LOT of work to do—homework for SLU Madrid classes, applications and class stuff for Creighton, and just random tasks I need to accomplish (e.g. updating my blog…).  Hopefully I manage to get it all done.  I know this has been a brief update, but that’s really all I can do at this point.  I wish everyone a wonderful week!

Love always,  

Elizabeth

Steve's here!

Hola amigos!

Well it’s the start of the week after a busy weekend.  On Saturday, I met Steve at the airport and we took the metro to his hotel.  It’s in an area of Madrid that I had never been to before, so it’s a great opportunity for me to explore more of this city!  The hotel also boasts an awesome rooftop terrace with amazing views of Madrid.  It was so cool to see Madrid from a new perspective.

After getting a little settled, we went to T. G. I. Fridays for dinner.  I know Steve has had normal American food forever, but I was really craving a good American meal, and the restaurant is literally two minutes from his hotel.  The menu was the same as at home, but all in Spanish!  I wanted to order almost everything because it all looked so good!  Then we went to the supermarket to get some snacks.  We ate our snacks on the terrace and enjoyed the wonderful views of city.  I left around 11 to get some sleep before our plans for a busy Sunday.

In the morning, I got up and went to the hotel to meet Steve around 10:30, and then we went to El Rastro.  Yes, I have now officially gone to the flea market that I talk about going to every weekend, but hadn’t been to yet!  It was a bit intimidating and SO CROWDED, which makes me uncomfortable, but it was still fun.  There was so much stuff there, and we wondered the whole time where all the products came from.  It was interesting, but I prefer more structured shopping in regular stores.  Even if I have to pay more, I appreciate the system of normal shopping.

After El Rastro, we walked to Plaza Mayor and got some water at an outdoor café.  Then we got lunch at a restaurant called Rodilla, in Plaza del Sol.  At 3, we went back to Plaza Mayor for the New Europe free walking tour.  It was three hours long, and super informative.  I finally learned about the city that I’ve been leaving in for two months!  It was great to get some history and learn my way around more.  Then we went to the apartment and Maria made a lovely dinner for us—puree of potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin, salad, and croquetas.  Steve also was given the last torrija, which is a delicious dessert that’s common during Holy Week.  Maria had made a batch of torrijas last week, and Steve got the last one.  I’m sure she’ll make them again since she knows I like them a lot.  :)

On Monday, Steve took the metro (by himself!) to meet me and then walk to school.  Even though it’s his spring break, he has some studying and homework to do, so I showed him the library where he can get some work done.  After class, I brought him to the student lounge where he got to meet all my friends.  We hung out, had lunch, played cards, and then I went to philosophy.  Once classes were finished, we hung out in the lounge a little longer and then, when we were kicked out at 6 PM, we walked to the apartment to wait for Victoria to finish her class.  Victoria’s friend Dan from SLU is in Madrid for the week, and they were going to have dinner with us at the American diner that I found last week.  We finally got to dinner around 8 and got some good food.  We also had great dessert (I had a brownie sundae!!).  It has been brought to my attention that I have an obsession with chocolate… I guess this wasn’t really a secret before, but people are noticing now.  I don’t care though.  I love it and I’m going to eat what I like!

The bad thing about yesterday was that it started raining several times!  The rain in Spain is really annoying and cold.  :(  Can’t wait for it to get warm again (which is probably going to happen right when Steve leaves to go home… oh well).

Today, is Steve’s 20^th birthday, and he is hanging out on campus again while I do homework and go to class.  But we’re also going to dinner at Botin, which is, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest restaurant in the world.  I went there with Dad, Maggie, and Michael, and it was good, so it should be a great way to celebrate Steve’s birthday!

I’m getting a little stressed about school work right now though.  I have another philosophy midterm on Monday, an essay due in psychology next Thursday, another midterm in art history the Tuesday after, and then my presentation in art history the following Thursday.  Ahh!  I’m feeling the pressure right now, especially since there are only a few grades for the semester, and I want to do well.  Wish me luck.  :)

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Much love,

Elizabeth

Errands, more Starbucks, and Milkshakes!

Hi all!

This will probably be a short post, but here are a few updates from the past couple of days.

Yesterday I went to Madrid and Beyond to pick up the information for Mom, M, and Emma’s trip, which is only 2 weeks away!!  I finally met Carla, who has been arranging almost everything for both of the trips for the family.  She is very nice and knowledgeable about Spain.  It was great to put a face to the name!

After that errand, I went to Starbucks for a snack (yogurt cup) and a mint tea.  It was a nice break, and I looked over the information for the trip to Barcelona.  I am very excited for that weekend because Barcelona looks fabulous!  And it’s great that I have been able to do different kinds of trips this semester—traveling with friends is fun but traveling with family and going on nice tours and staying in fancy hotels is often even better!  I am lucky to be able to do both.

While I was sitting outside at Starbucks, a few people surprised me.  Two men, who I think must have been homeless, came up and investigated the cups that were left sitting on tables to see if anything was left in them.  The second man also dug through the garbage can to find any leftover coffee.  I tried not to appear shocked by this, but I have never seen anything like that right in front of me.  It’s very hard to see people in such desperate situations and not know what to do to help.  I wish I could save the world, but I’m often hindered by my own fears and need for safety and security.

I also saw some American tourists and was initially thrown off because they were speaking English!  I’ve grown so accustomed to not understanding the people around me that it was weird when I overheard my own language!  I often wonder if I stand out at American when I am in Madrid by myself.  I hope I blend in, but sometimes I feel that everyone stares and me and knows that I don’t belong.  It’s a disconcerting feeling.

Last night, I went out around 11 with a few girlfriends.  When I was out and about last weekend, I spotted an American-style 50’s diner, so I wanted to go back there and see what it was all about.  So, we went out, even though it was pouring down rain, and we ended up having a great time.  When we first walked in, the place was packed and we were told it would be a 40-minute wait.  But we didn’t have anything else to do and we were already there so we just hung out and waited by the bar.  The place was so fun and American, but it was packed with Spanish people!  Apparently, they can’t get enough of us—our music, movies, and now our old-fashioned diners!!  Haha.  When we finally got our table, we ordered milkshakes.  SO DELICIOUS!  I was going to have a burger, but I’m never hungry after Maria’s dinners, so I just got dessert.  And it was wonderful.  I’m definitely going back to that place!

Steve arrives today in only a little bit, so I’m going to the airport to meet him soon.  Hopefully he enjoys his week in Madrid as much as I’ve enjoyed the past two months!

Love you all,

Elizabeth

The Beginning of Lent

Hi friends,

Well, I didn’t go to the Rastro on Sunday, but I did something much cooler—had dinner with Sonja (for those of you who don’t know, Sonja was our au pair when I was 7 years old).  I hadn’t seen her in about 6 years, so it was wonderful for us to catch up.  We met at her hotel and then went to a little café a few blocks away.  The food was good, and we talked for 3½ hours.  She asked about everyone in the family, so she’s updated on everything that’s been going on for the past few years.  If everything works out, she might be able to come back to Madrid at the end of March or the end of April, so Mom, Emma, and M might get to see Sonja!

Monday and Tuesday were ordinary days of class and some homework.  I had an essay due in Spanish today.  We read a chapter from a book that is about writing.  The chapter was all about how to write a good sentence.  It reminded me of other books that I’ve read (in English, of course) about learning to write well.   It’s interesting but a little difficult to understand the examples when they’re in Spanish.  Anyway, the essay had to be a critical review of the chapter.  I’m not sure what grade I’ll get, but I felt pretty good about my writing.  We’ll see, I suppose…

Today is Ash Wednesday, so I’m going to mass in a little bit.  And no meat for dinner tonight.  I’ve thought a little bit about what I might want to give up for Lent, and I’ve decided to give up taking the elevator and eating potato chips.  Healthy choices—maybe they’ll become healthy habits?!

That’s all for now folks.  Hope you’re having a great week.

Love,

Elizabeth

Thank goodness for Starbucks

Hello friends!

As I write the beginning of this post, I am sitting at Starbucks, enjoying a cup of coffee.  And not just any coffee.  I am currently savoring the wonderful flavors of the Guatemala Casi Cielo coffee.  Does that name ring any bells??  Yep, that’s where I got the name for my blog!  Thank you Starbucks, for providing me with excellent coffee and a suitable name for my recorded memories of the semester.  :)

Before coming to Starbucks, I stopped at the post office.  On Thursday, Maria gave me a notice from the post office that I had a package that they tried to deliver, but it needed a signature to be delivered.  So I got to see a little bit more of Madrid, since the post office is north of my apartment, and I had never been that direction.  But it was very easy to find; I’m getting better at navigating in this city, despite the inadequate signage of which I constantly complain.  It was also easy to pick up the package—just show my ID and it’s all good.  The package was a lovely surprise from my wonderful sorority sisters.  It’s amazing how I can feel the Delta Love even when I’m thousands of miles away from school!  There were several sweet notes from my sisters and the awesome bid shirt from our recruitment in January.  I am definitely excited to get home, see my sisters, and meet all the new Deltas who accepted bids in January.  Love you girls so much!

After working on my Spanish homework for three hours at Starbucks, I came home and relaxed.  I got to Skype with my family for a long time, which was good, especially since I haven’t talked to them since Monday!  Tomorrow I might go to the Rastro (the big market), so I’ll let everyone know how it is!

Until I post again,

Much love,

Elizabeth

A normal week in Madrid

Hola!

Well I hope everyone has had a good week.  I know I haven’t updated my blog since Monday, but I didn’t have anything too important to say.  This was a relatively normal week, at least compared to many of my other weeks in Madrid!

All of my classes this week were ordinary—no weird music, field trips, or juggling.  I have also been relaxing a lot in an attempt to get over the cough/cold that I’ve been suffering through.  I am feeling much better today, but am not fully healthy yet.  It doesn’t help that the weather has been crazy here—up and down everyday!  Yesterday, it snowed as I walked to school!  It was unexpected, but kind of cool.  But it is cold and rainy outside and then humid and warm inside, so I think that’s been negatively affecting my health.  Hopefully it gets warmer soon so I don’t have to deal with this anymore!

Because I’ve been trying to get better this week, I haven’t gone out or done too much socializing outside of campus.  However, I have been able to catch up with some people from home via Skype, which is always fun.  I think I actually talk to people more now that I’m in Spain than when I’m in Omaha!  Being in a different country and continent, so far from home, has made me miss what I have at home, and in turn, made me feel much more grateful for all of my family and friends who are always available to me.  I love you all!

The coolest thing I did this week was go to the Real Madrid-Málaga match last night at Santiago Bernabéu stadium (Real Madrid’s stadium).  It was a last minute thing—Adam, one of my friends from school, got a group together yesterday afternoon, and we got tickets for only 20 Euros a piece.  We were in the 4^th tier, but we could see everything perfectly, so it was definitely worth it!  And even though it was only about 30ºF last night, there were huge heaters in the stadium, so it was actually quite comfortable.  The game was really fun; we had a great group of people, there was fun energy in the stadium, and Real Madrid won 7-0!  It was a nice reminder of how much I love watching soccer.  :)

Santiago Bernabéu stadium

Ronaldo!

Way to go, team!

Nearly everyone from school is on vacation this weekend, so today I chilled at home, watching some movies and resting.  Perfect “me-time”!  Tomorrow I am going to try to do some homework at Starbucks, where I can enjoy some nice coffee to battle the cold temperatures here!

All my love,

Elizabeth

P.S.  If anyone is looking for some new music to listen to, I highly recommend checking out Gaelic Storm… I have been listening to them almost nonstop since returning from Ireland!  I just can’t get enough of everything Irish.  :)