Semester Abroad 2011

We went to Venice for the last weekend of Carnevale. Right after I returned from Venice, my facebook status was, "If you've never been to Venice, move it to the top of your bucket list. If you have been to Venice, I hope you agree." This completely sums up my trip to the city of restless magic and feelings towards it. We arrived in the city with no plans other than to experience Carnevale. Although we didn't hit all of the major tourist hot spots, in the words of Jean-Louis Vaudoyer, "Nothing is simpler than to lose oneself in Venice; and nothing is more fun than to lose oneself in this labyrinth without a mentaur." I'll give you a little idea of our Venice trip here but the pictures will give you a much better glimpse into the magic of Venice during Carnevale. One word of advice, be ready to walk. We put in some major miles in Venice. There are literally no cars, only gondolas, canal taxis and canal buses.
Christian, Olivia, Angel and I left the St. John's Rome Campus Thursday night at 11 p.m. and took the 7 hour train to Venice. Despite plans to sleep on the train and various attempts at finding a comfortable position (including the floor), none of us really got a wink of sleep. However, after a cappuccino at the train station when we arrived followed by another coffee at the cafe right outside the train station, I was good to go. First on the to-do list was to find a place to stay for the weekend. Soon after entering the labyrinth of canals and bridges we stumbled upon a little bakery that looked delicious. I was feeling adventurous and ordered the Charlotte bar which turned out to be the perfect amount of flaky crust layers and chocolate filling. We found a hotel after lunch that could put us up for the night and not brake the bank so we grabbed their last room and everybody got an awesome little nap in. I set my alarm to wake us up at 6:00 p.m. and put my phone right next to my face to make sure I would hear it. I guess I was more on the super tired side because when the alarm (which Christian describes as a mix between an ambulance, fog horn, and squealing pig) went off, my three travel mates suffered through it for a good ten minutes before yelling at me to "wake the hell up and turn that damn thing off." After taking a shower and becoming human again we went out for dinner and dessert where I had some tiramisu that must have been the work of the gods and we all tried Bellini for the first time. We explored the city that night and took advantage of many of the free DJs and concerts they had playing throughout the city. The heart of the party for Carnevale was definitely San Marco where center stage was set up and which was a giant dance party from about 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. every night we were there.
Saturday complete mania hit Venice and I'm pretty sure the city must have sank a good foot from all of the people that packed its sidewalks. We all bought our masks this morning and wore them throughout the day, making us feel oh so legit. We spent the entire day wandering the streets, discovering new bridges, running into people dressed in some of the most elaborate and beautiful costumes you've ever seen, and snacking on bread, cheese, various meats and beer. We checked out the Carnevale exhibit in the children's museum and all became little kids for the hour we were inside and had our minds blown by the artsy cafe attached. We tried to find a new place to stay but with it being the last weekend of the city's biggest annual celebration, the cheapest thing we could find was over 300 euro a night. That night instead of you're usual bar crawl, we took advantage of Venice's Bridge Crawl and ended up crashing at our buddy's hostel. Believe it or not, Christian, Olivia, Angel and I all managed to share a twin size bed for the three hours of sleep we got after our crawl ended. P.S. I do not recommend sneaking into a friends hostel if you can avoid it. We got caught by the maid when we left in the morning and each had to pay a 50 euro fine which was still cheaper than the 300 euro we would have had to spent on the hotel so for us it worked out.
Sunday after dealing with our little hostel mishap, the four of us took a Gondola ride which cost us 80 euros (20 a person) for a half of an hour ride. Although it is a little pricey, I really feel like you can't get the full Venice experience without one. Our Gondolier Marco came from a long line of gondoliers and gave us a great historical tour through the canals. After the mini cruise we took one of the canal buses over to the island of Murano where Venetian blown glass is blown. It was nice to escape the overwhelming masses in Venice and explore the many glass shops and glass blowing demonstrations on the island. After satisfying our shopping needs, we headed back to Venice and got some dinner followed by a stop at the Hard Rock Cafe so I could get a milkshake and a Hard Rock pin to add to my collection. We met up with some other friends from our DTW rotation back at the train station at 11:30 that night and took the night train back to Rome. We arrived in Rome at 7:00 a.m. and somehow I managed to be sitting in my international business class by 8:00.
For us, the magic that Venice exudes on the average day was amplified tenfold with the Carnevale events, masked characters invading the city, and overall energy of the celebration. As funny as it sounds, although we missed many of the big attractions like the Dodge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica (we tried but got there 1/2 an hour after it closed), I wouldn't trade are aimless wanderings along the canals for anything.

Now check out the pictures so you can see yourself!

First of all! Sorry it has taken me so long to finally update the blog. Unlike in Salamanca, the professors in Rome actually cram an entire semester class into the five week period. This equated to lots of reading, studying, and writing and no time for blogging. Now that I just arrived in Paris I'm hoping to use this first "relaxed" week of class to catch up some of the blog. I'm going to work backwards just so I can get the trips fresh on my mind into the blog before racking my noggin for the older trips. Without further adieu, the Cinque Terre!
With the St. Patrick's Day and Italy's 150th Birthday celebrations Thursday night and a Colosseum tour planned for Friday morning, we didn't leave for the Cinque Terre until Saturday morning. Our Backpacking gang consisted of Christian (my roommate), Melissa and Cara (juniors from Wagner College who are studying in Rome for the semester), Amanda (a good friend from St. John's who we had no idea was coming with us until she was waiting in the lobby that morning. She's in a different rotation but we studied in Rome together), and Matt (a really nice kid from the University of Wisconsin who is studying in Rome at the St. John's campus through the University of Florida. I should also mention he sprained his ankle the week before our trip playing soccer but hiked the entire Cinque Terre in his air cast. Some might call that stupid – we just thought it was Bad Ass). The train ride to La Spenzia from Rome only took about 4 hours. Once in La Spenzia, we had 45 minutes to kill before our train left for the Cinque Terre so we all ran and got a kebab for lunch. Kebabs are not shish kebabs like we have in the U.S. but rather a sandwich/ gyro type thing. The basic kebab is made with Turkish soft bread or unleavened flatbread and stuffed with grilled lamb, beef, or chicken shavings from a meat tornado. Lettuce, tomato, and onions are added on top with sauce blanche (yogurt sauce with garlic and herbs) and harissa (spicy red chili sauce from north North Africa). Our kebab in La Spenzia had a secret ingredient that really took the sandwich to a whole new level ....french fries! After getting our pre-hike meal in we boarded our train for the fourteen minute ride to Monterosso. Melissa bought and new pair of shoes at a shop right outside the train station and our crew decided we needed to look like real backpackers/ drew some inspiration from survivor and bought bandannas to rock on the trail. Of course as soon as we began the hike the heavens decided to open and soak us not two minutes in. We headed out of town and past this very unique house that had one end held up by a man carved into the cliff side. We all decided that is where we are going to live someday! When we were almost all the way out of town I realized all the signs said Levanto which I knew was a city North of the Cinque Terre. We turned around and went back into town to get a map. I had planned for us to start in the furthest South town and from there work our way North but as it turned out Monterosso was the furthest North town and my plans had been turned on their head. Finally around four o'clock we were off in the right direction hiking on the cliffs that separated the land from the sea and as a sign from God that we were finally on the right path, the rain let up.
Not too far into our hike we saw a bunker off to the right. There was a blocked off construction site and a huge fence standing between us on the bunker but we weren't about to let that stop us. The boys slid down the mucked up construction zone and the girls found a whole in the fence to wiggle through. The bunker turned out to be a WWII Nazi pillbox bunker that was used to gun down enemy ships. We explored the bunker and took in the views from the jagged rock outcropping in front of the bunker before making our way back to the hiking trail. On the way from Monterosso to Vernazza, the trail splits with stairs leading you up the mountain in one direction and a trail that continues to follow the contour of the mountain in the other. We decided to go right and stay with the trail because the stairs were looking a little on the daunting side. About half an hour later the path disappeared and we found ourselves on the side of a cliff with a bramble of thorns in front of us and a 90 degree rock face behind us. With nowhere else to go we turned around and contorted our way back through the jungle obstacle course that surrounded us. When we made it back to the intersection, Christian realized that the trails were marked with colors and that the red and white trail led up the stairs where as the trail we had taken was blue and white. With our second wrong turn of the day behind us (or as we prefer to call them "mini adventures") we kicked it into second gear to try and make up for lost time. In order to reach the place we were supposed to stay in the middle city Corniglia I knew we had a lot of hiking ahead of us. We got into Vernazza right as the sun was setting and, after a short team meeting, made a brief pit stop in the city before pushing on to Corniglia. We all refilled our water bottles, used the restroom and split a package of cookies to get us sugared up for the next leg of the journey.
With the sun setting behind the mountain, we set off for Corniglia at 7 p.m. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to make the hike which was fifteen minutes faster than we were told it would take. I’m pretty sure our speed was a result of us hiking in the middle of the forest, on stairs carved into the mountainside, through complete mud bogs, all in the pitch dark with no flashlight - yes all six of us managed to forget this one little hiking necessity- whoops! Thankfully we made it with no injuries (just a few scrapes, bumps and bruises) and checked into our three rooms at the Ristorante Cecio (thank you Mykal Rubie for the recommendation- it was an awesome place to stay!). We had dinner at the restaurant Locand dau Tinola that is right near Ristorante Cecio and I had the stuffed mussels that were probably the second best seafood I have ever eaten ( First still belongs to the crabs we catch with our crabpots in the Pacific with the Fosters). The fried calamari was also delicious. We finished off the night back in our rooms with a glass of wine ( we’d picked up a bottle from each of the towns we'd gone through - Monterosso, Vernazza, and Corneglia - Our favorite was the Monterosso) and playing cards before calling it a night.
I got up at 7a.m. Sunday morning to get a shower but unfortunately had turned the hot water heater off accidentally the night before and an ice shower just wasn't sounding too appeasing. I roused the troops and by 8:15 we were sitting in Caffé Matteo (we had to get our coffees there considering we were traveling with a Matt) and stumbled upon this delicious pastry called a crostata di frutti au bosco! After a bite of Matt's I had to be one and after Melissa had a bite of mine, she had to buy one too. We finally set off at 9:00 a.m. and started the hike with a huge staircase (382 steps to be exact) that takes you from the city level down to where the train runs and the trail picks up again. We made it about fifteen minutes down the trail when we reached a dead end. The gate to continue on the trail was padlocked shut and although we really hadn't let anything stop us up to this point, this was gate and fence we weren't about to get by. Fortunately an Italian woman passed by soon after and between her Italian and hand gestures, we were able to decipher that a land slide had washed the trail out and that the lower trail had been closed. We got out our map out and found another trail, Trail 7, which shot straight above Corniglia then transversed the mountain before dropping into the city of Manarola, our next destination. Unfortunately this also meant we had to climb back up the 382 steps we'd just climbed down. We took Trail 7 to Trail 6d to Trail 6 which took us down into Manarola where we met up back up with Trail 2. I am so glad the lower trail was closed because this turned into my favorite hiking section of the entire weekend.
Trail 7 ran almost straight vertical up the mountain and all of us were dying going up it until this little old German lady came cruising past us. She spoke English and had been coming to hike the Cinque Terre for many years so she was full of all kinds of great pointers on places to visit in the area. One city she recommended that we didn't have time to visit was Portovenere. Definitely add it to your future to visit list. We were all very inspired seeing this elderly woman just cruise on up the mountain and she provided some much appreciated motivation. As soon as we cut over on to Trail 6d, we were all speechless. It seemed the higher up we went, the more breathtaking the views became (and by breathtaking I mean beautiful - not gasping for air although there was plenty of that going on as well). On 6d we ran into a couple of girls going the opposite direction and me being my usual overly friendly self asked where they were from and about fell off the cliff side when they responded MONTANA! They were from Kalispell and graduated from Flathead high school in 2005. We exchanged information and took a Montana group picture then went our separate ways. It truly is a small world! We soon got out of the trees and were truly able to soak-in the blue sky and sunshine as we trekked through vineyard after vineyard that had been carved into the mountainside. Literally we were walking through people's backyards and vineyards. It was the off season so there weren't any grapes but it was still a very cool experience. A little outside of Manarola we crossed paths with a couple of ladies and asked them to take a group picture of us. Turns out they were from originally from Seattle but had decided to retire in Vicenza. They made us feel much better about our little side trail escapades and rule breaking after telling us they'd been jumping the fences on the Cinque Terre for years! They also gave us the name of one of their favorite places to eat in Manarola. As soon as they mentioned the food place our stomachs kicked our legs into autopilot and we flew down the mountain.
The place we ate at was called La Cambusa and it seriously had some of the best focaccias and calzones I have ever tasted. We each got two things so we basically tried everything they sold and it ALL was exquisite It is right on the main strip that leads down to the water. We then got some gelato and explored the area. Matt found an awesome little alcove that is actually the pick-up and drop-off point for the ferry. We took some great mountain climber pictures here and then decided to get the last leg of our trip over with. The trail from Manarola to Riomaggiore is called the Love Walk and was by far the easiest stint of our trip. This was the first trail fee we had to pay all though usually you have to buy a trail pass that covers all the trails(Not sure how we got away with not paying for the first three sections but as broke college students we weren’t about to ask). The fee to get from Manarola to Riomaggiore was 2.50 euro a person. The whole pathway is paved and runs right along the cliffs over the Mediterranean Sea. The Walk is full of Love Locks that couples lock onto the fences and then throw the key into the sea as a sign of their everlasting love. As cheesy as it sounds, it was actually pretty cool to see. However, to finish our weekend expedition on a paved pathway that lacked any sense of adventure and challenge would have been so anti-climatic. We fixed this by jumping a gate that we think said “do not enter” but since none of us spoke Italian, we figured it was more of a "we recommend you don't go down this direction but feel free to do as you please.” Once over the gate we zigzagged down stairs carved into the cliffs onto a rock formation that extended out into the sea. As soon as I got on the rock and saw that beautiful blue water my clothes were off in about two seconds and I was leaping off the rock into the sea! I got Matt and Christian to jump the second round with me! Hurtling towards the Mediterranean with these guys was definitely the highlight of my weekend! Getting in the water was easy, turned out the getting out was not so much. You had to compete not only with the waves but with the barnacle covered rocks as well. My first exit from the water had gone really well and Christian got out of the water with no problems. Matt on the other hand fought against the waves and soon learned that feet rubbed across barnacles get the same result as cheese rubbed across a cheese greater. I got a couple of scratches on my way out the second time but it was nothing compared to the bloody mess of Matt's feet. Christian had fun playing field doctor and when we all finally looked up at the path overhead, it turned out we had drawn quite the crowd! Fortunately the hike was basically over and we were able to mosey our way into Riomaggiore and catch our train back to Le Spenzia. We stopped in Pisa on our way back to Rome and accidentally missed the last train back to Rome after waiting an hour to get our bill at the restaurant. We were all exhausted from the hike and decided to just count our losses, spend the night in Pisa, and catch a train back in the morning. Thank God for understanding professors and kind hostel owners who drive to pick you up when you're searching for a place to stay in the middle of the night!
To wrap up the weekend, the Cinque Terre is by far one of the coolest places I have ever visited and actually my number one recommendation for other travelers visiting Europe! The views, the hike, the mountains, the sea, and of course the cities all combine to make for a totally unique experience that only the Cinque Terre can give you. Honestly, if you could only make one more trip in your life, that trip needs to be to the Cinque Terre!

Imagine the sun is beginning to set as you step through a pair of doors into a world unlike anything you have ever experienced. Languages you can't comprehend bombard your ears, smells of strange but appetizing delicacies waft into your nose, and your eyes scramble to make sense of the bizarre sights before them. Hooded creatures and creatures wrapped from head to toe in fabrics of brilliant colors and dazzling patterns flood the sidewalks and streets as they go about their everyday lives. I say creatures because you want to assume they are human, but since you can't see their faces under the hoods or behind the cloth, a hint of doubt lurks in the back of your mind. Your brain races to latch onto something you recognize, anything that might remind you of home, and there it is. You hear it, someone is speaking your language. You quickly locate the person and begin to register what they are saying. "Please, give me money!" Your initial reaction is to recoil as you notice the old man begging you for money has one functioning eye, which is more than you can say for his teeth which all appear to have abandoned their positions decades ago. Despite this reaction, you reach into your pocket for some change. While you were thankful for the little taste of home he provided, you quickly hurry away into the absolute unknown that surrounds you before he can ask for more.
Despite what you may be thinking, you did not just step into some science fiction movie set. You, my friend, are in Morocco. Our weekend in Marrakech and the Sahara Desert was by far the most amazing cultural experience I have ever had. For the first time in my life I actually experienced culture shock. We skipped our ethics class on Thursday, after getting an OK from our professor for the absence of course, and arrived in Marrakech around eight p.m. that night. We thought we were taking a taxi from the airport to our hostel but instead were dumped in the middle of the main square Jemaa el Fna. We obviously had the lost tourist look down pat because multiple men came up and asked if we needed help or a place to stay. Quick note, everybody in Morocco seems very friendly but for the most part they are just looking to make a couple bucks off of you. My buddy Christian is far more trusting than I am and soon enlisted the help of a young "guide" and off we were into the maze of the medina (old city). When the young man immediately veered off of the main sidewalk into a dark ally way me being the worry wort I am immediately started to feel the nerves in my stomach. He led us left then right then right then left through dark ally after dark ally then onto little side "streets" (nothing wider than the carts pulled by donkeys could fit down them, and believe me we had to dodge plenty) full of little side shops run by persistent if not annoying shop owners and people on motor bikes weaving in and out of the foot traffic. The sounds, smells, words, lamps, rugs, clothing, shoes, robes, and food were unlike anything I had ever seen.
The further we disappeared into the maze the more sure I was we weren't ever going to make it out. We kept Angel and Olivia, the two girls traveling with us, in between us three boys and if anything, making sure the girls were safe took a little bit of the edge off of the frenzied ball of nerves I was becoming. The worst part was our "guide" always remained a solid twenty feet ahead of us. My imagination doing nothing to help my nerves kept playing pictures in my mind of us following the man around the next corner, being attacked by our "guide" and his crew, and coming back to consciousness to find all of our belongings gone. Fortunately we were all still alive when we caught up to him waiting outside a door. The name of our hostel was on the sign above but before we could enter our new "friend" demanded that we pay him for his services. Evidently he missed the memo that the U.S. dollar is worse than the euro because after offering him five euro and him refusing, Christian gave him one American dollar and he was more than happy.
Certaintly the adventure couldn't stop here. We soon learned that our hostel had been overbooked. The owner of the hostel wasn't in but her friend, Nomad, who was filling in said he had another place for us to stay. Nomad had no top teeth but quite the story. He grew up in the Sahara dessert and moved to Marrakech when he was seventeen. He took us to the friend's house and we were given a room that more than exceeded our expectations. The room had beds all around the room with a table in the middle and Morracan mosaics on the walls and ceiling. We were all starving so we quickly dropped our bags off and then Nomad showed us the easy way to get back to Jemaa el Fna for dinner. On the way he informed us that we weren't staying in the best neighborhood a.k.a. if we weren't back in our room by midnight we would likely encounter drug deals, prostitution, stabbings, robberies, and/or black market trafficking. That was all the warning we needed.
As we arrived into the square, again our white skin putting a giant tourist target on our backs, we were bombarded by a group of men in costume. We knew better but before we could get our wits about ourselves we were already covered in costumes and snapping group pictures of each other. Immediately after we got our pictures the demands for money began. I had some change in my pocket but these guys were dead set on getting the bills out of our wallets. I finally paid what I felt was more than enough and began to walk away. They kept right on our heels and continued to demand more money so in a desperate attempt to escape the heckling we jumped into one of the outdoor restaurants in the middle of the square. Still having not learned our lesson we let our waiter decide on our meal for us which turned into a feast fit for a king and a bill twice what we were planning to spend. Fortunately it was some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted and well worth every cent we spent. We had fish, shrimp, calamari, beef kebabs, chicken kebabs, lamb kebabs, salad, flat bread, couscous, soup, tagine, and touareg tea to top it all off! I'm not sure if its the tea they use, the old kettles, or the glass cups that make the sweet, mint infused, green tea so irresistible but it is definitely a drink everyone must add to their bucket list. Other Moroccan delicacies we enjoyed in the square throughout our two nights in Marrakech were the best fresh squeezed orange juice I have ever had, nuts and dried fruits that are sold from the caravan of carts in the square, and snails. The snails were a recommendation from a friend in Spain who said the Moroccan escargot is ten times better than the French escargot. I have yet to try French escargot but the snails in Morocco were incredible. Even the vegetarian with us couldn't have just one.
Besides the food, the highlight of our trip was the camel tour we took in the Sahara Desert. I booked the tour with Gomoco tours online which offered a great price for a two day trip (It cost around 86 euros a person). There were fifteen of us in all on the tour from all over the world. Friday morning we met the group, after waking up an hour earlier than planned because we forgot to set our clocks back, and began the six-ish hour drive over the Atlas mountains and out into the dessert. I'm almost positive the road we took over the Atlas mountains was the offspring of The Road to Hana in Hawaii and the Going to the Sun highway in Glacier Park but somehow we survived. Our guide made many stops along the way for picture opportunities and lunch. The drive through the desert began about two hours into our trip and was not what I expected. While I was hoping to find rolling sand dunes as far as the eye could see, instead there was just red, black and grey rock. It looked as if the living portion of the land had been peeled away and all that was left showing were the skeletal remains beneath. I was also reminded of how fortunate we all are to live in America and in comparison how extravagant our lifestyles really are. The towns we passed were made of the rock and dust they were built on. This same rock and dust covers everyone who inhabits the town. The simple pleasures we take for advantage like grocery stores, cars, and hot showers are completely foreign to the people we passed.
Eventually we met our camels outside of Zagora, mine was named Abraham, and began the next leg of our trip. It took us about two hours to reach our camp and on the way we were able to stop and watch the sunset atop our camels. Two things you should know about riding a camel. First, there are no stirrups on a camel so it is impossible to raise yourself off the saddle. Second, they call them camel "humps" for a reason ( I just hope I'll still be able to have kids someday. At some point we reached the rolling sand dunes I was longing for and soon after arrived at our camp which was composed of four person tents arranged in a circle with a giant tent for meals at one end. We unloaded our bags and thanked our transportation then headed into the big tent for dinner. The tents were made out of giant Arabian rugs sewn together. We ate dinner with a couple from England who became "Mum" and "Dad" for the rest of the weekend and our two new "sisters" from Argentina. We had a chicken tagine for dinner, oranges for dessert, and of course more tea. Our entertainment for the night was a musical performance by our guides who played drums and sang desert nomad songs. The music was so different from anything I've heard and soon they had everyone playing the drums and dancing around the tent. After the entertainment inside, we headed outside and stumbled upon some unexpected entertainment above us. Most of my friends are city-slickers and haven't had too many opportunities to really see the stars. Even I, who enjoys the stars in the Montana sky, was left speechless as soon as I looked up. It was as if we were in the world's largest I-Max theater with the Universe playing for the feature presentation. When we finally peeled our eyes away from the sky we decided to go for a moonlit walk in the desert. At one point I had everyone stop and told them all to listen. The silence was unlike anything most of them had ever heard. We took our time enjoying the silence then worked our way back to camp and crawled into bed.
In the morning we had flat bread and coffee for breakfast then hopped back on our camels and left our camp behind. We then loaded into the van and worked our way back towards Marrakech. We stopped at Ait Benhaddou which is famous for its kasbah, a large fortress made up of buildings with four towers on top. Movies such as Gladiator, Prince of Persia, and Kingdom of Heaven all filmed scenes at this kasbah. At its height, Ait Benhaddou served as a checkpoint and rest area for caravans as they prepared to make the trip over the Atlas mountains to reach Marrakech and then head on to the sea. Walking through the Kasbah felt like we were transported to a whole different time and the views from atop the Kasbah were incredible with the Atlas Mountains to one side and the massive expanse of the Sahara to the other. We arrived back in Marrekech around seven and our Argentinian "sisters" took us to their hotel which they claimed had hot water so we could all wash the camel smell off. As with our first hostel, there was no hot water to be found. After a quick and chilly rinse we spent the rest of the night eating in Jemaa el Fna and bargaining for gifts from the local vendors. That is another lesson it took us a while to learn but something we finally grasped our last night in the city. Bargain for everything. You can often get something for 50-75% of what the shopkeeper's original offer is. Even in restaurants you can finagle a deal if you work your magic. And don't feel too bad when making them drop their price. As soon as they identify you as a tourist the prices they give you automatically shoot up and the dollar signs start dancing in their head. The best bargaining technique I have found is always act like you never "really" want something even if you are dying to get it. Be nonchalant and exit the store as if the prices you saw were far too high and nothing really tickled your fancy. Believe me, the shop owner will be right on your heels with all kinds of special offers for you and if he doesn't, the next shop over definitely will. After shopping we went on to the roof of our hotel and took in the roofs of Marrakech and the Moroccan stars one last time. This was definitely a trip I will never forget and an experience I highly recommend to anyone looking for adventure.

This weekend the director of our program planned a group trip down to Seville for the first 56 students to sign up. He claimed that Seville was an experience we all needed, and I totally agree, however I question his true motivation because the second we got there until the second we left, a female friend of his who lives in Seville and him were inseparable. I made sure to get my name on the list and for 90 euro a three-day, two-night, breakfast and dinner included trip was mine! On Friday we took a chartered bus from Salamanca to Seville which took about six hours. As we pulled into Seville (pronounced Sa-vee-ya not Sá-vil) the first thing I and the rest of the bus noticed were the orange trees that lined all the streets. Seville is famous for these bitter oranges (and yes they are very VERY bitter- I learned the hard way of course) and a majority of them are exported to make marmalade. We checked into the Hotel America and had the afternoon to explore the city on our own. Christian, Daria, Corynna and I started the afternoon off with some lunch at Spala Duque where I had oxtail stew that was to die for. The waiter brought us a round of yellow liquid after we finished our meals and a debate ensued as to what was in the glasses and who was going to be our guinea pig. Our fist thoughts were that it was bull urine, being that Seville is famous for its Plaza de Toros and its passion for bullfights which you can catch between the months of April and June and also in September. After all taking a whiff of the drink, urine was ruled out and we all finally decided to just drink it. However, the question was whether this was a shot or something to sip. Fortunately there was a group of older ladies next to us who had the drink as well so we followed their lead and sipped away. Even when we left the restaurant we still had no idea what in the world we had drank but found at that night that it was lemon cello. We spent the rest of our afternoon walking a big circle around the center of the city and got caught in a torrential downpour that came out of no where (thank goodness we had that lemon cello to keep us warm). After getting some gelato to make us feel better about being soaked to the bone we worked our back to the hotel. We tried to find something to do that night but didn't learn until the next day that the nightlife happens on the other side of the river. In the end we settled for drinking cans of Cruzcampo, the local beer, in the park outside our hotel. Classy huh?
Saturday started with a guided tour of Seville during which we visited Plaza España, The Royal Alcázar Palace, and the Cathedral of St. Mary of the See. We also got to see the many pavilions built for the 1929 Iberoamerican Exposition. Each of the countries involved was tasked with building a pavilion that represented the culture of their country and today they serve a variety of uses from embassies to museums. Our tour guide Elena had been giving tours for 18 years and Seville and was a wealth of knowledge! Here are some of the most interesting facts she endowed us with!
Plaza España has a bench representing every province in Spain and the four bridges in the plaza represent the four kingdoms of Spain; Navarre, Aragon, Castilla, and León.
The plaza is very architecturally unique and it seriously looks out of this world! The makers of Star Wars thought so too and used it as the Naboo Palace in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
In Alcazar, we learned that the dollar sign is an adaptation of the Royal Spanish Coat of Arms. The symbol has the two columns of Hercules (the two vertical lines of the dollar sign) with a ribbon winding between the two columns (the s shape of the dollar sign) that reads Plus Ultra which is Latin for "go beyond."
Before Columbus discovered the New World and during a time when the earth was perceived to be flat, the ribbon on the coat of arms read Nec Plus Ultra which roughly translates to "do not go beyond" and was meant to serve as a warning to sailors to not sail off of the edge of of the earth. Once Columbus made his discovery and the "flat earth" perception was discarded, King Charles V had the motto changed.
The architectural style of the Alcazar is Modeja which combines both Christian and Arabic styles.
The Cathedral of St. Mary of the See is the largest cathedral in the world in terms of square feet. Every time I visit a cathedral I'm always amazed at the size but the magnitude of this cathedral was seriously breath taking. It wasn't just the size that left me speachless, but the level of intricacy that was achieved on such a grand scale hundreds of years ago that absolutely blows my mind.
Christoper Columbus' tomb is inside the Cathedral. The story of Columbus' journey after death and final resting place is quite the story, but Seville is proud to say that after a recent study the remains in the tomb really in fact belong to Columbus. Columbus was at one point buried in Santa Domingo but when Spain lost the island during the Spanish-American war they moved his remains to Havana and eventually back to Seville. The Dominican Republic to this day claim that they gave Spain someone else's remains and Columbus' true remains reside with them. Regardless, it is safe to say Columbus was quite the sailor both dead and alive.
In the Cathedral, you can walk up 34 ramps to the top of Giralda Tower, the highest point in Seville, and get some amazing views of the city. The tower's name derives from the giant angel weather vein, La Giralda, that sits atop the tower. Girar in Spanish means to turn so La Giralda translates to "The Turner"- good name for a weather vein huh?
In between walking through the seven acres of private gardens inside Alcazar (they literally looked straight out of a fairytale with pools, waterfalls, flowers and giant hedge mazes) and visiting the Cathedral, we had a snack break. Christian, Daria, Corynna and I ordered a pitcher of Agua de Sevilla which Christian had heard everyone who visits the city must try. After i ordered the pitcher, I'm not sure if it was the sound of coffee spewing out of her mouth or the gasp for air that followed that made me turn around to see coffee all over the table our tour guide was sitting at. She was quick to inform me that Agua de Seville is one of the strongest drinks in Spain (like I didn't already know but relaxed after I confirmed we were all over the age of 18. Agua de Seville is made by mixing Seville orange juice with rum, cava, brandy, and cointreau then topping the pitcher off with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Basically the best drink I've ever tasted!
After the tour we had planned to go kayaking in the river but as it turned out the second we got back to the hotel most of our group ended up crashing for an extended siesta. When Christian woke up we watched some hilarious Spanish TV for a bit, one channel only had one show that was kind of like Real World except for nothing was edited and the camera rolled 24 hours a day, before finally settling on a horror movie. Those of you who know me know I do not do anything horror because I am just about as jumpy as they come. I spent most of the movie watching it from the bathroom where I could see it reflected on the picture that hung over the beds and for some reason was far less scary than watching the TV screen directly. That night we went and watched Flamenco.
If you do nothing else in Spain, you have to see a Flamenco performance. Flamenco is the traditional song and dance of the gypsies of Andalusia and Seville is famous for its Flamenco dancers. Arenal is probably the most famous venue for catching a Flamenco show but it is super pricey and the show itself can be a little long if you're not a huge dance enthusiast. We went to La Carboneria, a bar with plenty of atmosphere which has free Flamenco performances throughout the night with the purchase of a drink (great opportunity to try that Agua de Seville). Although the back patio is big, I suggest getting to the bar as early as possible, 10:00 p.m. at the latest, to secure a seat. We didn't show up until right before the first performance which started at 11:00 and were barely able to secure a spot to stand. We saw three performances between 11:00 and 12:30 and each one left me more and more in love with the dancer. She was probably twice my age but boy could she dance! The performance sort of reminded of step in that the beat is made through claps and stomps. Unlike step, a Spanish guitar is used and it truly is a dance. The combination of visual beauty and unique sound may very well make Flamenco my favorite experience in Spain.
After watching Flamenco we started working our way back to the hotel and ran into some students from Penn State who were studying in Seville for the semester. They took us across the river to their favorite bars and as happens every time we have a night out in Spain, we finally made it back to the hotel around 4:30 in the morning. Fortunately we were able to sleep in the next morning before jumping back on the bus to Salamanca.

With stars still in the sky, our group of fifteen headed over to Salamanca's bus station to catch our early-morning bus to Madrid. The three hour bus ride flew by with a chorus of snores and the occasional sleepy mumble. After exiting the bus, I became thankful for the international plan I had on my phone. We knew the address of the two hostels we needed to find but had no idea how to get there.Plus, us being the cheap college students we are refused to pay for a taxi when Madrid has a great Metro system you can access for 1 euro. I plugged the address into my phone to find the nearest metro stop, grabbed a metro map, and we were off into the subway maze. Once we surfaced, I was able to use my navigation map app on the phone to see where we were and where the hostel was and use my boyscout skills to get us to our living quarters with relative ease. None of us had eaten breakfast so once we had established that we in fact had beds to sleep in, we made a b-line to the nearest restaurant for lunch. We ate at Boston's and had an awesome dining experience. Our waiter basically conducted a Spanish lesson for us throughout our meal and we in turn helped him with his English. With our bellies full, we began our night at the museums. We first went to the Museo de Reina Sofia where with our student IDs we were able to get in free. The museum hosts a variety of modern art exhibits and is home to a multitude of Pablo Picasso works including Mujer en Azul and Guernica. From Sofia we went to the Museo del Prado which is free between 6 and 8 p.m. (if you are visiting double check the times for free entrance because they do change) It reminded me a lot of the Louvre. My favorite pieces were Las Meninas by Velázquez because we studied it in high school Spanish class and now I was getting to see it in person and Saturno by Goya because I just had watched the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (great movie by the way) on my flight to Europe and the painting plays a memorable role in it. After all the walking and art admiration it was time for some more food. A group of us decided to be cheap and went with a place that sold inexpensive pizzas and wraps. Me being extra adventurous when it comes to food didn't want the simple ham and cheese wrap but instead went for the one I had to look up in my Spanish/English dictionary - the cheese and goat wrap. However, when I was about six bites into the wrap I still hadn't tasted any meat and there was also a very distinct flavor I couldn't quite place. I voiced my concerns to my friends who were nice enough to point out that the sign said "queso DE cabra" (cheese OF goat) not "queso Y cabra" (cheese AND goat). Whoops! Silly Spanish 1 mistake. Profe Lockridge would not be impressed.

On Saturday Christian and I got up early and jumped on the subway to the Madrid Zoo Aquarium. It was kind of pricey- around 20 euros- so nobody wanted to go with us but the zoo was humongous and definitely a great place to pass half a day. My favorite exhibit had to be the two baby pandas snoozing away in their crib, De De and Po. They were born September 7, 2010 and are too freaking cute for words. Fun Fact: Keeping with Chinese custom, De De and Po had to wait 100 hundred days before receiving their names. My least favorite exhibit was the baboons. They had a relatively large enclosure but it was just a bunch of concrete steps and there were far too many of them in it. Conservatively guessing, I would say there were fifty baboons ranging from the very old to relatively new born. The worst part of the exhibit was that zoo guests could buy monkey treats to throw into the exhibit. This resulted in truly barbaric battles for the treats with mothers ignoring the babies on their backs, alpha males knocking the inferior away, and plenty of horrific shrieks. Needless to say I got away from there as soon as possible. To end on a good note, the zoo had one of the most impressive dolphin shows I have ever seen. The show was so good I think it even convinced Christian to stop wanting to go to med school after getting his bio degree and instead do something worthwhile and become a dolphin trainer. Sounds reasonable to me! For dinner, some locals we met took us to the Museo de Jamon (there are two right off of Plaza del Sol) where you can get a sandwich and a beer each for one euro. I also had my first and second mojitos of my life and am bummed nobody introduced me sooner.
Warning: If locals want to take you to one of Madrid's most famous clubs, just make sure it is not called Long Play - unless you are interested in the same sex. Also don't assume that just because you are in a different country guys and girls interact differently. If you are at a club and all the guys are dancing with guys and all the girls are dancing with girls, you are at a gay club. Lesson learned.

Sunday was a whirlwind that started with the morning at Spain's largest outdoor market, El Rastro. Find Calle Embojadores and you will have found the market. There are approximately 3,500 street vendors and definitely something for everyone. After wandering the market for a couple of hours we headed to Madrid's Plaza Mayor and enjoyed a nice afternoon snack watching the street performers and abundance of people pass through the plaza. Just outside of the plaza we ran into a very cool indoor market called Mercado de San Miguel. Even if you don't buy anything it is totally worth the walk around. After getting our picture taken in front of the Royal Palace, we hoofed it across city to El Parque del Buen Retiro which is basically Madrid's version of Central park. El Estanque del Retiro is a large artificial lake near the north end of the park where you can rent row boats for a romantic cruise around the lake. Since it was just Christian, Dillon, and I there, we opted to enjoy the lake and boaters from steps beneath King Alfonso's monument. We topped off our day with a Real Madrid fútbol game that may very well be the highlight of my trip. We were one row down from the very top row of the massive Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and the game still couldn't have been any better! Christian and I bought Real Madrid scarves on our way in because it was freezing outside but turned out the stadium is full of giant heaters so we didn't freeze to death. Real Madrid beat Mallorca 1-0 with a goal from Karim Benzema. We rode our high from the stadium all the way to the bus station where once again we snoozed the entire trip home.

Stay tuned - Madrid pics will be up shortly!