La ultima parada...

Cádiz…the wonderful beach city! This was the final stop in our Andalucian tour and the city where we got the whole day to ourselves. And before I go on, I would just like to say that BGSU is probably one of the best schools in the world because they got us into a hotel with its own beach front!! This was the view from my room…



Sweet huh? Well to get back on track…My friends and I decided that we wanted a typical dinner from Andalucia, so of course we got one of my new favorite dishes, PAELLA!





That sucker was delicioso!! We even had evidence of who ate it for a few hours after too…



During the free day, you better believe that I was all over that beach! I got a bit more of a tan to fight that winter pale that sets in around November and December. Then for the other half of the day (after my Spanish siesta of course) I went off to explore Cádiz and see what kind of adventures I would find. I saw a lot of nice things, like this:









Those two pictures of the coast are pretty much all of Cádiz, so as you can see I walked A LOT!! I’ve learned that walking is the best way to get to know a place and appreciate it a bit more. Eventually, though, I got hungry and decided that in order to save money I should get food at a supermarket. So I did and ate this for my lunch…



Be proud because that only cost me 4 Euros!! The cheese was the most expensive thing. Hehe…well eventually I ended up at the point of Cádiz that is home to the Castillo of San Sebastian and their lighthouse. I decided that it was really nice and that I should stay there for the sunset. One problem though…this big castle thing was in my way, so I hopped down onto the rocks and walked my way around. This is the point from where I got to enjoy a wonderful Spanish sunset:





And those of y’all that know me are already thinking what I am about to say…all those rocks that I had to cross to get to that amazing place were extremely moss covered. Moss + me + walking or standing = falling down. Multiply that by people who saw me fall down over and over again and you get a lot of embarrassment. Divide that embarrassment by the minutes I spent enjoying a wonderful view and you will know just how much I cared about falling.

And if you guys think Spain is great, you haven’t even seen Portugal yet!! That’s coming later this week…

Sevilla...probablemente la ciudad más bella del mundo

Sevilla…oh what is there to say about Sevilla? Well, this second stop on the Andalucian adventure is probably my second favorite city in Spain so far. Madrid is the first but Sevilla gives it a run for its money. On the banks of the Rio Guadalquivir, which translates into Rio Grande believe it or not, this city is an amazing place to visit. Sevilla is home to all that is Spanish like bull fights and flamenco music. It is also home to the third largest Catholic cathedral in the WORLD! First is the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, then St. Paul's Cathedral in London, then Sevilla. And boy what a sight to behold it is. Take a look…








These pictures of Sevilla are from the Giralda, the tower of the church (which is also Sevilla’s most famous landmark). As part of the tour of the cathedral, you can go up into the tower, take some amazing pictures, and get an amazing view of all of Sevilla.






Another amazing sight with the cathedral is Christopher Columbus’ tomb. Not only did I get to see his tomb but also his actual remains! Normally, the little door to his remains is closed but b/c it was recently proven that his remains are actually in Sevilla and NOT the Dominican Republic, anyone that comes to see the Cathedral can get to see Columbus’ remains…and because I got to see it so do y’all!





This set of pictures is from the Alcazar, the Spanish royal family’s castle in Seville. This was truly a beautiful place that my pictures fail to truly capture…My favorite part of the Alcazar was the Royal Gardens, complete with palm trees and a huge labyrinth…I had lots of fun getting lost in there. Hehe.







To top off this wonderful day in Sevilla, we got to see the Plaza de España. This is probably one of the most beautiful buildings I will ever see. Built for the 1920 something Exposition of the Americas, a celebration of all the countries that had been influenced by Spain, Spain outdid all the other countries’ tiny buildings with this almost castle! Around the entire courtyard, there are small mosaic murals that are dedicated to each region in Spain. I took pictures of two that I thought y’all would enjoy most…



For you Toledo, Ohio folk:



And for Ana Lugo, who better be leaving a whole lot of love on that comment section!


And for tomorrow’s post, Cádiz! Hasta luego!! 2 more days til I leave for a weekend in Portugal!!!

So in order to be more in depth with all the traveling i just did this past weekend, I am going to go talk about each city that i visited one by one...Today, it's Córdoba! This was the first city on our whirlwind tour of Andalucia, the beautiful southern portion of Spain. This is the part of Spain that is more heavily sold to tourist...so your picture of Spain is probably filled with Andalucian fantasies and you don't even know it! Andalucia is home to flamenco, Sevillanas (another form of dance), toreros, gazpacho and paella! Córdoba is an amazing place filled with lots of history...and all of the buildings within the city seriously remind me of being some Caribbean island (even though I have never really been able to one of those islands...) Take this for example:



or this



the main tourist thing in Córdoba is to visit the Mosque-turned-Cathedral...it is amazing! not only is it huge on the outside, but one step inside and your breath is immediately taken away by the grandeur of it all! all the detail everywhere is just incredible...take a look for yourself














and well, this is all i really got to see from Córdoba so thats all y'all get to see too...hehe! But before i go, if y'all want a postcard from this side of the world, then just send me your address on here and ill see what i can do fo you...and then if you do get a postcard from yours truly, i will get to put it into this nifty mail drop!! Hasta luego!

Vida Española

The popular belief is that people all over Europe are so far ahead from the US when it comes to fashion and all that kind of stuff…now before making the trip to Alcalá, I would have totally believed you but now I must say that that statement is probably one of the biggest lies ever told! Now there are your share of trendy people now and then…but then there is this



Yeah, tell me that you think the mullet (or whatever you want to call that thing) will be returning to the US any time soon…if you think it is, I will fly you out here to personally give you a slap across the face! The mullet, along with many things from the 80’s are large and in charge in Spain…it’s a scary thing really. I always thought that the 80’s was one of those times that people would look at and say, “What in the world were we thinking!?!?” Mullets everywhere (male and female), girls wearing leggings with their skirts, acid wash jeans…you name it and its here! You can imagine the shock of all the BG students when we got here and saw the so called future of the fashion world…I shed a tear for the future because it literally looks extremely ugly!

I would have gotten more pictures of ugly Spaniards but I felt stalkerish enough getting this one picture to share with the world…

And now, a fact about Alcalá…not only is it the capital of all things Quixote but also one of the older cities in Europe! 2000 years old this year…incredible, huh? From the Roman city of Complutum, to the Arab city of something really hard to spell, to the Spanish city of Alcalá…this place has undergone quite the transformation! Alcalá is also home to one of the first universities in all of Europe...don’t believe me, just check it out for yourself



That’s from the inside of the University of Alcalá.

And smoking is REALLY big over here…its gross! They don’t even listen to the extreme warning put on all cigarette cartons.



What my Univ. of Alabama friend, Ariana (who is also a Texan from Dallas…woot!) is holding is a cigarette pack for her host mom that says “Smoking can cause a slow and painful death.” Talk about intense…I’m sure that my time here will shave years off my life, but whatev it’s worth it…hehe

Well, I leave y’all with that for now…time to do some homework (already I know!) and finalize my trip to Lisbon! Ciao!

Quiero ser Madrileño...

This past Friday, and well basically this whole weekend, I was in Madrid…one of my new favorite places in the world! It was just as I expected I …big, modern, artistic, and antique. On the guided trip on Friday, it was all about a crash course on Madrid…we saw all the necessary sights, got shown how to use the metro (subway) and buses, and walked all over the magnificent Spanish capital…my favorite part, though, was Madrid’s equivalent for Central Park in NYC, el Parque de Buen Retiro…this place used to be the royal gardens where royalty used to go and unwind. Now it’s open to the public and people are always there, more so on Sundays. Now I could go on and on about Madrid, so I’ll just let my pictures do the talking…


a monument to one of the greatest Spanish kings in el Parque de Buen Retiro...


this Palacio de Cristal used to be home to the royal greenhouse for many exotic and tropical plants from Latin America


mira mami! encontre la puerta de Alcalá!!


Madrid's city hall and most beautiful building


this is where im living all semester...yeah my host family are actually the king and queen of Spain! im supposed to keep it hush hush so dont tell anyone...hehe


a statue of Cervantes & Don Quixote...Spain = QUIXOTE LAND!!


i just like this....


this is the cathedral right next door to the royal palace! its a lot bigger on the inside





As I’ve told other people, the this-is-a-vacation phase is coming to a close for me as I’m starting to realize that I really have to start adjusting to actually LIVING here…its not as rough a transition for me as it might be for some other people but you have no idea how badly I just want to see something American…pathetic I know! That will pass soon enough…

My other travel plans for Europe will be finalized soon enough…its time to price shop for now but as of now my definite travel plans include: Lisbon, Rome, and visiting my friend David in France (exact destination not final)! Potential travel spots: London, somewhere in Ireland, Greece, Paris, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain…now there is no way I’m hitting all those places b/c I lack money like whoa! But if I can see at least one of those I’ll be the happiest kid in the world…this weekend though, its travel time already!! im going to Andalucia with all the BG programs people...thats the southern part of Spain...which means, we're goin to the beach!!!

Now don’t you miss my next blog, its gonna be about Spanish lifestyle…its gonna be good! Oh and I’ve heard about the UT-OSU game…and let me just put this out there, in Spain, football is not important so to me right now it isn’t either…Hook ‘em!!