Pamplona was a really cool city. I got to see where they do the running of the bulls, and the place where they have the bullfights. A couple of us walked into where they have the bullfights, and some guy jumped onto a forklift and chased us back out into the street and then started yelling at us - we had no idea what he was saying though. Met up with Sarah and her group and we spent the next hour or so just walking around the back streets doing some shopping for people. Then we met up with the group, boarded the bus and drove another 4 or 5 hours to Barcelona.
Barcelona was a very interesting city to say the least. The first night we got there Real Madrid and Barcelona were playing for the Spanish league cup (Those are Spanish soccer teams for those of you who don´t know much about European soccer), so we weren´t allowed to leave the hotel because rumors were spread that if Barcelona lost than there´d be a riot. The next day we toured around the city for a couple of hours, and then we were allowed out on our own to walk around and shop. That was fun, and I got to see alot of the downtown area, which was really pretty.
That night I decided to go bar hopping with some friend since I hadn´t gone out in the last few night (I was feeling sick, remember?). We hit up an Irish pub where I had a Guinness, and then we walked around looking for other places. We found a few, but they were all really expensive. Some of the group decided to go back early, so they took a cab, but I decided to stay out a little longer. Those of us who stayed went back to the Irish pub for about another hour, and then one of my roomates and I decided to take a taxi back to the hotel.
Ok, this is where the story gets really really funny- assuming you have a very childish sense of humor. As my roomate and I were walking up Las Ramblas (one of the main shopping\bar streets) some woman came up and grabbed me and asked me if I´d like to pay her for sex. Now, I´ve never even talked to a hooker, much less had one come up and grab me, so I was in complete shock. The only thing I could get out of my mouth was "hell no", and I freed myself from her and continued walking. As my roomate and I were walking down the street we had 2 more hookers proposition us, another one try to grab my roomates butt, and then a male prostitute proposition us. All of this happened in about 5 minutes, so once we got a cab we told him to floor it and get us to the hotel in a hurry.
The ride home was fun. The driver was pretty cool, and he was speeding and doing all sorts of maneuvers you´d see a NASCAR driver do. We were weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, etc - like I said in one of my last posts, Spanish drivers are insanely crazy. It was alot of fun though. He got us there at the rate of 21€, and we ran to our hotel rooms and went to sleep.
The next morning we left for Valencia, which you read about the other day.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Bilbao & San Sebastian: June 14th and 15th, 2007
I need to get caught up, so bear with me. The next two posts are late. Whoops...
There´s not really much I can write about San Sebastian. I got sick while we were in Bilbao on June 14th, and was pretty much exhausted, so everything from the 14th and 15th is a huge blur.
We got into Bilbao sometime in the early afternoon. It was extremely hot, and I felt like dying. I was sweating profusely, and I wasn´t exactly the most coherent person in the world. I walked to the Farmacia to get some medicine, but they didn´t accept credit cards and I was out of cash. It was at this point that I got separated from my group, and spent the next few hours either walking around the back streets or sitting under the trees in the middle of a park. I met up with some other people from my group and joined them for lunch, and then we walked the Guggenheim museum and met up with our whole group. We toured the museum, then drove to San Sebastian.
Upon arriving at San Sebastian, I immediately headed for my room, changed into some shorts and slept for the next 20 hours. When I woke up, my group was out touring the city while I stayed behind in the hotel to rest. I spent the next few hours reading, drinking alot of water, listening to my MP3 player, and watching indoor soccer on the television. Once my friends got back, one of them walked to the gas station with me and I bought a sandwhich, some chips and a soda. I ate and drank those, and then walked to Sarah´s room for a little while and hung out for a couple hours. Around midnight I went back to my room and went back to bed.
There´s not really much I can write about San Sebastian. I got sick while we were in Bilbao on June 14th, and was pretty much exhausted, so everything from the 14th and 15th is a huge blur.
We got into Bilbao sometime in the early afternoon. It was extremely hot, and I felt like dying. I was sweating profusely, and I wasn´t exactly the most coherent person in the world. I walked to the Farmacia to get some medicine, but they didn´t accept credit cards and I was out of cash. It was at this point that I got separated from my group, and spent the next few hours either walking around the back streets or sitting under the trees in the middle of a park. I met up with some other people from my group and joined them for lunch, and then we walked the Guggenheim museum and met up with our whole group. We toured the museum, then drove to San Sebastian.
Upon arriving at San Sebastian, I immediately headed for my room, changed into some shorts and slept for the next 20 hours. When I woke up, my group was out touring the city while I stayed behind in the hotel to rest. I spent the next few hours reading, drinking alot of water, listening to my MP3 player, and watching indoor soccer on the television. Once my friends got back, one of them walked to the gas station with me and I bought a sandwhich, some chips and a soda. I ate and drank those, and then walked to Sarah´s room for a little while and hung out for a couple hours. Around midnight I went back to my room and went back to bed.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Valencia: June 19th, 2007
Its been a few days since I updated. Was sick the whole time we were in San Sebastian, which sucked; but at least I got caught up on sleep.
Anyway, today´s blog is supposed to be about my surroundings. This much, I can tell you, its hotter than hell here in Valencia. I never knew a port city could get this hot. Someone said it was like 35 degrees Celsius, and the air is very dry. The air seems pretty clear here, there's not very much smog. Its a clear day, the sky is very blue and the sun is beating down mercilessly on everyone. There was a fountain that was really cool looking and it shot water 15-20ft into the air, but the whole area smelled like stagnant water, that was kind of gross.
It seems like everywhere we go in this country, the people speak a different form of Spanish. Its really annoying because I can barely speak and understand one dialect, much less four. Its frustrating at times, but somehow I seem to be able to scrape by. The food isn´t too bad. I´m sick of ham, but other than that, everything is is pretty good. I´ve tried Paella, blood sausage, sangria, pastas, and God only knows what else. I really like it here, the people are nice enough, the weather isn´t moody like in San Antonio, and its alot easier to get around here... even if the drivers seem like they are intent on hitting anything and everything that gets into their path. The metros (subways) are really easy to use, and they´re cheap. I wouldn´t recommend using Taxis though, they´re really expensive and some of the drivers don´t really seem like the nicest people.
Anyway, today´s blog is supposed to be about my surroundings. This much, I can tell you, its hotter than hell here in Valencia. I never knew a port city could get this hot. Someone said it was like 35 degrees Celsius, and the air is very dry. The air seems pretty clear here, there's not very much smog. Its a clear day, the sky is very blue and the sun is beating down mercilessly on everyone. There was a fountain that was really cool looking and it shot water 15-20ft into the air, but the whole area smelled like stagnant water, that was kind of gross.
It seems like everywhere we go in this country, the people speak a different form of Spanish. Its really annoying because I can barely speak and understand one dialect, much less four. Its frustrating at times, but somehow I seem to be able to scrape by. The food isn´t too bad. I´m sick of ham, but other than that, everything is is pretty good. I´ve tried Paella, blood sausage, sangria, pastas, and God only knows what else. I really like it here, the people are nice enough, the weather isn´t moody like in San Antonio, and its alot easier to get around here... even if the drivers seem like they are intent on hitting anything and everything that gets into their path. The metros (subways) are really easy to use, and they´re cheap. I wouldn´t recommend using Taxis though, they´re really expensive and some of the drivers don´t really seem like the nicest people.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday: Burgos, 13 June, 2007
Today I have to write about the connection between Spain and San Antonio. Why the hell should Texans care about this place? Well, for one, most of South Texas culture is a spin off of Spanish culture. Alot of our food, customs, language, etc comes from Spanish culture. Granted, the cultures have changed alot over the years, and they´re not completely alike, but theres a noticible similarity. And this is why you should care.
I´m out of stuff to say, and others need to use the computer so I´m going to get off here and go grab a beer at the bar.
I´m out of stuff to say, and others need to use the computer so I´m going to get off here and go grab a beer at the bar.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Madrid: June 12th, 2007
We left San Antonio around 12:00pm central daylight time on Jun 11th, and started our 4 hour flight to Newark, New Jerzey. Needless to say, after a night of very unfitful sleep, I slept most of that flight. We arrived in Newark, and then roamed around and killed time for a couple of hours until our flight to Madrid began to board. Like the previous flight, this one was packed. I sat next to my best friend Sarah, and chit chatted about nothing until we pulled away from the terminal. As we were pulling away, the Captain came on the intercom and said we´d be delayed an hour because there was a long line of planes ahead of us. A groan went up from everyone on the flight, it was loud enough that I´m pretty sure the folks up in the air control tower heard it. I chuckled and pulled out one of the two books I had brought along and began to read it.
I have no idea how much time actually passed until the Captain came back on the intercom and said we were preparing to take off, but almost as soon as he said it we began to taxi onto the runway and were in the air in less than 5 minutes. The flight was uneventful. Once again, I could not sleep, so I decided to watch the inflight movies and listen to my MP3 player. The 6 hour flight from Newark, New Jerzey to Madrid, Spain passed by like a lifetime. I tried as hard as I could to sleep, but the combination of the freezing plane cabin, people talking, and having to sit upright in an uncomfortable airplane chair made it entirely too hard to sleep. I´m pretty sure I´d have had an easier time sleeping in the fires of hell, atleast there I wouldn´t be so cold I was shivering and my teeth wouldn´t be chattering.
We arrived in Madrid around 12:00pm Greenwhich Mean Time, and went through customs and sat around waiting for our luggage to be delived to us via a carousel, not too uncommon from the ones like back in San Antonino. Two of the people in our group were missing their bags, so we had to wait for them to talk to the airline about where they were. In the mean time I went to minibar and grabbed a couple beers and sat down with the group and began to drink them. After an hour or so, the two people who´s bags had been missing walked up to the group with their missing bags and we boarded a bus and headed off to the hotel.
We took some time to refresh at the hotel and then headed off to the Royal Palace. It was hot, but not like south Texas. It wasn´t as humid as South Texas, thank god. The palace was nice and cool. After walking around the palace for an hour or so, we headed off on a driving tour of the city for a while. I fell asleep after 2 nights of no sleep, so I cant´really say what all went on during the tour.
Finally, we went to dinner. The food tasted weird, and I have no idea was alot of it was, but atleast the second course had steak. A definate God send. I had a cold beer to wash it all down, and then walked around the town listen to the sound of the cars and people chatting.
Anyway, I´m running out of time at the cafe so I have to leave. I´ll update again tomorrow.
I have no idea how much time actually passed until the Captain came back on the intercom and said we were preparing to take off, but almost as soon as he said it we began to taxi onto the runway and were in the air in less than 5 minutes. The flight was uneventful. Once again, I could not sleep, so I decided to watch the inflight movies and listen to my MP3 player. The 6 hour flight from Newark, New Jerzey to Madrid, Spain passed by like a lifetime. I tried as hard as I could to sleep, but the combination of the freezing plane cabin, people talking, and having to sit upright in an uncomfortable airplane chair made it entirely too hard to sleep. I´m pretty sure I´d have had an easier time sleeping in the fires of hell, atleast there I wouldn´t be so cold I was shivering and my teeth wouldn´t be chattering.
We arrived in Madrid around 12:00pm Greenwhich Mean Time, and went through customs and sat around waiting for our luggage to be delived to us via a carousel, not too uncommon from the ones like back in San Antonino. Two of the people in our group were missing their bags, so we had to wait for them to talk to the airline about where they were. In the mean time I went to minibar and grabbed a couple beers and sat down with the group and began to drink them. After an hour or so, the two people who´s bags had been missing walked up to the group with their missing bags and we boarded a bus and headed off to the hotel.
We took some time to refresh at the hotel and then headed off to the Royal Palace. It was hot, but not like south Texas. It wasn´t as humid as South Texas, thank god. The palace was nice and cool. After walking around the palace for an hour or so, we headed off on a driving tour of the city for a while. I fell asleep after 2 nights of no sleep, so I cant´really say what all went on during the tour.
Finally, we went to dinner. The food tasted weird, and I have no idea was alot of it was, but atleast the second course had steak. A definate God send. I had a cold beer to wash it all down, and then walked around the town listen to the sound of the cars and people chatting.
Anyway, I´m running out of time at the cafe so I have to leave. I´ll update again tomorrow.
Monday, June 4, 2007
San Antonio: 4 June, 2007
Sitting here in a classroom in Texas, I've been given an assignment to do before I leave for Spain to go on this "grand adventure." The first order of business for this 5 week long assignment is to write down my hopes and dreams for this trip to Spain. I'm not too sure what exactly I hope to gain from this trip, other than getting out of the USA for a much needed vacation. Unlike normal college students who go someplace on vacation and relax, I'm taking college courses while in Spain. This blog happens to be my first assignment, and I'm pretty sure its boring you to death. In all seriousness though, I'm going on this grand trip to Spain in order that I may be able to better understand the world around me, and be better able to adapt to it in a more graceful way. With the creation of the internet, and globalization happening at a more frenzied pace, one must be able to quickly adapt to the world around them, or they're going to quickly learn that they're well and truly screwed. I hope that by going to Spain, I will be better able to understand a culture that is quite different from the one I'm used to. The culture I've grown up with in my family is one that is mixed Irish Catholic and Czech; not exactly that close to Spanish culture like my Hispanic friends. These are my hopes for the trip.
My dreams, those are another matter. I'm hoping to find some rich Spanish girl, grace her with my Texan charm, get married and spend the rest of my days lounging around on the Spanish coast drininking the finest Spanish wines, doing absolutely NOTHING. Just kidding, I really want to visit the famous sites and take in the historic culture. I've read about so many different places, people, and events in Spanish history and now its time for me to go see and experience some of them first hand. And like any Aggie fan, I definately want to drink some beer.
All in all, I'm excited about this trip, but I'm definately not looking forward to the traveling part. I'm not big on flying over the ocean, I'm not big on flying for more than a couple hours, and I really don't like going through Customs and Immigration; those guys scare me. They always seem like they hate their job, and they aim to take it out on you, the unsuspecting tourist. Ohh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I've got to look on the bright side, an hour or so of annoyed Customs and Immigrations officials, and then 3 weeks in Spain.
My dreams, those are another matter. I'm hoping to find some rich Spanish girl, grace her with my Texan charm, get married and spend the rest of my days lounging around on the Spanish coast drininking the finest Spanish wines, doing absolutely NOTHING. Just kidding, I really want to visit the famous sites and take in the historic culture. I've read about so many different places, people, and events in Spanish history and now its time for me to go see and experience some of them first hand. And like any Aggie fan, I definately want to drink some beer.
All in all, I'm excited about this trip, but I'm definately not looking forward to the traveling part. I'm not big on flying over the ocean, I'm not big on flying for more than a couple hours, and I really don't like going through Customs and Immigration; those guys scare me. They always seem like they hate their job, and they aim to take it out on you, the unsuspecting tourist. Ohh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I've got to look on the bright side, an hour or so of annoyed Customs and Immigrations officials, and then 3 weeks in Spain.
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