Viaje a España

AIFS Video - Salamanca 2008

2008-11-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a video that was made by the company I went to Salamanca with. Take a peek! :)

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=46313796

Visit Vila Boa de Baixo, Portugal

2008-07-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

I spent a weekend with the sister workers from April 11-13. They live in a little valley off the Rio Duero in northern Portugal. Here was the first picture of the road into the village where they lived.

On the road in...there are HUGE rocks as you can see.

Very much rural way of life. We met this lady walking along with a bundle of twigs on her head. She had to have been in her 80's and walking up a hill home with some kindling!
The obejas (sheep) that were on the property near Josefina and Adelina's batch. They peared over the edge as we walked to the well.
This is where the girls get their drinking water. Fresh and sweet, straight from the earth! the pool at the bottom is used for washing clothes in the summer when its warm.

Adelina gets our drinking water.

The neighbor's cows above the batch and a rock wall made by hand centuries ago with no mortar!

Down the old cow path...we could see ruts in the rocks from the little carts the villagers used years ago behind their cows.

Looking down the hill towards the girls batch and the valley.

The valley later that evening ...as you can see the weather changes rapidly in this region. Sunny skies to rain in an hour!

A church building in one of the towns we went to for a visit. The tiles were incredible. This building decoration is quite typical in Portugal.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries 1/2 way through the weekend. I enjoyed my time immensely and it wonderful to have fellowship with the workers and the only professing man in their field!

Gotta Catch Up!

2008-07-24T20:15:00.002-07:00

Well...its been a while, and yes, I'm officially home as of May 18. However, this blog went out the window. I've decided to finish it!! :) So, I'll do my best in the next couple weeks to finish it up!

Jessica & Rachel Visit!

2008-05-26T17:33:00.004-07:00

What could make a trip abroad more exciting that getting to see some friends from home and showing them around!

We had gelato in the Plaza Mayor on a warm sunny day...

We went shopping, I made them dinner, and then we took a walk to see the Plaza at night! Goofing off as always. :)

Lunes De Aguas - Holiday in Salamanca

2008-05-26T17:27:00.004-07:00

Dolores and I decided that we should celebrate this holiday by eating the typical dish...while soaking our feet in a tub of green tea. (it was cold) ;)

Hornazo is made with pastry and has a layer of chorizo, lomo, and jamon and an a hard-boiled egg cut in half. It is eaten cold!

Spring Break - Frankfurt, Germany

2008-05-15T08:06:00.003-07:00

We arrived in the last city, Frankfurt. This is a city of business, but it was our only way home. We thought it funny that there is a huge Euro sign...the one thing that has made us CA college students feel really poor.

The flower market in the old part of the city. Not many old buildings remain in Frankfurt.
The buildings in the old Square. It was here that we met a lone army medic from Kentucky...and he spent the day with us.
A street performer...he's balancing a 1/2 full bottle on top of glasses filled with liquid on his NOSE and then is playing a clarinet!
The view of a church across the river.
This is the beautiful Alt Opera House on the north side of town.This is Alvaro spinning Chris, the army medic, in a kids playground.
It was great to mess around...we felt like kids again! ;)

We took the plane home to Madrid and I got to meet my friends from CA who came to see me!

Spring Break - Venice, Italy

2008-05-15T07:52:00.004-07:00

We were able to spend one day in Venice. It rained on and off, but that didn't ruin the beauty!

This is the Grand Canal, near our hotel.

The famous gondolas!! We didn't take a ride because it was raining and because it cost about 75-100 Euro to ride!
Plaza San Marcos in the old part of Venice. The ground is sinking here so there are dips in the floor. This is also where tourists feed the pidgeons a but of corn.

The birds are NOT afraid of humans!

The only gondolier we saw...it wasn't raining at this time.
Pizza in Italy! Yumm!
This is one city I will come back to!

Spring Break - Brussels, Belgium

2008-05-08T08:40:00.007-07:00

We arrived in Brussels from the train station. Here is the fountain of the blind man near our hotel close to Grand Place in Brussels. His right leg is worn down to brass due to tourists sitting on his lap for a photo.

In Grand Place, one of the most elegant squares I've ever seen.
The steeple in Grand Place at night. I'm in the blue coat. :)
This was our lunch 2 days in a row. The best BELGIUM waffles. EVER. The homemade ice cream and chocolate on top only made them better!!

Chocolate, chocolate...everywhere!

The infamous Mannequin Pis. He has costumes for every major holiday!One of the Royal Gardens. Dolores is in the yellow.
Park of statues. This was an artistically pleasing photo to me.
The front of the Royal Palace in Belgium

Cinquantenaire Triumphal Arch at the entrance of the city.

St. Michael's Cathedral with the daffodils in full bloom. Spring was starting to arrive despite of the cold...we left in the evening for Venice, Italy.

Spring Break - Marseille, France

2008-05-08T02:26:00.006-07:00

We fly from Amsterdam early in the morning. We arrived in Marseille, France on a beautiful, but windy day. In the background is the Norte Dame de la Garde Cathedral of Marseille.

This is the view of Boulevard d'Athènes from Gare de Marseille St. Charles Station where we arrived.
A Fort Saint-Jean on the south bank of the Old Port.

The Opera Municipal of Marseille....no time to watch, though.

The square where we ate an amazing lunch complete with French pastries. :)

The Église des Réformés with Joan of Arc Statue.

The stunning Musée des Beaux Arts with my friends!

The public bathrooms in France...NOT fun to use.

A great tea shop we found where we passed an hour drinking tea in the evening.

The Cathedral de la Major with Moorish influence.

The Arc de Triumf at the entrance of the city...on to the next city: Brussels, Belgium.

Spring Break - The Netherlands

2008-04-15T04:09:00.005-07:00

We began our 8 day spring break in the Netherlands. Here are my traveling buddies( L to R): Dolores, Alvaro, and Mark at the Eindhoven Airport waiting for the bus to Amsterdam.

This is our hotel in the center of Amsterdam. The first night, we stayed in the room right underneath the tower.

As you can see by the size of our room, space is very limited in Amsterdam!

This is the view of the Church from our window. You can see the crown of Netherlands on the top.
A view of the canals of Amsterdam at night.

This is a picture of the facade of the Ann Frank house. This is where she and her family hid in the back of her fathers factory for over a year. The house is now a museum. The rooms are completely empty as the Nazi soldiers came and stripped the attic of all the furniture after the family's hiding place was betrayed during WWII. The walls contained copies of the pictures Ann put on the walls in her room. There were a few amenties ( i.e. kitchen sink and cabinets, bathroom sink) still left. A memorable experience.

Dolores and I at a great steak dinner in Amsterdam.

Alvaro and Mark enjoying their dinners too!

The second day in Amsterdam, we visited the Van Gogh museum. Out front they had some posters of his paintings on display. Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists. The most fascinating part of the exhibit was where Van Gogh's sketchs and roughs of his paintings were on display. Often Van Gogh used the backs of his paintings for sketches or would cram 3 or 4 drawings and sample paintings on a sheet of paper.

Since Amsterdam is a city of art, I found the following car on par with the rest of the city. This is for you mom. I never knew sponge painting could be so useful. Here it the latest and greatest creation of sponge-painters world-wide:

And here is the smallest car I've ever seen. Yes, its parked on the sidewalk-something that Europeans have no problem doing.

We took a tour of the canals in a canal boat right around sunset. It was interesting to hear the hsitory of Amsterdam. Many of the canals were made in the 16th century. All the canals contain fresh water.

If you look more closely at this picture, you will see house-boats. Some people live right on the canals here. The outside may be very weathered, but the insides were quite nice.

The main mode of transportation here is...bicycles!! The Dutch ride them in the sun, rain, hail or snow. And watch out when you cross a road, they're liable to run you over as they come out of no-where. They even have a bicyle "parking garage" seen below. Rumor is that no one has their "own" bike in Amsterdam, and not many people lock them up. You grab one from where-ever you're at, ride and then drop it off...when you come back, you pick up another bike.

Our last evening in Amsterdam, it snowed! I believe we saw every type of weather there: rain, snow, sleet, hail, and sun!

Valle de Los Caidos y El Escorial - Visited on March 13, 2008

2008-04-08T08:49:00.006-07:00

Valle de Los Caidos was commission by the late Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. It was intented to be a monument recognizing all those who died in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. However, the monument contains the bones of those who died constructing this monument, and those of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the father of the Nationalist party of Spain and Franco's inspiration, and Francisco Franco, himself. Below is the entrance to the Basilica which is built into the mountain.

This cross on top the mountain can be seen for 30 miles and stands 152.4 meters ( 500 ft) tall. For more interesting information on Valle de Los Ciados, click here.
This is the plaza of the monument is one of the biggest in Spain.
Our nest stop was to the town of El Escorial to the Royal Monastery. This monastery has 2,600 some rooms and the if you walked all the hallways, alone, you will walk about 18 miles. They bury the Kings and Queens of Spain here, deep below, in the caverns. For more interesting information, visit here.

This is the entrance, called the Pantheon of Kings. Today, a monastery is on the right hand side of this picture, and on the left is a college.

Sierra de Francia - Mountains in Spain

2008-04-02T08:57:00.007-07:00

We took an excursion with the school to the Sierra de Francia mountains about 45 minutes West of Madrid one Friday. First we visited...

A view of this small pueblo.
This is the old bull fighting ring...very small in comparison to the ones we see nowdays!

This is the church in the town. Only one I saw which is unusual!

An example of how old the houses are here...you can see the rocks and adobe patches!

We then headed up a very curvy road to the Pena de Francia... a very high mountain. Beautiful..and cold!

The tower of the sanctuario of the Pena de Francia...you can see this for miles!

A view of the valley below...you can see the winding road we drove up.

We decided to be "mountain goats" and climb along the rocks at the base of the sanctuary. Great scenery.

We then headed to La Alberca...a quaint little pueblo. Here you see the plaza.

I unknowingly ordered this tapa in Alberca..it turned out to be a fried pigs ear. Not too bad!

Alberca had many stands selling hunny, hunny crusted almonds, and candy. The honey crusted almonds were the best!

This was a great adventure to see some of the scenery of Spain...so far I love the mountains here!

Salamanca

2008-03-13T04:54:00.010-07:00

On my first walk to the Plaza...this is a street I walk everyday.

This is a school on the street above.

The windows across the end of the road are the walls of the Plaza.

This was my first view of the magnificent Plaza Mayor. They say this is the most beautiful one in Spain!

This is the courtyard of the convent I walk through every morning on my way to school.

Looking back at the convent.

Continuing on my way to school. This street that has the internet cafe I use occasionally. at the end of the road is the Cathedral school.

This is the front of the cathedral school and the Casa de Las Conchas is on the right. The Casa is the public library now.

This is Calle Placentinos (looking N) where the school is located. The doorway is at the very front, right side of this picture

Here is our guide from AIFS, Josh, showing off the doorway to our beautiful school.

This is the Plaza Mayor at night! !Que Hermosa!

The Cathedral school and Casa de Las Conchas at night. All the major historic buildings are lit up at night, making the city even prettier!

Mi Casa Nueva

2008-03-02T08:49:00.009-08:00

Sunday Feb 24 - we all transferred to Salamanca on a tour bus. Here is our first view of the city cathedral.

We then took smaller shuttle buses and got dropped off at our flats.

Heres a photo tour of my flat:

Looking at the front door from my doorway including the entry. The closed door on the left is the kitchen.

Riley's room off the entry.

The kitchen.

My Room.

My shared bathroom with Riley.

The living room.

turn the corner and the other bathroom.

Delores and Carolyn's room

Our patio off the kitchen.

Such a homey feeling place. Its nice to have someplace to call home!

Toledo

2008-02-27T09:31:00.010-08:00

On Saturday, We went to the city of Toledo on a bus. About an hour ride. This city is in the most beautiful setting...

Toledo is famous for its swords, knives, and medallions made with steel inlaid with gold and then fired.

This town was full of little streets...very easy to get lost.

We also got our first glimpse of a market.

We also visited a beautiful cathedral...

We finished the day with a nice plate of paella....back in Madrid!

Adios!

2008-02-22T20:39:00.001-08:00

At LAX:

My journey to Spain began with the longest plane ride I've ever taken...11hours. You do get to "love your neighbor!"

At the Zurich airport we had to take a train between one terminal and the next. Above, on the wall of the train tunnel...was my name! A sign?!? We had an hour layover in Zurich. Its a ritzy airport with Swiss chocolatiers and Gucci, Prada, and Swatch stores. I'll have to get some good Swiss chocolate on my way home!

We had a two-hour flight from Zurich to Madrid. This is my first view of the Swiss Alps!

In Madrid, our group had a chartered bus that took us to the center of the city to Hotel Tryp Gran Via. We arrived almost 24hours later on Thursday evening.

Upon entering my room...here is what i found:

On my left..the beds...

On my right...the bathroom

I fell into bed exhausted...only to wake up 4 and 1/2 hours later. Not a huge fan of jet-lag!