Marrakech, Morocco

Africa - Check! After spending the weekend in Marrakech, Morocco I can officially check Africa off my list of places visited! My dad and I spent the weekend exploring the city of Marrakech. I have never seen or experienced so many new things in just 48 hours! We arrived early Saturday morning and headed to our Riad (basically a bed and breakfast with a open garden/patio in the center). After walking down very narrow cobble-stone ally-ways and having to avoid the many motorbikes we found the Riad. We were sure there was no chance of us finding our way out of these windy and very confusing streets though! That seemed to be a theme of the trip, where we ended up lost a decent amount of times...it did lead to us seeing quite a lot though!

Saturday was spent exploring Jemma El Fna square, the main square of the old city. Here we saw snake chambers, story-tellers, monkeys doing tricks, women giving out henna tattoos and many food vendors. We were both truly in awe of what we were seeing. We decided we wanted to get a glimpse of the whole city so ended up taking a horse-drawn carriage ride, which was nice and relaxing after our busy morning!

Jemma El Fna Square

Horse-drawn carriage - Dad and Me

Saturday afternoon was spent trying to navigate to an old historic school (Ben Youssef Medersa) and art museum, which once we got to, were absolutely beautiful. The ceramic tiles throughout all of Marrakech are truly a sight to see! I have been learning about Muslim architecture and art in my culture class, so this was a perfect learning experience as well. We had a delicious Moroccan meal at a restaurant near by and headed back to the Riad for some rest! That night was spent as the main square again, which has two very different personalities (day and night). We had another traditional Moroccan meal (I had chicken and couscous) at a restaurant right on the corner of the main square. At night the square is incredibly lively with performers, vendors, and crowds. This included large circles gathered around a certain act, some were bands, some story-tellers and one was even a boxing match!

Ben Youssef Medersa

Jemma El Fna Square

Sunday morning was spent with a hired guide. He spoke perfect English and made the morning educational and entertaining! We began the day at one of the many palaces inside the old walled city. Once again I was in complete awe of the architecture and art throughout. We then ventured into the souks (this is where we got lost many times the day before). The souks are is a large covered market that runs for blocks on narrow roads. The souks have various sections including leather, cotton, metal, and shoes. We bought a few things and improved our bartering skills.

Bahia Palace

The Souks - Dying of Fabrics

Sunday afternoon was spent at the Majorelle Gardens, which was absolutely gorgeous and had plants from five continents! The cactus especially were truly extraordinary. We had delicious salads for lunch in the small cafe in the gardens, which provided the perfect atmosphere. For dinner Sunday night we ate a delicious meal of lamb and couscous at the Riad, which was home-made by one of the Riad employees and then headed back to the main square.

Majorelle Gardens

Monday morning we took an early flight back. It is nice to be back in Alcalá, not worrying about getting run over by a motorbike, but I definitely would love to go back to Morocco or see more of Africa in the future! I registered for classes for next semester today...this adventure is going by way too fast! Off to Barcelona for the weekend! Muchos Besos!

La Vida de los Reyes - El Escorial y Segovia

This past weekend was filled with two day trips, one to El Escorial and the other to la Granja and Segovia. They are about an hour outside of Madrid and a perfect place to spend the day! El Escorial is one large complex that has basically anything a king could ever want. Rey (King) Felipe II of Spain created this masterpiece in the 16th century. El Escorial has a Basilica, a library (2nd only the Vatican in its collection of religious literature), beautiful gardens, a palace (where the kings would vacation), a school for monks, and the burial spot of almost all the Spanish kings. The entire building is truly stunning, but of course I was only allowed to take pictures of the simply decorated outside.

El Escorial

La Granja is another palace where the kings would spend  the summer. It looks very similar to Versailles. We didn't go inside, only walked through the gardens (on a beautiful fall day), and saw the many fountains and statues.

La Granja

Aqueduct - Segovia

Segovia, a small city outside of Madrid, was exactly what I had been picturing Spain to be like! It is very rustic looking with lots of hills and narrow roads. The city has a aqueduct, which is truly astonishing. It also holds another palace, Alcazar, which is what Disney's Magic Kingdom is based off of. We climbed over 150 stairs to the top to see a stunning view of the whole city and surrounding land. The Cathedral, is the last Gothic Cathedral built in Spain and the spires are absolutely gorgeous. I had to give an oral presentation on the Cathedral, so I could tell you lots more facts (they are all pretty boring though)! We had two wonderful days, despite the cold temperatures!

Alcazar - Segovia

La Catedral - Segovia

Kelly-Ann and Me - Top of Alcazar

I also had my first midterm today, 17 centuries worth of Spanish history... a lot to learn in just two months! Off to Morocco this weekend with my Dad, hopefully will have lots to tell!
Muchos Besos!

Mercado Medieval

Last week Alcalá celebrated Cervantes' Birthday, as well as another fiesta in all of Spain. During this time the city turns into a Medieval Renaissance Fair. After returning from Dublin, my host family and I ventured onto Calle Mayor and into the plaza. What a sight to see! The whole area is completely decorated, with banners hanging from building to building. There were tons of vendors selling hand crafted items and food. Almost all the vendors were dressed in medieval attire, as well as some of the people roaming the streets.

Calle Mayor

In the center of the plaza there were rides for children, including a "pirate ship" ride and a carousel. Also in the center there were animals. This included live owls (a favorite in Spain) and other birds, as well as pigs and a few other "farm" animals. Surrounding the edges of the plaza children were able to participate in helping craft pottery or helping with a print-press. The whole experience was very enjoyable, I didn't purchase anything but my host mom's boyfriend purchased a small sword for his brother.

Plaza de Cervantes

I can't believe I am almost at the two month mark, this adventure is flying by!

Dublin!

Just the type of weekend I needed! With more fiestas in Spain, we had Monday and Tuesday off from classes so I decided to take a trip to Dublin to visit Geraldine, Dave and their girls. I truly enjoyed not having to worry about metros or hostels and a language barrier for a full three days! Saturday was a perfect fall day and we spent it at Malahide Castle and the Portmarnock Beach. Malahide Castle includes a large playground where I spent the majority of the type hoisting the girls up to the slide. We then ventured to the front go the castle where there were two threes that just started losing their leaves. In Spain I haven't seen many beautiful red, yellow, and orange leaves so I took it in as the girls skipped through them!

Malahide Castle

Beth playing in the leaves

Portmarnock beach was a little chilly, but the waves were a sight to see! The girls enjoyed getting as close to the water as possible and then running away quickly as it started to come back up!

Portmarnock Beach

Beth, Megan, and Amy are all adorable and full of energy. I really enjoyed spending time with them and after hearing the fights over who got to sit next to me at the dinner table, I think they enjoyed my company as well! Sunday was spent at Dave's nephew's first birthday party! I definitely miss family events like these, so I'm glad I got to experience something similar across the ocean. I was definitely sad to go on Monday and wished my visit could have lasted a few more days, but I know I will be back there soon!

Muchos Besos!

La Clima

I have unfortunately come down with my first Spanish cold, so I figured I would talk a little about the weather here in Alcalá. When looking at a map I could basically draw a line across the Atlantic between Boston and Spain, so I figured the temperature would be about the same. Boy have I been wrong!
The summer as I previously mentioned was HOT! At 9:00 at night my computer was still telling me it was 90 degrees outside (with no ac!). It also barely ever rains here, in over a month I have experienced only two days of rain! I now understand why when we were flying into Madrid everything looks tan and brown. I truly love that it doesn't rain though since I basically walk everywhere and would hate to have to worry about getting caught in a sudden rain storm.
The temperature now is interesting, to say the least. When I wake up and go to sleep it is around 45 degrees and midday it is about 70 degrees. You can imagine how difficult picking out an outfit is every morning with the 35 degree temperature change. I think between the temperature change and my "hostel" in Germany are the reasons for my newly found cold.
I have heard the winter gets very cold, but it also never snows here, which I definitely am not use to. Usually when it is extremely cold in Boston or Baltimore there is either snow falling from the sky or piled up next to the sidewalks. I think I am going to like the break from the snow though, especially knowing I will be returning to lots of it in December!

We resumed classes yesterday and I have now added a writing and history/culture class to my grammar and conversation classes. We are in class from 9-3 each day, not including the extra hour on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays for Maria Jose's class! All of these classes are in complete Spanish so as much as I complain about the long hours I know its best for what I came here to do. Each day I find myself learning new words and conjugating more and more verbs correctly. Now it only takes me 10 minutes instead of 20 to tell what would be a 2 minute story in English! My professors seem a little scarier this time around, but it only is day two so I am sure I will have more to report later on!

Muchos Besos!

Beer and Pretzels - Oktoberfest in Munich

What a weekend! Our first trip outside of Spain was to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. I now fully appreciate all the hype! It was the 200th anniversary of the event and I am so glad I got to experience it. We arrived in Munich, navigated the metro system, and arrived to a story-book like place. Munich is absolutely beautiful and I don't think any of us were expecting to love the city as much as we do now. The blonds in the group definitely felt more at home surrounded by the Germans and all of us enjoyed the actual fall weather and changing color leaves!

Munich, Germany

After being in awe of this beautiful new place, we then decided to find our hostel. I really should not even refer to it as a hostel. We ended up staying in a giant tent with sheets as room dividers and had to pass outside to a trailer to use the bathroom! After much contemplation, the spoiled Americans decided to stick it out and make the best of it. We spent as little time as possible there and the fall weather turned into our worst nightmare as the tent didn't really have a heating system and the nights were more than a little chilly!

The "Hostel"

On Friday night we found a delicious restaurant in Munich's city center, surrounded by outstanding cathedrals and other magnificent buildings. Here we had our first German beer and I had a typical German meal of steak and a baked potato! Following dinner we headed to the Hofbrauhaus, a very famous beer hall in Munich. I had a little Déjà vu when entering the hall thanks to Disney's Epcot and the night was truly wonderful. Here we had our first liter mug of beer and headed back to the "hostel" to try and get some rest for the next day!

Hofbrauhaus

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Oktoberfest! Oktoberfest consisted of large tents with huge tables that serve beer and various types of food. There are also carnival-like rides all around and many vendors throughout. We ended up at the Hofbrauhaus tent (the most popular!) and ended up getting a table with two British men living in Luxembourg! Here we drank our liter mugs of beer and experienced Oktoberfest to its fullest, including the many chants and cheers that the whole tent participated in. The Germans were in full traditional attire and the beermaids were able to carry about 8-10 mugs full of beer at once (we were all extremely impressed). Pretzels are a major part of the day, so I decided to try one and it was absolutely delicious!

Outside of the tent

Inside the tent

The Pretzel!

Saturday afternoon was spent reuniting with lots of other Loyola students studying in various countries (including my former roommate, Aly), going on one of the many rides, and taking a nap at the hostel! Saturday night we went back to the beautiful city center for dinner and found another famous bar to spend a a few hours at. We called it an early night since we had an early plane to catch Sunday morning. I am glad to be back in my room in Alcalá but it was truly a fantastic weekend!

"The Rocket"