Cordoba, a WIP family vacation

The whole WIP group (almost) went to Cordoba together last weekend. It was actually a lot of fun being with the whole group again.

Cordoba is known for the Mesquita, which means mosque, also which is now actually a Catholic church. The Catholics a couple hundred years ago after the reconquest of Spain decided to put their church right smack dab in the middle of the mosque. It's a huge place and the church portion took up about a fifth of it. It is an interesting mix, but it is a stunning place.

We also went to Arab ruins outside the city. It was my favorite part. We were outside in the fresh, fresh air that I miss so much when I'm in Madrid. I was so happy, it was green lush and beautiful! (the ruins were cool too)

Portugal: Lisboa/Sintra

Portugal was quite the experience! I don't even know how to start. I guess I will start from the beginning...because that's a very good place to start.

The trip started with -The Bus Ride From Hell-. A night bus, which is already bad, but on top of that two stale beer, B.O., piss smelling drunk men sat behind us. They were emitting the sort of smell that keeps you awake. When we did manage to fall asleep, one of the men reached around Kristin's seat and grabbed her arm, she punched me in the arm to wake me up, and we didn't really sleep after that.

We were also Couch Surfing for the first time in Lisbon. When we got to our couch surfing host's home after waiting for the metro to open, we just wanted to sleep. He had a full house of Couch Surfers already so we were forced to go out and about in the city. It was a day of drowsy tourism. To put it simply-we were unhappy, tired, and didn't speak a lick of Portuguese. We had thankfully asked Ilmer (our couch surfing host) for a few words, so we felt a little better. There is something horrible about being the ignorant American tourist-which we definitely were being.

So did we end up hating Lisbon--->NO

What saved it?

ILMER!

Seriously, without couch surfing I don't think we would have liked Lisbon as much as we ended up liking it. That first night we went to a Couch Surfing dinner and met lots of great people. The next day he took us to a traditional Portuguese music performance: Fado, and after we were invited to a friends house for dinner. He cooked us two traditional Portuguese meals, and pointed us to all the right pastry shops!

We also took a day trip to Sintra. There is a castle there that the Disney castle is supposedly based off of. It was a really cool castle. It felt much more cozy than any other castle I have been in. Sintra was like a fairy tale land. It was rainy and foggy the day we were there, but the fog gave it an enchanted, magical feel. It was beautiful.

Some things I learned from this trip:

1. Do some research before showing up in a city (ok so I guess I knew that before I left, but hopefully I will actually do it now)
2. DO NOT TAKE A NIGHT BUS!
3. know some key phrases in the native language of the country you are going to before you leave

singing in the rain

Spain seems to be the land of puentes! (for you non-spanish speakers a puente is a holiday). Last weekend we had a puente on Monday and didn't have classes. This week there is one on Tuesday so we don't have class on Tuesday OR on Monday. Last weekend I went to San Sebastian as I am sure I have already mentioned. I FELL IN LOVE! As you can see in the pictures it is a beautiful beach town. It felt fresh, and made me never want to leave. We also went to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim. It was one of the neatest museums I have been to. You can see we went on Halloween-- we are rocking the lumberjack look in front of the museum.

I can't wait to travel to more cities on the water! Luckily I am going to Lisbon this weekend, so I will get to again!!!!!!!

I am going to be couch surfing in Lisbon. I am REALLY excited. I think it is going to be a great experience and I will start to get a feel for what it's all about. Good-golly Spain is great isn't it?

Ok it really is, but here are some things about Spain that may be...not so great or at the very least interesting. There are LOTS of dogs here in Madrid. One thing all dogs have in common is.... THEY POOP. One thing all dog owners don't have in common is that....THEY DON'T PICK UP THEIR DOG'S POOP! Seriously there is dog poop everywhere. You always have to keep an eye to the ground to ensure you don't get a foot full.

Also Madrid is a city of dumpster divers. No joke. Almost every garbage I walk by, there will be someone looking in it, opening it to look in it, taking things out, or closing it. These are not homeless people or hippies. It's everyone! Maybe Spaniards are very serious about the "reuse" part of "reduce, reuse, recycle"...

Time here is moving extremely quickly. I have already been here 9 weeks! I think it will be June before I know it!