Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Paris Adventures!!

Alright, now that I'm settled into the hotel, have the internet semi-working, and am back in the swing of school I think it's time to update everyone on part 2 of the crazy week - PARIS. Making it from my apartment to the airport was a piece of cake: 20 minute metro ride to the bus station (where the fiasco occurred the day before) then 20 minute bus ride to the airport. I had never been to the Bilbao airport before, but it's awesome! I believe the architect of the Guggenheim also designed the airport because they have the same artsy feel.

The flight was a little over an hour so we were landing before we knew it and I was beyond excited!! We flew into Charles de Gaulle so we hopped on the train into town; immediately I realized why my friends who have been before said their main complaint was how dirty Paris is and I appreciated Spain's immaculate cleanliness so much more. After about a 40 minute trip full of grumpy people (the stereotype of rude Parisians was proven true numerous times) we stepped out of the station and into Paris!! Surprisingly we found our hotel rather quickly (for those of you who don't know - before this trip I was embarrassingly horrific at directions, I've improved greatly thank goodness) and headed out to dinner. This trip was one of many firsts for me. No longer being allergic to dairy opened up a world of possibilities for me, and where better to experiment than in Paris with your mom?! The first night we had a calzone for dinner and tiramisu for dessert - both I thought were delicious. During the weekend I also tried creme brulée, a napoleon (the pastry), and a few different cheeses. My mom suggested we walk to the Eiffel Tower so I figured why not, good way to start the trip. I assumed we'd have to walk for a ways (she knew exactly where we were) so as we left the restaurant and turned the corner BAM there it was!! Even better, it was sunset so it was an absolutely magnificent sight. I was in awe. We did the tacky tourist thing at the bottom, taking tons of pictures, and then headed to the top!! What a wonderful first night :)

The next morning we planned to take a tour bus around the city. Although the weather on Thursday told us it would be in the high 60's - low 70's and sunny all weekend, Saturday turned out to be a lovely 34 degrees and we were the farthest thing from prepared. After buying scarves and mittens we found the bus stop expecting to wait 10 minutes; 30 minutes later we saw a little note on the side saying that particular route was out of order until October 31st. Frozen to the bone we went to a cafe to warm up and figure out where to go. Brrrrrr. Once we finally hopped on the bus we got to see a ton of amazing buildings; my only complaint is that it made numerous stops for 5 - 10 minutes each so instead of being able to ride all four tracks (each track covered a different part of the city, you could hop around as much as you wanted) we only completed one in 5 hours - being completely chilled probably didn't assist our outlooks either. That was a bummer, but it was still great to see all the big name places before we traveled solo on Monday. Sunday we went to Versailles and took an audio tour which was fantastic!! We got out to the gardens just as all the fountains were turning on so it was perfect to walk through. Monday we planned on renting bikes to get around Paris, but after seeing how crazy/dangerous the drivers were we felt it was best to just walk. We took a tour through Notre Dame, saw the military academy, walked above the Louvre (it was a 3 hour wait to get in - no thanks), went through some gardens by the opera house, and went partially into the Opera house then turned around because there was a very long wait/it was more expensive than we expected and by that point we were sort of worn out. That night we went up to Montmantra (spelling?) for dinner and to see Paris from above. In my opinion, the perfect way to end the trip!!

Overall my Paris experience was amazing!! We hit some speed bumps due to lack of communication from our hotel and the fact neither of us speak French but I wouldn't change a second of it :) My mom cracked me up - she knows a bit of French so she would use a few words here and there when necessary, but then she'd randomly throw in some Spanish or German on accident and it caught me off guard every time. So funny! Great first trip of the semester and so glad my mom was able to be there!! Unfortunately my camera died on the top of the Eiffel Tower and my mom left her camera cord in America (ironic since my dad/her husband is a photographer) so I have a few photos from the first night but won't have any more until she gets home and emails them to me.




waiting in line halfway up the tower, our first clue to how cold it was going to be the next day...brrrr...

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Part 1 of a Crazy Week

Phew...what an absolutely insane, but wonderful, 6 days it has been!! My mom arrived in Bilbao on Thursday afternoon and we spent Friday - Monday in PARIS!! I wish I could say "I picked my mom up at the bus station Thursday and we had a casual evening before our trip" and move on to the Paris details, but if you know our family you know nothing is ever that simple. So, this post is devoted to the fiasco of her arrival and my next post will include info/photos of our Paris trip.

Alright, let's rewind to last Sunday evening when I made my weekly phone call home to finalize details of my mom's trip to Spain. At that point we concluded she'd arrive in Madrid on Tuesday morning, spend 2 days touring around, then take a BUS up to Bilbao Thursday morning. I emphasize the "bus" aspect because it will become very relevant later. On Wednesday night I received a short email from her saying she would be on a bus set to arrive at 12:45pm at Bilbao AB, but she didn't know what "AB" stood for so she asked me to check before I headed over after class. To me, "AB" stood for "Abando" which is 2 metro stops down from the bus station, and as far as I knew only held trains. Telling myself to stay calm, I went into my program office after my midterm Thursday morning to get some clarification. The moment I said "AB" they said "Abando" and the moment I said "no, a bus" their faces turned from "aww we're so excited a parent is coming" to "ummm that's not possible, you have a serious problem". Very settling, right? They were very helpful as usual and called the bus station who said there were 2 busses coming 30 minutes before and after the time she wrote, but none scheduled at the exact time. Basically, I was told to hurry to the bus station and wait just to be on the safe side. I completely disregarded the train station since in the past month of planning the word "train" had never come out of my mom's mouth. So there I am, sitting anxiously at the bus station at 11:30am expecting to wait for 30 minutes. The noon bus pulls in with a large "Madrid" sign on the front window so I jump up, only to be disappointed she's not on it. I assume she's on the next bus so I don't worry. However, when the next bus should have been posted, it wasn't. I went to ask the information desk (let me tell you, I got some great practice with my Spanish during this time) and they told me no bus was scheduled until 1:15, but once that came around and I went up to ask again a different worker said 2:30. At this point I start to panic because I didn't have my computer, I didn't have a phone, and my mom doesn't speak Spanish/has never been here before. Trying to stay as calm as possible I decide to wait until 3pm (it was now 2pm) and then go to the train station just to double check - even though I was told over and over again she was going to be here based on the information I had. 5 minutes later, as I did about my 100th lap around the station, out of the corner of my eye I saw my mom standing next to a Spanish man and was SOOOOO relieved. It turns out while she thought she was taking a bus since that is what she researched in America, her hotel somehow booked her on the train and she had no way of telling me so she had to get herself from the train station to the bus station and hope I was still waiting there. CRAZINESS!!!!! Totally and completely not how I expected/wanted that day to go, but in the end it was all okay. I took her back to my apartment and then we went out for lunch and a little tour of the area then had a wonderful dinner and went to bed in preparation for Paris. Photos and trip stories will be on the next post!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hands Down, Best Birthday Yet!!

Every Sunday I go to my friend's apartment to make dinner and call my parents (she has perfect internet so the call from my computer is crystal clear, unlike the patchy connection I get at my place) and this passed Sunday was no different, so I thought. At 9pm I set off on the trek back as I do each week but when I came home all my roommates were mysteriously sitting in the kitchen as if they were anxiously waiting for me to arrive. I figured they were just being strange (I've got some odd roommates, they're great, but crazy) so I said a quick hello then went to put my things down in my room. Much to my surprise there was a banner above my bed saying "Feliz Cumpleaños" and a note on one wall saying "Yayyyy you're 21" and a note on the opposite wall with a big smiley face signed from 3 of my friends, and balloons scattered everywhere!! I was so taken off guard, and ecstatic at the same time - what a great way to end a weekend! Monday morning, my actual birthday, my alarm went off at 6:30am as usual and I stumbled into the bathroom to wash my face only to find a note on the wall saying "happy 21st beautiful, how does it feel to FINALLY be 21??" (I'm the last of my friends here too to turn 21) and the day only got better from there. At the bus stop before school I got a birthday button that had lights on it (sort of obnoxious, but I can't complain), my teacher sang/danced to me, when I got home 2 of my roommates had bought me a delicious cake and wrote me a sweet note, then at 6 I headed to Bilbao to go out to dinner/to a fútbol game. I went with my friends Lauren, Lyndsay, and Angela (the 3 who schemed up the room decorations on Sunday) and we ate at a Kebab place - everyone has raved about them but I had never had it so they convinced me to try it. It's sort of like a thick pita with either Chicken or Gyro inside and vegetables and 2 types of sauce. After dinner they surprised me with a cake and musical candles and a really cute picture of the 4 of us. We got to the fútbol stadium right on time but couldn't find our seats because the tickets weren't very specific. After we finally found someone to ask we got yet another surprise - they were FRONT ROW!!!!! I legitimately could not have been more in heaven. We were sitting on the side of the stadium basically on the field - when they would go to do a throw in or corner kick if I had reached out I could have touched the players! And the entire first half (when Bilbao scored their 3 goals) was played on our side of the field...holy cow...I think it's safe to say this was my best/favorite/most amazing birthday so far!!!! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have people from home here to celebrate as well, but now I get a belated celebration next semester :) Here's some pics of the day!! I think my friends got some good ones with me actually in them so I might be adding/swapping a few in the next day or so. Off to do a bunch of homework in preparation for my mom to get here THURSDAY and go to PARIS Friday - Tuesday :)







Sunday, October 16, 2011

Just Another Week In Spain...

Wow, time really does fly here. No matter how many times I say it, I always seem surprised by the appearance of another weekend! This past week wasn't anything special, just a lot of homework and some homesickness thrown in due to lack of things to keep me busy. I met with my intercambio on Thursday which helped snap me out of my funk, she took me all around Bilbao on a 3 hour personal tour! I saw things I never would have found on my own which was great! I was under the impression she spoke a decent amount of English, like the amount of Spanish I do, but her English ability makes my Spanish seem fluent! It was an intense 3 hours trying to figure out how to communicate, but I think it will turn out to be very helpful because it forces me to work on my speaking ability (unlike my friend's intercambio who is fluent in English).

Friday night we went kayaking on the Bilbao river - SO cool! It was an event set up by the city so we got to meet people from locally, Southern Spain, Germany, Canada, Finland, and France. It turned out to be my favorite night here, hands down! We arrived in workout clothes and sweatshirts, assuming we'd get a little wet but wanted to stay warm, and they made us change into these funky wetsuits/jackets (I'll post a picture below) and by the time we got there they only had larges left so it was like we were swimming in them! They were 2 person kayaks though and 4 of us went so that was perfect and the view of the city was gorgeous! Obviously I have no pictures from this event, wasn't going to risk taking my dad's camera out there.

Saturday a group of 6 of us went wine tasting in Haro, a very small town in the Basque country about an hour south of here. The guy who reserved the tour for us told us there were 2 guides, 1 speaking English and 1 speaking Spanish but it turns out it was completely in Spanish! Which was totally understandable/kind of cool, except we only understood about half the information - so don't ask what I learned about the history of the winery or process of making wine! The overall tour was really fascinating to see and at the end we got to do a tasting of 3 of their wines. I liked 2 of them but one was a bit strong so I just put my glass down and ate a bunch of corn nuts haha After that we got lunch in town and hung out for the day, so nice to get away sometimes!

Today is homework/laundry day in preparation for another week of school. However, tomorrow night we are going to a soccer game which I am RIDICULOUSLY excited for :) And, probably even more exciting, my mom gets here THURSDAY!!!!!!! I have a feeling it's going to be a good few weeks :)



Saturday, October 8, 2011

It's October!

Hey everyone,

I can't believe it's already a week into October, how crazy! But, it's my favorite month so I have no complaints :) My first Spanish class is over and I did much better than I expected so that's a relief, on to the next level! I was finally assigned an intercambio (a native student who knows a little English but wants to learn more in exchange for helping me with my Spanish speaking skills) so I'm very excited to get that going! I think we'll be meeting once or twice a week for an hour or so. I'm starting to catch myself thinking completely in Spanish (so cool!) so hopefully with her help I can start translating thoughts into actual words so I can carry out full conversations without over-thinking how to reply.

Yesterday my culture class took a field trip to the Biscay Executive Council Building (or Disputación Foral de Bizkaia as we were told) in Bilbao and got a tour of the palace. It was the meeting place of major political Basque figures and used for many years. It's main importance came when they were banned from meeting under the Oak Tree in Gernika, until Franco banned the fueros (laws created by and for the Basque that were viewed as "unfair to the rest of Spain" by the Spanish government) and any meetings had to be in basements or in France. The architecture plans were too large for the original location of Bilbao at the end of the 19th century so they had to jump across the river, thus beginning the creation of the existing city. We learned a lot more, but I can't recall it all at the moment; overall it was a great excursion!

Last night my friends and I decided we were really craving something "American" so we decided to have a simple, quiet pizza and movie night. While we ended up with the pizza it was far from "simple". We got there at 6:30pm assuming we'd order, wait no more than 30 minutes since everyone eats around 9 here, and walk back to my apartment. To our surprise, there was an 11 year old's birthday party going on and unlike in America where parties usually order a few large pizzas and the kids eat whatever is ordered, these people decided to get each kid their own individual sized pizza and there was only one person working. So, after waiting almost 2 1/2 hours we finally had the food. Then on the walk home it started pouring and we didn't have umbrellas so the pizzas got drenched. Oops. Always an adventure in Spain!

My roommates are gone for the weekend so I thought I'd do a little tidying up around the apartment this morning and ended up cleaning for 2 1/2 hours, this place was gross! Let's see if they notice a difference. The weather has been really abnormal, we've only had 3 days of rain/cold weather since I got here! All the locals are very confused, and I'm a little upset that I only packed 4 short sleeve v-necks and 3 pairs of shorts for hot weather. On the plus side, I've had lots of time to wander around and explore before my schedule gets very busy (but ridiculously exciting) soon!! I was telling a friend from home last night that while I am so happy to be in Spain, I feel like I don't have any super exciting stories to share right now because things people at home may find exciting, I now view as every day life. Maybe I need to start reality slapping myself to make sure I take it all in!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

San Sebastián and Southern France


This weekend I went on my first trip since moving to Bilbao and if I hadn’t already, I have officially caught the “travel bug” and fallen even more in love with Europe. We left early Friday morning and headed to a small fisherman's town in Southern France – it’s debatable whether it’s truly France or Spain because the Basque country is still feuding over political boundaries – but in a geological sense it was France. The first thing we did when we arrived was visit the outdoor market. They pretty much had every food imaginable, from bread to cheese to fish to fruits and vegetables and nuts. After that we had some free time so we did a little wandering through shops (I bought a Basque flag, and plan on buying a Spain one when I go to Sevilla – they aren’t sold up here) then went to see the beach. To put it simply it was as if they were on a green screen – so pristine, almost tropical. We only spent 2 hours here, which was the perfect amount of time in my opinion, then took off for San Sebastián. 

I assumed we’d drive straight to town, but instead we got to take a boat across the Spain/France border! Friday night I took it easy (finally getting over a week long sickness), hung out at the beach for a few hours then walked to Casco Viejo (old town) for pintxos. I got 3: 1 was raisins rolled in lamb rolled in bacon placed on bread, 1 was a Spanish tortilla, and 1 was smoked salmon with an anchovy and some sort of sauce all on top of bread. All of them were amazing – I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor, and my adventurous order. Dad, be proud I tried the anchovy. On Saturday we got a walking tour of the city and then went on a “stroll” up to “Jesus”. Let me explain two things. First, a “stroll” to Spaniards turns out to be code for “intense hike that will make you want to pass out” and “Jesus” is really a statue of some random Saint but everyone forgets who he is so they call him Jesus since he overlooks the city. The view from the top was gorgeous though, I could see the entire city and harbor, so I don’t regret participating! 

I will post a few pictures below to give you an idea of what I experienced during these 36 hours, but most of them will be on facebook within the week because it is easier to upload on there and I don’t want to swamp the blog. I have a final on Wednesday for my first Spanish class which means 1/3 of the semester is over – time flies! I am absolutely loving Spain, if you couldn’t tell. I feel like I could write for days about every moment/feeling I have, but I’ll save that for stories when I get home since these posts are lengthy enough as is. A part of me wishes I had done this a year ago so I could stay for both semesters, but that’s hindsight so I plan on making every split second of the next 2 ½ months count! In addition to the trips I mentioned in a previous post, I also have one to Barcelona in the works, not booked yet, for a weekend in November but I’m trying to convince someone to go out of the country with me instead (preferably Switzerland, Germany, or Italy). Wish me luck on fulfilling my travel bug! Love and miss you all!