kathryn roulett.

“Can you girls quiet down a little”

So the last week has actually been pretty interesting even though I stayed in Madrid!  Last Wednesday, I went with all the BC kids from my program to a Real Madrid Game at Santiago Birnabau Stadium.  The stadium was huge and so so cool, it looked like a big football stadium, and every single seat was taken…including all 15 of ours.  That turned out to be a very interesting learning experience, that in Spain, people sit in your assigned seats and then refuse to get out of them.  After a long exchange of angry Spanish words, and multiple visits by security, us Americans managed to get our seats.  I was sitting up with Claire and we insisted on cheering loudly for Cristiano Ronaldo every time the ball came anywhere near him.  We thought we were just being good fans, but I guess the high pitched shrieks of “Cristiano!” started to irritate the men in front of us, and we got shushed.  We managed to find other ways to cheer more quietly, like doing mini-dance moves in our seats to show our excitement.  Madrid beat Murcia 3-1, and the stadium cheered so loud every single time they scored!  It is so amazing how much more popular soccer is in Spain than in the United States.

Stadium Santiago Bernabau without anyone in it! ^^

Thursday, I went with my culture class to the Prado museum.  We studied the art of Ribera, Murillo and Velazquez in particular, who all painted in the Baroque style, but all had very different ways of doing it.  We have been studying Velazquez a lot in my culture and history classes, because he was the court painter of Phillip II in Spain, and many of the paintings that he made were of Phillip II and his family.  My favorite painting from the trip was The Immaculate Conception by Murillo, because the scene was so angelic with all of the clouds and the cute little cherubs, called “putti” in Spanish.

Friday morning, Ally and I woke up bright and early to meet up with the BC group at Atocha before jumping on a bus for an hour to go to El Escorial.  El Escorial was a cute little village, near the Sierra Mountains, so it had a great small-town feel and view of the mountains.  The main thing to visit (I think the only thing to visit) was the Escorial Palace built by Phillip II, the man of the weekend.   I personally thought it was a little bit dull just because it was a lot plainer than the other palaces we’ve visited, but the tombs were really cool.  There was a big cake-like structure that contained the bodies of all of the royal infants that died, which was really really creepy but interesting at the same time.  We had a picnic afterwards and I ate lots of manchego cheese, mmm.  The town was a bit chilly since its a little north of Madrid, but the view of the mountains was definitely worth seeing.

El Escorial Palace ^^

Friday night, Claire and I went with some of her friends from her university to a club called Kapital.  It’s hard to decide whether I’d consider it a club or a bar because it was definitely both.  When you go inside, there are 7 floors to hangout on.  Each floor has a different theme, and you feel like you’re at an entirely different place when you are on each one.  We decided to start from the top and work our way down.  The top floor looked like an outdoor lounge, it was an open air lounge on the roof with lots of white couches, big tables, and an fountain and fake trees.  The vibe up there was definitely super relaxed and it seemed like the place where a lot of people started off their nights.  The 6th floor was a lounge as well, but with reddish lights, smaller tables, and a lot less people hanging out there.  The 5th floor was a big surprise, because after spending some time in two relaxing places, it quickly switched to a floor of Latin/Spanish music and lots of salsa dancing!  We spent a little while dancing to songs that we didn’t recognize for the most part, and I was so excited when one I knew finally came on.  The 3rd and 4th floors were my least favorite and we didn’t stay on either of them for long - they were floors of soul and R&B music, one was more geared towards dancing than the other.  The 2nd floor was a retro-looking karaoke bar!  We hung out by the bar for a bit listening to Spanish people sing American songs with funny accents in big groups, and made plans to sing Britney Spears up there, but never came back to do it… maybe next time.  The 1st floor was by far the biggest, and the most crowded.  It was the electronic/techno music floor, and it had a giant dance floor.  We were dancing around for a while and all of a sudden, a ring dropped from the sky and two barely-dressed dancers appeared on them and put on a show above our heads.  This was definitely more exciting for the guys there, but it was still an interesting surprise.  Speaking of surprises, while we were dancing, a giant cold mist came down from the top of the building out of nowhere, and scared me so much I screamed.  It felt pretty nice though, since it does get super hot inside of these places.  Claire came back to Chueca with me and slept in Ally’s bed since she was away for the weekend, so I wasn’t lonely :)

Saturday, since the entire BC group was in Madrid for once (except Ally and Jaclyn) we all decided to go out to the same place and went to a club called La Riviera where a famous DJ from London was playing, Sound of Ministry.  It was so so much fun to hangout with the entire group since we barely get to anyone with all of us bouncing around traveling.  The other people at the club were just staring at us.. and we pretended it was in jealousy, but it was really because we were doing the most ridiculous dance moves.  Meg - money on the table? Nice.  Claire and I made sure to do the dance we created in Granada dedicated to the Alhambra.  After a long night of really bad dance moves, I headed back to Chueca with Tess and Meg and got a long night’s sleep.  

La Riviera ^^

We slept too late to go to VIPs, and settled for Cafe and Te waffles, rather waffle singular, which was a great disappointment.  They only gave us one little waffle, and it wasn’t even soft and fluffy!  Tess and I decided that we had to satisfy our desire for good food, and on the way home from ‘breakfast’ at 1 pm, we got lunch at the kebab place — much better.  I came back to my room and vegged out watching the entire 4th season of Friday Night Lights online until it was time for dinner (Sundays are so productive).  We grabbed dinner at VIPs since we missed breakfast, and it was so so good.  I had a turkey club and the best oreo milkshake in existence, and even though my stomach was killing me for the rest of the night, it was well worth it.

This week has been pretty packed with school work, I have already written 3 papers, and have been trying to get a start on my history paper due in 2 weeks.  Today I had my registration for my classes next semester at BC, and the system we use to sign up wouldn’t work on my computer.  Major freak out at the library ensues (not a good place for a freak out) but it all ended well because my lovely friend Lisa’s computer worked and she signed me up for my classes, and I got all the ones I wanted!  I’m taking Abnormal Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Disorders in Adolescents, Violence Makes History and Latin American Women and Themselves.  It’s so weird to be completely done with my core requirements and only taking classes in Psych and History, but I’m so excited!

I’m going to London for all of Thursday through Sunday!  I cannot wait to see Meggie and Chloe, and to see all of the cool sites there are in London, like the Big Ben.  It’s only going to be 46 degrees there, so I will be packing my warmest clothes, and an umbrella just in case because it does have the tendency to rain there.  Since my computer isn’t broken I will try to update my blog when I get back on Sunday, a little more prompt than my Portugal one.

“What is a sande?”

My trip to Lisbon, Portugal began very early Friday morning at 5 am.  Lisa, Kate and I hopped on a cab nearby and went to the airport bright and early for our 7:30 flight.  The flight, as uncomfortable as it was, was only an hour and 20 minutes, so we got to Lisbon super early and hopped on the airport bus to the city center, at the Placa de Comercio, which was exactly where our hostel was.  Our hostel was INCREDIBLE.  Seriously, if you ever go to Lisbon, stay there.  It was called the Traveller’s House of Lisbon and it was great.  The whole place is decorated so cool and its clean and cheap.  It was only 18 euros a night, with free computer/internet access and free home-cooked breakfast!  They also organized an activity for every night we were there.  It was definitely geared more towards young, college students and it was perfect for us to stay in for the weekend.

We spent our first day exploring the area of Graca/Alfama.  The Alfama area is particularly cool because it was one of the only villages that survived the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon.  We took the famous yellow tram up the hill to Graca, which was definitely a bumpy ride. After we got there, we stopped by a pastry shop to hold us over until lunch.  I got an interesting fruit pastry, which tasted good, but I couldn’t identify what fruit was inside - mystery fruit.  Our first stop along the way was a panoramic viewing spot where you could see the entire city of Lisbon.  It was so beautiful to be able to see the little towns along the coast, the ocean, and a few points of attraction - like the Castle of Saint George and the Monastery.  We stopped by the Church of Graca afterwards, which was pretty, but not too exciting (I’m starting to realize all churches look very similar).

Afterwards, we headed to the Castle of Saint George, where we spent a few hours climbing up towers and exploring the gardens.  I made the mistake of taking a picture of a homeless guy’s cat and he jumped out of nowhere and yelled at me until I gave him 10 cents.  Later, from a tower above, I snuck in a free picture of his cat without his knowledge, and felt like I got revenge on him for being so aggressive.  The castle was nice, definitely not as pretty as the one in Segovia, but cool in its own way.  There were cannons all over the place to protect the Castle, and lots of secret archways and staircases. Next, we headed to the Monastery in the area, and paid a little extra to go see the cloisters - which was well worth it.  The entire building was so gorgeous, with tons of blue mosaics covering all of the walls, all done by same artist - but I forget his name.  Inside the monastery there was a room of all different kinds of shells - some were so tiny and cute!  I spent a bit too much time in there, but they were just so pretty I couldn’t help it.  The monastery had so much to see inside, and my favorite level of all of them was the top because you could see all of Lisbon again, woohoo for panoramic views.

We stopped for lunch near the monastery and I had a delicious dish of mini shrimp in a light tomato based sauce.  We also got to munch on some croquettes and bread while we were waiting for the main course.  This was probably my favorite meal of all that I had in Portugal, which was disappointing because it really wasn’t anything too special.  We didn’t stop for too long, and were soon headed to the Se Cathedral.  The Se Cathedral was so beautiful, especially the stained glass windows that were shaped like flowers.  We did a bit more walking and sightseeing after the Cathedral, walking past the Dona Maria Theater, Santa Justa Elevator, City Hall, and lots of statues!

After our feet starting to throb, we returned to our hostel and watched a movie with a few other college kids before heading out to dinner.  We went to dinner nearby to a sandwich/hamburger cafe, and I had a delicious cheeseburger!  I’ve noticed that the hamburger patties here taste more like meatballs than a traditional hamburger but they’re still very delicious!  We were all very, very exhausted and fell asleep soon after getting back to the hostel.  

The next day we woke up bright and early, and ate a delicious home-cooked breakfast at the hostel.  The eggs and toast were so delicious and I loved the fruit jam! (even though I have no idea what kind of fruit it was)  We jumped on the faster tram to an area called Belem, which was much further than Alfama from where we were staying.  The tram dropped us off right in front of our first stop - the giant monastery!  This monastery easily kicked the other one’s butt, it was huge and gorgeous.  The garden in the center had such bright green grass and the entire building was reflected in the water of the fountain.  The chapel inside the monastery was enormous, with a big statue of the Crucifixion on the second level.  The stained glass windows in the chapel were long and colorful, much different than the flower shaped ones in the Se Cathedral.  There was also a room full of tons of tombs of important people, and we spent a good 20 minutes attempted to decipher the Roman numerals on their coffins.  After the C’s, D’s and L’s appear, things get a big tricky.

Our next stop was the Torre de Belem, a big tower right along the water!  The views from the tower were absolutely incredible, I loved looking at all of the sail boats in the water and the big bridge that made us feel like we were in San Francisco.  The stairs in the tower were so winding and steep, I was petrified the entire time we were walking on them.  When we finally made it up the 10 flights, the view was even better!  I love being near the beach, it was so relaxing, especially on such a nice day.  We left the tower, and walked towards the Discovery Monument but we were previously warned that it was only cool from the outside so we didn’t go in!

After some acquiring some cheesecake gelato, we crossed the street and went to Belem’s Cultural Center to check out their free Modern Art Museum.  My feelings about the museum are pretty similar to how I feel about most modern art - half of it is really cool but I don’t understand it, and the other half is really really weird, and I don’t think I want to understand it.  It was fun though, attempting to find meaning in a blue square, but after a quick walk around, we headed to the next stop of our journey - LUNCH!

We managed to find a kebab place and relive Granada, while sitting outside observing a crowd beginning to form in front of the monastery.  We didn’t think too much of it, and decided to grab the famous custard pie pastry of Belem before attempting to find the Botanical Gardens.  Our hunt for the Botanical Gardens was a long trek uphill before a realization that we had passed the entrance way before the hill started.  When we finally got there we were too exhausted to walk around, and just plopped down on a bench across the street and ate our delicious pastries.  Suddenly, hundreds of men on horseback began riding down the street beside us and tons of people with Chinese flags start to run towards them.  It turns out that the Chinese President was coming to visit Portugal that day!  It was so cool to see their welcoming ceremony for him, and seeing such an important world figure in person, even though it was from a pretty far distance.

Our guide at the hostel told us the walk to our next stop, the Basilicia wouldn’t be too bad, but it turned out to be a 5 mile hike!  No complaints though, I enjoyed walking along the water, and seeing the bridge up close.  When we finally arrived at the Basilicia it was already night, and we quickly caught the tram back to our hostel before heading out to dinner.  Lisa and I ate at a traditional Portuguese restaurant, but I was a baby and ordered fried calamari.  In Portugal, they make you do a shot of some strange licorice liquor after your meal, so we did one after dinner and god was it gross.  As Jack would say, “do it for the story.”  We went out for the night with a bunch of kids from our dorm, and checked out a few local bars.  The hostel had set up the night and gave us a guide to help us find out way around.  It was so much fun to meet people who were also studying abroad, and see the differences in nightlife in different places.

Our flight was bright and early the next day, so after scarfing down some breakfast we headed towards where the bus came.  Lisa and I managed to squeeze in some time to run over to the homemade gelato place nearby!  It was by far the most delicious thing I have ever tried in my life.  I ordered raspberry and lemon, and it legitimately tasted like I was biting into the fruits!  I didn’t want to leave the adorable coastal city but it was time to head back to Madrid before I knew it!  All in all, it was an awesome weekend, and I hope to return there one day! 

I am not good with boats. Not kayaks, not even row boats. I was not blessed with hand-eye coordination or even hand-hand coordination, boating is hard.

Just some special friends in Chueca..

Yesterday I slept in a bit late, and then started reading the book “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway.  It is so cool to read the book while I am in Spain because it takes place here, and I recognize some of the places that he’s talking about, particularly in Segovia.  I also like how every once in a while he throws in a random Spanish word, usually not too hard to understand like “maquinas” means machines.  After a little while of relaxing and reading that, my stomach started to grumble and since it was Sunday, it was time to figure out where I was going out to lunch.

I met Claire at Gran Via, and of course, we ended up back at our new favorite lunch place, Ceveceria 100 Mondaditos.  I had two of the same sandwiches as last time, and tried a new tomato and Iberian cheese one, which was so delicious.  Even though it was a bit rainy out, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing within Madrid before heading back to Chueca.  Claire was my tour guide and took me around to see a bunch of things near Sol.  First, we stopped by a cute little bakery that one of the old Kings of Spain made for his son, so that he could eat cookies during important meetings and stay awake from the sugar, to make him look more responsible.  Next we stopped by the San Miguel Marketplace, which was a bit like St. Joseps Boqueria in Barcelona, but more expensive and less brightly colored.  I got a cute pink heart jelly cookie, and walked around a bit inside but it was super crowded so we didn’t stay for long.   

We went to the Plaza Mayor after that, which was so nice.   We saw some street performers and walked around looking at the little stores.  We passed by the Botin restaurant, which is supposedly the oldest restaurant in the world.  I think we are going to try to go there in the next few weeks, because apparently its amazing!  Our final stops were the Cathedral of Madrid, and the Palacio Real, which I’ve seen before.  They are both gorgeous though, and the last time I saw the Palace was at night so it was so cool to see it during the day!

We came back to my residence hall to relax for a few hours and then went to dinner in Chueca Plaza.  All we wanted for dinner was some pizza, so we went to Cafe Sachas, a gay bar.  We didn’t really think it through completely, and didn’t realize until we were sitting down inside, that we legitimately looked like a lesbian couple on a date.  There were lots of gay couples, some transvestitites in full Halloween costume.. and then us, 2 girls shorter than 5’ 2” sitting and finishing an entire pie of pizza on our own.  (I had 5 slices, she had 1… but who’s comparing anyway.)  We were going to attempt to go out but sickness got the best of me and we both fell asleep in our cat costumes in my room.  

Now we’re about to head to VIPS for brunch!  We’ve heard that the brunch there is absolutely incredible and I am SO in the mood for pancakes.  I love days off from school, and I love breakfast foods even more :)  I hope I can get an appointment for tomorrow with the doctor, so I can start the healing process before I head off to Portugal with Kate Puccio and Lisa! I can’t wait!