En las montañas

After completing my first day of classes, I’ve finally decided to put up a post about where I live and go to school!  Woohoo!  I think I am going to do it in several parts though - I have a lot of pictures, and since the Internet is slow, it will take me approximately 238947329847 years to upload them all.  I live in the city of Bilbao, which is located in the northeast corner of Spain near the French border.  My friends and I are considering taking a day trip into the south of France, which should take about 2 hours by train, if that gives you a better idea of where we are located.  Bilbao is not an overly large city, and it was built originally as a “manufacturing” type of city – since it is so close to the sea, it was easy for things to be shipped.

 

One interesting thing about Bilbao is that many people who live there do not consider themselves to be Spaniards, although technically the Basque Country, in which it is located, is still a part of good old España.  In addition to having some different customs and cuisine up here, many people speak Basque, which is actually extremely different from Spanish.  The area even has its own flag:

Taken at Plentzia

One main feature of Bilbao is the river flowing through the center of the city – instead of being called el río, the typical Spanish word for a river, it is la ría because it flows the opposite way of what is normal.  I walk along la ría to school every day, and the University of Deusto is situated there.  There are many architecturally interesting bridges there, including this one, which is fairly famous:

Pedestrians only!

Here are some pictures of the modern part of Bilbao (the part near the University):

You can see the mountains in the back!

Taken from the bridge near school - you can see the Guggenheim

Fountain marking the center of the city

Today, I finally started classes!  I have only been to one day of classes so far, but the professors seem really awesome.  I am having a slight dilemma over which classes I should take – I’m for sure signed up for Introduction to Hispanic Literature and the readings seem really interesting, but the language course is slightly up in the air.  I’ll figure it out, though!  Anyway, my tarea awaits…

Un viaje al mar

Hello all,

I haven't had a ton of time to post since a lot has been going on, but the last couple days have been really exciting.  I am living in Bilbao with a host family and two days ago, my group went on an excursion to Plentzia.  I think Plentzia is my favorite place we have visited so far!  It is a smaller town that is right on the sea.  The ride over on the bus was probably the most scenic thing I have ever seen in my life, and by the time we got there, I was just about ready to pack up and move! :)

Here is a picture of la ría, which also runs through Bilbao and empties into the sea at Plentzia:

Isn't it lovely?  The water is so clear, and I suppose that it helped that we had a perfect day for the excursion.  In addition to the natural scenery that Plentzia offers, the town is really cute.  You can walk pretty much everywhere, but it differs greatly from the bustle and high-rise buildings of Bilbao (although Bilbao is not actually that large of a city).  The houses and other buildings in Plentzia are charming, and nearly all of them have flowers cascading down from the windows.

Bonus: a bit of my finger!  My apologies!

Personal favorite: the UMich house

After touring Plentzia, we all headed over to a restaurant that overlooked the beach, where we had the typical Spanish three-course meal.  I'll admit that some of the food we've had so far hasn't been totally awesome (hotel food, I'm looking at you), but this was absolutely to die for.  The paella was just great.  I wish it was easier to obtain in the States!

After a heavy lunch, we had some time to just relax on the beach, which was a welcome break from the usual - I love all the activities we have been doing and all the things we have been seeing, but it was nice to just time to just chill.  We took the metro home later, and I was so proud of myself - I didn't sunburn at all!

I will put up a Bilbao post soon, and some pictures of the University of Deusto (prounounced: Day-oo-stow, accent on the oo).  For now, though, my friends and I plan to explore the Old Quarter, where I live, a bit more.  I personally plan on checking out the animal menagerie that seems to be growing in the plaza where I am currently sitting.  Ciao!

De mi hogar nuevo

Hello all! I haven't been able to post much because I just moved to Bilbao and I do not have a wi-fi connection in the apartment where I'm staying, but I wanted to make a post about Segovia.  I loved it there! It is about an hour and a half from Madrid, and the terrain quickly changed from arid and flat to mountainous while we were driving there.  It was a rainy day when we went, and there was fog hanging low over the mountains.  It was breathtaking; I do not have a picture of that, but I wish I did.

Here is a picture of the city from a high altitude, to give you an idea:

The sites that we saw in Segovia were the aqueduct, built by the Romans a super long time ago (I forget the year...) and a medieval castle from the 16th century or so.  The aqueduct has an interesting legend to accompany it in Spanish lore - according to them, the aqueduct was built by the devil.  A young woman in Segovia promised her soul to the devil if he would build the aqueduct, but only under one condition: he had to built it in a single night.  So the devil was building the aqueduct, and just as he was laying the last stones, a single ray of light shone through the treetops, and so he lost the deal.  Whoever actually built this thing, it's pretty cool.

Here is a picture from the front:

The aqueduct spans 15 kilometers.  How impressive!

The medieval castle that we saw was everything that you would expect from a castle.  There was a huge ditch surrounding it that I'm guessing was a moat at one time.  The most interesting thing about this castle is that supposedly, it was the inspiration for Cinderella's castle.  To be honest, I don't really see it, but maybe I would if I had seen it from the front.  Here is a photo:

It isn't a great picture, but you can get an idea of what it was like.  I am currently in Bilbao and saw Deusto University for the first time today.  I really like the city and the area where I am living - I am living in the Old Quarter, which was established in the 13th century or so.  It's been a little strange settling in, but I am really excited for our trip to Plentzia beach tomorrow!  I will post about Bilbao when I can get a wi-fi connection later this week - never taking that for granted again!

¡Estoy aqui!

So I didn't have time to write anything yesterday, but I actually got in from Frankfurt around noon local time. The flight was okay - the TV monitor on the seat in front of me was broken so I couldn't watch movies or anything, but other than that, everything was just fine!  I think I would like to visit Germany someday.  Everyone at the airport, even just the citizens, were so friendly and helpful.  I was so impressed by everything  and everyone at the airport, which I suppose is a strange place to be wowed by, but I was!

The flight to Madrid was quick and I actually managed to sleep, which I didn't on the way to Frankfurt, so that was nice.  A program representative came and picked me up, and then I took the bus back to the hotel. Then, the group went out to take a tour of Madrid and we saw the royal palace - the palace is supposedly the "official residence of the royalty of Spain," except for none of them actually live there!

You would have to see this place to believe it.  It was so ornate and beautiful on the inside.  Every ceiling looked similar to the Sistine Chapel; every piece of furniture was intricately carved.  It was what you would expect from a palace I suppose, but it was still pretty awesome to see up close.  There were no photos allowed inside, but I do have a picture of me by the outside of the castle:

At first, I was sort of confused about how Madrid was any different from all the other big cities in the United States.  There are definitely a lot of streets that resemble Chicago or New York, but some of the older streets have their own unique charm.  I was especially a fan of the cute flower boxes that were attached to the outside of every apartment on the narrow streets:

¡Que bonita!

Here's another picture of one of the old-fashioned streets of Madrid:

Palm tree indicates that Madrid is HOT

Since we were on a guided tour that moved quite quickly, it was a little difficult to get pictures in Madrid.  However, I was really impressed by the cathedral that we saw.  Here's a picture:

Yesterday was a big day, but I actually had a great time in Segovia today and quite preferred it to Madrid.  Segovia is a medieval city, but there are also modern touches.  I thought it was so charming.  I will probably post about that tomorrow - the Internet connection here isn't so great.  Tomorrow, we are heading out to Bilbao, so I'll finally get to see my new home for the next month.

Adios, amigos

Hello, everyone!  I haven't actually left the country yet - in fact, there are still a few last-minute things to pack, but I am so excited to head out tomorrow afternoon!  I don't travel frequently, so it never occurred to me how much thought goes into taking a big trip like this (maybe it gets easier with practice).  Everything is all set now, though, so I thought I might as well figure out this blogging business before I'm off.

To document the end of the packing fiasco that I was experiencing, I am including a picture of the infamous luggage.  Thanks to all who helped me out with that in various ways - so you all know, I did, in fact, decide how many shirts to bring!

Mission accomplished!

My birthday is during the time that I will be away, and as departure gifts, I received two beautiful travel journals which I will be using to further document the goings-on of Spain.  Here they are:

Anyway, tomorrow should be interesting.  Future pictures should be a bit more exciting, as well.