Granada, Spain 8-23-09

On Monday we took a 5 hour bus back to Seville, rested for a night, then took a 2.5 hour train to Granada in the morning. On Tuesday we pretty much just rested and didn't walk around the city too much. Wednesday we managed to make it to a restaurant to grab lunch, then exhausted ourselves and had to come back to take naps... which last the whole night. Finally on Wednesday we started to get our energy back and made it out to a market called the Alcaiceria, had some lunch, took a nap, then went on a tapas tour of 4 different tapas restaurants and then called it a night. Productive day, right? I really don't know what disease we caught, but it really is draining all of my energy away.

Granada is a very cool city to walk around. Cute and small, restaurants and little shops everywhere. But, the best part is that pretty much any restaurant you go to, you can order a 1 Euro cerveza (beer), sangria, or tinto de verano (similar to a sangria but with lemon soda in it, it's delicious!), and when you order the drink they bring you a tapas for free. With each round of drinks you get a different snack ranging from tortellini, to bbq chicken, to potato salad, gazpacho, sausage on a stick, chips and dip, bread with different spreads.. really the tapas are endless. And it's funny because as a customer you aren't allowed to ask for a specific tapas, they always say it's a surprise. So, it's been a lot of fun to check out different restaurants, order drinks, and see what food surprise we get.

On Thursday Chuck and I were starting to get our energy back and we went for a little walk... which turned into a 2 hour hike to the top of the city. Earlier Chuck saw a palm tree at the top of the city and said, "I want to get to that tree", my mistake was thinking he was joking. But, yup, we made it to that palm tree. And then had nowhere to really go. Usually the only reason to hike to the top of the city is to visit the Alhambra, which is a huge palace and fortress built in the mid 14th century for the Moorish rulers of Granada in southern Spain. But, in order to visit the Alhambra you have to walk up this massive hill, wait in line, and hope that they don't run out of tickets before it's your turn in line (they only give out 500 tickets each morning). By the time Chuck and I made it to the top of the city it was around 3pm and there was no chance tickets would be left. Instead, we walked into a garden and enjoyed the shade and breeze the garden had to offer. Once inside the garden, Chuck spotted the city wall up another hill. This wall was built to protect the city. Well, I'm sure you can guess where Chuck was hiking next. Another 30 minute hike and we were at the tippy tippy top of the city. I'm still not positive if I was so exhausted from hiking up the mountain or if I was tired because I was still a bit sick, but I was so happy to see a marble slap in the shade because I had the nicest 20 minute nap.

On the walk back we were pretty much pushed down the hill by gravity and I was so happy to see my hostel bed in an AC room after hiking in the sun for so long.

The hostel we're staying in is called Funky. It's a pretty nice place, has AC, wireless internet, breakfast in the morning (pretty much means first class in the hostel world). Every night the owner of the hostel cooks a huge meal or paella with a ton of seafood, or a dish with rice, meat, and tomato sauce. And for 1 Euro, you can have the best sangria in the world. The owner has definitely mastered how to make sangria. I have no idea what he puts in there.. but I heard there are a lot of things... red wine, whiskey, rum, vodka, soda, sugar, lots of fruit.. sounds pretty gross, but tastes Amazing!!

On Friday we toured around the city a bit more, stopped at a couple markets to get some fresh fruit and then came back to the hostel and corralled together a group of 10 to get some gilato. This gilato shop right around the corner has the most scrumptious looking ice cream flavors, each with decorations in them depending on their flavor. I got a raspberry, strawberry, blackberry berry mix and also stratchella, which is like vanilla with chocolate chips, but much better!

Saturday morning we woke up at 6am and walked up the mountain to get the the Alhambra. Our group of 4 was determined to get there early and purchase tickets, so we hiked up pretty quickly with a mission. We arrived to find a long line for the cash line, but had heard insider information earlier that there was a credit card line with less people. We found it and were the first in line. An hour wait and the door were open for business. Once inside, the early wake up call and hike were completely worth it. The Alhambra is located at the top of the city and has some incredible views of everything, the houses, roads, landscape. It was gorgeous up there. Not to mention the elaborate and decorative designs of the walls inside the structure of the Alhambra. Every wall, ceiling, and doorway was made with love and care and I'm sure countless hours of labor. I couldn't stop taking pictures. Before leaving we picked up tickets to a flamenco show that would be performed later that night.

After a long nap and shower at the hostel we got ready for the flamenco show. Apparently we were in Granada at the right time, because this Flamenco show only performs in Granada one month out of the year and is world renowned. Our group took a taxi up the mountain this time and found our seats in the outside auditorium. Mine and my friend Georgia's tickets were in the very back of the theatre, so we walked to the front row of seats and waited by the wall until we heard the announcement that the show was about to begin (in Spanish). We had second row seats and were pretty excited about it. Pictures and video weren't allowed during the show and Georgia actually got scolded by an usher because she tried to take pictures. But, it was hard not to because of how gorgeous the costumes in the show were. Long colorful dresses and the best flamenco dancing I've ever seen!/heard! Two hours of professional singing and dancing and the audience rose to their feet in applause. Fantastic show, I'm so glad we went. The entire walk back we kept talking about the costumes and what we thought the storyline was about (since it was all in Spanish). The guys thought the girls in the show were hot and the girls kept talking about how good looking the guys were.

On Sunday we had a lazy day and walked to a local pool. On the way back we stopped by a tapas restaurant and enjoyed the treats. For the rest of the day I worked out my arrangements for Valencia. The tomato festival is on the 26th of August, but the two days before are constant celebrations. I found out in order to get to Valencia from Granada I would have to take a 6 hour train to Madrid and then a 3.5 hour train to Valencia. Trains are a better option for me since I bought a train pass for the month so the trains are practically free, but Chuck is taking a 7 hour bus that leaves tonight. I haven't really figured out exactly where I'll be staying tonight, but I have a few possibilities up in the air. Unfortunately, everything is so expensive in Valencia now because of the festival, but I'm crossing my fingers I find something for less than 30 euros a night.

I'll let you know what happens!!

pictures from Granada:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2869259&id=2006596&l=7c5c786adb

Lagos, Portugal 8-16-09

Many mixed emotions go through my mind when I think about Lagos...

Our group of four hopped off the train with optimistic spirits of this beautiful beach town and hopes of finding a hostel quickly. We walked for about 30 minutes through town with our backpacks on (now regretting that I brought over 50 lbs worth of stuff) and eventually found the infamous hostel we were looking for, The Rising Cock. This hostel is the most well known here in Lagos and has a reputation for being the biggest party hostel of all time (and after staying there I would bet money that it is). We asked the front desk about availability for the night and they said they were all booked. They directed us to another hostel 4 blocks away. No vacancy there either. They directed us to another 6 blocks away.. no vacancy. Four more hostels and over 15 additional blocks later we were out of hostels and exhausted. I could barely walk anymore and we only had one option left, stay at the Lagos campground.

The two Danish guys we were with had a tent for two and we figured maybe a third person could fit inside and the fourth would sleep next to it. The guys, Ulrick and Frederick, bought their campsite entrance bracelets for 4 Euro each and set up the tent and put all of our bags inside it. Chuck and I stayed outside the campground since we didn't have passes and decided we would continue to look around for somewhere to stay that night, and worse case scenario would be to stay at the campsite.

We all went to dinner at this gourmet Portuguese restaurant and had a feast! When we were so stuffed we couldn't move anymore, the owner brought us over dessert shots (well, mine was a dessert.. the guys' was more like cough medicine). We took the shots and I kept licking my lips saying how delicious that shot was (mine was an almond liquor) and the guys didn't really say too much.. just kept looking at me with weird looks saying.. "Really? You liked that?" "What kind of liquor do you drink back home?". Turns out they had one of the strongest shots in Portugal and burned all of their throats. We didn't find out until almost 20 minutes later when out of curiosity, Ulrick picked up my shot glass to smell what I had to drink.

After dinner we went to a bar called Inside Out, really cool bar known for their "fish bowls". I have one memory of having a fish bowl before, and that was with my friend Jeremy in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago. We made it less than halfway through and neither of us remember how we got home. I heard the fish bowls here are even bigger and more potent. In each bowl is a bottle of vodka, half a bottle of triple-sec and some fruit drink. They stick tons of long straws in them and happily present the gift to you. I bet the guys we wouldn't even finish one. Well, we did. And then the guys ordered a second! The rest of the night consisted of lots of dancing and partying and we all got lost on the way home. Chuck and I were walking back separate from Ulrick and Frederick and for about an hour we were walking in circles. In Portugal, no one speaks Spanish (obviously) or English.. so we were completely hopeless. Miraculously, after walking around aimlessly for over an hour, I spotted a sign to our campsite. We followed the signs and made it! Only one problem now.. we had no idea where the guys set up the tent. For some reason I remembered hearing the location 86 B earlier, so Chuck and I started walking up to every tent and checking the tags on them. This was one of the worse ideas in the world since there were over 300 tents there and we were just randomly walking around. By this time it was probably 4:00 am and we had nowhere to go and it was freezing outside.. so, we did what any logical person would do in this situation, we took as many towels and blankets off of the clotheslines as we could and threw them on the dirt ground between two tents. The next three hours were miserable as I tried to sleep through the cold wind, crowing roosters, and cawing seagulls (yes, the seagulls caw and they are very, very loud!).

A little after 7 AM we had had enough of the cold and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, so we put back the towels and blankets (thank you very much for your donations fellow campers) and set off to find 86 B (or whatever tent they were in). We walked over to the next camper section, walked to the back of the section to a tent to start checking tags and this tent said 86 B!! No way! The very fist one we checked one campsite down was the right tent. By the looks of the Danish feet sticking out, we had found them. It was one of the happiest moments I can remember. We basically jumped on top of them and cuddled into the tent. And Ulrick and Frederick thought nothing of it (we found out later that they thought we had walked home with them and stayed there the whole time... oh the dangerous fish bowls).

When we offically woke up, we all put on our bathing suits and headed to the beach on the far side of the city (near the marina). We stopped at the supermarket and made sandwiches and each got a 2 liter bottle of water. After a long rest, we were feeling well enough to walk to the beach. The beach was nice and very hot and the water felt as cold as a bucket of ice water. So, we would lay on the beach long enough to feel heat exhausted and then jump in the freezing water till we couldn't feel our fingers anymore. Then repeat. To make matters even worse, my towel I brought with me on my trip was left in Greece so Chuck grabbed one for me when we left the hostel in Seville. He unfolded it to reveal a 16 inch by 30 inch towel. Great, Thanks Chuck.. I'll use this to dry my left arm.

After the beach we checked back with the hostel to see if they had any room for us. They said they might and it would be 30 euros a night. Ulrick and Frederick said they'd rather stay at the campsite one more night and Chuck and I agreed that we could save some money by doing that too. We all ate some food and then headed to another local beach just down the hill.

This beach was much smaller and a bit more private. It also had some incredible views. Huge rocks/boulders were all around the beach and one massive boulder was sitting in the water, a small part of it was touching the sand. My first thought was.. is it possible to climb to the top of this? I tossed my camera to Ulrick and started the climb. It was a bit dangerous at parts, but well worth the hike once I made it to the top of the 60+ foot rock. Chuck climbed up too, but the two Danish guys stayed safe on the level ground.

After the second beach we stopped for some grilled chicken at a local shop, took a little nap and got ready to go out again. This time we decided to have a low-key night and went to a bar called The Jam, drank some Sagres beer and played darts. A few hours later we headed back to the tents and crammed inside. It was a bit warmer, but the guys snored all night so I got little sleep.

On Thursday morning we checked out of the campsite and Chuck and I each had to pay 1 Euro to stay there (pretty nice deal!). The four of us had our last breakfast together, Chuck and I checked into the Rising Cock Hostel, and Ulrick and Frederick said their goodbyes and left for Lagos. The Rising Cock is a hostel with 100 young backpackers, mostly from Australia, who party non-stop. There is a huge common room full of couches and mats to lay on, and there is a huge projection TV which constantly plays the best movies and TV shows (there is a selection of about 200 movies on one of the computers and anyone can choose one at any time of day. Also, if the the movie you wish to see isn't on the list, they have a program to download it). So, at any given time, there are about 8-12 backpackers sprawled out on the couches watching movies. Another nice thing about the hostel is that Mamma made us all Crepes in the morning. The mom of the hostel had a special recipe for crepes and we could buy our own fruit from the market next door and then spread on some nutella and feast. My favorites were bananas and nutella, and strawberries and nutella. But the lemon and sugar crepes weren't bad either.

All day Thursday the hostel was buzzing with talk of a booze cruise on Friday. For 45 Euros we would have lunch at the nah-nah-bar across the street, then spend the day on the boat cruising around the coast of Portugal with all you can drink sangrias and beer, and also tube rides during the day from a speed boat, and then sandwiches again when its all over. Sounded good to us. We booked and decided to still go out on Thursday night but not party too hard. The whole hostel drank together and we played a drinking game where we played the song "Roxanne" and the girls would stand up and drink whenever they said "roxanne" and the guys would stand up and drink when they sang "put on the red light". We had about 50 people in the common room standing up and sitting down and drinking. It was a great way to get everyone in a party mood in less than 3 minutes. Eventually everyone left the hostel and we made our way to a couple bars, Three Monkeys first and then Inside Out.

Friday morning we all felt a bit rough but Mama's crepes and lemon tea made us feel better. Our booze cruise group of 40 ate lunch at the Nah-Nah Bar and then walked down to the port to board our boat. The boat ride was so much fun. Music was blaring and all day we were jumping off the boat into the water, doing flips and jumps and dives, playing all sorts of drinking games and making up rules of a million things we weren't allowed to do and if you did, you had to drink or do push-ups or jump off the boat. Then the speed boat pulled up and everyone took turns screaming and holding on for dear life going between 30-40 MPH. It was pretty scary, luckily we didn't flip. For the rest of the day everyone kept drinking and eventually we made it back to shore.

Within a couple hours after we got back I started feeling pretty sick.. sore throat, tired.. that sort of thing. By the next day I had the worst flu I've ever experienced. Fever, chills, no voice, sore throat, difficult to breath, fatigue, body aches, headache, it was horrible. I stayed in bed for almost 2 days straight because when I would get up to walk to the TV room and back I would be so exhausted I would have to sleep again. My parents convinced me to go to the hospital and by then my fever had subsided. After a 5 minute check-up the doctor said I had a virus and laryngitis and prescribed some antibiotics for me. Chuck got sick too (as well as about 1/2 of the people at the hostel) and we had to stay in Lagos a couple days extra until we felt well enough to walk again.

Chuck and I have the same plan: be in Valencia on August 26th for the tomato throwing festival, La Tomatina. So, in the meantime we've decided to become traveling buddies exploring together. We each heard great things about Granada, so we decided that would be our next stop. Hopefully we'll be able to rest up enough to enjoy and see the city. I'll let you know what Granada is like.

To sum up on Lagos.. beautiful beach town, tons of partying, don't drink from the fish bowls and you'll be alright.

Photo link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2859965&id=2006596&l=d905c6f144

Seville, Spain 8-10-09

Seville has been one of the most relaxing spots I've been to so far. To get there I took a two hour fast train from Madrid and then took two buses to a park near my hostel in the center of the city. The trains are very modern and clean and spacious.. not at all what I thought they would be like. Every few carts or so there is a restaurant style food section where they serve sandwiches, drinks, and other snacks. It's a pretty nice set-up and a much better traveling option than buses or planes I think, when it comes to comfort.

I walked from the park to my hostel, Hostel Nuevo Suizo, and checked into the five story place. It looked pretty nice inside.. all white, with dark wood hand rails and ceiling boards. The place had wifi, AC, and an unlimited coffee, espresso, and cappuccino machine. Works for me! After I set my stuff down, me and a guy I met from Portland, Abe, walked around the city and got a barring on where everything was. The city is very cute, sort of reminds me of the Greek isles with their tall white buildings and narrow streets. The town has some history too, the 3rd largest church in the world is here and a few other things I'll mention later. When we got back to the hostel we met a guy from Australia, Chuck, who was traveling by himself too. The three of us grouped together and headed to a free flamenco show just around the corner.

The restaurant/bar would be impossible to find if you did not know exactly where to go. And even when you get to it, it's hard to tell if you're at the right place. We looked inside and just saw a long white hallway, but once you walk through it and take a turn to the left, you walk into a dark room with wood ceilings and wine leaves draped all around the inside. It had a very intimate feeling and we knew the show was going to be good. We each had 1.50 Euro tinto de verano (which is like sangria, but with a bit of lemon soda in it... really good!) and sat for the show. Three people get together to perform each night, a dancer, singer, and guitarist... and I think every other night they rotate with another group of three. They were very good and the flamenco dancer was very passionate and serious with her dancing.. stomping about and jumping and spinning in the air.. it was great. After the show we had some late night tapas and called it a night.

The next day, Saturday, Chuck and I walked around town to the main sights, the Cathedral of Seville and the Alcazar. The Cathedral is huge and gorgeous. Supposedly Christopher Columbus' tomb is inside, but regardless, it was quite an elaborate church. Afterwards we stopped for some amazing tapas and then walked over to the Alcazar. The Alcazar is a huge palace and garden attraction here which dates back to the 1300's. The Admiral's room was founded after the discovery of America, to supervise trade between the new world and the Spanish territories. Magellan and Elcano planned their first trip around the world here. The garden outside was huge with fountains, flowers, tons of foliage, and a maze of hedges which was created in 1914 to replace an earlier labyrinth. It was pretty fun to walk though and duck through secret holes and passageways and also VERY easy to get lost.

The next day was a Sunday and everything pretty much closes down on Sundays so Chuck and I took a train and a bus to a beach town called Cadiz. Cadiz is where a lot of people who live in the south of Spain go for a beach weekend. It was a cute little town with beaches that go on forever and tons of little fresh fish restaurants and tapas stops. After touring around land-locked cities for so long, it was really nice to get away and lay on the beach for a few hours. When we got back in to Seville we met up with some backpackers and all went to the supermarket to grab some food for dinner and some drinks. We came back to our hostel and chatted for a bit before heading out to the free flamenco show again. This time there was a different group playing and it was nice to see the difference in the performances. This flamenco dancer wasn't as fierce, but she was a bit easier on the eyes and about 80 pounds lighter. We all stayed out on the terrace for a few hours afterwards talking and then eventually headed back to our hostel.

On Monday our new group of 7 toured around the city a bit, had lunch together, and then walked over the bridge to the river. We stopped for some tapas and sangria's (of course) and then eventually made our way back to the supermarket first and then our Nuevo Suizo. Originally I had planned to check out Malaga and Alicante before making my way up to Ibiza and Valencia. But this new group of 7 were all going to Portugal, and after speaking to many people about my previous choices, they all agreed that Portugal was a much wiser decision. Chuck was leaving Tuesday morning so we made arrangement together to catch a bus there and meet up with his two friends who he met back in Barcelona. None of us had made accommodations yet.. but, we figured we'd figure it out once we got to Portugal.. I mean, there has to be at least one hostel with vacancy, right?

Speak to you soon from Lagos!

xoxo


Link to pictures from Seville:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2856568&id=2006596&l=bcfb5fd06c

Madrid, Spain 8-3-09

Quiero Madrid.

My trip here started a little rough (no sleep because of a 3 am shuttle to catch my 6:15 am flight to Rome, then an hour layover, another two hour flight, and then over an hour of waiting at baggage claim), but, this city and I have made a complete 180. I knew three things when I arrived at the airport, one- I was staying with a Spanish speaking family my sister used to live with when she studied abroad here a few years ago, two- I was going to be meeting up with my friend Kevin who is studying abroad and staying near the university (at the Guzman stop), and three- I would have to take the metro to get to either of them. I had the addresses of both and Kevin and I agreed to email to stay in contact since neither of us have the calling features on our phones. So, I threw on my backpack and followed the signs towards the metro and got on board with my 50 pound bag on my back and my 10 pound carry-on strapped on my front (not normal on a metro).

Anyway, looked around and realized I had no idea which metro I was on and if it was the right one to take me to Kevin's stop. I asked the guy next to me, "hablas ingles?", he replied, "no" (sigh.. okay, here goes all of the Spanish I remember from when I was 15/16 and took HS classes). "Donde estas Guzman? Ese metro es correcto?" (oh man.. this trip should be interesting). Well, he obviously realized I had no idea what I was doing and pulled out a map and started talking to 3 other people on the metro, the four of them looked at all of the routes and my new friend explained it all to me.. where to go, when to switch metros, when to take a bus (because the metro is under repairs at one stop), where to walk... ALL IN SPANISH. Great. I understood a little bit.. , not enough to remember it all. I just kept saying "no comprendo". I think my new friend felt for me and he ended up giving me his metro map, switching metros with me, then taking the bus with me and explaining to the bus driver where I wanted to go (no one in Madrid speaks English apparently) and somehow my angel got me to the Guzman stop! I thanked him a million times with all of the Spanish emphasis I could put on my Muchas. He just kept smiling and saying denada.. and other things that probably meant, my pleasure, or something along those lines. I will forever be grateful!

Kev and I managed to meet up, by me giving him play-by-play emails through my phone of where I was and what I was going to be doing next. We took a taxi to his law school dorms and went out for a nice dinner. Then he went to the library to study for his finals and I went to mi nueva casa. Rosa Maria, the house keeper, is the only one staying in the house right now and she does not even speak one word of English. She doesn't even know the word yes. So, we had a fun conversation as I explained to her that I was Danielle's sister and I'll be staying in Madrid for a few days, and my friends live in the University dorms. She seemed to understand me, danielle says my words are right, but the order and conjugations are all mixed up. I'm sure I sounded something like this- Dani is my sister and I travel Madrid for 4 days and travel Spain for one month. Well, she had a smile on her face and somehow we made some small talk. We called up Danielle on the phone and I would tell her what I wanted Rosa Maria to know, and Danielle would tell her, then Rosa Maria would tell Danielle something for me, and Danielle played a great telephone. Thank you again for being the best sister in the world!

The apartment I'm staying in is GREAT! Rosa Maria is the sweetest lady in the world, she politely insists on warming up my tea, toasting my croissants, and clearing my dishes. She did my laundry for me, hung it all up to dry, and by the time I came home it was all folded and placed nicely on my bed. She is amazing and I thanked her as much as I could. I even ran over to my computer and used a English to Spanish translator to tell her how much I appreciate all she's doing for me, and how sweet and nice and caring she is. I wrote it down for her and she liked the note.

The next day I got up and took a metro to the main square, Sol. The metro system in Madrid is the best I have ever seen. The maps are easy to read and each train is a different color, and throughout the station are numerous signs to point you in the right direction. I got around no problem. I did some clothing shopping in Sol, you know.. picking up the essentials. And then had they best gilato ice cream ever! There were so many flavors to chose from, but I picked Raspberry sorbet, Green apple, and Mint chocolate chip. They were all delicious and I ate my gilato while listening to a string quartet play Mozart and Beethoven in the square.

Later Kevin, his friend Carla, Carla's sister Gabriela, and I all went to a Bull Fight. I was very excited to go to my first one and told my sister I was going. She said she never went to one when she lived here and asked if I knew what went on. "oh sure!" I said.. thinking they just play torro torro with a cape and run around the ring a few times, and that is that. Well, was I wrong! We walked in and sat in our assigned row and preceded to watch as one after one they torture and stab and kill each bull. It was absolutely horrible. The girls on either side of me were covering their eyes and the first bull was almost impossible to sit through. We tried to leave, but our timing was off and they said we would have to wait until right after they kill the next bull and drag it around the ring for all to see, (great). So, we watched the second innocent bull die and then quickly made our exit. Apparently, this is one of the championship fights and there were 6 bull fights that evening.. but we weren't going to stay for them. The second matador was much better than the first, but the highlight of the night was when the first bull charged after the matador, nailed him, and flung him up in the air. We were cheering to ourselves (yeahhh bull!!). I guess the matador made a mistake, but we all loved it! I think we're glad we got to see a bull fight for the culture aspect of Spain, but I can safely say that I will never need to go to one again. We all went out to a great Mexican dinner afterwards and made plans for Tuesday.

On Monday, Rosa Maria and I went to el súper mercado and I picked up some groceries for us. I was still pretty tired from traveling and my sis helped me decide that today would be a great pool day. I walked to a local public pool just down the street and relaxed in the sun for a while and swam a few laps. It was great. One the way home I stopped in a local bakery and picked up some treats for Rosa Maria and myself. I still have no idea what they were, but they were sweet and sticky and delicious!

The following day, Tuesday, I met up with Carla and Gabi and we took a bus tour around the city for about 30 minutes and then Carla went to study for a law exam and Gabi and I walked to a Museum, El Museo del Prado, which is one of the most well known museums in the world. It was a nice exhibit of paintings (Joaquin Sorolla was my favorite) and sculptures and my camera clicked away until towards the end I was informed by a security guard that photos are not allowed. Gabi and I had some coffee and desserts at a cafe and then took the metro to another stop where we walked to the Reina Victoria Theatre. Gabi and I get along perfectly, and turns out we're both close friends with the same girl back home, Sarah Fialkov (love you!). At the theatre we saw a ballet flamenco show, CARMEN, it was great. The show is about a Spanish whore, who flirts with all the men, the other girls get jealous and there are a lot of dance offs. :) It was a good time. We took the metro back to our separate stops and said our goodbyes, Gabi and her sister are off to Barcelona now.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I took the metro to El Paseo del Prado, the area of town where that first museum was, and went to a botanical garden. It was nice.. lots of different varieties of flowers, trees, plants, and vegetables. I took a lot of pictures for my mom, she would have loved it. On the way there I passed by a man selling Spanish flamenco fans and I picked up one with hand painted flowers on it. The fan came in handy all day as most of the garden was in direct sunlight and felt like an oven. On the way back to the metro I stopped in the park and laid on a bench to rest. It was nice to relax and listen to the water splashing in the fountain and birds chirping. 20 minutes later I was ready to go again.

Back to the metro, and three metro changes later I arrived at my stop for El Centro de Arte Reina Sophia. Known for their collections of Picasso, Miro, and 280 other artists. This museum was incredible! Five stories full of artwork and the museum itself was a piece art. The building is a square and on each floor you walk to the exhibits on the the sides and at each corner. In the center of the museum is large Spanish patio with sculptures and fountains in and around it. This museum allowed cameras and I took some great captures home with me. After walking for 6 hours straight I was exhausted and took the metro back to my apartment. Another successful day.

Today is my last full day in Madrid. I plan to make some arrangements for my next stop and figure out my train route. I will be taking the EuRail to Alicante (as of now) and am not really sure what I'll do next. Today is my day to figure it out. I also might stop is Sol again and see what I can find. My next couple weeks in Spain aren't very structured, so I'll let you know what I decide to do.

I miss my friends and family from back home!! Please let me know if you are reading this blog, there's no way for me to check and it would be nice to know who's following it. If you want to send me an email, my email address is Laurennbarnett@gmail.com.

Pictures of Madrid soon... (I usually get the pictures up a few days after the blog and paste the link under each blog).

xoxo,

Lauren

pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2852928&id=2006596&l=25ac3d12aa

Istanbul, Turkey 7-28-09

Istanbul is one of the greatest cities I've been to so far. I had no idea what to expect, but this city is full of life, tons of people, and is very modernized. The Turkish who live in Istanbul are only here for the tourism. Every shop sells little chachkas like postcards, maps, rugs, lamps, Turkish candy, and jewelry. But, this all makes sense because walking the streets, almost every person is carrying a camera and/or a backpack.

Our group of 3 decided to split up and the guys met up with a friend of theirs from back home and I checked into one of the best rated hostels in Istanbul. The Agora Hostel and Guesthouse is located in the center of town and is just a 5-10 minute walk from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, grand bizarre, and the coast.

The Agora hostel had the highest rating on a couple hostel websites I checked, hosteworld.com and hostelbooker.com. The hostel was super clean, the staff was really nice, and all of the backpackers are constantly together touring the city, planning things to do at night, or just hanging out on the terrace upstairs.

As soon as I checked in I met a backpacker, John, who wanted to tour the city, so we met up with his friend and went to lunch,the Hagia Sophia, and then the grand bizarre. The Hagia Sophia was originally built in 532 AD, was burned down, and rebuilt in 5 years and opened again in 537 AD. The church was converted to a Mosque but now is a museum, with rich Christian and Muslim culture, for all to see. The Hagia Sophia is profound from the outside, but is a photographers dream from the inside. Huge ceilings, marble arches, stained glass windows, original paintings of Christian symbols, and huge metal Islamic disks fill the inside of this now museum. It's quite a site to see and I couldn't stop taking pictures.

After Hagia we walked to the Grand Bizarre where as far as the eye can see in every direction are vendors selling scarves, jewelry, lamps, candy, glass, souvenirs, fake designer sunglasses and bags, you name it. Each Turkish vendor paws for your attention and calls out to you as you pass by their shop. "hey lady, hey lady, beautiful, come look at this", "yes please, where are you from?"...etc. The fun part for me about this bizarre was that everything is negotiable and it's a game to get the price as low as you can. My greatest feat was scoring Ray Ban sunglasses for 10 Turkish Lira, which is about 6 US dollars. The price started at 30 Turkish Lira and after walking away on two separate occasions, I finally got the seller to agree to sell them for 10. The next day I realized what a great deal I got and went in to buy a second pair and they almost did not want to sell them for the same price, luckily one of the guys was there who remembered me as "the princess of America", so after a quick slide of hand action, the glasses were in my purse with no other potential buyer noticing.

Turkish delights are the most popular candy in turkey and a vendor insisted that I try one, but I was not allowed to touch, he fed it to me (okay...). I think they like Americans too much over here. Anyway, the delight was pretty good, it has pistachios and honey in it, and has the texture of a laffy taffy mixed with gum. So, its sticky and sweet and rolled in powdered sugar. Pretty good!

We walked back to our hostel and stopped along the way for Turkish gyros (of course). Back at the hostel I rested on my bunkbed cot in a room of 12 and took my nap. Later on I discovered how great it was to sleep here with a loud British snorer next to me, and a few people packing their bags at 3am, 5am, and 7am. Luckily I'm a pretty deep sleeper, so I would only wake up for a minute and then fall back asleep. As for the snorer, I pretended like each snore was a wave crashing along the shore (don't ask me how), but somehow I managed to fall asleep through it.

The next day I met up with another backpacker and we walked through the bizarre again, this time I bought some silver and turquoise jewelry, and then we walked through the city and to a park on the coast. The Turkish know what they're doing in terms of children's parks, instead of slides or swings, each toy is an type of exercise equipment (but without weights). So, stationary bikes, elliptical/gazelle type machines, oblique movements, it was fun to play and get a workout at the same time.

Back at the hostel I talked with everyone I could and we arranged a night out to a Cuban club in Taxim (don't ask me why, but apparently this Cuban place is Volkin's (the hostel manager) favorite place. Our group of 15 took 4 taxis and bar hopped to a couple places. Great night.

The following day I walked inside the Blue Mosque (very difficult to find a time to enter since there are 5 praying times during the day and the Mosque is closed for each of them), after the Mosque I walked with 2 girl friends to the fish market/port where we had fish sandwiches (something you can skip if you ever go since the fish is prepared on a frying board.. bones and all), and then walked through the spice market. A really different market to see, hundreds of spices at each little shop and Turkish delights of all varieties. I picked up some Turkish saffron for my mom and sister and some delights for my parents. On the way home we stopped for ice cream and each ate them in confusion for about 20 minutes. It's very difficult to explain, but if you can imagine the look and coldness of ice cream, but the texture of gummie bears, that's what this ice cream was like. So, you can't really lick it, more like bite your way through the ice cream. It was very odd. But sort of fun to eat since we couldn't really figure it out.

Around 5 o'clock the 2 girls and I decided to try a Turkish bath. Our hostel gave us two options, option 1 would be an expensive bath further from town and for about 70 lira we could spend the day there, or option two would be a very traditional Turkish bath close by that they recommended. Obviously we went with the latter (still wondering if we made the right decision). Well, we put on our bathing suits under our clothes and walked to the bath. No one inside spoke any English, so we tried to explain that we wanted a bath so the lady gestured for us to follow her. She brought us to a room and had us undress and put on towels and crocks (we could keep our bathing suits on) and then she led us through a sauna like hallway and into a marble room as hot as a sauna with steam. There were 3 sinks in the room and the only opening were these 5 little holes very high up on the ceiling. We didn't know what to do in there, so the lady walked over to a sink, dipped a bowl into water and started throwing the water on us (cold water which took my breath away- literally). She handed us the bowls and pointed to three different sinks, which we guessed meant for us to sit down and pour water on ourselves. We did this for a little while until the Turkish women came into our room and one-by-one had us follow them into separate rooms.

When it was my turn I felt like I was walking to my death.. I was very scared and didn't know what to expect. In Turkish she demanded that I lay on the table and basically forced me to take my bikini top off. Well, she was a harsh Turkish lady, what could I do? I laid on the table and she splashed buckets of hot water on me. Then took what felt like a luffa/scrubbing brush and washed, more like scraped, my body. As I was laying there I thought to myself- well, there goes my Greek isle tan. She scrubbed my arms and legs and chest and stomach and neck.. I felt very clean and raw. Then she took this huge pillow sack looking sheet and started waving in the air back and forth like a kite and then pinched the top opening of it together. It turned into a huge balloon of suds and she grazed that over me and I was completely covered in suds! A couple of those, some rubbing, some more buckets of water being thrown on me. And that was that. Complete. Thank you very much Turkish lady, next time I think I'll take a bath on my own.

We walked home talking about the experience and I felt a bit violated and felt like I still needed a shower. So, I took a proper one and then all of the backpackers met up on the rooftop terrace of Agora and drank our Efes beer and played cards for the rest of the night.

My last day in Istanbul I hung out with my new friends and made arrangements for Spain. I had a 3am shuttle to catch to the airport, so we all stayed up, talked, and played backgammon (huge game here) until 3. I'll miss my Agora crew.. but, luckily I'll be seeing a few of them again when I get to Australia!

pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2849862&id=2006596&l=e43506bf92