Valencia 26/6 - 27/6

Now, I’m finally in Valencia, España! This is where I will be staying for the next 5 weeks. It’s really nice to finally have a place to unpack and settle into your new environment. The city is gorgeous! Valencia is home to many things – oranges, ceramics, possibly the real Holy Grail y más. Valencia is a city of history and new things as well. Valencia has the largest aquarium in all of Europe. I definitely credit my friend Kathryn to all of this knowledge. It is so exciting to meet up with your best friend in Spain! From her, I learned SO much. I know that I have a lot left to learn as well.

We arrived here on a Sunday (26/6), and I was able to meet my roommate and my Host Mom (Señora Montesa) for the first time. My roommate studied in Valencia for the first part of the summer as well, so she has been a huge help to me. Especially, since I’ve already gotten lost. Valencia is the 3^rd largest city in Spain. Even if you’re from Atlanta and think that you are good with directions, it doesn’t matter.

Spain is a HUGE fan of “round abouts.” This makes the streets more confusing to follow.

I am really fortunate to have Wi-Fi (Weee-Feee in España) at my house. That’s really uncommon for most Spaniards. I also have filtered tap water, and that’s not normally seen as well. Our family does have a dog that is named Pluto. He’s a cocker spaniel. And I technically have an “older brother” here named Juan José, but he’s 33 years old. Here, it is the Spanish custom for the children to stay with their parents until they are married. In the United States, it’s very different – as the parents usually kick their kids out of their houses!

I recently visited the beach as well! It’s so weird to not swim in an ocean – even though everything looks exactly the same. But to say that you are swimming in the Mediterranean Sea is surreal. It’s just so different, and the water is a lot warmer too, which is perfect in my opinion!

I haven’t had the opportunity to take pictures of Valencia yet, so expect pictures later!

Things to Note:

1.    In Spain, everyone is going to sweat. A. LOT. It’s so hot here. And humid too. And I thought that I left Georgia humidity…

Toledo 25/6

Our last night in Madrid most of our ISA Valencia Group went to a discoteca called Kapitol, which is a 7-story club in Madrid. It is really well known and a popular nightlife spot. I didn’t even know that those existed… After going out at 2 am and coming back when the sun rose, we were all exhausted the next morning when we had to leave for Toledo. Honestly, I wasn’t ready to leave Madrid.

Allison and I before going to el Kapitol.

But little did I know that I would fall in love with Toledo and like it so much more than Madrid. I’ve never been to Greece, but it reminded me so much of what Greece or Venice would be like. This quaint town is filled with cobble stone streets and gorgeous buildings. After capturing breathtaking photos with our cameras, there would be no need to buy a postcard. Toledo is right next to Spain’s largest river – Rio Tagus. This special city shows the combined history of 3 different religions – Christian, Muslim, and Judaism.

The view of Toledo.

We visited the Cathedral, Iglesia de Santo Tomé, Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca, Plaza Principal y más.

Later we decided to go back to Toledo for dinner. Toledo is one of the oldest – if not the oldest – city in Spain. We decided to go all out with a 3-course meal for a friend’s cumpleaños. Toledo recently celebrated the festival of Corpus Christi, and the natives of the town continued to celebrate this festival for the rest of the weekend. With 2 concerts in different places in Toledo in the same night, the entertainment was endless. And we topped off the night with wine and Sangria.

Our hotel right outside of Toledo is gorgeous. Hotel Beatriz has a pool and over a 1,000 rooms. It’s crazy. We went swimming and just relaxed. Off to Valencia tomorrow for the majority of my time in España. I’m so not ready to take classes though… ¡Vamanos!

The pool at our hotel in Toledo.

Things to Note:

1.   There is absolutely NO personal space in Spain! Many people talk with their hands and love to touch your arms when they talk to you.

2.   The dilemma with air conditioning… Most places don’t have it! Definitely don’t take that for granted.

3.   Most food and drinks aren’t refrigerated in Spain... What?!! Definitely don’t expect ice cold water – even if it is bottled.

Madrid 23/6 - 24/6

Finally, I'm adding the first post to my blog of my time in España. It was chaotic up until I left. I'm the type of person to always over pack. Before I unpacked and repacked my suitcase, it weighed 77 pounds. With only a weight limit of 50 pounds for suitcases on Delta flights, I had a sigh of relief when my suitcase weighed exactly 50 pounds at the airport. But of course that was after I repacked my suitcase and my Mom and sister took it to UPS to get it officially weighed.

And after a delayed flight, I arrived in Madrid, Spain with some other students on my flight around 10 in the morning Spain time.

Spain is a wonderful city... The jet lag, walking what seems like a million miles a day, and pure exhaustion are the only downfalls. But it’s a gorgeous city with tons of history and architecture, and there are many beautiful sites to take pictures of.

So far, we’ve just been museum hopping… Admiring paintings by Picasso and Dali. A couple of friends and I did the American thing and got Starbucks in between museum trips. And a frappachino in Spain tastes just as good as a frappachino in the US… So no worries there.

Thinking of you, Madison! There is seriously Starbucks EVERYWHERE.

We conquered the Metro and found our way to El Palacio Real, which is the Royal Palace of Madrid. It is an enormous building, and it definitely looks like it would be a lot larger than the White House. And after some extra walking/climbing up the tallest hill I have basically ever seen, we found a temple in los Jardines de Sabatini (cerca del Palacio Real). These gardens had such a beautiful view over the city of Madrid.

Palacio Real

Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol are places where a lot of people can be found. Whether locals or tourists, there are plenty of people surrounding shops and cafés.

Plaza Mayor

Even though we have passed both the Plaza Mayor y the Puerta del Sol, we haven’t eaten at any of those restaurants. I have actually eaten at the restaurant Cien (100) Montaditos twice. The food is very good, and they have 100 mini sandwiches for you to choose from.

Things to Note:

1.    Spanish people love their bread… Possibly more than Americans.

2.    American music can be found everywhere. And what’s interesting is that hardly any Spanish people speak English. They say that they don’t know what the English singers are singing about, but they just like the beat/rhythm.

3.   And Disney Characters are not just a US thing… You can find Mickey and Minnie on the streets of Madrid!

Disney World?... I think not. Disney Characters at the Puerta del Sol.