Hey, watch what you're looking at...

You know how Americans smile at you on the street if you happen to have awkward eye contact? Or even just to be friendly? Nope, doesn't happen in Spain.  They just stare you down like you're some freak of nature.  

But upon returning to America, I seemed to have forgotten that little fact.  So I'm in Sweet Tomatoes with my mom, watching the obesity of America become more of a problem right before my eyes, and upon our departure, I stopped in to use the restroom.  Some lady smiles at me in the bathroom, and all I can think to myself, is "Why is this broad smiling at me?" All of a sudden, WHOAAA.  I've become hardened.  Haha, well at least in that respect. I guess I can work on that smiling thing, I tended to miss it while in Spain...

El Txupinazo, or "Let's throw a lot of things at a lot of people" party

Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise.  Great on burgers, even better for throwing at people.  Wine and champagne?  Good to drink, better to spray people with in large quantities.  The txupinazo, or chupinazo (tx is Basque-speak) started off the week of festivities for San Fermin, or Running of the Bulls.  At 12 pm on Monday, July 6, City Hall (el Ayuntamiento) sets off a huge rocket that officially marks the start of the festival.  Everyone puts on their red pañuelos (neck scarves) and sprays everyone with wine and champagne and water.  If you're in front of the Ayuntamiento, you're basically in a giant, dangerous, and wet mosh pit.  I got the picture above off MSNBC...it just shows you how many people were there! So we chose to stay in Plaza del Castillo, where other food types are allowed to be thrown, creating a huger mess.  And, of course, Rule #1 is to wear all white...and expect it to be ruined.  There's no way you're leaving the chupinazo clean.  It's just not happening.  As you can see, we have both before and after pictures...pretty crazy.  

After the chupinazo, we all headed down to Calle Estafeta, which was basically a huge street party and a bunch of bars with DJs.  Some Spanish guy spent 25 euros to buy us all hats. Obviously, the love was flowing.    After an afternoon nap, a long shower and some clean clothes, we went back out to watch fireworks, which was probably the best show I've ever seen.  Sorry, Kirkwood, but your fireworks don't really compare.  I don't even think St. Louis could top this...

Run Bull Run.

You gotta be pretty hardcore if you want a spot to watch the encierro (bullrunning).  On Monday, Alex and I got there at 6:30 am, which was way too late.  So we learned our lesson--on Wednesday, we arrived at 5 am.  We scored a spot right on the fence, so we had an amazing view of the running.  Only thing that would have been better would be a balcony, but hey, what can you do? 

It was a long three hours on that fence, fighting off angry Basques who wanted our spots, but we somehow managed.  Our view was great, though my photo-taking skills were not as good.  I only managed to get a photo of a steer running, not a bull.  But it gives you some idea of what it looks like.  Here's a photo from my friend Andrea, who managed to get on a balcony on Calle Estafeta, which is the most well-known street in the running. 

Get your game face on.

Wow.  So San Fermin ended up being probably the most epic party I have ever been to in my life.  Normal population: 200,000.  San Fermin population: 1 million.  The professional San Fermin-goers know how to do it:  Go to fireworks at 11 pm.  Stay up all night, get a spot for the bull-running at 5 am.  Watch bulls run at 8 am, get churros at 9 am. Bedtime: 10 am.  Repeat each day.  As a result, let's just say that the normally clean, calm and pristine city of Pamplona turned into absolute chaos.   

Though Pamplona streetsweepers are remarkably efficient the rest of the year, there was no way they could clean up PAMPLONA: WAR ZONE, which results from hordes of partying foreigners and Spaniards alike. Case in point, the Ciudadela.  As you can see from this picture, people just set up camp among all the trash.  Tent or no tent, if you need a place tosleep, the grassy Ciudadela is the place to be.  

Sevilla

So we just got back from officially the last big trip we're going to take in Spain.  And it definitely ended up being very different from the other trips we've taken.  We had just finished exams and were ready for some relaxation.  We didn't feel as compelled to do all the touristy/cultural things, because we've done a pretty good job with that on our previous trips. Of course, we did all the obligatory sights...El Catedral, the Alcazar, the parks, etc., but were never rushed for time.  We really were just able to take our time and do whatever we wanted.  

A friend who studied here last semester had recommended a bunch of places to get tapas and to go out at night, so we had a really great time.  Most of the bars she told us to go to were

 international student bars, but somehow we managed to pick out the Spanish-speaking people in the bars, and therefore never really used much English while we were out at night.  One guy from Colombia commented on our language skills, saying that Leslie has an extensive vocabulary but I have more fluidity/fluency with my words.  Guess all those games Leslie played with her dictionary went to good use. :)

Sevilla has a different flair to it than Pamplona, that's for sure.  It has all the Moorish tiling and is more what you think of when you hear "Spain."  Flamenco, bullfighting and tapas are a big part of the culture there, and we were able to do all of it except the bullfight, which is only on Sundays.  They have a lot of free flamenco shows at "tabernas," so we went to one called La Carbonería, which was very cool.  Nothing like drink

ing a "Tinto de Verano" while watching free flamenco.  

Interesting side note:  Let's just say the Andalusian men are a bit more...vocal...then Spaniards in Pamplona.  It's not unusual for us to get the "HOLA GUAPA" or "La Rubia!" in Pamplona, but let's just say it was pretty constant in Sevilla.  

Just climbing a mountain in the Pyrenees...

So we've been trying for a couple months to find this mountain hike outside of Pamplona that a few of our guy friends did and said was amazing.  Attempt #1: we wound up by the river, with no mountains in sight.  But hey, at least we found the river, right?  So anyways, attempt #2 was a little more successful.  After 2 1/2 hours of trying to get out of Pamplona, through Rochapea, and up the mountain (using directions such as "Turn left on Unnamed Road A") we made it to the peak of the mountain and had an amazing view of it all. 

 We had just sat down to have lunch when, of course, we hear a giant rumble of thunder.  Exactly what you want to hear when you know it's going to take you at least an hour to get down the mountain.  But hey, we made it down in one piece and the rain held off until we had gotten off the mountain.  Mission = success.  

Amsterdam!

So first of all...I have no clue why this first paragraph is underlined.  Anyways...I just got back from Amsterdam on Sunday...talk about a cool city.  Very tolerant, very open.  We stayed in Vondelpark, which is right by the Van Gogh Museum and the "Iamsterdam" sign.  After we got in on Thursday,  we went to the Anne Frank House and this epic pancake house called the Pancake Bakery.  These are no ordinary pancakes...they're similar to crepes, but not rolled.  And the size of a giant pizza.  Garland and I split a chorizo and cheese one (going all Spain style in Amsterdam), and then all 3 of us split the best thing I've ever tasted...chocolate syrup, ice cream, whipped cream, and powdered sugar on top of the pancake.  We devoured that in no time.  Then we finished the night with a little walk through the Red Light District.  Interesting, to say the least.  

         On Friday we took a free walking tour from our hostel...our tour guide, Kevin, basically came to study abroad in Amsterdam and never left.  What a life.  He told us sooo much about the Red Light District, like the fact that it's mandated to be gone by 2015.  The way they are getting rid of the red light district is by putting in "fashion windows" with new designers that are advertising their stuff, and buying up the windows with the prostitutes.  Then, theaters and restaurants and such are being put in there.  Our guide said though it's mandated that the red light district has to be gone by 2015, it will be 2012 at the rate it's going.  

         He also said coffeeshops (aka places where you can buy/smoke marijuana) are soon to be a thing of the past.  They keep doubling the number of coffee shops they close each year.  In January they tried to close all coffeeshops within 500 meters of a school, which would have closed all but 8.  So Amsterdam bargained to get that reduced to 250 meters.  He said the pressure is coming from the rest of the Netherlands and the European Union, which is VERY conservative compared to Amsterdam.  Interesting side fact to note: tobacco and alcohol are illegal in coffeeshops...but pot is okay.  The picture I put in here is the Coffeeshop from Ocean's 12...

Saturday was another touristy day...we started out the morning at the VanGogh Museum.  They charge you an arm and a leg, but it was still very cool.  After that, we took a little train 25 minutes out to this little village called Zaanse Schens, where there are a ton of windmills.  We got to go up in the windmill, which was really cool/probably very unsafe haha.  Our particular windmill makes the chalk dust for the markers on football fields.  All in all, a very cool little historical village.  Not to mention, we ate some delicious cheese in their little cheese tasting area.  Trip  = success.  Now back to studying for my next exam  and the GRE....

Hicimos el surf...

So the international student group at Navarra organized a little surf trip to Biarritz, in the south of France.  It's actually really close to us--only about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from Pamplona.  For 25 euros, we got 2 hours of surf instruction, gear, and a bus ticket.  Pretty good deal, I think.  Someone was kind enough to take a pic of all of us...pretty small but still pretty cool!

Despite the fact that it was an absolutely terrible day weather-

wise (cold and rainy), it was a blast.  The waves were huge because the weather was bad, but that made it even more fun.  Mostly everyone spent most of their time on their stomachs, anyways...I only got up on my feet for about 2 seconds.  But hey, at least I got up.  

After changing out of our wetsuits, we walked along the coast and took a little tour of Biarritz.  It would be great to go back sometime 

when the weather is nice....Biarritz is a beautiful little town.  

Bar-tha-lona!

Seeing as it was Labor Day here in Spain last Friday, we took a little weekend trip to Barcelona.  We lucked out majorly, seeing as how the weather was absolutely beautiful.  We got in late Friday afternoon, so we just walked around Las Ramblas, which is the main strip with lots of street performers and vendors.  It's also apparently the #1 place in Europe to get robbed, but thankfully that didn't happen to us!  We took a little walk down to the boardwalk and then grabbed some dinner before heading back to our hostel.  

Saturday was gorgeous weather--we got up early and went to La Sagrada Fami

lia, which is a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi.  It's been under construction since 1898 and apparently isn't scheduled to be done until 2026.  It was pretty cool, because every part of the church was designed after some part of nature (tree trunks, flowers, formulas, etc).  Gaudí was quite the intelligent man.  We also walked to Hospital de La Santa Creu, which is Europe's 2nd-oldest functioning hospital and basically looks like a cross between a gingerbread house and Taj Mahals.  Really a cool place.  

From there, we thought it might be a good idea to walk to Park Guell, also designed by Gaudi.  Little did we know that it would be about an hour walk, uphill all the way.  So we definitely got our exercise in for the day.  It was worth it, though; the park was beautiful.  And, it holds the largest park bench in the world...so we can officially say we sat on it. 

Best part of the day was still to come...we went to the beach for a few hours.  Leslie and I got in, despite the fact it was absolutely freezing.  But hey, we can say we swam in the Mediterranean!

Probably my favorite part was the guy balancing a tray of 30+ donuts on his head while dancing, singing, and playing the triangle.  He really looked like he was loving life.  

Luck would also have it that the Picasso Museum is free on the first Sunday of the month, so we went there before heading home on Sunday.  Definitely worth the wait in line, because it was an impressive collection that really delved into his life.  

Claire comes to visit...and Mallorca

Claire Schlafly came to visit from London...she missed her flight to Barcelona so the only part of Spain she saw was Pamplona.  I think we showed her a good time...we explored Casco Viejo (old town), went out for pintxos, and hung out in the Ciudadela (the weather was warm for the first time in awhile!)

On Sunday we left for Mallorca.  After almost missing our bus, we made it to Madrid alive and flew to Mallorca.  Mallorca was absolutely gorgeous--the weather was wonderful and our hostel ended up bein

g like a hotel.  And you can't beat the fact that it was only 30 meters from the beach.  We hit the beach immediately after getting into Mallorca and then stopped off at a Mexican restaurant for strawberry margaritas as soon as it started getting too windy.  Monday morning was a bit rainy, so we went into the heart of Palma and explored.  Saw a beautiful cathedral and got a taste of what the actual city is like.  And, miraculously, it cleared up, so we took the bus back to our hostel and went straight to the beach!  This trip was really relaxing, because it was the first one I've taken that hasn't been all about seeing all the touristy sights--our only priority was the beach!  

Spring break!

So we had quite the whirlwind Spring break tour...Dublin, Venice, Florence, and Rome.  Dublin was absolutely amazing, despite the fact that it was kind of expensive.  It's got a more European feel than London, which seemed pretty American.  We did a day tour of the countryside (Wicklow and Glendalough), which was beautiful.  We went to where Braveheart and P.S I Love You were filmed and then had lunch at a carvery in Wicklow.  We also went to the ruins of St. Kevin's Monastery in Glendalough.  Pretty cool.  Here's a pic of Guinness lake...looks like we photoshopped ourselves in.  

Venice was cool as well--quite the experience only being surrounded by water.  It's definitely the most confusing city I've ever been in--we got lost quite a few times.  Our hostel was an old palace, so there were ornate wall hangings and paintings and canopy beds everywhere.  Plus we got free breakfast AND dinner--a great deal.  It's definitely the coolest hostel we have stayed in so far.  

Florence was my favorite city in Italy...home to the world's best gelato, aka Grom and Gelateria de Neri.  Per the suggestion of one of my friends who studied in Florence last semester, we went to Trattoria de Anita.  Honestly, the best pasta I have ever eaten--the waiter worked his magic with the cook and let us have the famous truffle sauce, despite the fact it's not served usually at lunch. 

Rome was great as well--we did a walking tour so we really got the history of the city.  The Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the 

Roman Forum, the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Maria Maggiore....the list goes on.  

LONDON!

Haven't posted for awhile, but I just got back from London after spending 5 days there in my friend Shelby's flat. On Friday, all the people from the Brussels internship program met up in London, so I got to hang out with my fellow ADPis from Mizzou...Shelby, Patty and Maria. We did every touristy thing possible and loved it. British Museum and Egyptian mummies, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Gallery (Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, etc) and much more.

Probably the best part of the weekend was our adventure to Buckingham Palace to watch Changing of the Guard on Sunday. Very cool thing to see, but no need to stay for the whole thing--Maria and I gave our spots to some lucky people and went in search of a typical English breakfast. Let's just say it was heavenly--bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, fried tomatoes, (beans??), and coffee. And all of that for only 3.95 pounds. Pretty great. Later on that day, we did some hardcore shopping and discovered what may very well be shopping Nirvana--Primark. It's like the Forever 21 of London and pretty cheap. Belts and tights for a pound.

On Monday, Shelby had to work, so I spent the day exploring by myself and mastering the use of the Tube. I visited Portabello Road Market (in Notting Hill), which was so great--I picked up some beautiful scarves as souvenirs which I ended up wanting to keep for myself :) I also snapped a picture of the Travel Bookshop from the movie Notting Hill. Unfortunately, Hugh Grant was nowhere to be found...

We're headed off to spring break this week, so this may be the last post for a bit. We're visiting Dublin, Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. Wish us luck!

Weekend in Madrid

After Valencia, we headed to Madrid via Ryan Air. That was my first Ryan Air experience, and needless to say it wasn't too pleasant. But hey--it's cheaper. Madrid was very cool--for being such a huge city, it's still clean and pretty. It's a lot more tourist friendly--everyone speaks English and for once, I wasn't the only blonde on the street. But I think I like living in Pamplona a lot better, because we definitely have to speak a lot more Spanish.

Anyways, we went to the Palacio Real, where the King and Queen of Spain live. It reminded me a bit of Versailles, minus the gardens and the gold everywhere. We're also thinking that this is where Lindsay got pickpocketed while standing in line....

After the Palacio Real, we walked to El Parque de Buen Retiro, a 300 acre park which is basically the Central Park of Spain. It was definitely the place to be on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon--everyone was sunbathing, rollerblading, or taking paddleboats out on the lake.

Our last stop of the day before dinner was the Reina Sofia, which was a really cool place to see. It doesn't feature many of the older works, like the Prado, but instead has Goya, Miró, Dalí and Picasso. Picasso's Guernica is there, which was cool--but even cooler, the museum had created a room of all his studies/thought processes leading up to the painting of the Guernica, so we really got to understand all the complexities that went into its creation.

Finally, we got a taste of home when we walked into an Irish pub, and lo and behold, the scores for the Mizzou/Cornell game were up. We saw the last two minutes of the game as Mizzou went on to victory. Perfect.

Las Fallas in Valencia!

So we're back from Las Fallas, having eaten plenty of famous Valencian paella and Valencian oranges. Las Fallas was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The neighborhoods in Valencia spend a whole year crafting these elaborate scultptures (called ninots) which are made out of wood, paper-mache, and plaster. At midnight on St. Joseph's Day (March 19), they set off fireworks and light them all on fire. The one we saw was probably about 40-60 feet tall, and the heat from the flames was so intense that the whole crowd starting running backwards to get away. It's basically a firefighter's nightmare and a pyro's dream.

We got there the day before La Cremá (the burning), so we got to see the parade where everyone dresses up in regional/historical costumes. They basically walk all day in these elaborate costumes. They go all out, too--check out this dog in the traditional garb and hair piece.

Tourist in Pamplona

Hi there! This weekend was definitely the weekend of exploring Pamplona! A friend came in town from San Sebastian, so we got to play the part of the tourist.

Last night we went out for pinchos down in Casco Viejo, which is the really old/cool part of Pamplona. The streets are just filled with people eating their pinchos (like tapas) and drinking wine, and people move from bar to bar and get a pincho at each one. Today we walked back to Casco Viejo to explore and walked along the "Encierro," which is where the actual running of the bulls happens in July. At the end of the route is the bull-fighting stadium.

We ate lunch at Cafe Iruña, which is one of the cafes that Hemingway mentions in "The Sun Also Rises" and thus basically put Pamplona on the map. It was very cool to think that we were sitting in the same place that Hemingway sat. If you sit down for the meal, you get 3 courses (and each one of them is like a full meal in itself). I got paella, chicken cordon bleu, and then ice cream for dessert. First time trying paella, and I really liked it. Wanted to do flan for dessert but couldn't handle it after eating two meals in one sitting... :)

While we were in there, it was a little creepy because there was this guy, who looked like he had a mental disability of some sort, who kept roaming in between the aisles, despite having been told to leave multiple times. He left and then all of a sudden came back, grabbed this woman's money off the table and started walking out. All of a sudden, the police came in, talked to him and then escorted him out, but it was really weird. Also, I was surprised that the police were so nice...probably because they didn't want to make a scene in the restaurant. And it's really the first time I've ever seen the police in action in Pamplona.

Anyways, that's all for now!

Family Dinner

Hi everyone! So this is officially the first post on my blog...how exciting. I've been meaning to do this for awhile so that everyone can see pictures, but haven't gotten around to it, despite the fact I've been here exactly a month. Time flies when you're having fun.

We just had a "family dinner" tonight...the girls from Mizzou plus a girl from UNC all host dinner one night a week. Tonight was "southern food"--and it was pretty great...fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, bread, salad, and a Spanish twist with these huge delicious flaky cookies in the shape of a heart. My week is next week...I believe I'll be making fajitas. Mexican food is a rarity here--thankfully the last girl who lived in my piso was Mexican, and left behind a wealth of 20+ packages of refried beans and some hot sauce. My Spanish roommates aren't big fans of Mexican food, so I was left the inheritance. The rest I can get at El Cortes Ingles, which is a huge store similar to Macy's, but with a grocery store attached that features a lot of international food. Perfect. They also sell peanut butter there which will be helpful in the future...

I'm posting some pictures from the places we've gone in the last few weeks, mainly San Sebastian, Bilbao and the Guggenheim. While I'm definitely glad I went to the Guggenheim, the exhibition there right now is pretty weird. It's mostly anime of some questionable themes.

Next on the horizon...we are going to Las Fallas, which is a huge festival in Valencia that leads up to St. Joseph's day (which we happen to have off school!) The city creates these huge paper sculpture things and then sets them on fire. A girl who lived in Pamplona last year said it was the coolest festival she's ever been to, so I'm very excited. Then we will spend the weekend in Madrid exploring. After that, it's off to London to visit an ADPi friend, and two other ADPi's from Brussels will also be joining us.